After a thirty-year hiatus, car-free streets returned to NYC during the summer of 2008. In addition to the NYC DOT-sponsored Summer Streets along 90 blocks of Park Avenue and Lafayette Street, three other neighborhoods embarked on pedestrian-focused experiments of their own. The 78th Street Play Street in Jackson Heights, Williamsburg Walks on Bedford Avenue, and Summer Space on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights turned over the roadbed to pedestrians on weekends last summer. Transportation Alternatives surveyed the people who attended the events. A report on those findings, I Walk in My Street, shows:

• Before the closure, only 42% of respondents said they would visit Montague Street more often if it were closed to auto traffic; during Summer Space this number jumped to 72%.
• The percentage of respondents who rated the pedestrian experience of Montague Street as "Good" or "Very Good" increased from 79% before the closure to 97% during the events.
• 100% of those surveyed at the 78th Street Play Street felt that the event "enhanced the park and farmers' market."
• Pedestrian streets encourage walking: during the Williamsburg Walks event, 47% of those surveyed said that they had walked to the event, a 14% improvement over normal levels.
• Montague Street retailers experienced 26% higher sales during Summer Space than on comparable days in 2007, on average.

Each of these events bucked the city's decades-old trend of multi-block street closures crowded with vendors from outside the neighborhood. Each of the events was sponsored and managed by local organizations and businesses. Building on their success, 2009 will bring up to 10 similar events throughout the city.

"Events like Summer Streets have convinced New Yorkers that car-free streets can be about more than funnel cake and tube sock vendors," says Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. "They provide much-needed room to breathe in neighborhoods with otherwise congested sidewalks and a lack of open space."

"Montague Street's Summer Space provided a wonderful atmosphere for our neighbors and visitors to dine outside, shop at local businesses and enjoy our beautiful street," says Chelsea Mauldin, Executive Director of the Montague Street Business Improvement District. "We hope to bring Summer Space back in 2009, this time with even more outdoor seating, toys and games for families, and cultural activities sponsored by local merchants."

The full report is available for download at http://transalt.org/files/newsroom/reports/2009/walk_in_my_street.pdf

###