Sidewalk: Utopia or Nightmare

First image that popped up when I searched "sidewalk". Look at that suburban babe. 

Totally unused except for the one kid on the block learning how to ride a bike, the one woman 

who decides to jog once a week, and your elderly neighbor with a small dog.

I thought Jane Jacobs' assessment of the sidewalk was interesting. Depending on the culture and the makeup of the city, the word "sidewalk" can bring very different images into peoples minds. In America, sidewalks are often on the side of the street with no protection between automobiles and pedestrian traffic. Usually, they're not well lit or regularly traveled either.

Jacobs went through the different effects that make sidewalks feel more or less safe. I believe a large part of this assessment comes from her position in life (ie. a woman). None of this assessment was particularly new, having been given the "be wary of everyone you see or you'll be murdered by men" speech when I was 10. Having it all pointed out in an organized way was interesting to read, though. Jacobs pointed out that, "...there must be eyes upon the street..." for people to feel safe and I never realized how true that statement really was until you find yourself in circumstances that contain that element. When you have business off of a street and activities and functions that are always "guarding" the peace, any time of the day feels much more relaxing. I think part of that is the architecture and how it's positioned in relation to the sidewalk, but also the experience or the function of the space that you're in. Heavily trafficked or main areas of a city feel pretty safe, it's the side streets you're taught to avoid. And by "you're" I pretty much mean every woman in the world. I don't think my brother ever had the same fears taught to him when he was young and I have yet to find a guy just as scared as me to walk down a street at 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... It is kept primarily by an intricate, almost unconscious, network of voluntary controls and standards among the people..."

I also think it's interesting that spaces that feel "unsafe" or are marketed as such are generally areas that are different from the places we know. Run down areas, places with many immigrants, and side streets in foreign (ie not our hometown) cities are labeled as "unsafe". I think it's a combination of fear of what we do not know and potentially the feeling that you don't belong to that community. That eyes may be on the street but they won't help you. I love the communities of immigrants that settle around Akron and Cleveland. I think it brings such vibrant culture back to a country that has none besides blue jeans and beer. But because the stigma is against these people, the housing is terrible and unkept and no businesses move to these areas. I don't know, I think we all feel uncomfortable where we don't fit in, we just don't need to be so violent about it.