Preserving the Rich Street Life that Makes Park Slope What it Is

The Civic Council's Livable Streets Committee is gearing up for a very exciting -- and productive -- 2012. Our focus has been what happens on our community's streets and sidewalks for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers alike. Read about our four main initiatives for the coming year.

From its beginnings following the Civil War, Park Slope has been a community of diversity, where people of different means and ethnicities and beliefs have come in contact while shopping on Fifth and Seventh Avenues, walking to school or house of worship, enjoying Prospect Park, and traveling by streetcar and bus, the old Fifth Avenue El and the subway.

It is a place where one can walk everywhere, and in the course of that walk run into neighbors and friends, taking the time to stop and chat.

Certainly, Park Slope is an urbane urban environment with wonderful architecture and a human scale, but those would count for little without the richness of its street life. That is truly the essence of Park Slope.

The Livable Streets Committee covers a lot of ground. There's the semi-annual Clean Sweep, advocacy on traffic and mass transit issues, and the search for ways to accommodate traffic and green space. The Grand Army Plaza Coalition (GAPCo), co-founded by the Civic Council, and the Forum on Fourth Avenue are two initiatives undertaken by this committee.

This committee is open to all, and meets on the third Thursday morning of every month at the Brooklyn Lyceum on Fourth Avenue and President Street. (Confirm on our online calendar.) Meetings last approximately one hour, and there is a lot of committee work done by e-mail. Come and see what we're doing; come join our great work!

E-mail livablestreets@parkslopeciviccouncil.org for more information.

Read "Improving Our Public Spaces" -- an example of "What Is the Park Slope Civic Council?" -- from the fall 2011 Civic News here.

Read Livable Streets Committee Chair Michael Cairl's analysis of proposed changes in bus and subway service (Feb., 2010)

Read why we support East River Bridge tolling. Read all the ideas for more liveable Park Slope Streets generated at our recent workshop.

Read PSCC's testimony in support of improved G Train service, given to City Council on April 8 by Livable Streets Chair Michael Cairl.

Read the article in the February, 2008 Civic News explaining why the Civic Council supported congestion pricing - with provisos.