Painting Green Bike Lanes in Oakland

Hopefully Oakland is heading toward a more just and sustainable transportation future...

Are green bike lanes the precursor of safer, better bike infrastructure?

Perhaps, yes.

These green painted portions of the bike lane are only in "conflict zones" in the Adam's Point/Lake Merritt area.  The image above is on Grand Avenue just past the Harrison Street intersection.  There is a wide right turn through lane, where cars barely have to slow down to veer right onto Grand Avenue. This type of cars-first infrastructure is common all over Oakland. This particular area here is a danger zone for both bicyclists and pedestrians. Even though there is a light, which apparently turns red on occasion for drivers, I rarely see it red. I both walk and ride my bike in this area on a daily basis. This can be a tricky area for bicyclists and pedestrians, and we often feel unsafe with cars barreling by us at unsafe (and illegal) speeds.  

Hopefully, this green bike lane paint will be one step (along with many others) to democratize our city streets. Everyone owns our streets. It's time that we all have access to our fair share of the street. People driving vehicles do not have any rights above those on foot or on bike. I hope that we will begin to see real design changes to our community infrastructure that make us ALL safer, happier and healthier. 

the urbanscape...

Recently, I decided to change this blog from focusing solely on San Francisco to broader urban planning and design issues.  Personally, I am very interested in multi-modal transportation, non-motorized transportation, urban park-space, and the urban form.  Likewise, I enjoy looking at urban planning and design from an anthropological or humanistic lens (maybe this comes from my degree in cultural anthropology).  Furthermore, when I look at a street, a sidewalk, a bike lane, a street sign, etcetera, I always think about the human interaction of this design element.  I have recently begun to call this "UX urban design", or user-experience urban design.  I know I'm not the only person who sees planning and urban design in this way, but I still believe that it is fairly unique in our profession.  Perhaps, it is a change in direction that the younger generation of city planners and urban designers are going...  It makes me excited for the future of our cities, and energizes me to continue on my quest to do good urban planning and design!

Valencia Street Parklets

Today, I went on a SPUR-led walking tour of some "parklets" along the Valencia Street Corridor.  It was fascinating to listen to the designers of the parklets, the owners of the parklets and the city planner who manages the program for the city.  It is absolutely amazing and incredibly wonderful that the city has embraced the concept of a mini-park in place of a previously held parking spot for a car.  What was once a one day event - PARKing Day - now becomes a more permanent establishment in the daily lives of neighbors, business owners, customers and other city-folk.  The citizens of SF really are instigators and bringers of change.  This is such an awesome idea.  I'm so happy that so many people in SF are working toward creating a better, more livable city.

Here's a map of the city's current & planned parklets:
SF Parklets

For more info, visit these:
Walklet
Rebar
SPUR
Pavement to Parks Program (SF Planning Dept)