Embracing Sidewalk Culture – Architecture Critic Morgan

Embracing Sidewalk Culture – Architecture Critic Morgan

As we struggle through the pangs of disconnection during coronavirus isolation, one of the really promising signs of a renewed post-pandemic city is our embrace of sidewalk life.

Outdoor dining, while mandated as trying to contain the virus, had already become a popular feature of living in Providence. And the growing al fresco fashion is part of a strengthening connection with that most basic urban conduit, the sidewalk.

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Together streets and sidewalks used to be what really defined a city–not the buildings, but as flowing connectors between them. In short, people moving about. That human interaction is what we miss the most now.

People are the glue of a place, not highways or parking garages. Yet, Americans have ceded much of our best downtown real estate to cars, and where automobiles are more important than human beings, the quality of life suffers.

The most livable cities are often the most walkable–think Venice and Copenhagen rather than expressway riddled Houston or Los Angeles. And the really good news is that moving public life to the sidewalks will re-energize Providence until, and even after, we can go back inside restaurants and stores.

Europeans have always been dining outdoors, it seems. Imagine Rome, Berlin, or Vienna without café society. The Paris sidewalk bistro was the crucible of the literary and artistic renaissance of the 1920s and the revolution of 1968, not to mention romantic movies exuding the aromas of coffee and cigarette smoke. Brasserie le Dôme in Paris in the 1920s, popular with such American literary lights as Ernest Hemingway, Henry Miller, and Sinclair Lewis. 

 

 

 

 

The shift to more street-side meal taking also reflects a sea change in national attitudes.

Baby boomers can hardly remember when their parents took them to restaurants. Going to a restaurant often meant dressing up, eating inside, and being more exclusive. All of this changed when women joined the workforce, and there was more disposable income, fast food became the norm, and there were better culinary choices. Americans, too, have become much more social.

 

 

For people of a certain age, casual dining meant informal events like a church picnic, a backyard barbeque, or a visit to the lobster pound. Today, staying at home to eat is probably done much less than "going out." With this evolution has come the addition of at least a couple of restaurant tables in an adjacent courtyard or spilling onto the sidewalk.

 So, how does the social distancing of a few outdoor tables figure into the future design of popular gathering spots?

 

 

New Urbanists refer to the expanding of shopping and dining into the thoroughfare itself as "Shared Streets." In other words, the street is both public plaza and passageway.

Such ideas are hardly new. In the world's more exciting places there are markets and bazaars where all of the life of a city is crowded into small areas. But Bangkok, Marrakesh, or any Chinatown is not the ideal model during a pandemic that requires people to be apart if they want to be together.

What we have already witnessed along our most thriving streets–Broad, Thayer, and Ives, Atwells Avenue and Wayland Square–is an organic extension out over the sidewalk.

The next logical step is to make wider sidewalks to slow vehicular traffic. Wider sidewalks offer more seating, more places to gather or for vendors to set up, and a greater sense of safety.

Design professionals around the globe are fostering inventive ideas that will mean better post-pandemic living. So there is no reason we should not marshal all the imaginative forces of the Creative Capital to fashion outdoor urban spaces that are both appealing and healthy.  

What haven't we thought of?  Vertical stacking of services? More bikes, rickshaws, and maybe a funicular? Attractive barriers that would act as shelters to extend the outdoor dining seasons?

One simple idea that will yield immediate results is to have curb-less streets. This would allow dining areas or seating to be expanded or easily re-configured, offering more flexibility.

 

 

Since people-watching is such a basic human desire, how about building slightly elevated seating so that people can be close to the activity yet still keep their distance? Whatever form it might take, perhaps it could be designed for use by strolling musicians, for displays of art, or for outdoor theatre.

Livable cities are those where planning actively encourages their residents to be an active part of the community's fabric by congregating. Sidewalks are a good place to begin our renewal.

           

 

Architecture critic Will Morgan has taught the history of cities and is the author of Louisville: Architecture and the Urban Environment.