Cities 07

OBE #1

“When people say that a city, or part of it, is dangerous or is a jungle what they mean primarily is that they do not feel safe on the sidewalks.” (p115). This quote from Jacobs encompasses the main idea of this article in one short sentence. While claiming that the sidewalk is the road of the people, Jacobs makes a clear point to say that a city is judged by its sidewalks- through safety, appearance, etc. The violence or unrest that could be said to be held accountable for the lack of a feeling of security in a city does not take place (typically) in its movie theaters, stores, or streets, but on the sidewalk. It is here that the people of a city do most of their travelling, or at least moving between modes of transportation. It also is not only the police who keep (or do not keep) the peace on the sidewalks, but those who frequent them and the presence of local businesses and neighborhood inhabitants, people who have an investment into the safety of their sidewalks.
Jacobs brings this topic up in a way that I had not previously considered. I agree in that sidewalks are the life of a city, more so than in the suburbs or small towns. The sidewalks of a city are the main passing place of strangers, and a mutual trust must be made between these strangers in order to keep the sidewalks functioning in an efficient and safe manner. Once this trust is broken, people will discontinue their use of that area whether out of fear or lack of need. This anxiety of the sidewalks does, however, not appear to be revolutionary in any way, something of which Marx may be disappointed in. Jacobs makes no argument that these ‘dangerous’ sidewalks are inhabited by the poor or oppressed, which could easily be assumed and supported by many other theories.
I grew up in a small town, which may be one of the key factors in my agreeing with Jacobs on her three elements of creating a safe sidewalk. Stores and public places are vital building blocks for a safe sidewalk for they give people a reason for using the sidewalk and the people with time and money invested in that particular area will pay more attention to the goings on in the vicinity of their establishment, whether it be for the well-being of their own property or attracting customers. Pure residential areas, however, may have less lighting and surveillance of their sidewalks, creating a place prime for danger and crime. Even in our own Dinkytown, the crimes we hear about, muggings and altercations, do not take place (characteristically) outside the McDonalds, but on the darkened residential sidewalks.