Today I want to touch on one of the elements of good urban design that I most enjoy and most miss when I'm not near one: pedestrian spaces. Specifically, I'm going to focus on pedestrianized spaces, spaces where only pedestrians can go and cars cannot. But I'm also going to talk a bit about the more general pedestrian experience to which these spaces are often linked.
1. Transit Integration Matters (So Does Density)
The first thing to notice about these places is that they're best when you don't have to drive to them and park.
I love Greenlake Park in Seattle, and I have many times biked, walked, or bused there.
Seattle Public Theater at the Bathhouse is a great civic amenity, and that walking path right outside is the primary access route--even though there's a parking lot for it, the lot capacity is much smaller than the theater capacity, and that speaks to the larger Greenlake design as a pedestrian location (as well as a bike location).
So transit integration, which puts people into these spaces without driving, is one factor. But density is another: the more people there are already living close (as I used to in Seattle, for a given value of close) the less you need cars or even transit at all.
This zone near Canary Wharf is not a theater or a destination itself, but it's made much, much nicer by the fact that primary access to it is via the DLR. Transit integration matters. But then again, there are also those huge towers visible in the picture, and not all of those are offices...
2. Parks Aren't the Be-all or the End-all
Parks are probably, pound for pound, the most common pedestrianized spaces in our cities, especially but not only in North America.
This space in St. Louis is nicely foot- and transit-accessible, and was a joy to wander through. It also has a road through the park, of course, because naturally it does, but it's a very pleasant space to exist in on foot.
This little park with public art in Toronto is likewise lovely.
But if the spots of green have to do double duty as our only pedestrian spaces, they make it seem like life cannot operate except by car, and foot is only for nature and breaks from routine, and can't be a part of normal life. While I appreciate walking as a form of both exercise and entertainment, it should really be part of everyday life--not an add-on. And while yes, green space should also be a normal part of life, I mean something slightly different here. I mean that you should be able to do everyday ordinary things like going to work, shopping, etc. on foot--and making only parks available for foot prioritization makes that impossible.
3. Paths Are Also Good But Also Not Enough
The flip side of this is the sorts of places where the "pedestrianized" areas are just paths--routes to and from places or along things.
The Burke-Gilman Trail in Seattle.
The Riverfront Trail in Davenport.
These are lovely, and I appreciate them so much! They do allow you to do things like run errands or go to work via bike or walking, without having to dodge cars for most of the route. That's huge!
But they're also in many cases the only such routes in their areas. I can ride or walk the Riverfront or Duck Creek trails--or I can be with cars. And cars (or rather their drivers) get quite mad when I'm not on my one designated path for non-car movement, if I get in their way.
As New York's Times Square knows, the true joy of a pedestrianized space is that you are just in it, with all these other people, without reference to cars at all.
This foodtruck rodeo in Rochester, NY, speaks to the same ideal: a place where people just walk around and do stuff (in this case, mostly eat) without even thinking about cars except the foodtrucks themselves.
Pedestrian areas are a joy in addition to parks and paths. They are spaces where you can just be--whether that's busy and bustling like Oxford Circus above or empty like the bit of Toronto waterfront below:
I love a space where the fastest vehicle will be a bike or a tram, and even then the people will take priority.
We should have more of them. And if parks and paths are a start, I'll take them--but we should think bigger and bolder than that when building our cities.
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