A few months ago, I wrote up a simple javascript photo gallery viewer for a side project, so I thought I'd offer it up to the world. It's unobtrusive javascript, and it takes a simple list of photos and turns it into a slidey slide show. It's built on top of the Ext Javascript Framework, but could easily be adapted to work with others. More info, download & demo Enjoy!
For the past several months, my coworkers and I over at The Open Planning Project have been hard at work on an important redesign and new product launch. I'm now excited to say that the final launch is, ahem, days away. Streetsblog and StreetFilms have been hugely popular since they launched two years ago, making an impact here in NYC and beyond, and developing a great community of readers. The Livable Streets Network, as we're calling the new, unified effort, intends to take this to the next level, by providing more online tools and new opportunities for collaboration.
We've code named the project "Woonerf," which is dutch for "a street or group of streets where pedestrians and cyclists have legal priority over motorists." It's an apt title indeed for a group of sites that aims to unite and motivate citizens across the country who want to make their cities more comfortable, livable, and sustainable. While we're not quite ready to flip the switch, we do have a live demo that folks can check out in the meantime. If you'd like to see it, just fill out this short form, and we'll send you a link. Expect more soon as we approach the launch. Here goes nothing...
(ok, I obviously need to work on less cheesy headlines, but for the moment...)
On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of accompanying TOPP's latest hire, Kim Wiley-Schwartz, on a pilot session for her new Livable Streets curriculum. She's developing an education program around Livable Streets that's debuting in several NYC public schools this spring. This week's session took two groups of students from PS 87 (1st, 4th, and 5th graders) out into the neighborhood to do streetscape observations ("do you see a bike lane?," "do cars slow down at the speed bump?") as well as radar gunning on Columbus Avenue to gauge traffic speed. Obviously, radar gunning was the more popular activity, with all the kids clamoring for a turn with Transportation Alternatives' Nathan John (above). This is a really exciting new program, and it was great to see how tuned-in little New Yorkers already are to the urban environment around them. Go get 'em Kim!