Urban planning

Ottawa Moves – part 2/3 – Andrew Wiley Schwarz

November 18, 2011 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 5 minutesAfter Gil Peñolosa’s talk at Ottawa Moves the night before , it was time for Andrew Wiley Schwarz on a sunny Thursday morning, November 3 to talk about bike and pedestrian infrastructure in New York City. Andrew works for the New York City Department of Transportation as an Assistant Commissioner. His talk was a frank case study and lessons learned on New York City’s changes in the urban landscape. From studies, NYC discovered that there were more pedestrian movements than they’d thought there were; they also learned that parks don’t connect in NYC (sounds familiar?). People moved around in isolated areas instead of [Read more…]

Ottawa Moves – part 1/3 – Gil Peñolosa: 8-80 cities

November 14, 2011 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 4 minutesOn November 2 and 3, the City of Ottawa organised a two day series of speakers and work shop on DOMO, the Downtown Ottawa Mobility Overlay. As DOMO is a bit of non-descriptive acronym, it is now called “Downtown Moves”. And moving it will. With the new Light Rail eventually in place, thousands of people will appear above ground at the same time, only to find three feet side walks in many places. It is hard to believe that a complete tunnel and underground track, including stations, will be ready before the 150th anniversary of Canada in 2017, when turning a [Read more…]

The small outdoors: 10 patios on Laurier (and 2 bonus food trucks)

July 19, 2011 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 3 minutesAt first glance, Laurier Ave in Ottawa might come across as a concrete jungle-like street with uninspiring buildings. But in the end, it’s the people who ‘make’ a street: there are a number of coffee places and restaurants with outdoor terraces. I went out at lunch time and found 12 places with a terrace to watch the world go by and see cyclists in particular. Watching the world go by It is quite fun to see that virtually every few minutes someone cycles by, usually very calmly. Added bonus, you can keep an eye on your bike if you are [Read more…]