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  Calm traffic in your street, just by sitting in your rocking chair!
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Street
Reclaiming In 1996, David Engwicht discovered that the speed of traffic in streets is not only governed by the design of the street. It is also determined by the degree to which residents have psychologically retreated from their street. He discovered that simply reversing this retreat automatically slows traffic, even if there are no traffic calming devices installed. Children once played in the street and adults would meet there to chat. But as parents and residents became intimidated by traffic, these activities were moved to the sidewalk. This invited motorist to drive faster. Residents responded by moving these activities from the sidewalk to parks and back yards. This invited motorists to go even faster. Reverse the retreat and motorist slow down. There are two factors that automatically slow motorists — intrigue and uncertainty. Intrigue and uncertainty can be increased through an increase in human activity or through new design techniques. These design techniques are very different to traditional traffic calming and in fact call for an absolute minimization of all traffic control devices. 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. They need not cost time and they can be a lot of fun! For the city, street reclaiming is generally much cheaper than traditional traffic calming, does not aggravate motorists and does not impede emergency vehicles. — Street Reclaiming —
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