#saratoga

This is Saratoga Springs in the state of New York in early 1900. The coloured picture shows a specific period in time where pedestrian outnumbered in presence the carriages and cars. The space division between building to building it heavily emphasized by a generous sidewalk outlined by a series of tall and lush trees that carry along the road.

In recent times we have forgotten how important is a well designed road network. Systematically we removed many pedestrian features to favor cars and its culture. The realm of public life has been ruined by the pervasive ideology that cars are the solution to public life, and also to the transportation issue.

The phenomena of removing space from sidewalks and its features has transformed North American cities into speedways. If once we had more square surface for feet, now we have more than that for rubber. All this has developed by leaving the public transportation out of the equation and pushing the notion that commuting is the way to be.

The essence of the public space extending from the edge of buildings towards the road, is the pedestrian domain of social activities which makes the urban landscape vibrant and acceptable. Without it we would give up our very own ability to claim public spaces a human experience.

The sidewalk becomes an opportunity for business to thrive and for the public to experience a better urban life by walking their neighbors.

Today we have seen the drastic changes of our cities in favor of a chaotic systems that pushes for cars to be the main feature of urbanism. As the invention of the car made its way worldwide, we slowly reduced the public spaces to a mere sequence of tarmac junctions for traffic to collect in it.

The functionality of a wide sidewalk to host plenty of people, along with a solid sequence of trees, has been proven to work pretty well in terms of urban design. As the road traffic flows along streets, the parallel parking creates a virtual barer to define the obstacles along the road in order to protect the pedestrians. 

Wide sidewalks aren’t just for people to stroll by, but they provide opportunities for local business to become part of the community establishing their brand and practices. Bars, restaurants, cafes, are all in need of public pedestrian space to engage people into enjoying the city.

At the same time a solid line of tall trees enforces the safety boundary between the street and the sidewalk, while simultaneously the branches with their leaves provide the necessary shade to cool the ground and preventing excessive heat from creating heat bubbles across the city.

The trees coasting the streets will absorb the CO2 produced by vehicles and release at night the fresh oxygen, which replenish the air quality of the city. This will help the overall urban temperature from producing excessive heats during summer periods.

Trees along roads will work beyond their natural purpose. We forgot how the presence of green throughout cities has the ability to remove the grey effect of buildings, and to create a welcoming atmosphere through communities, enhancing the psychological aspect of citizens.

Municipalities ought to reconsider the way green spaces are used. Trees, bushes, and others natural elements can increase the life quality of many urban dwelling. Reshaping public spaces for pedestrians can only have positive impacts, engaging people into becoming more active among city streets while reconsidering their approach with the car.

Parks and vegetation spread out across cities works towards creating a wide and positive sense of urban beautification, which aims at defeating the grey and obsolete polluted stereotypes city dwells into. Municipalities can only benefit from implementing such natural spaces that focus on pedestrians to reclaim space from cars; also by reshaping the old concept of suburban solumes that are virtually isolated from any walking experience or commercial engagement.

It was tough to grow up in the suburbs. For every pot-smoking hasher or combustible jock, there was a normal kid who didn’t want to hand out at the mall or go to the pep rally. We had to think of other options. Like forming the Church of Chuck Woolery. My friend’s sister painted a beautiful portrait of Chick surrounded by an angelic golden glow. We’d exchange little tidbits about Chuck’s life, or wonder aloud, “What would Chuck do in a situation like this?”

At the commercial break on Love Connection when Chuck said he’d be back in “two minutes and two seconds” – he often just flashed a grin and a peace sign and said, “Two and two” – we’d get out our watches and time it, cheering him on. Chuck was always right as rain. This entertained us for about a month. Why worship Satan when there are so many game show hosts worthy of their very own cult?

Another fun diversion was to make up fake stories and call the local newspaper. My friend Nicole held the title for this one. Without letting anyone else in on the prank, she convinced a local reporter that she rose each morning at 3 a.m. to sweep the streets of the town. She said she wanted to give something back to the community that had done so much for her.

They came to her house while her parents were at work, photographed her out in the street with a push broom and ran a full page story with a ‘local teens aren’t all bad’ type of angle. The congratulatory letters came in from her former teachers and various senior citizens. And of course, the kids at school decided she was even weirder than they thought.

The local 7-11 was the place to find out where the parties were. Sometimes you didn’t even have to pull into the parking lot. You could just hear some thick-necked jock bellowing “Off Sobey Road, dude!” out of his Bronco over to the big-hair girls in the Mazda RX-7. We’d follow behind, in our humble wood-paneled station wagon, park far away from the house, and then commando around the yard until we found an open door or window. We’d sneak inside, find a room that no one was in, hide out, and eavesdrop. There is nothing like the scintillating conversation of girls with mohair sweaters and sticky lip gloss drinking wine coolers. Or guys in too-tight jeans, big L.L. Bean sweaters, desert boots, and denim jackets with sheepskin collars pounding Bud after Bud bragging about who they are having sex with while their parents are out of town.

We played board games on the roof of the bank downtown. This was also a good spot to watch our favourite student couples get in fights as they left local restaurants. We wore wigs and frumpy sweat suits, and drank four or five pots of coffee at Denny’s. This once led us to flesh out a crude musical about Denny’s. All the songs were composed on napkins and sugar packets. We had vignettes about greasy ladyfingers, Grand Slam breakfasts, and our favourite employees like Joseph, the ex-military computer student, and Bib, the grandmother of nine.

We scaled the foothills and snuck in to see the shows during the Paul Masson Winery Summer Concert Series. We never got caught. Who would ever suspect teenagers of breaking the law to scope out Sergio Mendez or Smokey Robinson? By purchasing one $30 ticket and hiding people in the trunk, drive-in movie style, we also got to see James Brown, Ray Charles and Ella Fitzgerald.

We didn’t boycott the prom because it was stupid. You had to check it out at least once. We brought a large watermelon and danced only with it during the slow songs. For the fast songs, we dragged one of the parent chaperones out on the floor and went crazy. We didn’t just play air guitar. We played air keyboards and air saxophone. Attached toilet paper to our shoes and pretended not to understand why everyone was making fun of us. Asked Mr. Suave if he wanted a cigar then put a Tampax in his breast pocket. Stepped back and enjoyed his reaction as he was disgusted at the thought of retrieving a paper-wrapped piece of cotton. (For the older set, this also works well in retro clubs!)

We would go to Safeway and rearrange the displays.

The best one was the Healthy Heart display. Item by item, we replaced the oat bran muffins, apples, and black beans until underneath the huge sign that read ‘Make Your Heart Healthy and Happy’ was an exhibit of cigarettes, bourbon, bologna, and Ding Dongs.

This is just a small sampling of ways we dealt with teenage suburban existence. And if I can help even one kid survive until graduation, I’ll feel that I have made a difference. Go Falcons!

-Beth Lisick