When the interstate comes down: constructing a more walkable, equitable, and healthier downtown Syracuse, New York

What do Boston’s Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, Rio de Janeiro’s Porto Maravilha, and Seoul’s Cheonggyecheon Stream have in common? These projects constitute the vertices of a sustainability triangle which utilized the same planning strategy to create more walkable and cyclable places in cities. Such places are now extremely important urban amenities in the United States, Brazil, and South Korea. They have advantages over motorised vehicle-oriented spaces. The New York City Times Square pedestrian plazas and other walk- and bicycle-oriented facility improvements throughout New York also constitute significant exceptions laden with demonstrative potential to be replicated elsewhere. Outside of Manhattan, various jurisdictions in New York have all created embryonic pedestrian places, and Syracuse is starting to redirect attention to walkable, equitable, and healthy transportation infrastructure with the redesign of Interstate I–81. This practice-oriented commentary highlights the potential for walkable and cyclable urbanism in Syracuse. It comprises a concise analysis of walkability improvements in upstate New York and in adjacent Vermont and Massachusetts. The key finding suggests that in a post-COVID19 pandemic era non-motorised transportation improvements ought to increase more equitable and healthier sociability opportunities for people, while also bolstering demonstrative potential for more sustainable lifestyles in cities and suburbs.