Mew Orleans is still Way too auto dependent, w/ grocery stores miles away, etc. That St. Claude Ave, bridge is a terrifying death trap for bikers and too many drunk or indisciplined drivers, far too many massive SUV's and monstrous 6 wheel pickup trucks all driven many miles over the speed limit.

As for NYC, the DOT is always behind the curve. The biggest problem in NYC is the heavy trucks at all hours and on every street. Non- stop tractor trailer use of Canal Street and Broome and 'Cut thrugh' traffic on BQE between New Jersey and New England. Long haul trucks cross the Verrazano Bridge (no toll) and then cross back into Manhattan and north on Madison Avenue/3d Avenue into the Bronx to avoid tolls.

Bloomberg tried to initiate a per- car servive fee for anyone entering Manhattan w/ a car but that was shot down. The best times be be in NYC was during taxi strikes because 1/3 of traffic would disappear. Also after 9/11 when single occupant vehicles were barred from crossing the East River. A lot of changes can and need to be made.

- Install tolls inbound on Verrazano bridge tolls both way on Holland and Lincoln tunnels for trucks.

- Install tolls on East River crossings - ban single occupant autos at all times.

- No cars at all South of 96th Street in Manhattan during the day. People have been crying out for this one for decades.

- Install electric trolley bus transit lanes on BQE, FDR Drive and West End Avenue.

The entire issue is mired in politics: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/nyregion/28transit.html

Residents Demand Relief from Canal Street Trucks

On July 8, more than 100 residents of Tribeca, SoHo, and the West Village attended a meeting with officials from the City's Transportation, Planning, and Police Departments to discuss the growing truck nightmare on Canal Street and in their neighborhoods. Much of the traffic comes from trucks headed from Brooklyn or Long Island to New Jersey via the Holland Tunnel as a way of avoiding the costly toll on the Verrazano Bridge. Angry residents had a whole shopping list of familiar complaints: fatal dangers to pedestrians (especially kids); unhealthy air pollution levels, particularly lung-destroying diesel particulates; noise and vibrations from trucks barreling along their streets; the non-enforcement of rules against oversized trucks; and truck drivers straying from approved routes.

At the meeting, residents, T.A. and elected officials, including Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Councilmember Kathryn Freed, Assemblywoman Deborah Glick and State Senator Tom Duane, denounced the ever-growing Canal Street fiasco and offered a range of solutions, from two-way variable-price tolling on the Verrazano Bridge to new regulations that would limit truck size to a maximum of 33 feet (from 55 feet currently) and stepped-up enforcement of truck routes and size. Representatives from the City provided few answers other than the time honored "we're doing the best we can" and "we'll have to wait and see." T.A. called for an oversized trucks crackdown, and has filed for NYPD's truck enforcement statistics under the Freedom of Information Law.

http://www.transalt.org/files/newsroom/magazine/995OctNov/11canalst.html

There is a long way to go, while attractive, the initiative so far are just scratching the surface of the problem. There is no real leadership and the transit authority is proposing major service cuts, meaning more not less auto traffic into the city.

Yeah you right. NOLA's Old Urbanism looks a lot like the New Urbanism.

I guess that (not entirely) benign neglect has allowed our 19th century, pre-automobile, city to skip the post-war "development" boom and plunge straight into the future.

We live on one of those narrow one-way uptown streets; two corner groceries, restaurants, bars, cleaners, banks, miscellaneous shops (including two costume shops) within a couple of blocks walking. One block from the bus, four blocks from the streetcar. Half mile to Zara's, but closer to Rouse's market. My experience is that it's easy and safe to bicycle anywhere in the city with the exception perhaps of N.O. East, but including the easily traversed St. Claude Ave bridge.

Car speeds on our street are generally far less than the 25 mph limit due to the traffic calming effects of potholes, rough pavement, and S&WB sinkholes. There are several two-way streets with parking on both sides and barely enough room for a single car to pass - fosters cooperation. Our WalkScore = 94.

Other factors creating useful public space include mixed use areas, mixed income housing, small houses close together (lots of doubles for renters), front stoops and porches near the street behind low iron fences and under shade trees. No need for re-claiming -- it's always been there.

Corner stores took a big hit during the flood, but are coming back even in the flooded parts of Central City. Schools improving (from a terrible bottom); would be an urban paradise if we could get more better jobs and reduce the crime and racism.