Summary Of The Death And Life Of Great American Cities By Jane Jacobs

In Jane Jacobs’ “The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” she pays special attention to sidewalks and sidewalk safety. As the title says, she spent her time writing about urban cities filled with strangers. Jacobs, knowing that there are more strangers than acquaintances in the vast cities, specified three qualities that must be present in a safe space. First, there must be distinct boundary between public and private space. Second, there must be “eyes on the street.” Finally, the sidewalk must be used continuously to ensure the streets are occupied (Jacobs 35). Although the qualities Jacobs describes are beneficial, there are many flaws that come with it. Jacobs mentions that a boundary should exist that clearly divides the public

Back in high school, my schedule was set up in a way where I had study hall every other day. To occupy myself for 74 minutes I decided to work as an office worker. I walked around the barren halls going to different classes and handing out slips for students to meet with their guidance counselor. One day in particular I noticed some group of students wandering around. Naturally I paid no attention to it. After going to a few classes I noticed something was amiss. It was this weird feeling like I was being watched. I caught a glimpse of the culprit and created the tunnel view. I figured, the person might be on his/ her way to class. Unfortunately, that was not the case. After successfully distributing the first set of passes, I sat down with the other two office workers in the guidance office. We patiently waited for more passes to distribute. While wait, we brought up what we experience in the halls. After confirming we felt the same way, going out became more difficult. I still took charge and tried my best to get the task at hand done as soon as possible. Each time I left, a new group was following me. I could hear them talking amongst themselves and to keep myself calm I started to talk to myself in a low whisper and acted like everything was fine. As the 74 minutes slowly came to an end, I witnessed a student sprinting down the halls as one of the observers sprinted after him.

I was worried on how I was walking and began to be self-conscious of the little actions I did. I began to wonder if I was doing something wrong which initiated the students to watch me. Overall, I felt like I had to conform to what they wanted to see. It did not help me when I could feel the stares at my back or even hear their group chattering. To calm myself down, I tried to block them out and get to my next destination as soon as possible. This is a case where I saw that having “eyes on the street” as damaging. I personally felt like I was doing something wrong even though I was carrying out my duties as normal. This also extends out to the streets. If someone feels self-conscious out on the public streets, they may resort to using tunnel vision where they block out surround people and objects to get from point A to point B. As a result, they may use that path less to avoid any awkward