The "Living Street"

The following pictures were taken in Baldham and Vaterstetten, small suburbs of Munich, Germany:

I was familiar with these blue signs, likely from the year I spent living in Germany as a younger girl, but never really took a moment to think about what they actually meant, legal implications and all. After walking through a part of my neighborhood I'd never walked before and seeing a number of these signs, I decided to dig deeper. I was happy to find an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to the "Living Street." The German legislation is as follows: "Vehicles should not travel faster than a pedestrian speed. If not same grade then street usable by pedestrians. Parking is only allowed in marked places. Pedestrians, including children, may use the entire street and children are permitted to play in the street."  

I grew up on what would definitely be considered a "living street." And not because a sign was posted determining a maximum car speed, but because the 80-some kids on my block made it a living street. So, I have a very personal perception of the function of a street, or what its function should be. Importantly, I believe - because I've witnessed it - the way people think about and act around streets has drastically changed in my lifetime and even since I was schoolkid.

This concept of a designated multi-functional street is relatively new, being introduced in the 1970s in the Netherlands and spreading to over a dozen countries since. And while I feel a very personal and direct connection to the idea of the living street, I nonetheless think these signs accompanied by laws are a fantastic idea! I grew up with our street as a play place, and the fact that streets (especially city streets) have become car-dominated and dangerous is quite frankly saddening to me. 

My wish would be to create more "living streets" in cities and bring back the street as a fun and safe social place and multi-use playground.

More pictures of multi-use streets in full effect in the downtown area of Passau, Germany:

It's starting to happen:
Copenhagen has done it (what city is leading, as always ;)
New York City is doing it (click on the "Renderings" image!)





More on this topic to come...