QOTD: Should People Reclaim the Streets?

by Tim Healey

Published: August 2nd, 2024

I took a little bit of time this week to read this piece in The Atlantic that advocates for urban and suburban residents to close off local streets to cars, at least some of the time, in order to foster better relationships among locals.

Even as a committed car guy, I have to admit that the idea isn't terrible. Maybe it's because I grew up in an era where our lives as children wasn't super structured -- we could walk to the nearest park and we didn't have play dates. We just checked to see if our friends were free and if we could come over. We even did play in the street -- mostly street hockey, moving the goal when a car came. Just like in Wayne's World.

That said, while there definitely appear to be social benefits from making it easier for kids and their parents to congregate in the street, the folks who advocate for such things sometimes forget to factor in downsides. Such as how closing one street to create a pedestrian-friendly place can wreak havoc with traffic a few blocks over.

Infrastructure is a tricky thing. I love cars and I love driving, but I must admit that making too much of our suburban and urban infrastructure too car-centric has caused societal, if not environmental, problems. On the other hand, going too far in the other direction could cause unintended consequences.

I live in the city so I can have transit options -- I can drive, walk, take an Uber, take the bus, bike, or take the train. I like that my neighborhood is walkable -- one of the worst parts of living in the 'burbs was firing up the car to drive to the store and then killing the engine before it could even warm up, since the store was so close. Yet walking to the store wasn't a realistic option.

Conversely, I've been caught in some traffic snarls when a relatively lightly traveled side street shuts down for a block party.

I find myself drawn to places that are walkable without making driving from point A to point B difficult, and the social benefits described in the Atlantic piece seem real.

So my question to you is, how can we re-shape our infrastructure to improve life for pedestrians, playing children, and cyclists, without going too far and squeezing the flow of automotive traffic?

Sound off below.

[Image: Ivan maguire/Shutterstock.com]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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4 of 238 comments

1995 SC on Aug 06, 2024
There is a street in Austin they close so you can get hammered and not have to worry about getting hit by a car. I approve of that.

2 Reply
Arthur Dailey on Aug 06, 2024
What are the areas that most attract tourists to Europe? Those places with no or limited access by autos. When do people in North America congregate in happy crowds? Events like Carnival and Thanksgiving or Christmas parades. Full of crowds on foot and marching participants and limited autos. When do people in a North American gather together and feel most like a community? During events like Hallowe'en, or perhaps street parties when pedestrians dominate the streets. In Toronto the Distillery District is a major tourist draw. An area of 19th century warehouses and factory buildings where vehicles are banned. Even 'tailgating' parties at sporting events are occasions when people are walking around. Crime statistics demonstrate that an increase in pedestrians results in a decrease in crime rates.

3 Reply
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- Lou_BC on Aug 06, 2024
  This article was about the temporary or intermittent closure of residential streets and somehow got blown out of proportion..................... There are a few that want division and dissent. They want a left versus right/them versus us mentality to permeate modern culture................ Getting out of your vehicle and interacting with a diverse group of people is very effective at countering division.
  
  4
- Jeff on Aug 06, 2024
  I read the article which was about closing a street in Bristol England. It did not advocate for closing streets around the US it did say a quarter-mile of the road was closed to traffic for two hours after school on a June afternoon—not for a party or an event but just to let the children who lived there play. Hardly sounds like a Marxist revolt. Streets are closed for parades. When I was in Cincinnati streets were closed for opening day for the Cincinnati Reds for a parade not the Communist Reds. Also when I lived in Houston there were parades for the returning Gemini and Apollo astronauts and for the Indy victory for A J Foyt in 1977 who was not a Marxist. People mingled and celebrated during those parades and they didn't debate politics or religion. There were some great cars both old and new in those parades.
  
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