Notices by Jason Thorne (jasonthorne@mastodon.social)

The only thing better than a protected bike lane, is a protected bike lane with artworks by local artists! The new Lansdowne Avenue cycle track murals are looking good.

Shoutout to Street Art Toronto, Cycle Toronto and the City of Toronto Cycling and Pedestrian Projects Unit #BikeTooter

“Upcycled Housing” in Copenhagen. This is Resource Rows by builder NREP and architect Lendager. The bricks were cut into 1x1 metre panels, mostly from the demo of the nearby Carlsberg brewery buildings, and then reassembled to create the facade of the new housing.

Why panels? In older buildings, the mortar between the bricks is often stronger than the actual brick, making it difficult to separate the individual bricks from the mortar. So the builder cut and panelized the old facade.

Ledges at the sides of garbage bins in Denmark allow you to “Giv din pant videre” (or “Pay your deposit forward”) by leaving your cans and bottles for pickers to pick up without having to reach into the garbage.

When you no longer need a second car you can turn half your driveway into a vegetable garden.

Every City Hall should have a great playground (#Boston).

The only thing better than a protected bike lane, is a protected bike lane with streetart and murals on the barriers.

A mobile bicycle-trailer pop-up library ... with hammocks. Genius.

“Skravlekopp”. I was given this a couple years ago by the Mayor of Baerum in Norway. It loosely translates as “gab cup”. It’s part of a national effort in Norway to fight loneliness & isolation. When you drink from it at a cafe, you’re inviting others to join you for a chat.

Car park solar canopy in Waterloo.

A reminder this holiday season … “If you do not shop local there will be no local shops”

Fitting bike lanes onto narrow commercial main streets that have lots of competition for the space can be tricky … but downtown #Waterloo has done it pretty well.

#cycling #BikeTooter #urbanism #worldcarfreeday

If we look at different modes of travel through the lens of PEOPLE-moving efficiency rather than VEHICLE-moving efficiency (source: NACTO).

Here’s an interesting “last mile” thing that’s often over-looked. When you park your bike at the bike parking station in downtown Eindhoven, you can pick up a free baby stroller for walking around with your child!

Sidewalks used to be wider. It’s a fact that rarely gets acknowledged in discussions about road diets. Usually the road diet debate is framed as taking space AWAY from cars. Really it’s about giving it BACK to pedestrians. Here’s a good article about it https://tinyurl.com/2s4bzxw3

From 75 parking spots to 55 homes. The new CityHousing Hamilton affordable housing building on this former downtown city parking lot is almost finished!
#housing #urbanism #cities #hamont

A new “continuous sidewalk” in #Kitchener. The design differs from regular sidewalks in that it doesn’t dip down to road level at intersections. It continues at an uninterrupted height. This slows cars turning onto the street + reinforces pedestrian priority through the intersections. Same at the driveways, so you don’t get the up-down “roller coaster effect” when you’re #walking, #cycling or using a wheelchair.

#safestreets #urbanism #accessibility

Someone once suggested to me that the walkability of a neighbourhood could be determined based on the number of staples in the hydro poles. I always liked that idea.

The “Low-Line” … an emerging new public space under the “L” in #Chicago.

Cycling “The 606” in Chicago … one of the best urban walking/cycling trails in North America.
#cycling #biketooter #chicago

Nighttime stroll along Paseo del Prado, #Havana.