Closing Newbury Street to cars

BostonUrbEx said:
Definitely should have gone all the way to Arlington. As to the latter, have you ever tried crossing Newbury St on an intersecting street? Barreling is the last word I'd use.
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I've nearly been run over by cars ignoring pedestrians/going faster than they should crossing Dartmouth on Newbury.

Anyway, despite how it looked on paper like it would play out, from the photos and videos I saw on Sunday, this was a freaking resounding success. The city went all out with activities for everyone to activate the pedestrian street. I was honestly stunned by how many people actually turned out.
 
datadyne007 said:
I've nearly been run over by cars ignoring pedestrians/going faster than they should crossing Dartmouth on Newbury.

Anyway, despite how it looked on paper like it would play out, from the photos and videos I saw on Sunday, this was a freaking resounding success. The city went all out with activities for everyone to activate the pedestrian street. I was honestly stunned by how many people actually turned out.
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Yet the Newbury Street businesses appear to be against it claiming that people don't buy things when they come/go by T or or foot.
 
BosDevelop said:
Yet the Newbury Street businesses appear to be against it claiming that people don't buy things when they come/go by T or or foot.
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So many people are stuck in the 20th century mentality that only the poor take public transportation. It's completely false in cities like Boston and New York.
 
BosDevelop said:
Yet the Newbury Street businesses appear to be against it claiming that people don't buy things when they come/go by T or or foot.
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As of when? What have been merchant reactions during and after?
 
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/...y-rent-bill/orMUBa4C56j0S2GcMSYOBO/story.html

A globe article that describes the closure of Newbury street and basically makes fun of the snobby business owners who were against the closure. The Newbury Street League described transit users as the "wrong type of customer" and argues that noone will spend a lot on their appearance and then go back onto the T. If that isin't blatant snobbery than I don't know what is. The article also describes how a car free street caused many retail outlets to have surging sales.
 
tysmith95 said:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/...y-rent-bill/orMUBa4C56j0S2GcMSYOBO/story.html

A globe article that describes the closure of Newbury street and basically makes fun of the snobby business owners who were against the closure. The Newbury Street League described transit users as the "wrong type of customer" and argues that noone will spend a lot on their appearance and then go back onto the T. If that isin't blatant snobbery than I don't know what is. The article also describes how a car free street caused many retail outlets to have surging sales.
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Classic example of the type of retailer ignorance that causes the early demise of so many independent shopkeepers' stores. They have a conception of who they want to be shopping in their stores (usually a biased, snobby view), which is blind to who would actually spend money in their stores - especially if the experience is made more convenient and pleasant. We all know the type of Newbury street customer who semi-legally parks their Maseratti then heads to the boutique. But what about all of the tourists who stroll the street and don't have a car here in Boston? What about the locals who would go to Newbury more often if it were a more enjoyable experience? We could probably come up with several more groups who would shop there. Instead, the first thing that comes into their mind is that "poor people take the T." Yeah, sure, and so do a gazillion decently paid working professionals, and everyone in between.
 
It was an immense success. Thank you Anne Hidalgo (Paris). First Sunday of every month and Marty has left his mark on Boston forever.
 
If the City proposed raising parking rates or implemented congestion pricing on cars, you can bet that the Newbury Street League would be feeding us a line about how their rich clients would somehow be turned off by parking prices. Classic example of force-fitting facts to their own preconceptions.

(the reality is that their rich clients would probably happily pay for the convenience of less-congested driving & parking)

If we turn the street over to pedestrians, they gripe about riffraff on foot versus their high-end clientele

If we turn SOVs away with fees, suddenly their high-end clientele is pinching pennies.
 
One of the lessons I took from reading (the reviews of) Janette Sadik Khan's book is that people will loudly oppose any change in how limited urban street space is divvied up between users. It doesn't really matter if they're orienting it more or less towards cars, there will be loud resistance and so cities should base their decisionmaking on other values, like safety or foot traffic.

Somewhere there is a parallel universe where the exact same crowd of merchants is decrying Marty Walsh holding a "car day" on the Newbury ped mall, for attracting the riffraff driving in from the suburbs.
 
Scipio said:
Somewhere there is a parallel universe where the exact same crowd of merchants is decrying Marty Walsh holding a "car day" on the Newbury ped mall, for attracting the riffraff driving in from the suburbs.
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Haha!
 
I bet y'all thought I was joking about Newbury Street Car Day:

UTYwiS2.jpg
 
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