Spring in New York, almost

It never fails to amaze me, each time I come here, how active streets just keep going.  Better cities have good neighborhoods with maybe a bustling central street, maybe two with buzz that intersect to become a district's epicenter, maybe even, 2 or 3 parallel streets linked by cross streets to form a gridded core, but level of activity of these hubs falls off quickly into predominantly residential blocks. In Manhattan, the predominant pattern is one of bustling boulevards running north south and quiet residential-looking streets running east-west.  Every 12 blocks or so an East-west street is widened to be a commercial street.  The point is, almost everywhere, you're not far from active pedestrian streets.  Having a car even seems absurd - it would truly just be in the way.  No great revelations there, but just sharing one of the city's best aspects.