City: Chapter 6

The author's key points in this chapter all stressed effective street design. One of these points was the importance of properly sized sidewalks. Whyte said that an effective sidewalk is broad enough so that it is slightly crowded at its peak. The sidewalk of side streets should be about fifteen feet, while the side walk on main streets should be twenty five feet. When side walks are crowded, they make people slow down and observe their surroundings, which makes them more likely to go into a store. Another interesting point that the article raised was the benefit of a slightly messy appearance. Modern shopping malls have made every effort to appear perfectly neat, clean, and orderly. However, Whyte talked at length about the importance of streets not appearing over-designed. Most shoppers like a small amount of chaos and disorganization during the shopping experience. The author mentioned the specific example of Bloomingdale's in New York City. This department store has a very confusing, inefficient doorway that frequently causes backups on the sidewalk. People often stop to socialize outside the doors, and vendors also congregate there to try to sell their products. Despite the madness, Bloomingdale's still has one of the highest sidewalk shopper-densities of any other store in the city. Another important aspect of street design is abundant second story businesses. Businesses located on the second story of a main street development make a lively sight in the evening, when interior movement becomes visible from street-level. The article also talked about effective window display in a very vague manner. For example, the article said that inexpensive items often attract window shoppers, but at the same time, expensive products that most people cannot afford also attract shoppers. Movement in window displays, such as live people actively displaying products, can be a major attraction to shoppers. However, nothingness can also be an effective window display. After reading the entire article, the point that stuck with me most was that the best designed streets are the ones that do not appear to be designed. Small, confined areas that combine a mixture or jumble of different businesses and that involve as many of the senses as possible are the most successful ones.

Whyte's ideas were much more unclear and vague than Norman's, and overall I felt that Norman presented much stronger ideas in a more organized manner. While reading this article, I was struck by how unorganized the information seemed, and how difficult it was to absorb. The Norman chapter was broken down into three very specific categories: visceral, behavioral, and reflective design. All of his examples fell into one of these categories, which made his concepts much easier to understand. Each real world example that Norman gave was concise and relatable. This article by Whyte, on the other hand, presented an overwhelming amount of examples one after the other with very little explanation. It was very unclear what main concepts the author wanted to convey because he gave so many examples. The reading reminded me of an extremely long novel with no chapters and no plot. It just contained page after page of unorganized ideas that did not have a larger category to fall into. The two articles by the different authors were similar in that they sought to explain what makes a design either successful or ineffective. They were different in that Norman did not limit his chapter to street design. His concepts can be applied to many different fields of design, including product, store, or street design. The Whyte chapter applies specifically to street design.

Based on this reading, one of the most important aspects I would analyze when evaluating an urban area is the apparent busyness of the area. Streets that have a large number of pedestrians but that are very spacious and spread out are not the most effective design. Streets that appear to be very busy and that have narrow, crowded sidewalks are more effective. To compare these two scenarios, the pictures on pages 88 and 89 of the reading were very insightful. One of these pictures is a busy shopping alley in Tokyo. It looks light a very small space, a little dirty and dingy, with no excessive decorations, seating, or plants. The next picture shows a recent development in Japan that is much like an area that would be found in the United States. This space has broad sidewalks and a park-like atmosphere, but there are very few shoppers. This shows that the chaotic, messy, human element is very important when evaluating an urban area. Another important element to consider is face to face interaction between shoppers and sellers. While modern stores in the United States have minimized this interaction, it is one of the most effective ways to sell products. Stores that move products and salespeople out into the sidewalk and directly interact with customers and passing shoppers are more likely to be successful. This goes back to the early roots of trading and shopping in alleys and bazaars all over the world. One final criteria I would use to evaluate an urban area is how easy it is for pedestrians to interact with the design of the street. Whyte mentioned how pedestrians in New York City use the trash cans for a wide variety of purposes, including tables for writing and eating. He also talked about how ledges on certain buildings  can be used as benches for pedestrians or as display shelves for vendors. The more the street invites shoppers to interact with the design, the more successful it is likely to be.