STREETS DESIGNED FOR PEOPLE, NOT CARS

Human-Scaled Streets

Travel to any community built before cars were invented, and except where width was needed for trade (such as the weekly outdoor market), the streets were narrower.

Of course, in a modern community, every building will need at least one side with wider access, both during construction and then to provide for service access. We are not proposing that the VillageTown use the width of streets typical of those found in medieval villages. One guideline may be that the street width should be equal to the building height. If one reads A Pattern Language one will find numerous patterns that speak about sunlight and how to work with it using building placement and design. Let us look at some narrow street widths to get a sense of when it works, and when it does not work.

 

This street in the left photograph, located in Spain is designed for high activity. It functions as much as a center plaza than as a street. Cafes spill out into the street, and the buildings are far enough apart to provide breathing room. Instead of mowed lawns, the greenery consists of flowering plants and carefully selected trees that do not grow too large or drop too much debris.

If you look at the photograph in the middle, which was selected for the cover of Claude Lewenz's first book, How to Build a Village, it was chosen to demonstrate that a main shopping street can be less than 2 yards or meters wide, be loved by many, and visited by over a million people every year. What makes this street interesting is that in 1956 they had a catastrophic earthquake and almost all the buildings were built after that time. While America was building suburban sprawl, the Greeks continued to build human-scaled streets

In contrast to the two other streets that work, this Spanish street in the photo on the right feels too narrow even though it is wider than the Greek street. It was built for a different time, when narrow winding streets provided additional security when a walled town was under siege. The problem here is not solely the width, but the width in relationship to the height. Because the buildings are higher, it feels too constrained.

Streets in the Eastern Missouri Village Town will be human scaled and purpose designed: safe walking to work, to school, to shops, and a place to meet friends and family.  The time to begin is now.