| The pedestrian and social enemy, the automobile: | | | | can easily imagine, and is demonstrated in most historic |
| Since the invention of the automobile, designers and | | | | cities around the world. In the historic town of Ybor |
| builders had to make space for parking. Well, this was | | | | City in Tampa, an old Cuban cigar manufacturing city, |
| a challenge at best as each automobile requires | | | | the workers had little houses called "casitas" which |
| around one hundred square feet. A person requires | | | | exhibited high ceilings, raised floor for air convection, |
| approximately four square feet of space. Vehicular | | | | and a quaint and approachable front porch. Every |
| lanes had to be accommodated, restricting space for | | | | Saturday, the family would walk to the center of town |
| pedestrians, and adding vehicular and pedestrian | | | | to meet the neighbors, rub shoulders with others, and |
| conflict. Moreover, the vehicle is now regarded as the | | | | do the weekly shopping. Vehicles were not necessary, |
| most important component of our transportation | | | | neither were large houses. The outside public spaces |
| infrastructure with regard to safety and efficiency. | | | | served as an extension of the interior space of their |
| What does this do to our social space? After the | | | | homes. This experience is still shared in many towns in |
| engineers design a street, and the builders | | | | Europe.How are we easily able to meet new people |
| accommodate the parking at the front of the buildings, | | | | during these modern times of suburbs, proliferation of |
| the once social space turns into dead, vehicular only, | | | | the automobile, and a new understanding of an internal |
| depressing places. Imagine walking next to the parking | | | | world. Computers and cell phones have been the |
| lot of a shopping mall, next to a six lane arterial | | | | crutch for the absence of social places. It would be |
| highway. Not much chance that you will find another | | | | nice to revive the values we once had, on the safe |
| pedestrian with which to rub shoulders. Conversely, a | | | | pedestrian filled streets and plazas.Patrick Hood-Daniel |
| historic place such as Boston, is packed with life, and | | | | is an Urban Designer/Architect that pays special |
| very little suburbs. In suburbia, the place to find your | | | | attention to our social atmosphere in relation to our |
| next date, the Circle K convenience store.Prior to the | | | | physical environment. He is also the developer of |
| proliferation of the automobile, people met on the | | | | where members can find dates in a totally unique way. |
| streets. Pedestrians filled the streets with life that we | | | | |