Councillor on a bike

My colleague, Councillor Jackie Fristacky from the City of Yarra, is an outstanding advocate for cycling. Mike Rubbo has made a video about Jackie's contribution to cycling which also gives insights into her life of a councillor. Jackie reports graffiti, discusses possums and other issues with residents while she is on the go.
I recommend you start a few minutes in as the clip is quite long.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNwxZmrJ8Nc
The City of Yarra's cycling strategy aims to more than double the rate of Yarra residents cycling to work from 6.4% to 15% by 20105. Yarra already has the highest number of people cycling to work in inner Melbourne.

Planting for narrow spaces

This interesting example in a very narrow space in a cafe in Balaclava.

Shipping container put to smart use

Stoneleigh winery's stylish bar within a shipping container outside City Square.

Trees for narrow streets

A member of the City of Port Phillip's tree reference group offered these images to the group for ideas about introducing trees into narrow streets.

Vertical garden

Saw this interesting vertical garden at TRUNK in Exhibition Street, north of Lonsdale St.
It is made out of bread trays, and that is prostrate rosemary hanging from each tray.

14 March 2013
Got off the bus and came face to face with this vertical garden again - two years later. It was looking magnificent - even after a week of 30 degree plus days. I've included a picture with the bread trays just so you can be sure its the same place.

Trunk, Russell St, Melbourne

Living wall

Saw this living wall on the ANZ building at Docklands. Beautiful to see knobby clubrush and cushion bush - which looks white at top right - used in this way.
This was what was proposed for one of the buildings on the Triangle site.

Bike Futures: Lessons from Copenhagen

• mainstream cycling - everyday cycling for everybody
• physically separated paths are the best way to get more people cycling and to overcome the sense of unsafety many people feel about sharing the road with fast moving cars
• work on both hard and soft (culture,behaviour) infrastructure
• build the network - resolve weak links
• use data, counts of people - not cars - to analyse how road space is being used
• use pilots/trials eg 'Saturday Streets' - give people the experience (showed New Yor example where they had just used planter boxes and tables and chairs)
• use visualisations rather than plans so people can see the imagined future
• build on the values of your city
• reduce car speed, bike speeds can go up
• favour on road treatments, to off road - as part of enlivening cities
• make small interventions where you can. Be responsive and fix easily fixable problems