After several weeks traveling, I have seen streets from various time periods. I travelled through Pompeii on a street unchanged since 79 AD. I have walked medieval streets of Italy and France. I have wandered down boulevards from the 18th and 19th century. And, I have seen modern streets designed primarily for car traffic.
And what I have noticed is not so much the differences but the similarities. Dictionary.com defines a street as, “a public thoroughfare, usually paved, in a village, town, or city, including the sidewalk or sidewalks.” But more than the strict definition I believe streets have the following purposes:
A way to transport people and goods from place to place
A street’s primary purpose is to provide access. Within a city or town, this includes getting to not only other towns but to all the buildings and public areas within the city. The more buildings, public spaces, and other streets are accessible from a street – the more vibrant the street feels. Walking down a street with a new window to see into, a new street to glance down, a new small place to sit, is a much more pleasant experience than walking next to a blank wall for an entire block. The same half a mile feels so much shorter on a vibrant street.
A way to organize a city or town
Secondarily, streets give a hierarchy and organization to a city. Different primary uses differentiate one area or street from another. Streets connecting the most important places within the city may also feel more important. Residential area streets can feel quieter and more intimate. The hierarchy doesn’t necessarily mean that all the different types of streets can’t also be great places. Just as variety on the street creates interest – a variety of different types of streets makes the city as a whole more dynamic and interesting.
A local expectation of behavior for mixing a variety of types of traffic
Most streets have at least a couple of different types of traffic. In Pompeii it would have been carts and foot traffic. In a modern street, you would see cars, trucks, bicycles, scooters, and pedestrians. The similarity across time includes the understood way each type of traffic behaves. In some medieval streets in Rome, people have the right of way in the entire street – only moving for the occasional car. In Strasbourg, bicycles had very clear paths and the right of way over pedestrians in many areas. In many areas cities are still trying to figure out if scooters belong with car traffic or on the sidewalk or both. Dealing with this variety seems to be the biggest struggle of all cities.
In the next couple of blogs, I will go into what makes one street better than another and highlight a couple of streets that I have particularly enjoyed in my travels.
Are there any streets that you love? Why? Let me know in the comments!
