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 three 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 2005, 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.
Livable Streets Initiatives
- The Livable Streets Network, the news outlet and political mobilizer for the growing international movement.
- The New York City Streets Renaissance, a collaborative effort reshaping the city's transportation planning.
- The Livable Streets Education Program is a school program that empowers kids to transform their neighborhoods.
- Tactical web sites like Park(ing) Day NYC and GasTaxScam.
Open Technology
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.
