Word: pedestrianization
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Richard Demar is a pedestrian's nightmare. Dressed in torn jeans and a partly shredded brown parka, he zigzags down a crowded sidewalk near Seattle's popular Pike Place Market. One hand clenched in a fist, the other clutching a Styrofoam cup, Demar, 32, looks fierce and menacing as he stumbles along, working the crowd. "Got some change, man?" he half demands of an elderly gentleman who promptly escapes into a store. Farther down the block, he fixes his glassy gaze on a well-dressed woman toting a shopping bag brimming with gifts. "Come...
...Seattle, which is proud of its image as a comfortable, family-oriented city, has taken action. This fall the city council unanimously passed an ordinance making it illegal to "aggressively beg." The law forbids strong- arm tactics as well as the obstruction of pedestrian and automobile traffic. Offenders face a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $500 fine. Business leaders, the police and groups representing the elderly are elated, while advocates for the homeless, antipoverty workers and civil libertarians are appalled...
...A.C.L.U.'s count, Seattle authorities can cite about 30 statutes when arresting someone for interfering with a pedestrian. Mayor Royer argues that the new law is much easier to enforce than previous ordinances. Precisely, say critics, who contend that the crackdown on aggressive panhandling is merely an excuse for the city to make the homeless less conspicuous. "Sure, no one likes to deal with folks lying all over the sidewalks," says Joe Martin, a social worker at the Pike Market Community Clinic. "But the question is, Why are they there...
...street among old buildings, the implicit history and sense of continuity are both reassuring and invigorating. The graceful proportions of facades are not arbitrary but the result of craft wisdom worked out over generations of trial and error. The scale of buildings and streets, based on human size and pedestrian stride, makes intuitive sense. Indeed, old sections of cities embody all sorts of folk and classical principles concerning residential density and building size and materials and zoning. In the very arrangements of alleys and building setbacks is a time-tested plan, a kind of urban genetic code...
Under cover of night, a diminutive pedestrian crosses the wooded country road. Suddenly white beams of light roar toward him. The stroller instinctively rolls into a spiny ball. Bad move. Splat...