Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
What would encourage people to walk more?
Zena and I met a young man from the Czech Republic who was offered a job and accommodation in Manchester. Arriving in the city, he found that the pay - minimum wage - minus the rent left him without enough money to eat and to take the long journey by tram to work. So he walked there and back each day.
Which reminded me of the 1979 book "Walking is Transport" by Mayer Hillman and Anne Whalley. Which I was thinking about when I saw this blog about "Tactical Urbanism" in Raleigh, North Carolina.
And the efforts of Anthony Garcia and Mike Lydon to encourage walking using unofficial way-finding signs. They want to build "a culture of walking".
From: Tactical Urbanism: Short-Term Action for Long-Term Change by Mike Lydon and Anthony Garcia, published in March 2015.
- Anyone know the book? Or been to Raleigh and seen their work?
- Would something similar be effective here?
- What would encourage more people — no, let's make it personal - what would encourage you to walk more?
(Click on the photo to enlarge)
Tags for Forum Posts: Anthony Garcia, Mike Lydon, Tactical Urbanism, Walking is Transport, walking
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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I got a free step counter from the Active for Life programme. You can buy them for a fiver anyway. Aiming for 10,000 steps a day is the usual target. Some days just doing a bit of shopping and walking to the park is enough to get there. The most useful bit is those days when I see I've done 250 steps all day cos of being moored online, that's motivating. About to try the NHS C25K by using the treadmills at the gym. Half an hour, 2 -3 times a week, gradually building up speed and mileage. Couch potato to running 5 kilometres. Those who know me may snork. I wouldn't fancy doing it on the road, but the running machines make it easier and so far I've done ten miles of the Pacific Coast Trail, just like in that film Wild.
PS If you're over 65, did you know Fusion gym membership - all of it, swimming etc - is free in Haringey?
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Gyms? They had one at my secondary school. <shudder> That put me off for life. Counting steps???
Treadmills - isn't that punishment a bit harsh? Even for those recidivists among us who continue to oppose the Dear Supreme Leader and her cronies?
I had in mind ways to encourage walking as a convenient, pleasant and convivial way to get from place to place.
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Permalink Reply by ThaiDi on
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Once you're confident with your 5k, you could try going to a parkrun - Finsbury Park, Ally Pally, or Pymmes park are the closest. 9am every Saturday morning. A very welcoming atmosphere, people of ages and sizes and fitness abilities, meeting in the cafe for coffee afterwards, and as I've found it's extremely addictive! www.parkrun.org.uk to sign up for your personal barcode.
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Permalink Reply by Philip on
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I like the idea of having handy signs to encourage people to walk. Near me in Upper Edmonton there are many little cut throughs which are brilliant short cuts and mean I don't have to drive all round the houses but can just nip thru. My lovely next door neighbours after 5 years here have NEVER used any of them and don't even know where they lead to! I would love to put notices on lampposts but it appears that even this is illegal! Even putting up a temperory notice about a lost cat is illegal and people have been warned about this! Any ideas?
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Some East west TOTALLy offroad routes down to the river lea/lee (still can't decide which spelling to use) would be great. i often cycle that way out to epping and down to tower bridge with the family the prize going south is beer and food at the prospect of Whitby.
What a resource!!!!
An open new river could lead to trips to Hertford
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Permalink Reply by Robert Pike on
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Never read it but reminds me of lots of other things.
In a busy part of London with major north-south and east-west vehicle routes running through it, with limited space for pedestrians to walk and play, how can barriers to pedestrians be broken down and walking encouraged? I agree at a community up level you can drive this with Guerrilla urbanism like your example of signage.
So where will you put them? What do you intend on saying? How will they look?
Lots of great examples of Guerilla gardening in this area- Gardens (GRA) planters, the Ladder planters; tyre and palette planters in streets north west of Chestnuts Park; allotments at Newlands Rd...etc. This for me makes walking each day an enjoyable experience.
Art used in a positive way like TAG and the birds pieces. Need some of that on the unpainted rail bridge!
At a higher level I would also suggest more could be addressed. For example identifying all the green spaces in the area and mapping how your walk between them. So lets open this up to the floor - describe the best pedestrian waling routes from your house to:
- Sainsbury
-Finsbury Park Station
- Turnpike Lane Station...etc etc
What about identifying where routes could be formed and where green spaces could be encouraged. i.e. Overcoming the issues preventing the New River being opened up and in doing so linking Finsbury Park with Railway Fields (A green link back to Green Lanes) Alexandra Palace and the routes beyond to Queens Wood and Hampstead Heath. As well as identifying what could be done where a New River Path meets the Ladder roads.
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Isn't ironic that an article about walking has a very seductive car advert on it?
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As a footnote to my first response was at Ecobuild and sat in on seminars to do with green and blue infrastructure. Impressed by J&L Gibbons and MUF Architects East London Green Grid and All London Green Grid - high level mapping of green spaces and potential of them. http://www.jlg-london.com/project.cfm?id=11&cat=11
At a smaller scale manifesting in 'Making Space in Dalston' http://www.landscapeinstitute.co.uk/casestudies/casestudy.php?id=211 http://www.muf.co.uk/portfolio/making-space-in-dalston-2
At a project scale Identifying where pocket parks/ interventions can be formed i.e the excellent Eastern Curve Garden. http://dalstongarden.org/ or Rhodes estate green way http://www.muf.co.uk/portfolio/rhodes-estate-2009 or the way the streets outside Arcola Theatre have been planted to encourage pedestrian use of the street.
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What a great idea! Imagine the gas towers without the gas containers - just the frames, landscaped ponds/lakes beneath with climbing flowers/vines, a bit of park land, a children's play area, band stand and a good coffee hut. And .. The sort of money for lighting all the above that got spent on the Salisbury !!!!!
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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These are all lovely ideas but let's get some basics right.
I am a walker both for pleasure and for getting to the places I need to be. It's the little things that drive me crazy. Little things like these that add to up to a massive pain in the arse.
Pavements need to be clean and well-maintained with no trip hazards (try walking some Haringey streets with someone with low-level mobility problems - it terrifies them), cars need to parked on roads not half-way across a pavement; it should not be permitted for Veolia to leave wheelie bins on pavements because their one size fits all policy brooks no compromises; crossings need to be safe, numerous and people must have time to cross; cars need to be slowed down using inventive road calming. It's the little things that affect people's perception of whether a route is safe and pleasant.
What would make life even better?
People need variety and interest so more flowers and trees and simple landscaping which discourages litter and dumping, as well as street art initiatives. Pavements need to be wheelchair/buggy wide at least and not blocked by *anything*. Give people things to read and look at that explains what or why something is the way it is.
Before we open up new routes, let's look at the routes we've got which in many cases can and should be pleasant and interesting places to walk - Green Lanes or Tottenham High Road both of which have architectural interest and lots of places to shop and eat, for example- but through neglect and dirt, the triumph of cars and lack of vision from traders and/or officialdom fail to attract the walkers.
How about promoting greater use of apps that allow you to tap into the local history and knowledge of the area. I think Foursquare enables this kind of thing (and of course HOL )?
Opening a New River path through the Ladder etc. and then not having the the money to maintain it leading it to become a fly tipping/ litter paradise would be a waste of time and destroy an important refuge for urban wildlife in the process. The point about tactical urbanism surely is small, quick win ideas that go round the need for massive (state) intervention or planning (that's why the signs thing works because it's a prod to people to be a little more active and not make excuses as well as educating them) - making the most of what we have and cherishing it.
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Street photography? Me too, Pav. Do you post your photos e.g. on Flickr?
If so, in the next days while it lasts, please consider snapping some blossom from anywhere in the borough. And uploading the pick of your photos to the Haringey Blossom Group on Flickr.
You asked about "Walk to School Campaigns". Yes, this is still very much a live issue. With the national charity Living Streets leading the way. Read more about their Walk to School campaigns here.
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I like to walk for leisure on weekends, and have been discovering the Capital Ring, which runs through Highgate Wood, along the Parkland Walk, through Finsbury Park, along the New River to Clissold Park. And continues in a loop that takes you to Crystal Palace and Richmond. The Ring takes in London's green spaces and has offered me the chance to explore new parts of London. I've decided to try and walk the whole loop (in sections, of course!), a total of 126km. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/modes/walking/capital-ring
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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IT's an interesting question you pose Alan. Almost everywhere, facilities for pedestrians are connected to or peripheral to, vehicular use. Pedestrian crossings are where we interrupt traffic
There's no expectation that residents will walk. Does the Council have any responsibility to encourage people to walk more?
The rebranding of "Highways" to become "Sustainable Transport", doesn't seem to have acheived much so far. The efforts to encourage cycling are small and sometimes, token at best.
Some pavements are now repaired, but too many are in a poor state, with crazy-paving where there are not actual trip hazards.
Should the Council have such generous parking for staff, when the main Council building is the corner of several bus routes and opposite a Tube Station to boot?
If staff were obliged to use their feet more, maybe their minds would follow too?
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