P-G: Jennifer Graham: Ban cars Downtown

OpenStreetsDancingPostGazetteBobDonaldson

A Strong Proposal for People-Powered Movement

“Reimagining public spaces.” For yeas now we’ve been promoting OpenStreetsPGH as an opportunity for people to think differently about streets, which are arguably our most important public spaces.

Through OpenStreetsPGH thousands across the region have been able to experience these urban spaces, normally reserved for motor vehicles, as vibrant places for people. It’s a whole new way to look at your city. Has OpenStreetsPGH changed the way that you think about our roads?

By Jennifer Graham | Pittsburgh Post Gazette
The success of Open Streets Pittsburgh leads to a question: Who needs cars Downtown, anyway?

Whether biking down a car-free Penn Avenue last Sunday, running the Pittsburgh marathon or strolling across the Clemente Bridge before a Pirates game, the experience of navigating a city street, minus the traffic, is an exercise in exhilaration. When cars are present, it’s more often an ordeal. Most of us use our cars just 5 percent of the time anyway, and much of that is spent sitting in traffic, searching for parking and cussing.

Since we need cars to get Downtown, but not so much after we’re there, why not ban them, not just for four hours on three Sundays a year, but all the time?

Read the full article on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette website.


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