I am perplexed by the almost complete lack of pedestrian districts in North America. Why is it that car-free streets—designed for pleasurable strolling, shopping and hanging out—which have become as common as stoplights or McDonalds in European city centers, are almost non-existent here?
I’ve only seen a few—a couple of blocks in downtown Boston, Rue Prince Arthur in Montreal, Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and short stretches of downtown streets in college towns like Boulder, Ithaca, Iowa City, Charlottesville and Burlington, Vermont. (A glance at Wikipedia turns up a few more, although I notice many on the list, like the Nicollet Mall here in Minneapolis, are not truly car-free.)
Look what we’re missing. The heart of many, if not most, German, Italian, Dutch, Scandinavian and, increasingly, South American big cities are bustling pedestrian zones that have become favorite spots for young people to gather, lovers to linger, kids to romp, women to show off their new clothes (and discreetly admire the looks of passers-by), men to admire the looks of passers-by (and discreetly show-off their new clothes) and everybody to feel part of the wider community.
via shareable.net
Nice post Chris. If you haven't already read about it you might be interested in Plaza Movil. A portable town square, Plaza Movil is designer Manuel Rapoport's answer to a big problem in Buenos Aires - a lack of safe community space.
A van that moves around and transforms streets, Plaza Movil has been designed to reclaim city streets for the local community.
Where the Plaza Movil concept gets really interesting, however, is not just as a way to bring people who wouldn't usually speak together (Serendipity) in a community space, but to actively lead them to new places in the city. It's a clever little concept.
We wrote about it on Canvas8 - http://www.canvas8.com/public/2011/05/17/plaza-movil.html
More on Serendipity in Keeping TABS Q2 - free to download here - http://www.canvas8.com/pages/public/keeping_tabs.html
Posted by: Canvas8 | 06/20/2011 at 11:18
Hey, awesome. Thanks for the heads-up!
Posted by: Chris | 06/24/2011 at 15:02