Cities and Safety

The Jane Jacobs’ readings really stood out to me from this week.  Specifically, the idea of sidewalks and the environment they can create.  I grew up in a very small town – and the farthest thing from a big city.  Charlotte was about an hour North of me, and Columbia an hour South.  However, I was fortunate enough to grow up traveling to different (big) cities like Cincinnati, OH (where my dad is from), New York City, Charleston, SC, and several others.  All were definitely out of my comfort zone, as they were just opposite from what I knew at home.  During my reading and analyzing of Jacobs’ “The Uses of Sidewalks: Safety”, I really began to reflect upon my time and the different feelings of safety and/or fear I have felt in each city – and more so, what was it that made me feel safe or scared? 

One particular incident happened when I was about 8 years old in Cincinnati.  My family had just got finished with a horse and carriage ride and were standing on the crowded streets.  I remember the Christmas lights hanging from the buildings and I was mesmerized.  Somehow, my parents walked off and they each thought I was with the other.  They got about a block away and realized I wasn’t following and rushed back.  I remember I was scared that I was separated from them, but I was never fearful of something happening or someone taking me.  Looking back, I think it was because the sidewalks were so occupied and lit with lights.  The buildings were tall surrounding me, and it provided a sense of comfort.  Of course, I was young, and had fears of not being with my family, especially in an environment that I was not accustomed to, but I can just imagine if I would have been on a dark alley way and the difference in fear that I would have felt.  

Similarly, I remember being in NYC in Times Square, and feeling completely safe walking to a bakery with my sister alone at 10pm.  Again, there are plenty of lights, traffic/occupancy of the sidewalks, and tall inviting buildings, so perhaps this was a sense of comfort.  It’s interesting to see the similarities city to city and compare. 

In Charlotte, Charleston, Nashville, and all of the other cities I’ve been to, I can say I have a similar feeling in them.  I feel much safer on streets that are occupied, well lit, and have more inviting architecture.  There’s something intriguing about how from an aerial view, cities seem to look the same.  Blocks, sidewalks, crosswalks, buildings in the shape of rectangles/squares, etc.  But it is when you are experiencing the city in perspective that you really begin to define themselves into a totally different view than that aerial map image.     

Cincinnati aerial view and downtown square perspective

NYC aerial view and Times Square perspective