Street Reclaiming — Introduction

David Engwicht
 
While traffic calming focused on slowing traffic, street reclaiming focuses on reclaiming the street for neighborhood-building activities such as play, socializing, commerce, culture, and sharing of street wisdom. Ironically, reinstating these community-building functions automatically causes traffic to slow down.

Residents or city officials can use street reclaiming techniques to calm traffic on any type of street (even 'arterials'). For residents, some of these techniques can be employed immediately, without any need for support from the city. For the city, street reclaiming is generally much cheaper than traditional traffic calming, does not aggravate motorists and does not impede emergency vehicles.

There are two broad street-reclaiming strategies: reclaiming through activity and reclaiming through design.

Reclaiming through activity

I first began developing street reclaiming techniques when I observed that children playing on a sidewalk caused traffic to slow down. While traditional traffic calming forced motorists to slow down by putting physical obstacles in their way, street reclaiming entices motorists to slow down by creating intrigue and uncertainty.

Reclaiming through activity starts with understanding how we lost our streets in the first place. Feeling intimidated by cars, parents told their children not to play in the street. Traffic automatically went faster. So parents told their kids not to play on the sidewalk. Traffic speed up. So residents retreated even further. In some cases, people even stopped parking their cars in the street. Each step in this retreat was an invitation for traffic to go faster. Street reclaiming involves reversing this retreat and moving neighborhood activities back towards the street. Increasing the amount of neighborhood activity in the street need not cost residents any time at all. Simply moving everyday activities closer to the roadway slows traffic.

To learn more about what residents and cities can do to slow traffic through street activity go to Reclaiming through activity. Also check out Instant Reclaiming to see how to organize an Instant Street Reclaiming Event. These events are often the first step in building the kind of neighborhood activity that slows traffic. (You can get all the information in one easy eBook.)

Reclaiming through design

Reclaiming through design entails changing the psychological feel of streets so they feel less like a corridor owned exclusively by cars and more like a series of interconnected outdoor living rooms in which motorists are a guest. Residents can employ many of the design strategies without city help or approval. (Which strategies are legal depends on local laws and regulations.) For the city, street reclaiming design techniques can replace traditional traffic calming devices. And unlike traffic calming, street reclaiming can be adapted to all classes of streets. These design options also open up exciting opportunities for the city and residents to work in partnership in reducing the impacts of traffic on neighborhood life.

For more information, including the Four Design Principals of Street Reclaiming and practical suggestions of what both residents and cities can do, go to Reclaiming through Design.