New York City’s transportation commission has installed maps across the city to promote businesses and pedestrian activity throughout the city. Starting in March, New York City will install 150 ‘wayfinding’ signs on sidewalks in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens as part of a citywide system that will roll out in phases. The sidewalk signage will show pedestrians where they are and which way they are facing — a study last year found that many New Yorkers couldn’t point to north when asked. Transit, local attractions, and businesses are placed on a large map of the local street grid with circles indicating where you can reach with a five minute walk, and how long it will take to get to other attractions.
Image via NYC DOT
Urban Planet is a roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
For more stories from around the planet, check out Spacing on Facebook and Twitter. Do you have an Urban Planet worthy article you’d like to share? Send the link to urbanplanet@spacing.ca
7 comments
They have these signs all over London. It’s so easy to use! Love it! Would work great for NYC as well, but not sure if it would work for Toronto because it is larger scale and less walkable in winter.
It’s pretty well accepted that Toronto’s sidewalk billboards, masquerading as ‘information’ pillars, are an example of how not to implement a wayfinding system.
TO might have ended up with something more like NYC, if the city hadn’t disbanded its volunteer advisory committees including the Toronto Pedestrian Committee, who examined and provided recommendations on pedestrian related issues & infrastructure.
Thanks to the activists who helped the city clear offending pillars from locations that did not leave the legal minimum sidewalk clearance.
Sorry, not in the city’s budget. Especially with Doug Ford leading the budget committee.
Clearly, New York is doing it wrong. Without a giant billboard, and poorly made maps that can’t be read (when they can be noticed at all), it just isn’t up to Toronto’s standards.
This City is doing something about it. Check it:
http://www.toronto.ca/transportation/walking/wayfinding.htm
We now have a wayfinding strategy with a pilot rolling out.
The Toronto Way: late to the game, but we always eventually get there.
http://www.toronto.ca/transportation/walking/wayfinding.htm
Only in backwards-ass Toronto would something as ‘revolutionary’ as easy-to-read street signage be deemed worthy of note.
Of course, anything New York is always deemed worthy in pretend, desperately wannabe considered somewhat New Yorkish, Toronto.