Reclaiming the Road

What if the biggest public space in your city isn’t a park—it’s the street right outside your door? We sit down with author and planner‑geographer David Prytherch to rethink roads as social infrastructure and unpack why “complete streets” is only the starting line. From the rapid legal and engineering turn that handed streets to cars a century ago to the community‑led experiments that reclaimed asphalt during the pandemic, this conversation traces the power dynamics that shape everyday mobility—and how to change them.We dig into mobility justice in plain language: not just bikes versus cars, but who feels safe, who gets heard, and where public money actually lands. David lays out how pop‑ups, parklets, and open streets create a cognitive shift that policy can lock in, and why “messy shared space” often calms traffic better than paint and signs. You’ll hear practical, scalable ideas—default speed humps, daylighted intersections, neighborhood greenways, curb‑level plazas—and a frank look at bottom‑up versus top‑down delivery. Boston’s standardized traffic calming and Queens’ 34th Avenue transformation show two paths to lasting change, each grounded in data, culture, and community stewardship.If you care about safer streets, small business vitality, public health, or equitable access, this episode offers a toolkit and a mindset. We share a reading list—from Peter Norton’s Fighting Traffic to Mimi Sheller’s Mobility Justice—and outline how cities can move from car hegemony to people‑first design without breaking budgets. Enjoyed the conversation? Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a friend or colleague who plans, pedals, or simply walks their city.Show Notes:Further Reading:Fighting Traffic: the Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City by Peter Norton Mobility Justice: the Politics of Movement in an Age of Extremes by Mimi ShellerJustice in the Interstates: The Racist Truth about Urban Highways by Ryan Reft, Amanda Phillips de Lucas, Rebecca Retzlaff Cyclescapes of the Uneven City: Bicycle Infrastructure and Uneven Development by John G. StehlinLaw, Engineering, and The American Right-of-Way by David Prytherch (free download here).To view the show transcripts, click on the episode at https://bookedonplanning.buzzsprout.com/Follow us on social media for more content related to each episode:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/booked-on-planning/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BookedPlanningFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/bookedonplanningInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookedonplanning/