Notes from the SFU “On Broadway…” Design + Transportation Lecture

Broadway (the part near Cambie) has a lack of pedestrian features. There are no spaces to linger, the street is almost too large to cross, the cafés do not have street furniture… But West of Arbutus there are roughly 10,000 less cars and a much more pedestrian centered experience. Interesting…

Broadway goes across the entire length of the city, and despite adapting a pseudo-name, continues into Burnaby. It has, at times, an absence of street trees.

What makes a great street? Is it the buildings? The amount of Traffic?

How long is a street?

How wide is it? How large is the space between doorways?

Strøget Copenhagen, Denmark: there is a street which accommodates 16 people per meter, per minute.

The best streets are comfortable : )

Is there wind? Is there shade when it’s hot? Is there sun when it’s cool? Buildings and trees control these factors.

There are certain qualities that engage the eyes. Is the street nice to look at?

“I THINK PEDESTRAINS SHOULD HAVE REIN OVER ALL STREETS IN URBAN AREAS.” – Elizabeth Macdonald (and I couldn’t agree there)

Every road has a priority, be it cars, bikes, transit, or pedestrians.

Things to check out: NYC: Pavement to Parks Movement.

There is a proposal to add parking lanes and a centered pedestrian median to Broadway.

Elizabeth Macdonald: Professor of Urban Design at the University of California, Berkeley.

Allan Jacobs: former Director of City Planning for San Francisco and author of Great Streets.


I was going through old photos and found this picture of this list I found on April 17th, 2009 at 4:15PM.

yogurt / water bottle / sleep pills / smokes / steak / celery sticks / carrots /

tylenol 1 ?

I hope they found what they were looking for.

I hope you do too.