Pedestrians l o s i n g the way…theo

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/realestate/streetscapes-the-pedestrian-loses-the-way.html?_r=2

 

This is an interesting article that relates really well with our discussions recently. It explores the evolution of the open street and then increasing exclusion of free-walking pedestrians. When horses were replaced by street cars which were quickly replaced by automobiles, the act of walking in the street was demolished, but car storage was accepted and deemed the norm. I don’t know if I agree with the article as it progresses to the bike era, but check it out. “But as the domain of the pedestrian — the everyman of the city — is gradually curtailed, so too is the sense of the city as a democracy of public space, open to all.”