Yule Heibel's Library tagged street_usage →  View Popular, Search in Google

So true.
QUOTE
Streets and parking can take up as much as a third of a community’s land, and designing them solely for the comfort of people in cars, and then only for the most congested hour of the day, has significant ramifications for the livability and economics of a community. Under the planning and engineering principles of the past 70 years, people have for all intents and purposes given up their rights to this public property. Streets were once a place where we stopped for conversation and children played, but now they are the exclusive domain of cars. Even when sidewalks are present along high-speed streets, they feel inhospitable and out of place.
UNQUOTE

street_usage urbanplanning cities public_space

Ever since my "corner-making"/proxemics article for FOCUS, I've been meaning to write an article about the dismal unavailability of seating in Victoria's downtown. We seem more concerned with making it impossible for homeless people to sit down or sleep on benches than making it possible for housed people to take a rest. The streets are unfriendly and cheerless in that regard, and it doesn't matter how many flower baskets the city hangs up.

MORE BENCHES, please!

thestar christopher_hume street_usage street_furniture benches montreal cities

Brief article on the benefits of public benches on city sidewalks, and that T.O. has too few of them. Interestingly, this is something that has been bugging me for a while about Victoria, too. Too often, there is literally NO WHERE to sit, even on d/t streets with broad sidewalks. As soon as the street is out of the tourist district or off Government, no more benches. No benches on Fort or on Yates, two streets that are wide and generous in other respects (and the sidewalks are wide enough on Yates, although mingy on Fort). The comments on this article are useful, too.

thestar christopher_hume toronto cities amenities public_space street_appeal street_usage sidewalks