THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 10, 1996 TAG: 9607100011
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 39 lines
How MacArthur Center should be designed, as reported in The Virginian-Pilot (June 27) will bear great significance for the future development of downtown Norfolk. Should there be windows along the street-side storefronts, as recommended by some concerned citizens, or should the stores face inward with no street-side windows, as proposed by the developers? This is a question that goes beyond mere aesthetics.
Oscar Newman, in his book Defensible Space, and Jane Jacobs, in her classic work The Death and Life of the Cities, explain that the way cities are designed is closely related to conditions of safety on city streets. As many of us know from personal experience, we are inclined to avoid some streets because they are forbidding in appearance.
Such streets usually have walls fronting the buildings, are bland to the eye and are uninviting to users.
According to both Oscar Newman and Jane Jacobs, a critical ingredient for conveying feelings of safety is the phenomenon of ``eyes on the street'' - that is, there must be street-watchers as well as street-users.
The basic requisite for such surveillance is a substantial quantity of store windows that invite viewing from inside and outside. In addition, there must be other public places sprinkled along the sidewalk. Small shops, bars and restaurants work to put people on the street during different times of the day and night. The more people on the street, the greater the number of street-watchers. All of this works to abet sidewalk safety.
In contrast to suburban cities oriented to the automobile, an old-time city like Norfolk works best as a pedestrian-friendly walking city. A walled-in MacArthur Center would be a mistake and would create new crime-control issues in downtown.
LEONARD RUCHELMAN, professor
Urban Studies & Public Administration
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, June 28, 1996 by CNB