The Livable Streets campaign is reversing decades of automobile-dominated urban planning. This work is creating healthier, more sustainable, people-oriented neighborhoods.

The campaign has seen incredible success. In New York City, Livable Streets has helped redirect millions of city planning dollars and produced a dramatic shift in transportation policy. It has also fundamentally altered way decisions are made, creating an open and effective partnership between the city and its residents.

In this work, TOPP has leveraged our strengths in software development and media production.  Aided by collaborative technologies, Livable Streets advocates are now transforming cities around the world.

Sweeping Changes

Just two years ago in New York, public outcry for safer intersections and better bike lanes fell on deaf ears. Today, Livable Streets advocates are transforming the city.

In 2006, TOPP formed a partnership with Transportation Alternatives (TA) and The Project for Public Spaces (PPS).

The resulting partnership, the New York City Streets Renaissance, built on the strengths of each organization: TA mobilizes its membership to advocate for bicycling, walking, and public transit; PPS builds community through smart public space design; and TOPP produces online political mobilizers like Streetsblog and Streetfilms.

The campaign has helped usher in a new Department of Transportation administration in New York City - with many of our allies at its core - that is vastly more open to public input. 

Today, DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan is a leading voice for smart transportation planning. A number of recent city projects were first promoted on Streetsblog, including the Public Plazas initiative, Summer Streets, and Broadway Boulevard. Our work has built critical support for initiatives ranging from congestion pricing to the redesign of Grand Army Plaza.

The Livable Streets Network

The campaign has at its center the Livable Streets Network, an online hub of news, videos, and collaboration tools for the growing international movement. The Livable Streets Network is an incredible political mobilizer: advocates can spread news, coordinate efforts, build support for local projects, and highlight great ideas like never before.

• Streetsblog is the daily news hub, and a potent source of advocacy journalism. In just two years Streetsblog has exploded to 125,000 monthly readers, creating a coherent community with a powerful voice for change. It is a critical source for mainstream journalists and daily reading for policy makers and the public.
• Streetfilms produces fun and educational films on urban transportation issues, from bus rapid transit in Bogota to bike lane design in Copenhagen. More than half a million people have watched Streetfilms online, and advocates around the world use Streetfilms to win support for smart transportation projects. Streetfilms have also appeared in dozens of conferences and film festivals, and on CNN, NY1, and PBS-13.
  
• Streetswiki is a community-created encyclopedia of urban transportation topics. Using Streetswiki, advocates can compare the world's best bike-sharing programs or describe traffic calming measures in their neighborhoods.
  
• LSN Groups is a meeting place for Livable Streets advocates. Members form groups and use the growing collection of tools - including mailing lists, blogs, and shared pages - to coordinate efforts and become more effective.

Good technology has played a key role in the success of Livable Streets. TOPP approach to advocacy is aligned with our approach to technology: we value shared tools, transparency, and collaborative work.

Powerful tools for mapping, blogging, or sharing files make it easy to coordinate efforts and broaden public support. The software that powers Livable Streets websites like Park(ing) Day NYC and LSN Groups, is open source. It is free and available for advocacy groups (and others) of all kinds to reuse in their sites.