Author Archive for Ryan Sharp

"Make Miami a bicycle friendly city"

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on December 18, 2007
in Bicycles, Bikes, Cycling, DPZ, Miami and Miami Herald
. 4 Comments


That’s the message of DPZ planner Mike Lydon, who recently had this nice letter printed in the Miami Herald. Here’s a reprint:

An increasing number of cities, large and small, welcome bicycling as an energy efficient, healthy and economically sustainable means of alternative transportation. Chicago, for example, is currently implementing its Bike 2015 Plan, which makes bicycling an integral part of the city’s daily life through infrastructure projects, programs and policies. Likewise, a bicycle master plan underway in Portland is upholding and expanding its reputation as the most bicycle-friendly city in America.

Looking internationally, in just a few years Bogotá has implemented a highly integrated citywide bicycle system, and every Sunday it hosts Ciclovia, an event that closes 70 miles of the city’s streets to traffic, allowing bicyclists and pedestrians to celebrate a car-free public realm. Perhaps more dramatically, Paris executed a citywide bicycle sharing system that transformed it into one of Europe’s most bicycle-friendly cities. Indeed, with well over one million rides logged on 20,000 low cost bicycles available at high-tech stations, the City of Light has repositioned itself to also become the city of bikes.

In contrast, Miami is choosing not to compete. To date, locating a sidewalk bike rack is more difficult than securing a Saturday night parking spot near Lincoln Road. On-street bike lanes simply do not exist. Nor do street signs directing motorists to share the road with their two-wheel “subordinates.”

Cyclists do not have a bicycle sharing program to look forward to, or even a simple bike map showing them the friendliest streets on which to travel. What’s worse, there seems to be surprisingly little commitment by the city to improve the situation on any level. This runs counter to America’s most vibrant cities like Chicago, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and even our own Miami Beach, where an official citywide bicycle master plan is currently adding signage, bicycle racks and bicycle lanes with great success.

Yet the city of Miami could become a great bicycling city. We have fantastic weather, bicycle friendly flat terrain and a population that seems to enjoy the abundance of outdoor activities that South Florida provides. It’s not as if Miami does not have a fair share of cyclists. I see them on my daily commute from the beach, through downtown and into Little Havana. I also bicycle with them in the monthly critical mass ride over the Rickenbacker Causeway to Virginia Key and Key Biscayne.

We just need to better accommodate them, and we can. The city’s ubiquitous grid features many wide street right-of-ways that, where appropriate, easily could include bicycle-related infrastructure. Such a system should connect some of the city’s up-and-coming urban destinations, too far to reach by foot, but too frustrating to reach by car — the Biscayne Corridor, Design District, Wynwood, Downtown, Brickell, Little Havana, Little Haiti and Coconut Grove, as well as the city’s outlying neighborhoods.

If Miami is to unlock its great bicycling potential, it must consider hiring a bicycle planner (yes, they do exist) to create an ambitious bicycle master plan, and one that supplements the provisions of the Miami 21 plan. The bicycle plan must be city-wide and address everything from safety and education to actual policy and infrastructure implementation. Moreover, the plan should set realistic benchmarks that are able to be realized in both the short and long term.

So what gives, Miami? Why don’t we have an official bicycle planner on staff aiding the supposed urban renaissance proclaimed by DWNTWN billboards? Why not be bold and make Miami a year-round cycling destination? The benefit received from creating a bicycle plan would do much to change the perception of the city, internally and externally. It would also improve the city’s livability. Why should we settle as a perpetually pedestrian and bike unfriendly city? We know that sinking more money into auto-oriented infrastructure only makes congestion and pollution worse. We know our current modes of automobile transport are inadequate, frustrating and contribute to global warming, an issue that all South Floridians must take seriously.

It’s time for the city to move in a new direction — one relying upon more pedestrian and bike-friendly urban forms as a means to achieving a vibrant, sustainable city for the 21st century. However, without recognition from city officials, Miami’s great potential has little chance of becoming a reality. A bike planner might just be the best place to start.

Note: All links were provided by the author of this post and did not appear in the original Miami Herald print.

Thursday News

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on December 13, 2007
in Climate Change, Marlins, News, Obesity, Port Tunnel and biofuels
. 0 Comments


Streetsblog: London street closings a resounding success

Huffington Post: Fighting fat and climate change

George Monbiot: The western appetite for biofuels is causing starvation in the poor world

Miami Herald: Push for Miami port tunnel funding begins

Miami Today News: Soccer may join Marlins on Orange Bowl land

Report: Bush Administration Has Been Manipulating Climate Change Science

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on December 12, 2007
in Bali, Bush Administration, Climate Change, Global Warming and IPCC
. 1 Comment

It shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s been following U.S. politics on climate change, but a new report has been released by the House Oversight Committee revealing the White House’s effort to stifle climate change science.

According to the report, the Bush Administration censored 150 federal climate scientists from eight federal agencies and “exerted unusual control over the public statements of federal scientists on climate change issues.”

“The Bush Administration has engaged in a systematic effort to manipulate climate change science and mislead policymakers and the public about the dangers of global warming.”

Dr. James Hansen, head of NASA’s top institute studying climate and widely regarded top climate scientist on Earth, has said it. The world’s most outspoken journalist reporting on climate change, George Monbiot, describes it in his book. Now the House Oversight Committee shows how low the Bush Administration is willing to stoop to avoid taking action on climate change. It’s absolutely reprehensible, not to mention a little fascist for the executive branch of any democracy to manipulate science and censor what it doesn’t agree with.

Meanwhile, in Bail, talks continue in an effort to develop a post-Kyoto pact to take aim at climate change beyond 2012. Embarrassingly, it is again the U.S. that is the outcast here, refusing to commit to any kind of binding regulation to cut carbon emissions. I guess the Bush Administration must have chosen to ignore the recent IPCC report that warns of accelerating climate change and demands immediate international action. UN Chair Ban-Ki moon, who recently called climate change “the defining challenge of our age”, has called on the U.S. and China to take a “more constructive role” in the fight against climate change, yet the Bush Administration remains completely out-of-touch with reality.

Photo: Dan Wasserman, Boston Globe

Bike Sharing: Coming to a City Near You in 2008 (Unless You’re in Miami)

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on December 10, 2007
in Bicycles, Chicago, Portland, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and bike-sharing
. 2 Comments
Exciting news for livable cities advocates — it looks like bike sharing will finally be coming to America in 2008. According to sources, Washington D.C. is likely to be the first U.S. city to implement such a program, at least the modern version similar to many European cities.
The program, similar to Paris, Barcelona, Stockholm, and other European cities, will likely be funded through an agreement with a major advertiser (such as Clear Channel), which will pay for the system in return for exclusive advertising rights on bus shelters and other outdoor furniture.

Unlike Paris, however, Washington will initially roll out a “lite” version of bike sharing, offering about 120 bicycles at 10 locations around the city. Details such as costs for usage and membership have not yet been announced. If all goes according to plan, the first phase of the D.C. program could start in March or April of 2008.

As for the bikes themselves, they will be locked into docking stations that will be opened with special cards for members. Washington plans on using a “sturdy” bike, which can be adapted to people of various heights. The bikes will also have some special features including a small front wheel that makes it “more maneuverable, but also quirky enough to discourage theft.” For nighttime safety, all bikes will be equipped with automatic lighting.

Chicago is also in the process of implementing bike sharing. The Windy City is studying two proposals, one from France-based advertising giant JC Decaux — which operates the Paris system — and one from London-based OYBike. The city’s mayor, Richard Daley, has expressed strong interest in a bicycle program, having viewed the Paris system.

“Mayor Daley’s vision is to make Chicago the most bicycle-friendly city in the United States,” said Ben Gomberg, bicycle program coordinator for the city.

“In Chicago, almost 60 percent of all trips by city residents are three miles (nearly five kilometers) or less, which are distances very suited for bicycling. That’s why we’re interested.”

Additionally, Gomberg said Chicago is flat and relatively compact compared to many US cities, making cycling easier. He said city officials see many advantages to the program including improving physical fitness and reducing pollution.

Besides Washington and Chicago, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon are also in the process of launching their own bike sharing systems. Given the direction New York is going in, I expect to see it added to this list in the near future. While all of this pleases me tremendously, I’ll be ready to party the day Miami (or Miami Beach and Coral Gables) takes the bike sharing plunge. I’ve said it so many times: Miami is blessed with natural cycling conditions most cities could only dream of.

The timing is right. With gasoline costing over $3/gallon, global warming concerns reaching the forefront, increasingly unbearable traffic congestion, and a national obesity crisis, there couldn’t be a better time for Miami (or any major city) to devise a bike sharing program. Moreover, given the global popularity and proven success of these programs, the formula for implementation is well established.

Come on Miami, it’s time to act.

Photo: Courtesy www.flickr.com

Final Segment of South Dade Busway Set to Open

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on December 7, 2007
in BRT, Bus Rapid Transit, Miami-Dade Transit and South Miami-Dade Busway
. 2 Comments
The South Miami-Dade Busway expansion will finally be complete and open to the public next week. We want to hear about your experiences riding it, so please feel free to email us with stories, comments, or concerns.

From the Miami-Dade Transit press release:

(MIAMI, December 7, 2007) – Miami-Dade Transit will dedicate the final 6.5-mile segment of the South Miami-Dade Busway in an official ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, Dec. 14 at 10 a.m. The ceremony will take place at the south end of the new extension at Southwest 344th Street, two blocks west of U.S. 1 in Florida City.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez, members of the County Commission and other local dignitaries will help celebrate the occasion. The public is invited to the event, and free refreshments and entertainment will be provided.

Buses will begin running on the newly completed extension — which continues the Busway from Southwest 264th Street to 344th Street — on Sunday, Dec. 16. Routes 34 (Busway Flyer) and 38 (Busway MAX) will be realigned to operate on the new Busway segment, allowing passengers to get to their destinations more quickly. Route 38 will continue to stop at the Florida City Wal-Mart from the Southwest 344th Street Busway station, while Route 34 will continue to serve Florida City’s City Hall.

At 20 miles, the completed Busway, which runs just west of U.S. 1, will be the longest Bus Rapid Transit line in the United States, providing fast, convenient service all the way from Florida City to the Dadeland South Metrorail station, with several Park & Ride lots located at convenient intervals along its entire length.

“We’re very pleased in bringing the benefits of the Busway to residents of south Miami-Dade,” said Miami-Dade Transit Director Harpal Kapoor. “Homestead and Florida City residents will now be able to get to work and other destinations faster and more conveniently using the Busway, just as their neighbors on the north end of the Busway have been doing for years.”

Since the Busway opened in 1997, Miami-Dade Transit buses have been swiftly shuttling thousands of passengers a day on the exclusive bus-only expressway, allowing commuters to avoid gridlock on chronically congested U.S. 1. The Busway now enjoys 23,000 average weekday boardings – a stunning 180 percent ridership growth in its 10 years of operation.

Miami-Ft. Lauderale Ranks 8th in Walkability! Huh?

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on December 5, 2007
in Brookings Institution, Miami, Pedestrians and Walkability
. 10 Comments

The good news is, a recently released Brookings Institution report claims that the number of walkable locales is growing in many metropolitan areas across the country. It’s great to see that people are rediscovering the kind of urbanism that allows high quality pedestrian environments to thrive.

However, the Brookings report itself has some major flaws. I know I’m going to sound like a major hater here, but somehow out of 30 metropolitan regions nationwide, the Miami-Ft Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro ranked 8th place – above metros like New York and Philadelphia! For anyone who knows anything about cities and metropolitan regions, this should immediately raise a red flag.

So how is such a ranking possible, you ask? It comes down to Brookings’ flawed methodology for calculating walkable areas in each metro. Instead of calculating the percentage of area that is walkable in each metropolitan region, the Institution instead chose to go by arbitrary districts or neighborhoods, which vary considerably in size and functionality. For example, both Center City, Philadelphia and Coconut Grove, Miami were chosen as walkable locales within their respective metros. However, despite Center City being much, much larger than Coconut Grove, the two areas count the same.

In New York, which had the highest number of walkable locales at 21, it’s even more arbitrary. Districts that roughly correlate with popular Manhattan neighborhoods were chosen, leaving most of the rest of the city out of the report. This, in effect, is saying that Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, home to dozens and dozens of the most walkable neighborhoods in North America, are less worthy than Dadeland or Sugarland Town Center in suburban Houston (that’s redundant, by the way). I’m sorry, but that is at best arbitrary and at worst completely inaccurate.

This is disappointing coming from Brookings, one of the most respected (and one of my favorite) think tanks that regularly deals with urban policy and smart growth principles. A much more accurate depiction of an area’s walkability would be to calculate the percentage of both the city and the metropolitan area that is walkable. This allows for a fair, one-to-one comparison between all cities and metropolitan regions regardless of size or population. If this had been used instead as apart of the report’s methodology, I’m sure that only a very small fraction of the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro would be considered walkable.

Alas, it is very encouraging to see walkability becoming more mainstream again. It’s amazing what happens when A) people become disenchanted with the soullessness of sprawl and B) quality urbanism is built instead. Believe it or not, this is what Miami 21 is all about – making the City of Miami more walkable and pedestrian-oriented. This is why it is critical that we support it, because even though it is not a perfect code, it is far, far better than anything in place right now. Furthermore, it gives us the only fighting chance at actually making Miami into a high quality, pedestrian-oriented city.

Pic o’ the Day: Neighborhood Edition

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on December 4, 2007
in Density, Livable Neighborhoods, Pictures and urban
. 8 Comments


Can you name the city and the neighborhood?

Photos: Flickr.com

Tufts Report: Miami could be Hottest Major City on Earth by 2100

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on November 30, 2007
in Climate Change, Global Warming, Miami-Dade County and Sprawl
. 5 Comments

A recent report conducted by Tufts University paints a very grim picture of Florida’s future if we don’t take swift action to fight climate change. According to the report, South Florida will be particularly vulnerable to warming effects.

Throughout the report, the researchers discuss two scenarios; the first, known as “rapid stabilization”, is the most optimistic scenario in which global emissions decrease at least 50% by 2050 and U.S. emissions decline at least 80% by the same period. The second scenario, referred to as “business-as-usual”, is a pessimistic scenario that projects the damages to our state if we continue to take little action.

Some of the reports noteworthy conclusions in the “business-as-usual scenario”:

  • Within vulnerable zones:
    • residential real estate now valued at over $130 billion
    • half of Florida’s beaches
    • 99% of Mangroves
  • Sea level could rise by as much as 23” by 2050 and 45” by 2100
    • 70% of Miami-Dade would be under water
    • 99.6% of Monroe would be under water
    • The Everglades would be almost completely inundated by salt water, and effectively destroyed
  • Heat waves will become more severe and more common, with new record temperatures and a gradual decline in nighttime cooling. The average heat index in summer will increase by 15-20% in much of the state. Miami will become several degrees warmer than Bangkok (probably the world’s hottest, most humid major city today) and daily highs in many Florida cities will exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit for nearly 2/3 or the year.
  • Annual statewide economic losses (that’s right…this is per year)
    • $92 billion by 2050
    • $345 billion by 2100
Of course there are those within the rapidly dwindling skeptic community that feel the negative effects of climate change are nothing that good ‘ol human ingenuity can’t solve. Such a reliance on technology to fight nature’s fury is such a dangerous and fleeting philosophy. The Miami-Dade County Climate Change Task Force’s Science and Technology Committee had this to say in the Tufts Report:

“The highly porous limestone and sand substrate of Miami-Dade County (which at present permits excellent drainage) will limit the effectiveness of widespread use of levees and dikes to wall off the encroaching sea.”

However, even if levees and dikes did present a viable option for fighting rising sea levels, it would be inordinately expensive to build such infrastructure in a state with over 1,200 miles of coastline (this doesn’t even factor in Lake Okechobee and other vulnerable watersheds).

This is serious business we’re talking about here. If we don’t start taking swift action to fight climate change, we all lose. Environmentalists lose for obvious reasons, business interests suffer as insurance rates skyrocket, tourism declines, and billions of dollars tied up in real estate become threatened. If you’re indifferent, you’ll still suffer from unprecedented heat and humidity, extremely high costs of living due to insurance and energy price hikes, and more frequent major hurricanes that threaten the lives of us all.

This makes the recent vote to move the UDB line all the more disgraceful. If there is any place that should be leading the fight on climate change, it’s South Florida and Miami-Dade County. Few places are as vulnerable geographically and no other region on Earth can lay claim to an ecosystem like the Everglades. However, this hasn’t stopped self-interest and incompetence from making South Florida one of the most sprawling, unsustainable regions in all of North America.

Click here to download the full report, “Florida and Climate Change: The Costs of Inaction”.

Miami Still Clueless About Parking

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on November 28, 2007
in Donald Shoup, Miami, Parking and Policy
. 3 Comments
If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it twice, we’ve said it about a hundred times: parking is cancerous to urban areas. The more of it you have and the cheaper it is, the more lethal it becomes to what could be a healthy, well-designed urban area as it induces driving demand and destroys urban continuity. Unfortunately for Miamians, people in power are still about as clueless about parking as George McFly was about women.
In this recent article in the Miami Today News, it is revealed that Bayview Market (yeah, one of the proposed uber-retail developments in the Omni area with about 50 million parking spaces) is now unfathomably receiving bonus incentives from the City to build more parking. The measure is designed to reward retail developers for adding extra parking in the Urban Central Business District, allowing an additional 10 ft. of building height for every additional 75 parking spaces provided.

Though the bonus only is allowable for up to 20 ft. of building height, it is still terrible, terrible policy to be incentivizing developers to build more parking in the CBD — a place that already has such an incredible oversupply of parking it is disgusting. If this isn’t bad enough, here’s the real nail-in-the-coffin of bad parking policy: the ordinance requires that the new spaces be free to the public during business hours, and offered at market rates during off-peak periods. This is absolutely as backward as it gets.

Too bad that the people’s opinions that matter don’t think so. City Manager (and apparently urban planner wannabe) Pete Hernandez calls this ridiculous new ordinance, “good, sound policy.”

Bayview Market’s developer, Garcia Du-Quesne, also seems to have missed the boat (though he can at least claim bias):

“We strongly feel that it (the ordinance) has a tremendous foresight and reflects good planning…(it) is made for every present or future retail developer.”

Yikes. But this is what we’ve come to expect in Miami/Miami-Dade. People who have no formal urban planning education are making critical errors in policy and project approvals based on hunches, pet theories, and overly simplistic economic policy that will forever damage our quality of life and urban potential.

I’m forwarding a copy of UCLA Urban Planner and world-renowned parking policy scholar Donald Shoup’s People, Parking, and Cities (or click here for the abbreviated version) to the City Manager and all of Miami and Miami-Dade’s commissioners. If you’re reading at home and really want to become an expert of parking policy, I highly recommend Shoup’s book, The High Cost of Free Parking.

Both of these pieces will change your opinion about parking forever.

Photo: Google Earth

Pic o’ the Day

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on November 27, 2007
in Pictures, Skyline and urban
. 3 Comments

Where in the world is this fine place?

Photo: Flickr.com

Happy Thanksgiving

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on November 22, 2007
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment


Photo: www. surfnetkids.com

Pic o’ the Day

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on November 19, 2007
in Pictures, Skyline and urban
. 6 Comments


Can anyone guess where this (like always, without cheating)?

Photo: Flickr.com

Report: "You are where you live"

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on November 15, 2007
in Density, Miami, Mixed Use, Obesity, Sprawl and Transit
. 2 Comments

The Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI) recently came out with a report that, like so many other reports the last few years, illustrates the relationship between sprawl and obesity. The report argues that if planners are to reverse this crisis, they’ll need to find ways to get people out of cars and auto-centric communities and into denser, mixed-use neighborhoods where things are closer together. From the Toronto Star:
There’s no question there’s a connection between obesity, diabetes and heart-related diseases and the built environment, specifically sprawl, said co-author George McKibbon. Air quality is an issue, too, especially for those who live near highways. We also found that if you’re in a car four to five hours a day, social cohesion is at risk.

The report’s authors go on to say:

Good urban form is functional, economically and environmentally sustainable, and liveable, in a way that promotes public health. These communities offer a variety of housing options, facilities and open-space systems. They are walkable, cyclable, and include transit-oriented development, and promote alternatives to the single occupancy vehicle.

The report takes a close look at the issue of childhood obesity and how patterns of large, spread out schools have contributed by not allowing kids to walk to school. According to OPPI traffic engineer, Nick Poulos, simply by letting kids walk to and from school, we’d be healthier, pollution would be reduced, and neighborhood traffic would be reduced by 15 to 20 percent.

This is just one more reason why Miami needs to become denser and more transit-oriented. Do you know how much money per year is spent on obesity-related illness in the U.S. right now? Over $100 billion, including $60+ billion in direct medical costs and $50+ billion in lost productivity. That, my friends, is the very definition of a health and spending crisis.

You are where you live — think about it.

Pic o’ the Day

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on November 15, 2007
in Skyline and urban
. 7 Comments


Can anybody guess where this is (without cheating)?

Photo: thomas_hobbs flickr

Rome Embraces Bike Sharing

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on November 13, 2007
in Bicycles, Miami Beach, Rome, Velib and bike-sharing
. 3 Comments

Add Rome to the growing number of international cities implementing bike sharing programs. Details are currently sparse, but the Roman version will kick off with a pilot program, which will include 250 bikes at 22 stations throughout the city’s historic center. If (when) fully implemented, the Roman program will boast approximately 20,000 bikes citywide, similar to Paris’ Velib program. Also like Paris, Rome has hired an advertising giant, Cemusa, to set up the system.

Miami, the writing is on the wall. I still challenge the City of Miami Beach to at least pursue a pilot bike sharing program for a few months, even if it’s just confined to South Beach. I am so confident the program would prove to be wildly successful, even without a high level of bicycle infrastructure (bike lanes, bike parking, traffic calming, etc) installed yet. This is the time of year to introduce such a program as well, given the phenomenal weather and massive influx of tourists (see: traffic).

Photo: Walter Parenteau’s Flickr