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SF's public planning group, SPUR, has been very active in a "better streets" project to address just this issue (among others). To freshen Jenny's Kool-Aid, a healthy streetscape has evolved to include "transition zones" where incompatible uses are buffered or blended. A stoop or porch, for example, brings private space into public space and enables one to be private in public. Flat-front buildings such as those shown here give up that feature, trading an abrupt transition with no social transition space for full-frontal development of the lot. (esp evident in lower right photos - compare to neighbors) On-street parking, similarly, creates a buffer between pedestrians and street traffic. Curbcuts result in no parked cars and therefore perceptually wider streets, so traffic runs faster and is less pedestrian-friendly; this is exacerbated by the frequency of cars turning up onto sidewalks for garage parking, driveway parking, or sidewalk parking - all of which create impediments or even hazards for pedestrians, and render public use of sidewalks less tenable. Additionally, greenery such as lawn verges or street trees, which are traditional buffers and softeners of the streetscape, are lost to the demands of automotive access. When let run amok, we get streets that exist as speedways and parking lots, not as arteries connecting people and places. The SPUR "Urban Field Notes" photos essay at pp 26-7 of this magazine - http://www.spur.org/newsletters/0808Urbanist.pdf - show the results, which extend beyond the curb cuts to private repossession of public sidewalks and arid streetscapes.

That said, I'm not much for the Kool-aid. But if you want I can turn you on to a great recipe for home-made lime spritzers. Perfect for sipping on the stoop!

by dan on Aug 19, 2008 3:48 pm • link • report