The Pedestrian Loses the Way

The author of this article argues that pedestrians have lost the battle of the streets over the years.
The sidewalks and the roadbed — sidewalks were not pedestrian cattle pens, but off-limits zones for vehicles. But that changed over time with the advent of trolleys, bicycles and then cars and trucks. 

Over time, without express agreement or even acknowledgment, the streets gradually became off-limits to the unwheeled. It is difficult to walk 20 blocks in Manhattan without encountering one or two cyclists who prefer dodging pedestrians to dodging trucks. The sidewalk, the last redoubt of pedestrian safety, has been breached.

It is difficult to weigh the competing claims of the combatants in the current conflict — cars and trucks fully dominate the character of the city; bicyclists have the roadway and an increasing number of bike lanes; and pedestrians dodge traffic and hedge red lights.

But as the domain of the pedestrian — the everyman of the city — is gradually curtailed, so too is the sense of the city as a democracy of public space, open to all. 

Article Source: - NYTIMES - By CHRISTOPHER GRAY Published: November...