Wiffle Ball & The Knights of the Night
“The first thing to understand is that the public peace - the sidewalk and street peace - of cities is not kept primarily by the police, necessary as police are. It is kept primarily by an intricate, almost unconscious, network of voluntary controls and standards among the people themselves and enforced by the people themselves”
-Jane Jacobs
This quote holds a lot of truth to it in my opinion as to what makes the sidewalks of a city or town safe and therefore more successful. People generally always want to feel safe wherever they are and when people feel safer they are more likely to contribute to what is going on only making things better. By this I mean, you can’t have a well-functioning and vibrant city sidewalk if people are scared of getting mugged all the time and if they aren’t scared, they are more likely to hang around a while and do other things such as sit and read or meet up with friends to have a conversation, which only enhances the activity and depth of the interactions within a city.
Growing up in a small town, the sidewalks were always filled with kids riding bikes or walking to other friends’ houses to play football or wiffle ball (my personal favorite) in the yard and nobody was worried about somebody coming an snatching a kid up, why? Because every house in the neighborhood either had a parent on the porch watching or in the yard working. It created this network of a kind of civilian watch system, kind of like the Knights of the Night from the Office where Dwight and some of his acquaintances voluntarily protected the city. Extreme example I know but speaking of nighttime, the same thing happened when the sun went down, all the kids went home but everyone in the neighborhood kept a watchful eye over their neighbors, everyone making sure nothing suspicious was happening. It may seem a little intrusive at times, and sometimes it was, but at least for me I had good neighbors who mentality was less nosey and more observant.
This reading to me completely resonated with how I grew up and how this informal policing system kept neighborhoods safe and active.
I agree with your completely. The thought of 'eyes on the street' and communal respect can enforce an awareness of security whether or not someone is 'policing' the streets. This concept of eyes on the street was so important to taking the safety of the suburban or small town sidewalk into cities - another topic Jane Jacobs write about (NY). Something we should all be thinking about when designing on the street level.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your completely. The thought of 'eyes on the street' and communal respect can enforce an awareness of security whether or not someone is 'policing' the streets. This concept of eyes on the street was so important to taking the safety of the suburban or small town sidewalk into cities - another topic Jane Jacobs write about (NY). Something we should all be thinking about when designing on the street level.
ReplyDeleteIn the reading Jane Jacobs mentions that cities are not the same as suburbs. She says suburbs are made up of neighbors while cities are made up of strangers. I disagree with her statement somewhat. What you stated growing up was like seems very similar to how she described her own street in the reading. I believe safety comes from the network of relationships you have with the people that live around you. Like you said, it may be intrusive but it creates a safe and enjoyable environment to live.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Funny, the Middle Earth was never safe from Orcs and it had the Eye of Sauron watching it literally all the time...
I liked when you said this, "Growing up in a small town, the sidewalks were always filled with kids riding bikes or walking to other friends’ houses to play football or wiffle ball (my personal favorite) in the yard and nobody was worried about somebody coming an snatching a kid up, why? Because every house in the neighborhood either had a parent on the porch watching or in the yard working. It created this network of a kind of civilian watch system," I can relate to that because I grew up in a similar environment and it was always interesting to me how things shifted the past 10-20 years. What once was a tangible method of protection has become an elemnt of fear because of the way we design our modern streets. You took me back in time for a minute and as an aspiring architect it is interesting to know that maybe we can someday bring back those memories in the way we design future buildings if we get the opportunity to. Cool post G.
ReplyDeleteTBH I am not a fan of Jane Jacobs after this reading, and I think there is more to the safety of the city than just people and their eyes on the sidewalk. Jacobs even said herself that buildings should be facing the street, so there is some design sense to that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kevin's previous comment. Jane Jacobs thought that cities are made up of strangers seems a little narrow minded. I think a city street can be a real tight nit community. I remember often walking through the streets of Charlotte and running into friends, mentors, and family friends. I never felt as if I was that far from a person I knew.
ReplyDelete