This is a great concept – Streetfilms makes short, simple videos about what works and what isn’t working in urban transport. Their three-minute video on “bike corral” parking spaces in Portland turned a concept that might otherwise be buried in a dry urban planning white paper into an illuminating, compelling clip. I find there is something about seeing — not just reading about — real people talking about What Works Now that makes you want to take action. They have these in Portland — why not Vancouver?
It’s not just the content that’s compelling, but the company looks pretty interesting as well. Streetfilms is one arm of the Livable Streets Network, along with a platform for “streetbloggers” across the US, a wiki for best practices in transport planning, and what looks like a meetup-style groups tool. It’s like a more focused Worldchanging with a broader set of collaboration and story-telling tools. Worldchanging just announced that they are partnering with Livable Streets Network to syndicate WC-like content:
We’re excited to announce that we’re now partnering with the U.S.-based Streetsblog to help bring more attention to transportation and urban design issues issues. This open source site is dedicated to collecting opinions, stories and videos about new ideas and innovative designs that help us to use our thoroughfares more effectively. Though Streetsblog’s focus is largely on New York and other major U.S. cities, their work is informed by transportation developments around the globe.
Congrats — looks like a good match.
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