Jillian Benoist

More walking, fewer wheels at Pike Place Market Vehicle restrictions aim to boost pedestrian safety during peak hours at Seattle's famous market.

At long last, after decades, Seattle has taken the smallest of steps, banning tourist vehicles from Pike Place Market "during the daytime."

Just cosmically ludicrous that it's taken this long & been so controversial.

Heart Of Lincoln Square Goes Car-Free For One Week The 4700 block of North Lincoln Avenue is temporarily closed to traffic starting Monday. More studies and community feedback would be needed before any permanent change is made there.

@jbeans.bsky.social keeps taking away people's parking and making folks love their neighborhoods again.

Make it permanent.

blockclubchicago.org/2025/04/21/h...

Legislative Alert: Support HB 1813 – Accessory Dwelling Units Legislative CommitteeAmerican Planning Association – Illinois ChapterApril 11, 2025 House Bill 1813 – Accessory D...

American Planning Association Illinois Chapter (APA-IL) just came out in favor of statewide ADUs this morning

www.ilapa.org/aws/APAIL/pt... 🎉💯🥰

Walkability Isn’t Just Good Urban Planning: It’s a Public Health Intervention - The Urbanist # A recent peer-reviewed study of identical twins illustrated the value of living in a walkable neighborhood, showing a strong correlation between walkable neighborhoods, time spent walking, and posit...

NEW STORY // Walkability Isn’t Just Good Urban Planning: It’s a Public Health Intervention www.theurbanist.org/2025/02/14/w...

Goth Gaga! I was super into it too!

‘Everyone thought it would cause gridlock’: the highway that Seoul turned into a stream Cheonggyecheon stream in the South Korean capital has become an attraction – and helps with flood management, fighting air pollution and cooling the city

“In Seoul, the restored waterway has been a triumph. It doesn’t just provide a peaceful refuge from the city’s busy streets, it serves as a cultural corridor with year-round festivals and performances, while helping cool the surrounding neighbourhoods, fighting air pollution…”

People lined up on bikes in a Paris protected bike lane waiting for the light to change.

Paris definitely wasn’t always this way. And the change wasn’t magic, or even hard. This is very recent, and it just took vision and leadership. Your city could choose leadership too if it wanted to.

Great pic via @JBPssx

50 Reasons Why Everyone Should Want More Walkable Streets From making you live longer to making cities more resilient: If you want a reason to make your city more walkable, it's in here.

“Someone with a 1-hr car commute needs to earn 40% more to be as happy as someone with a short walk to work. On the other hand, if someone shifts from a long commute to a walk, their happiness increases as much as if they’d fallen in love.” #CityMakingMath

50 reasons to want walkable streets.

Looking for a Place to Sit Down in the City As downtowns struggle to recover from the pandemic, author William Whyte’s insights about what attracts people to small urban places are more important than ever.

"Building on William Whyte's observational work..."

Nice to see credit given to a guy who deserves more of it.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

If you think everyone's in a hurry, you're on to something.

Using computer vision, researchers compared pedestrian behavior in NYC, Philly, and Boston in 1980 & 2010.

Over 30 years, avg walking speed rose 15% while "time spent lingering" in public spaces fell 50%.

www.nber.org/papers/w33185

Site designed the streetscape but it was probably Chicago Alfresco that did the outdoor dining areas.

For Solo Explorers, a Solitude-Friendly ‘Paradise’ Amid the Crowds More architects and urban planners are designing parks, airport lounges, museums and other public spaces that make lone visitors feel at ease.

As an introvert, designing public spaces, I feel seen. But not too seen.
www.nytimes.com/2024/08/29/s...

No

Oh hai