Jan Gehl 2005 Times Square Interview (2018 Recut!)
Channel: Streetfilms®
Date: 2018-04-16

I still get tense, agitated and claustrophobic any time I happen to look back at footage on what a horrible environment Times Square was for people 10+ years ago. 

But last week I happened to be in Times Square's much more pedestrian-friendly car-free spaces and picked up a little bit of footage and though it was amazing that I was standing in the same spot from over 12 years ago where Mark Gorton of the Open Planning Project (and co-founder) of Streetsblog & Streetfilms interviewed Jan Gehl from Gehl Architects about the state of Times Square. And I thought it might be interesting to take some of his words to show not only what it used to look like in 2005, but use some of the interview's "future looking language" under the newest footage. 

(We have an entire 10 minute interview you can watch here if you like https://vimeo.com/12796452)

The result is pretty awesome.

We often forget what places used to look like in New York City. There are many amazing improvements that have made. We still have a long way to go to get the city we need to have for people and sustainability, but when you look at Times Square and how much negative press and pushback it got in the media, only to see it is a complete success now, well it makes you realize ANYTHING is possible. We just need the will to do this everywhere we can!