Quote:
Originally Posted by dfiler
I too am confused about exactly what is being proposed.
Hopefully it can prevent this from becoming common:
https://goo.gl/maps/adRM92oNTm5SdtKw9
That's a street with zero sidewalks and every building entirely fronted with doors and garage doors on the first floor!
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I wouldn't consider not having sidewalks a death knell for urbanism. The opposite, actually: most minor streets in Japan don't have sidewalks, and I would further suggest the omnipresence of shared space (or woonerven, or whatever your preferred term for it is) has a real effect in Japanese driver psychology: Japanese drivers, I've noticed, are far more aware of pedestrians even when there are sidewalks and crosswalks. I've been living in Japan for a bit so this is something I know firsthand.
The problem here isn't the lack of sidewalks -- or even the parking pad in front of the house IMO. (This is also common in Japan.) It's that little front yard in front of all the townhouses. It completely wrecks everything! It makes the street feel wider than it really is, and because you subconsciously feel as if some random driver's gonna wreck your garden you don't really want to make something useful out of it, either. Japanese properties generally have low walls around their gardens, and yes, surprisingly many lots fronted by carparks or garages (including most of the ones on my block), but the low wall does a lot for communicating the boundaries of space, which space is meant for the movement of people and which space is meant for the enjoyment of residents.
Just your normal, everyday street in Japan. Notice the large carpark left. Also notice the lack of sidewalks, and how walls communicate a strong division between public and private space.
https://goo.gl/maps/hJb6X1bKn1NHLZLW6
And just around the corner, here's another one fronted mainly by garages and carparks:
https://goo.gl/maps/MzxV72Qs6YEXS1zn6