ThinkBike Workshop Brings Dutch and Pittsburgh's Bicycling Advocates Together

On June 21^st and 22^nd Pashek Associates staff member Mike Kotyk attended the ThinkBike workshop at Carnegie Mellon University.  This workshop, organized by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s Office in partnership with the Royal Netherlands Embassy, brought together Dutch bicycle transportation experts, Pittsburgh transportation planners, engineers, advocates and cyclists to plan and discuss how Oakland’s Fifth and Forbes Avenue corridor can become more bicycle-friendly.

During the two-day workshop, participants were split into two teams which surveyed the existing conditions of the corridor and then provided constructive recommendations and solutions on how to make this busy corridor more bicycle and pedestrian friendly.  The team’s outcomes and recommendations were then presented to the public, decision makers, cyclists and other interested parties at the closing session on the evening of June 22^nd.

About ThinkBike

Through a multi-city initiative, Dutch experts and companies are increasing bicycle use in the U.S. and Canada. Toronto was the first Canadian city to host such an event, while Chicago was the first U.S. city to host a bike workshop, followed by Washington, D.C., Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles. For more information on ThinkBike, please visit: http://www.facebook.com/ThinkBike or www.dutchcycling.nl.

Here are few links to some media exposure on ThinkBike Pittsburgh:  

Post Gazette: Dutch Workshops Offer Biking Advice

KDKA: Dutch Consultants to Help Oakland Become More Bike Friendly

NPR: Dutch Bicycling Experts to Weigh in on Improving Bike Infrastructure in Oakland

Trails Revitalize River Towns

This morning Jim Pashek was riding into the office on his bike and had a nice chat with Chris, a young man riding his bike to work downtown.  Chris works in the Mental Health field and is studying at Pitt in Social Work.  Chris recently moved to Millvale from the East End.  He loves Pamela’s and the other great shops in Millvale but the primary reason he moved there was the trail connection from Millvale Riverfront Park to downtown.  Chris's story is a great example of how trails revitalize river towns.

Not only do trails provide recreational opportunities, but they truly are alternatives to driving and parking in the City.  They become magnets for young professionals like Chris (and older professionals like Jim) who want to live near a trail so they can ride their bike to work or school.

Chris, thanks for talking with Jim and making the 7 mile trip seem much shorter today.

When is a Charrette Appropriate?

Jim Pashek recently attended a Charrette planning workshop sponsored by the National Charrette Institute (NCI) and Harvard Graduate School of Design.  The Charrette, typically involving 6-9 months of activities, centered around an intensive 7 day workshop has been used to bring together disparate viewpoints, build consensus, and generate products that can often move forward projects that may have been on hold for years.

Route 30 Charrette

 Although there are usually months devoted to workshop preparation, often including a public meeting, the heart is the seven day charrette.  This involves representatives from all sides of an issue, at least three “feedback loops” to make sure the proposals at the end are incorporating stakeholder views and a range of professional participants depending on the type of project.  It is not unusual to have at the seven day charrette, 12- 15 professionals, from land use planners, architects, landscape architects, illustrators, economists, developers, engineers and ecologists.  The cost of a charrette obviously varies depending on the complexity of the project.  The NCI suggests that these charrettes often cost from as little as $125,000 to more than $350,000 for very complex projects.

The 9 steps for a successful charrette include:

1. Working in a collaborative way – don’t start designing until seeking input
2. Design cross-functionally – multiple disciplines will result in a realistic product, avoiding re-work
3. Compress work sessions – facilitates creative problem solving and “thinking outside the box”
4. Communicate in short feedback loops – quickly builds trust and project understanding
5. Study the details and the whole – designs of varying scales will reduce likelihood of “fatal flaw”
6. Produce a feasible plan – decisions must be fully informed regarding legal, financial and political
7. Use design to achieve a shared vision and create holistic solutions – can contribute to resolving conflict
8. Conduct a multiple day charrette – need time for at least three feedback loops with stakeholders to build trust and make sure design is going to be accepted
9. Hold the charrettes on or near the site – allows design team to better understand project

Workshop in Prague

Because we were in Cambridge for the training, we had the added benefit of a session with Stacie Smith from the Consensus Building Institute (CBI).  The Institute, who started as a group of professors at MIT and who authored the book “Getting to Yes,” have developed an interesting process for getting groups with polarized positions to identify common values that they can build on (the CBI is just beginning to do work in the middle east). 

There are situations when viewpoints are so entrenched that consensus building might be a more appropriate process than a charrette.  Other times, this process might be a logical precursor to a charrette workshop.

The NCI has great resources for agencies including a standard scope of work for running a charrette process.  Check out www.charretteinstitute.org or call them at 503-233-8486.  I would encourage everyone to become more familiar with this great public process tool and consider using it in the appropriate situation.  Anyone who is interested in more information could also give Jim Pashek a call at 412-321-6362 x111.

B-cycle Demonstrates How Bike Sharing can Work in Pittsburgh

Today, a couple of us decided to ride our office bikes two miles (taking the scenic route through Point State Park) to grab lunch at the farmer’s market in Market Square.  The plaza was abuzz with people and activity.  Pedestrians and bicyclists came to socialize, eat lunch, pick up some wine or food for later, and listen to live music.  In addition, B-cycle was in the Square demonstrating how bike sharing works and gathering support for a B-cycle program in Pittsburgh.

B-cycle works along the same line as the Zip Car.  It works like this…  Say you want to make a couple of errands or run to a meeting nearby, but don’t want to deal with parking, the bus just takes too long, and/or you feel like cutting down your CO2 emissions and you don’t have a bike.  Well, you can walk a couple blocks to the nearest B-station and buy a membership card or swipe a card you paid for online to unlock a groovy-looking bike complete with heavy duty basket.  You ride to your destination and lock the bike back up at another B-station. 

For more information about B-cycle, visit their website!

Is Big-Box Going Small?

Check out this article from the Wall Street Journal about Big-Box stores shrinking in size.  That's right, it seems as though big name retailers are starting to open more and more small-sized stores.  Staples has opened a 4,000 square foot store while Best Buy has several smaller stores averaging 1,400 square feet.  What does this mean for urban redevelopment?  Well, plenty of new opportunities of course.

Prefurbia: A Viable Solution to Urban Renewal?

Developed by the Rick Harrison Site Design Studio, Perfurbia is a new method of urban and suburban redevelopment that aims to produce a “Preferred Quality of Life”.  Prefurbia uses organically-designed neighborhoods with varied streetscapes and aspires to reduce environmental impact, increase public and private space, reduce costs, and increase pedestrian connectivity compared to traditional neighborhoods.   

 Take a look at this slideshow presentation to see a case study.  Let us know what you think.  What are the pros and cons of this planning method?  How does it compare to New Urbanism and Smart Growth Principles?  We would like to know your thoughts.