Context is a crucial, yet often overlooked, parameter in designing streets. Street design should both respond to and influence the desired character of the public realm.Rooted in city goals and policies, designers can work to enhance their surroundings by fulfilling the visions and desires of adjacent communities through street design.
Commercial Strip
A single corridor can pass through multiple environments within the city, each with a different character and usage pattern. At right, a roadway passes through an auto-oriented commercial zone but has the same right-of-way as the two streets below.
Residential Boulevard
The same right-of-way serves a different purpose as it passes through a residential area. In this environ ment, the street can be used for plantings, on-street parking, and shaded sidewalks.
Downtown Street
In the heart of the commercial district, the right-of-way becomes a busy, downtown space full of buses, bikes, cars, and pedestrians.
