I'm sorry to say that I did not enjoy reading "Sidewalks". I found what the author had to say very repetitive and most of it was basically common sense. However, there were a few things that I thought were worth mentioning in my response. "If a city's streets look interesting, the city looks interesting". Yes, this is true, simply because a city is mostly composed of streets. Streets connect everything in a city, so of course they are a major part. Another point was that once a street becomes unsafe, it gradually becomes worse because people begin to avoid it. She later mentions Roxbury, Boston; it had a high crime rate, people began to avoid the streets at night, and it became rundown.

The author also states that streets can be dangerous whether or not they are in a part of the city that is being rebuilt- it all depends on the people that live and wander about them. On page 327, she talks about Los Angelos and how, even though it is a more spread-out city, it still has one of the highest crime rates. This is because it is "still composed of strangers, not all of whom are nice". Then she goes on to say that a well-used city street is generally safer than a deserted city street. Well, of course it is. She finished up by saying things like "you can't make people use streets they don't have a reason to" and "not everyone takes care of the streets". I guess I just didn't get a whole lot out of this article.

I really enjoyed the "Woodruff Park" article; I thought it said a lot about our culture and society in general. It was almost depressing to read the beginning, especially when the comparison was made between the old park and how the park is now. The old park was conducive to socialization and seizing the day, while the new park sports more narrow streets and benches that are all facing the same direction. In a way, I thought this represented society today- people are much less open and friendly than in the days of "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood". Remember, there was a time when you could pick up a hitchhiker and not worry about him being an axe murderer or a serial rapist. On page 136, the author labels the new park as a "beautiful place to look at", but that it is inhospitable to everybody. To me, it is just a waste of space that could be used to bring people together. This is starting to get quite lengthy, so I'll leave it at that.