By creating corridors of meaning and reshaping space, these streets can better fulfill their civic role as Brooklyn's public living room. Most people do not have private outdoor space, and while Prospect Park and other neighborhood parks provide that, these are isolated islands in the area. By using vectors (ART, PARK and WATER) to enliven the street and appreciate its worth as more than a tarmac for traffic, Park Slope can reclaim this area from dangerous speeding traffic and connect with a network of civic spaces that encourages all forms transit. By envisioning a sustainable hierarchy of transit, cars yield to bikes yield to pedestrians while civilizing the space with furniture, trees and plantings.

These vectors come together at the intersection of 4th Avenue and 9th Street to rethink and redesign the 21st century street. By adapting a series of urban strategies to the needs of this neighborhood, these blocks can serve as a prototype for livelier, more sustainable urban environments everywhere.

Vector 1: ART
4th Avenue becomes a corridor for art, a linear sculpture garden. Installations by local and international artists will animate what is now an almost anonymous byway. The elevated F train platform will be transformed into a large-scale video installation and create a focal point for the surrounding blocks.

Vector 2: PARK
Identity and wayfinding are strengthened by pulling the park west across 9th Avenue. Clusters of trees, meadow-like berms and benches placed on an expanded central median (think Barcelona's Ramblas) will create a park with room for both pedestrians and bicyclists.

Vector 3: WATER
The many canals, inlets and bays of Brooklyn are testament not only to the history of industry and manufacturing in Brooklyn, but to their continued presence. Drawing water references and allusions eastward from Gowanus in the form of drinking fountains and water-related installations will create a corridor pointing the way to Brooklyn's working waterfront.

Strategy 1: SUSTAINING
Creating a healthier, vibrant sustainable city starts by using sustainable, locally sourced materials. Porous pavers that filter out oil and keep it out of the water table and bio-remediating plantings are examples of ways the city can pursue more healthy strategies. Surrounding building owners can support these goals with grants and programs (with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden or other local institutions) that encourage the installation of green roofs, shade awnings along with street trees and plantings, all of which promote benefits for building owners as well as the community.

Strategy 2: FURNISHING
To make public space usable, it must be treated as a living room. Benches, newsstands, sheltered subway entrances, fountains and info kiosks invite people to occupy the space and respect it as a shared resource. Bike racks, pumps and route maps encourage bicycling. By using a palette referencing local manufacturing (CorTen steel, brick, corrugated metal, recycled wood, safety glass), the furnishings can contribute to a more organic sense of place.

Strategy 3: EVENT PLANNING
Spaces should be programmed for more than one use. The area under the elevated tracks along 10th Street can be used for off-street municipal parking during the week and a semi-protected Greenmarket/flea market on weekends. Streets can be temporarily closed for biking, walking or running events like Summer Streets, and block parties.

Strategy 4: CALMING
Using green-pigmented concrete to mark and protect bike lanes, using differentiated brick paving to mark walkways and reducing the number of lanes and the width to create larger plaza-like pedestrian and bike areas will give pedestrians and cyclists greater confidence and safety.

Strategy 5: EDUCATION
Education is perhaps the most important of all strategies. A special set of easily recognizable blue and green signs marks alternative forms of transportation, sustainable strategies and local lore.