Today's somewhat geeky urban planning term: Wayfinding

Heart of Brooklyn has been instrumental in bringing some pedestrian signs to Crown Heights

Brownstoner wrote: Maps not working on your smart phone? No problem. The Department of Transportation is coming to the rescue with a city-wide pedestrian wayfinding system in March. Crown Heights and Prospect Heights will be the first neighborhoods in Brooklyn to receive the outdoor maps and signs. Wayfinding stations are planned for Prospect Park (at the zoo and Brooklyn Botanic Gardens), on Washington Avenue, and near the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. According to Jon Orcutt, the project manager for this program, the DOT will install all this in May. The signs, pictured above and after the jump, will show pedestrian walkways, the public transportation layout, and neighborhood destinations. According to the article in today’s New York Observer, the maps are laser printed directly onto the glass signage, and the ink can be wiped away and the glass reprinted as the map changes. Unlike the wayfinding signage now up in Downtown Brooklyn, this program will be city-wide and uniform. The other pilot programs are slated for Long Island City, Midtown and Chinatown. The DOT will also install maps at the forthcoming bike share stations. The Heart of Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Children’s Museum teamed up with the DOT to make it happen in Crown Heights. The Heart of Brooklyn has been pushing for a wayfinding system in the neighborhood for almost a decade, and they’re excited to test it in the neighborhood. The DOT met with Community Board Eight last week and will meet with Community Board Nine later this month.

http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2013/01/city-wayfinding-initiative-coming-to-brooklyn/#disqus_thread