Interesting summary of New York City's experience in closing streets to cars and opening them to pedestrians and other AT users.
 
Find the full report (55 pages, publ. March 2009) at:
http://www.transalt.org/files/newsroom/reports/2009/walk_in_my_street.pdf
 
 
Executive Summary

In the summer of 2008, thousands of New Yorkers took a walk in the street. For a handful of weekends strung throughout the summer, several streets around New York City were opened to people instead of cars, bringing the idea of pedestrian streets back into the sun after a three-decade exile in history’s dustbin. Transportation Alternatives studied this effort to reintroduce pedestrianization to the streets of New York, documenting three community-driven street events—Summer Space on Montague Street in Brooklyn, the 78th Street Play Street in Queens, and Williamsburg Walks on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. The results paint a picture of a New York desperate for more public and community space, and New Yorkers ready to make the most of what they have:

* Opening the street to people is a boon to local retail: Montague Street retailers experienced 26% higher sales during Summer Space than on comparable days in 2007, on average.

* People who have experienced a pedestrian street want more: before the closure, 42% of respondents said they would visit Montague Street if it were closed to auto traffic; during the closure this number jumped by an additional 30%.

* Pedestrianization improves visitors’ perceptions of a street: 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.

* Opening the street to people builds community: 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.

The experiences of these three events points to a clear conclusion: thirty years after political expediency killed pedestrian streets in New York City, they are making a comeback. And with the help of dedicated, savvy community organizers, they are successfully bringing new open spaces into the communities that need them most.