"We make the city and the city makes us" --Jan Gehl

Grand Street before and after images from NYC Streets Renaissance

In Copenhagen, 40% of city residents commute to work by bike. 70% of these commuters continue to bike in the winter, because when it snows, the city's bike lanes are plowed first -- then sidewalks, and finally, roads. When Copenhagen decided to prioritize pedestrians and bicyclists, the number of bike accidents declined steadily as the number of bikers grew, because cyclists are safer when they ride together.

Not a biker? Life in Copenhagen is safer and easier for pedestrians too. In NYC when you walk across town, 25% of your travel time is spent waiting to cross streets. In Copenhagen, only 2-4% of your time is spent waiting. Other street-level initiatives in Copenhagen address street noise, neighborhood greening, wheelchair accessibility, street furniture design and more.

Right after her appointment as the new Commissioner of NYC's Department of Transportation, Janette Sadik-Kahn traveled to Copenhagen with City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden and Danish architect and "urban planning rockstar," Jan Gehl. This nickname was bestowed on Gehl by Commissioner Sadik-Kahn during her introduction of the rockstar himself last night at the JCC on the Upper West Side, in an event sponsored by NYC Streets Renaissance, a project of Transportation Alternatives, the Open Planning Project, and Project for Public Spaces.

The rockstar moniker seemed especially appropriate as Gehl spoke to a packed auditorium of animated and engaged civic activists, transportation advocates, city and state elected officials, city agency staffers, Business Improvement Districts leaders and others from across the city.

Last night's event was inspirational and educational, but above all, it was really, really exciting to feel the energy in the room and know that it was generated by both city outsiders and insiders, like the DOT Commissioner who is paying Gehl and the staff at his firm, Gehl Architects, to apply their innovative thinking to NYC. Gehl and his team have been hired by the city-- tasked by the new Commissioner to help the DOT 'Reinforce, Reclaim, Rethink, Renew and Recycle' NYC's streets. Copenhagen's Chief Traffic Engineer is assisting the Gehl team in tackeling NYC's streets renaissance, as is the Director of Design and Culture of Melbourne, Australia, another city that's recently undergone a Gehlian street transformation.

In her introduction of the rockstar, Commissioner Sadik-Kahn recounted a phrase that Gehl had spoken to her when the two were biking around Copenhagen: "We make the city, and the city makes us," i.e., we can shape the city to deliver quality-of-life outcomes that make happier and healthier city residents. How true!

Check out a Streetsblog photo simulation of what a NYC Streets Renaissance might look like on the Upper West Side

Here's an article about last night's event from NY Metro

And if you want to join in the NYC streets renaissance (because as Transportation Alternatives Executive Director stated last night, quoting Edward Abbey, "Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul") see a list of upcoming events and volunteer opportunities at www.nycstreets.org and www.streetsblog.org