"NEW YORK CITY!"

(Post based on chapter 6 from the book City by William Whyte. Post title is a quote from Eric, the school cafeteria manager guy...)

Luckily, Mr. Whyte summed up his key points at the end: A good street has "buildings flush to the sidewalk," doors and windows on the street, second-story activity, appropriately sized sidewalk, trees, simple amenities (with multiple purposes). I also want to add to his list "flair." I mean, I believe his key points were actually one, people are "attracted" to the presence of other people out and about; two, grabbing the costumer's attention takes creativity and is not as simple as designers think; and three, when things, like trash cans, take on multiple purposes, they are more effective.

Norman and Whyte certainly agree on one thing: Reflective design is boss. It makes or breaks the whole operation. Who cares is the product sucks? You look cool. Who cares if the streets a mess? Everyone is there. They also touched on the importance of behavioral design. In fact, Whyte had a Norman-style behavioral design rant about doors! They both feel that things should be tested or have trial runs before becoming official. Where Norman and Whyte differ is visceral. I almost feel like they were on opposite sides. Then again, Norman likes to be a bit vague and open-ended in order to apply to various designs, whereas Whyte was simply referring to city streets.

I want to note that I think that this is not the same as the last article we read about "Main Street." The streets of New York are not "Main Streets." So the same criteria for the last time don't apply. My checklist for an "urban" area would be: ample space to move while still keeping pedestrians close to stores, effective window and sign usage, ordinary objects designed for multiple unrelated purposes, strategically placed seating and trees, and modern uniqueness for added intrigue.