Street Films Changing Widening American Percepts

Street Films have done it for me, they really have. And what I mean by saying this is that my previous perception of what a street is, and what defines its greatness has done a 180 degree flip since I've seen my first Street Film.

Growing up in the United States, with parents that don't enjoy traveling outside of the country, I've never truly experienced anything other than American intersections. Now that I've peered into many European intersections through the lens of Street Films, I now know what we are missing here, and why so many people feel the need to make their travel destinations in other countries.

As a newer nation, many of our streets and cities have been designed to primarily accommodate vehicles, and are engineered in a template, cookie cutter matter. They are all the same in appearance, and their purpose is the same, which is to move cars.

When I watch the video clips of trams, bikeways, and pedestrian paths all coexisting together in European cities, without vehicle dominance, I feel like I've been missing something my entire life. These streets have an entirely different feel to them, and serve multiple functions in an efficient, beautiful way. People seem happy, and relaxed.

According to the films I've seen regarding pedestrian space built into sidewalks in cities worldwide, businesses and restaurants thrive in these scenarios. Mixed use buildings, ones that have housing, and provide ground level commercial activities are shown to be great economic prospects for communities.

The idea of "urban acupuncture,"or adding elements that can enhance the usefulness, and beauty of an area is mainly thought of as a physical implementation. An example would be a bike lane, an electric trolley line, a new park, or transforming an old building into a newly restored asset to a community. However, there are other contexts in which "urban acupuncture" may be implemented. An example of this could be Bogota's "Ciclovia's," or days without cars. This event spreads the idea of utilizing roads for pedestrian purposes, and helps to glamorize active transportation.

As I was watching this video of Bogota, I learned that this city shuts down 70 miles of vehicular traffic every Sunday from 7am until 2pm. It creates a pedestrian haven, one that inspires people to bike, recreate, relax, and to simply spend time in; and is called a Ciclovia The city employs people to teach free fitness classes to help people exercise and have fun at the same time. It also employs people to secure the safety of people who are biking through the city. Great food vendors and musical performances fill the streets with life, creating a communal sense of living.

For many people in Utah, Sundays are a day of rest, one that consists of spending time with family, and maybe taking walks around their neighborhoods. . . What if we could extend this idea of a neighborhood walk into the city?

By implementing a day of the week to shut down portions of downtown Salt Lake City to vehicles (it doesn't have to be Sunday), it could introduce the idea of pedestrian streets to people in this city, and encourage greater use of active, sustainable transportation.


When we break free of the North American idea of what a city looks like and feels like, we can choose to create and better our public spaces by implementing infrastructure and design that supports healthy, beautiful, efficient cities.