Posted by Paul Malo on July 02, 2002 at 06:09:37:In Reply to: Having An Idea Without a Credential posted by Stuart Slinkard on June 30, 2002 at 18:25:07:
In my own town, the pedestrian mall developed in the early 'seventies, a couple of years ago was torn up. Similarly, the brick pavement and planters were replaced by conventional street paving and parking places. The benches used to be vacant; now the streets are active.
The most vital component of urbanism is activity. Trees and flowers don't activate. Traffic does.
There was confusion about desirable characteristics several decades ago. The reasoning seemed to be: parks are pleasant; if we make our downtown park-like, people will come.
The flaw in that reason seems apparent now. People go to parks and to downtowns for different reasons. The qualities sought are incompatible.The earliest pedestrian mall convernsion that I recall was in Rye, NY. I don't remember the date, but it was probably the late 'forties or early 'fifties. I remember the article in the old Architectural Forum, headlined, "Grass Grows in the Streets of Rye." The notion of grass growing in the downtown streets, of course, is not propitious on the face of it and the article was prophetic.
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