Before Class Monday, review the video on the war between Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses
Read, in Jacobs, Death and Life of American Cities
The Introductory Material, the pages in roman numerals (I'm assuming that you have the Modern Library edition, though some may have another).
The Introduction, pp. 1-34
Part I Chapter II "The use of Sidewalks: Safety"
Before you get too far into today's work, look at the table of contents. You will see that this is a quite different sort of book from those we've looked at before. Jacobs is very much interested in how cities "work"--much as a jeweler is interested in how clocks work. You will find that the introduction mentions some of the same "modern" architects, such as Le Corbusier. and those who were tops in the city planning world, like Lewis Mumford, influential in the Garden City Movement.
You will notice in her Introduction that Jacobs does not mince words. She uses examples from cities all over the world, including some that you have chosen. I hope you will use some of the tools I have shown you to add pictures to your resource folders. Some of you have been very faithful, but others-- 0 additions is not a sign of faithfulness.
Any buildings on this campus remind you a bit of this building by Le Corbusier?
"The scenes that illustrate this book are all about is. For illustrations, please look at real cities. While you are looking, you might as well listen, linger, and think about what you see
Above is an air view of the south part of the campus of Columbia University. Do you see some of the issues Jacobs mentions? Click the picture to see contemporary and historic photographs of Morningside Hide Heights. There are other categories, such as "issues" which you might find interesting. Check both Major and M.minor
Above is a streetview image of one of the avenues in Morningside Heights. Read the name of the street and see if you can figure out what people lived in this neighborhood when the street gained its name.
To the right is one of the Housing Projects Moses adored and Jacobs detested. On p. 21 she writes, "Finally one day a tenant more articulate than the other made this pronouncement: 'Nobody cared what we wanted when they build this place. They tore our houses down and pushed us here and pushed our friends somewhere else. We don't have even a place around here to get a cup of coffee or a newspaper even, or borrow fifty cents. Nobody cared what we need. But the big men come and look at that grass and say '"isn't it wonderful! Now the poor have everything;'" "Take a little walk down the avenue. How far do you have to go to get a cuppa java?
Chapter II, The uses of Sidewalks: Safety is where the real argument of the book begins. Jacobs loved sidewalks enough to dedicate three chapters to them. We don't often think of sidewalks as safe places, especially after dark. Of course some sidewalks are safe: others are not. Long-time residents of any urban place go down the safe ones and ignore the unsafe ones without even thinking about it. In the chapter she analyzes the difference between "civilization" and "barbarism" I want you to find sidewalks of the type(s) she mentions in your city and add them to your resource folder. Either use urls or upload pictures. Flickr might be a good source. You might also try the National Archive. And of course streetview would work as well, using the Irfan tools I've demonstrated.
Here is a street in the Hyde Park Neighborhood of Chicago which Jacobs mentions--(as it is now) you might want to see if you can locate a historic picture near here. Would you call the sidewalks on this street "safe" or "unsafe" What would be your reason. Using Jacobs' definitions of civilized or barbaric, can you move to fairly close "civilized" sidewalk? Put A link in your resource folder if you can find one. Try the same exercise in the city of your choice. Remember to stick with Jacobs' views about sidewalk safety.
Read, in Jacobs, Death and Life of American Cities
Chapter 3: The uses of Sidewalks: Contact
Chapter 4: The uses of Sidewalks: Assimilating Children
Chapter III, The uses of Sidewalks: Contact Jacobs begins to look at "social contact" as one of the uses of city sidewalks. She uses plenty of examples. I'm sure there are some places of the kind she mentions which you have visited in Bristol. Have you ever been to Aidens, The Beehive, or Bristol House of Pizza. There are pubs, and other things as well. See if you can find a view of a neighborhood area in your chosen city which provides this kind of socialization. Hint: look for a place which has outside seating. One doesn't get this sort of thing in the bubbles which automobiles provide. Hundreds if not thousands of people pass you daily, some over and over. Do you get to know any of them. Below is an example from one of your cities. Can you guess the ethnicity of the neighborhood?
"What do the public sidewalk and its informal places do that planned gathering places do not? And why?? How does an informal public sidewalk life bolster a more formal organizational public life?"
Chapter IV, The uses of Sidewalks: Assimilating Children. Jacobs suggests that often sidewalks are safer for children than parks and playgrounds are. She mentions factors such as a lack of supervision, boredom, and such, claiming also that it is harder for one ethnic group to claim a sidewalk as "turf" than it would be to claim a park as such. Note, too, the idea of "eyes on the street"--adults who can intervene in squabbles among children. She mentions several examples, and in the image above you can see children and adults sharing a sidewalk. We cannot tell the ethnicity, and cities do have ethnic neighborhoods, "little Italys, Chinatowns," and so on. Perhaps you might even think of sidewalks on campus. When you see students using sidewalks, they walk with persons of their own ethnicity, but even if they do, they nod and wave to students of different ethnicities. You might want to take a look here.
