THE PASEO — AN ESCAPE FROM THE AUTOMOBILE

There is a growing awareness that the automobile is getting out of hand; that its influence on the urban scene is becoming dictatorial rather than beneficent. It is the instrument whereby free rein was given to urban sprawl and, now that we have sprawled all over the landscape, it has become the indispensable element essential to holding the whole loosely knit package together. With the increase in population and prosperity, the automobile is demanding more and more land for its exclusive use.

In places like Los Angeles, it is demanding a lion’s share of the very air—polluting it and rendering it unfit to breathe. The quirk of nature that allows the automobile to steal the air in Los Angeles is called a “temperature inversion.” Santa Barbara has its own temperature inversion. All we need is a few more cars to attain the unhappy distinction of becoming more like Los Angeles.

— text and image from the 1964 General Plan for Santa Barbara

WHEN PARIS SAID AU REVOIR TO CARS, AIR POLLUTION DROPPED

Over the past 20 years, Paris has undergone a major physical transformation, trading automotive arteries for bike lanes, adding green spaces and eliminating 50,000 parking spaces. Part of the payoff has been invisible — in the air itself.

Airparif, an independent group that tracks air quality for France’s capital region, reported that levels of fine particulate matter have decreased 55 percent, while nitrogen dioxide levels have fallen 50 percent. [Washington Post]

“PURE JOY” — SAN FRANCISCO’S GREAT HIGHWAY BECOMES A PARK

Thousands of people turned out on a sunny Saturday to celebrate the opening of San Francisco’s newest park, the 2-mile stretch of the Great Highway now dubbed Sunset Dunes. Runners, bicyclists with kids in tow, friends with coffees in hand and children on scooters all convened on the stretch of highway now permanently closed to cars. [SF Chronicle]