Upward Social Mobility Part 1: Robert Moses vs Jane Jacobs

Upward Social Mobility is a podcast mini series on navigating American life during COVID and a contentious political climate.

It is November of the year 2020 in the United States. Many Americans are trying to find or define life again. They are struggling with their value systems, and how that orients them in relation to living in this country. Should they aim to be rich? Should they aim to be happy? Should they go woke or broke? Or is America just a pit stop?

The term ’social mobility’ describes how we move through different stages of our lives. In this mini series, we focus on three forms of mobility -- physical, income, and transportation. These three forms of mobility are the pillars to upward social mobility in the United States.

Guests featured in this mini series:

• Part 1  |  Sam Blake Reporter, dot.la Web  |  Twitter  |  LinkedIn
• Part 2  |  Mariya Frost Director of the Coles Center for Transportation, Washington Policy Center Web  |  Twitter  |  Facebook
• Part 3  |  Chris Cargill Eastern Washington Office Director, Washington Policy Center Web  |   LinkedIn
• Part 4  |  Scott Hadzik Department Chair, Professor, Weber State University Department of Automotive Technology Web  |   LinkedIn

Passage from The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs

A city street equipped to handle strangers, and to make a safety asset, in itself, out of the presence of strangers, as the streets of successful city neighborhoods always do, must have three main qualities:

 

 

First, there must be a clear demarcation between what is public space and what is private space. Public and private spaces cannot ooze into each other as they do typically in suburban settings or in projects.

 

 

Second, there must be eyes upon the street, eyes belonging to those we might call the natural proprietors of the street. The buildings on a street equipped to handle strangers and to insure the safety of both residents and strangers, must be oriented to the street. They cannot turn their backs or blank sides on it and leave it blind.

 

 

And third, the sidewalk must have users on it fairly continuously, both to add to the number of effective eyes on the street and to induce the people in buildings along the street to watch the sidewalks in sufficient numbers. Nobody enjoys sitting on a stoop or looking out a window at an empty street. Almost nobody does such a thing. Large numbers of people entertain themselves, off and on, by watching street activity.

Related Episodes

• USM Part 2: Smart Growth vs Efficiency Visions
• USM Part 3: Free Markets Destroy vs Create
• USM Part 4: The Engineer vs Mechanic Conundrum

***** Wisco Weekly *****

New Business Models for the Mobility of People and Goods. Become a Fan. Soon, become a Member. Subscribe for now.

✌(-‿-)✌