The suburban setting is one dreamed about by aspiring young Americans. There is this ideal of a your classic two-story house with window boxes and a white picket fence in the front and a lavish green lawn and swimming pool in the back. Suburban communities seem to thrive off of homogeneity and uniformity, and importantly individuality. These three intangibles are complemented by physical factors such as architecture and geography as well, but I believe that sidewalks are a significant determinant of suburban identity that does not receive due credit for how they shape communities.
The article, “The surprising politics of sidewalks” written by Eleanor Cummins on Popular Science, illuminates some of the inequalities associated with sidewalks as well as other pedestrian oriented infrastructure. Having grown up in a place where there were no sidewalks, the idea of one is pretty foreign to me. Obviously, I can imagine how they’re important in urban settings, but I just assumed that there are more sidewalks the closer you get to the city and these sidewalks were pretty much all the same.
A significant point in the article was that people of color “disproportionally live in communities cut off from adequate public transportation and safe design.” For some people, access to buses and trains, etc. is restricted by where they reside, which for a lot of people was historically determined by systemically oppressive institutions. And as a result, these neighborhoods developed in that same way. Sidewalks are expensive and written off as cosmetic, especially when there are more pressing issues to resolve, but actually can do a great deal for the community.
Sidewalks can become places for vendors and performers to carry out their professions as well as places for children to play. The customizable aspects of sidewalks can also allow communities to own the spaces rather than just use them. Planting trees and making art are two such ways of owning the space and creating something more from a slab of concrete in the ground.
I think this is a really interesting post that touches on many of the important things we have talked about over the semester. As you note, one of the key things the article touches is the inequitable access people have to sidewalks. It seems like the lack of sidewalks in African American communities is another example of how their actual experiences and needs have been ignored by urban planners. As you note, sidewalks are an integral part of community life and the focus on other things has been detrimental to the communities who need it the most. I think this article also points to wider problems surrounding urban planning in general.
As other posts on this blog have noted, urban planning has long privileged the car over actual communities and people. I think you’re absolutely right that there has been a movement to take back the sidewalk and even the street from the cars. Many cities are currently considering car bans from their downtowns see here: https://www.businessinsider.com/cities-going-car-free-ban-2017-8. I think it’ll be really interesting to see how cities adapt to a car-free world. Hopefully, people will be happier, healthier, and safer.