Our hypothetical Mr. would be located about where the street view above starts. Take a walk for him to see what he might have been missing.
The diagrams in the chapter remind me of Pacman and Super Mario Brothers. Did any of you ever play them?
Don't play them in class.
Read, in Jacobs.
Chapter 8. The Need for Mixed Primary UsesML 198 - 232
Chapter 9. The Need for Small BlocksML 233 - 243
Chapters 8 - 11 are going to be easy to read and digest. The important thing is to make sure you understand the four conditions, one per chapter, which are presented in italics. Now that we’ve got our cities sorted out, I’d like to have you prowl around various areas in your city, using “Streetview” on Google Maps. Find areas which qualify as meeting those conditions and find areas which fail them. Post links to these in your journals so we can explore them together. Remember we’re working in districts or neighborhoods. Regardless of city, some work well, some don’t: your job is to help us spot those that do and those that don’t in our gallery of cities–-Miami. Las Vegas, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Naples, Atlanta, and Seattle.
Chapter eight provides more detail related to ideas which Jacobs presented in the chapters on sidewalks and parks. The idea is to have people out and about in significant numbers all through the day. If you have a grasp of what constitutes a primary use this will not be difficult. She gives an example of a single use district which has severe, almost insoluble problems (as she defines them). Some of you have visited the area. If you’ve visited it on a Sunday morning you’ll know what she’s talking about. You’ll see it up above.
Chapter nine is a short chapter dealing with a short subject. It should occupy your attention for a short time. All this shortness is making me feel gigantic.
Consider, for instance, the situation of a man living on a long street block, such as West Eighty-eighth Street in Manhattan, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. He goes westward along his 800-foot block to reach the stores on Columbus Avenue or take the bus, and he goes eastward to reach the park, take the subway or another bus. He may very well never enter the adjacent blocks on Eighty-seventh Street and Eighty-ninth Street for years.
For Thursday, April 4
Read ahead in Jacobs while I'm getting caught up on things. Hopefully, I'll have next weeks's website disigned by Thursday, though there are a LOT of things going on today (Wednesday) which I'm expected to attend. Most of us get some of our ideas about cities and city life through media and popular culture. Think Batman, Think Dick Tracy (Dick Who?), Think "Tales of the City,". We've been seeing a different view of cities through our investigation of Jacobs and Rybczynski, and our own looking around. I thought we'd take some time this period to see what "reality" is up against when it comes to the way the Entertainment Industry serves up city life. I may show bits and pieces of serveral things. We shall see about that.
