Sidewalks Make Safe Places

Recently here at WalkBoston we had an internet and phone outage that left me, trusty intern, without my usual work to do. Fortunately it so happened that I had been reading Jane Jacobs' prolific book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities during my bus commute to Boston, so I have that to share with you. Jacobs, who rejected the orthodox city planning of her time (1950s-60s), discusses at length the uses of sidewalks with what would be considered even today very progressive thinking.

Sidewalks are not just spaces that should be designed with safety in mind, Jacobs argues, they are safety-creating devices. Cities, unlike towns and suburbs, are literally full of strangers. However, sidewalks, when operating well, create an environment that makes you or me feel safe sharing the street with the city's strangers.

Jacobs speaks quite approvingly of Boston's very own North End neighborhood, writing that its streets are some of the safest one could ever experience (and the North End was quite different in her day). Its sidewalks work so well because they are populated at all times throughout the day. People in the North End use the sidewalks before, during, and after the work day; they use them for pleasure strolls, performing errands, socializing, and going out for a meal, a drink, or a pastry. The North End is what planners call a mixed-use neighborhood—many activities perform there, all in close contact. As a result, there are almost always what Jacobs calls “eyes on the street.”

A place like the North End rarely needs closed-circuit television monitoring or doormen to watch the street. Instead, through its day-and-night activity, the North End has built-in eyes—the activity all along its sidewalks.

WalkBoston pleased with USDOT's stance on walking and biking

Today, we're sending this letter to Ray LaHood, US Secretary of Transportation:

Dear Secretary LaHood,

WalkBoston is delighted with your new Federal Department of Transportation policy statement in support of bicycle and pedestrian facilities. We hope you will follow up in encouraging – even pressuring – state and local agencies to take action with the federal funding to recognize biking and walking as equal with other modes, rather than as afterthoughts to roads projects.

For millions of Americans, walking is not purely recreational and this number is rising. Many people walk to work and school, to trains, to transit, and for social purposes, though the data is poorly collected. The collection and use of more inclusive and comprehensive data would further support this excellent policy.

WalkBoston is the nation’s first pedestrian advocacy organization, advocating for Massachusetts pedestrians for more than 20 years. We see your statement as a huge step toward making US transportation policies meet the needs of the future. Walkable communities are welcoming to a broad range of people, resilient in the face of economic and environmental adversity, good for health and fitness, and for our children.

We are writing to thank you. We intend to encourage our U.S. Representatives and Senators to support your policy It has been a long time coming and we are grateful for this and your numerous other sensible strong positions.

Thank you,

Rosa Carson
WalkBoston

Life takes place on foot

Wow, our annual meeting happened and I forgot to blog for a month. Oops!

Yesterday, one of our interns was raving to me about a book he recently discovered about the design of public spaces: Jan Gehl's Life Between Buildings. I didn't previously know about this book, but it's immediately clear that it was visionary and continues to influence people-friendly designs and thinking about the public realm. Since we're WalkBoston, Phil highlighted this excerpt for me (emphasis added):

It is important that all meaningful social activities, intense experiences, conversations, and caresses take place when people are standing, sitting, lying down, or walking. One can catch a brief glimpse of others from a car or a train window, but life takes place on foot. Only "on foot" does a situation function as a meaningful opportunity for contact and information in which the individual is at ease and able to take time to experience, pause, or become involved.

I love this so much, both because it's something I believe and because it's something I experience. My whole life is changed by the neighborhood I live in, and my relationship to my neighborhood relies on my moving around it on foot on a regular basis. I know more neighbors than I would if I only traveled by car. I have casual, incidental contact with people I know at varying levels of intimacy, and each one improves my day, even on the grouchy ones!

I recently used the T stop exit farther from my house so I could finish a conversation with my friend before we went to our homes (in opposite directions from the square). As I crossed the plaza that sits above the T station, I ran into a group of friends who were hanging out. I have since resolved that when the weather is nice, I should always take the long way out of the T station on the off chance that I'll run into folks in the plaza by doing so.

I figure that when I'm 70, I'm more likely to remember and value that happy moment of unexpected socializing than getting home a couple of minutes earlier.

Mr. Walker vs. Mr. Wheeler

You know how, when you're walking, drivers are all inconsiderate jerks, and when you're driving, pedestrians are slow, annoying obstacles?

Certainly Disney's Goofy has some experience with this: Goofy in Motor Mania!

Putting ourselves in other people's shoes is one of the trickiest, and frequently, most easily overlooked elements of sharing space with others. When I'm on a crowded sidewalk, everyone around me is walking too slowly and seems totally oblivious to how they're blocking the sidewalk. When I'm standing talking to friends, I'm annoyed at the person brushing by me in a hurry.

In fact, switching modes makes us better at all of the modes we use. By changing our perspective on the road, we can become more aware of all the elements of the travel environment and the factors that are most prominent to each. When I'm on a bike, I'm acutely attuned to how closely cars pass me, so, now, when I'm in a car, I give cyclists more space, for example.

Do you use multiple modes on a regular basis? Has it made you better at moving around in the urban environment?