Street 199065 224677462 2008-07-09T22:47:43Z Vegaswikian 214427 MOS cleanup, + {{otheruses}} {{redirect|Thoroughfare}} [[Image:centralbeirut.jpg|thumb|right|[[Beirut Central District|Centre Ville]], [[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]]]] [[Image:Münchner-Straße,-Frankfurt.jpg|thumb|A city-centre street in Frankfurt, Germany]] A '''street''' is a [[public]] thoroughfare in the built environment. It is a [[public]] parcel of [[landform|land]] adjoining [[building]]s in an [[urban area|urban]] context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of [[soil|dirt]], but is more often [[pavement (material)|paved]] with a hard, durable surface such as [[concrete]], [[cobblestone]] or [[brick]]. Portions may also be smoothed with [[asphalt]], embedded with [[rail tracks|rails]], or otherwise prepared to accommodate non-[[pedestrian]] traffic. The word "street" is still sometimes used colloquially as a synonym for "[[road]]", but city residents and [[urban planning|urban planners]] draw a crucial modern distinction: a road's main function is transportation, while streets facilitate public interaction.<ref name = "Dictionary">[http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/d01.html Dictionary].</ref><ref name = "Yahoo!">[http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20050224.html Ask Yahoo!]</ref> Examples of streets include [[pedestrian street]]s, [[alley]]s, and [[downtown|city-centre]] streets too crowded for [[road vehicle]]s to pass. Conversely, [[highway]]s and [[motorway]]s are types of roads, but few would refer to them as streets.<ref name = "Using">[http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/8661-need-advice-road-vs-street.html Road vs Street] at Using English forum.</ref><ref name = "Avenue">[http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/26412-avenue-vs-street.html Avenue vs Street] at Using English forum.</ref> ==Role in the built environment== The street is a public [[easement]], one of the few shared between all sorts of people. As a component of the [[built environment]] as [[ancient history|ancient]] as human habitation, the street sustains a range of activities vital to [[civilization]]. Its roles are as numerous and diverse as its ever-changing cast of characters. Streets can be loosely categorized as [[main street]]s and [[side street]]s. Main streets are usually broad with a relatively high level of activity. Commerce and public interaction are more visible on main streets, and vehicles may use them for longer-distance travel. Side streets are quieter, often residential in use and character, and may be used for vehicular parking. [[Image:St.JamesSt.-Montreal -1910.jpg|thumb|Rue Saint-Jacques, a street in [[Montreal]], 1910]] ===Circulation=== Circulation, or less broadly, [[transportation]], is perhaps a street's most visible use, and certainly among the most important. The unrestricted movement of people and [[Good (economics and accounting)|goods]] within a city is essential to its [[commerce]] and vitality, and streets provide the physical space for this activity. In the interest of order and efficiency, an effort may be made to segregate different types of traffic. This is usually done by carving a [[road]] through the middle for motorists, reserving [[sidewalk]]s on either side for pedestrians; other arrangements allow for [[streetcar]]s, [[tram|trolleys]], and even [[wastewater]] and rainfall [[runoff]] ditches (common in [[Japan]] and [[India]]). In the mid-20th century, as the automobile threatened to overwhelm city streets with pollution and ghastly accidents, many urban theorists came to see this segregation as not only helpful but necessary in order to maintain mobility. [[Le Corbusier]], for one, perceived an ever-stricter segregation of traffic as an essential affirmation of social order — a desirable, and ultimately inevitable, expression of modernity. To this end, proposals were advanced to build "vertical streets" where road vehicles, pedestrians, and trains would each occupy their own levels. Such an arrangement, it was said, would allow for even denser development in the future. These plans were never implemented comprehensively, a fact which today's urban theorists regard as fortunate for vitality and diversity. Rather, vertical segregation is applied on a piecemeal basis, as in [[sewer]]s, [[utility pole]]s, depressed highways, elevated railways, [[common utility duct]]s, the extensive complex of underground malls surrounding [[Tokyo Station]] and the [[Ōtemachi]] subway station, the elevated pedestrian [[skyway]] networks of [[Minneapolis]] and [[Calgary]], the [[underground city|underground cities]] of [[Atlanta]] and [[Montreal]], and the [[multilevel streets in Chicago]]. Transportation is often misunderstood to be the defining characteristic, or even the sole purpose, of a street. This has not been the case since the word "street" came to be limited to urban situations, and even in the automobile age, is still demonstrably false. A street may be temporarily blocked to all through traffic in order to secure the space for other uses, such as a [[street fair]], a [[flea market]], children at play, filming a movie, or construction work. <!-- todo: give examples like 77th street farmer's market --> Many streets are bracketed by [[bollard]]s or [[Jersey barrier]]s so as to keep out vehicles. These measures are often taken in a city's busiest areas, the "destination" districts, when the volume of activity outgrows the capacity of private passenger vehicles to support it. A feature universal to all streets is a human-scale design that gives its users the space and security to feel engaged in their surroundings, whatever through traffic may pass. ====Vehicular traffic==== {{main|Traffic}} [[Image:Shanghaid03.jpg|thumb|A street full of vehicles in [[Shanghai]]]] [[Image:Misasa Onsen Street01.jpg|thumb|An empty street in [[Misasa, Tottori]], [[Japan]]]] Despite this, the operator of a motor vehicle may (incompletely) regard a street as merely a thoroughfare for vehicular travel or [[parking]]. As far as concerns the driver, a street can be '''one-way''' or '''two-way''': vehicles on one-way streets may travel in only one direction, while those on two-way streets may travel both ways. One way streets typically have signs reading "ONE WAY" and an arrow showing the direction of allowed travel. Most two-way streets are wide enough for at least two lanes of traffic. Which lane is for which [[Driving on the left or right|direction of traffic]] depends on what country the street is located in. On broader two-way streets, there is often a ''center line'' [[road surface marking|marked]] down the middle of the street separating those lanes on which vehicular traffic goes in one direction from other lanes in which traffic goes in the opposite direction. Occasionally, there may be a [[median strip]] separating lanes of opposing traffic. If there is more than one lane going in one direction on a main street, these lanes may be separated by intermittent ''lane lines'' marked on the street pavement. Side streets often do not have center lines or lane lines. ====Parking for vehicles==== {{Main|Parking}} Many streets, especially [[side street]]s in residential areas, have an extra lane's width on either or both sides for [[parallel parking]]. Most minor side streets allowing free parallel parking do not have pavement markings designating the parking lane. [[Main street]]s more often have parking lanes marked. Some streets are too busy or narrow for parking on the side. Sometimes parking on the sides of streets is allowed only at certain times. Curbside signs often state regulations about parking. Some streets, particularly in business areas, may have [[parking meter]]s into which coins must be paid to allow parking in the adjacent space for a limited time. Other parking meters work on a credit card and ticket basis or [[pay and display]]. Parking lane markings on the pavement may designate the meter corresponding to a parking space. Some wide streets with light traffic allow ''angle parking''. ====Pedestrian traffic and vehicular amenities==== Where vehicular traffic is allowed on a street, traffic and parking [[Traffic sign|regulatory sign]]s are often placed near the sides. Bordering the driving/parking sides of many urban streets, there are [[Curb (road)|curb]]s. Usually, there are strips of land beyond the driving/parking parts of the streets owned by the government entity owning the streets. [[Sidewalk]]s are often located on these public land strips beyond the curbs on one or usually both sides of the street. There may be an unpaved strip of land between the vehicle-drivable part of the street and the sidewalk on either side of the street, which can be called the ''parkway'' or [[tree lawn]]. [[Grass]] and [[tree]]s are often grown there for [[landscaping]] the sides of the street. Alternatively, there may be openings in wider sidewalks in which trees grow. Streets are often lighted at night with [[streetlight]]s, which are typically located far overhead on tall poles. Beyond these public strips of land are bordered the front of [[Lot (real estate)|lots]] commonly owned by private parties. Practically all public streets in Western countries and the majority elsewhere (though not in Japan; see [[Japanese addressing system]]) are given a [[street name]] or at least a number to identify them and any [[address]]es located along the streets. [[Alley]]s typically do not have names. The length of a lot of land along a street is referred to as the ''frontage'' of the lot. ===Interaction=== A street may assume the role of a [[town square]] for its regulars. [[Jane Jacobs]], an economist and prominent urbanist, wrote extensively on the ways that interaction among the people who live and work on a particular street&mdash;"[[Mass surveillance|eyes on the street]]"&mdash;can reduce crime, encourage the exchange of ideas, and generally make the world a better place. ===Identity=== As a string in a jar can precipitate a beautiful, delicate [[crystal]], so can a street serve as the [[catalyst]] for [[neighborhood]] [[culture]] and [[solidarity]]. [[New Orleans]]’ [[Bourbon Street]] is famous not only for its active [[Nightlife (activity)|nightlife]] but also for its role as the center of the city’s [[French Quarter]]. Similarly, [[Bowery, Manhattan|the Bowery]] has at various times been [[New York City]]'s main highway, theater district, [[red-light district]], [[skid row]], restaurant supply district, and the center of the [[nation]]'s [[underground culture|underground]] [[punk rock|punk]] [[subculture|scene]]. [[Madison Avenue]] and [[Fleet Street]] are so strongly identified with their respective most famous types of commerce, that their names are sometimes applied to firms located elsewhere. Other streets mark divisions between neighborhoods of a city. For example, [[Yonge Street]] divides [[Toronto]] into east and west sides, and [[East Capitol Street]] divides [[Washington, D.C.]] into north and south. Streets also tend to aggregate establishments of similar nature and character. [[East 9th Street (Manhattan)|East 9th Street]] in Manhattan, for example, offers a cluster of [[Japan]]ese restaurants, clothing stores, and cultural venues. In Washington, D.C., 17th Street and P Street are well-known as epicenters of the city's (relatively small) gay culture.<ref>[http://www.gay.com/travel/premium/?sernum=365 Washington, D.C.: Where to play/meet - Queer Lesbian Gay Travel - Gay.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Many cities have a [[Radio Row]] or [[Restaurant Row]]. This phenomenon is the subject of urban [[location theory]] in [[economics]]. ==As distinct from other spaces== [[Image:Typical_Street_In_The_Royal_Borough_Of_Kensington_And_Chelsea_In_London.jpg|right|thumb|Typical street of the [[Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea]] in [[London]].]] A [[road]], like a street, is often paved and used for [[transport|travel]]. However, a street is characterized by the degree and quality of [[street life]] it facilitates, whereas a road serves primarily as a through passage for [[road vehicle]]s or (less frequently) [[pedestrian]]s. [[Busker]]s, [[beggar]]s, boulevardiers, patrons of sidewalk [[café]]s, [[peoplewatching|peoplewatchers]], [[streetwalker]]s, and a diversity of other characters are habitual users of a street; the same people would not typically be found on a road. In [[rural]] and [[suburban]] environments where street life is rare, the terms "street" and "road" are frequently considered interchangeable. Still, even here, what is called a "street" is usually a smaller thoroughfare, such as a road within a [[housing development]] feeding directly into individual [[driveway]]s. In the last half of the 20th century these streets often abandoned the tradition of a rigid, rectangular grid, and instead were designed to discourage through traffic. This and other [[traffic calming]] methods provided quiet for families and play space for children. Adolescent suburbanites find, in attenuated form, the amenities of street life in [[shopping mall]]s where vehicles are forbidden. If a road connects places, then a street connects people. One may "hit the road" to see the [[wonders of the world]]—[[Jack Kerouac]] famously [[On the Road|chronicled]] one such journey—but the latest [[bling]] will "hit the streets" before it ever appears on a road. It is "on the street" where one hears an interesting [[rumor]], where one bumps into an old acquaintance, where one acquires [[street smarts|smarts]]. One seldom sees a "road" vendor except of fresh produce, or a "road" performer. You'll never find yourself on a long "street" to nowhere or under assault by a violent "road" gang, hence politicians seldom view with alarm the prevalence of "crime in the roads". The street, not the road is home to the homeless unless they are [[hobo]]es, and even Kerouac's hero finally returned to find his friends on a New York street. A [[town square]] or [[plaza]] is a little more like a street, but a town square is rarely paved with [[asphalt]] and may not make any concessions for through traffic at all. ===Nomenclature=== {{main|Street name}} [[Image:Abbey Road Zebra crossing 2004-01.jpg|thumb|right|[[Abbey Road]], [[London]]]] There is a haphazard relationship, at best, between a thoroughfare's function and its name. For example, London's [[Abbey Road (street)|Abbey Road]] serves all the vital functions of a street, despite its name, and locals are more apt to refer to the "street" outside than the "road". A desolate road in rural [[Montana]], on the other hand, may bear a sign proclaiming it "Davidson Street", but this does not make it a "street" except in the original sense of a paved road. In the [[United Kingdom]] many towns will refer to their main thoroughfare as the [[High Street]] (in the [[United States]] it would be called the [[Main Street]] — however, occasionally "Main Street" in a city or town is a street other than the ''de facto'' main thoroughfare), and many of the ways leading off it will be named "Road" despite the urban setting. Thus the town's so-called "Roads" will actually be more street like than a road. Some streets may even be seen as highways. [[Hurontario Street]] in [[Mississauga]], [[Ontario]], Canada, is commonly referred to as "[[Highway 10 (Ontario)|Highway 10]]" — even though such a highway designation no longer officially exists. This is probably due to the fact that the street is a modern suburban arterial that was urbanized after decades of having the status and function a true highway, so people continued to use the number because of force of habit. In some other English-speaking countries, such as New Zealand and Australia, cities are often divided by a main "Road," with "Streets" leading from this "Road", or are divided by thoroughfares known as "Streets" or "Roads" with no apparent differentiation between the two. In [[Auckland]], for example, the main shopping precinct is around [[Queen Street, Auckland|Queen Street]] and [[Karangahape Road]]. Streets have existed for as long as humans have lived in permanent settlements (see [[civilization]]). However, modern civilization in much of the New World developed around transportation provided by motor vehicles. In some parts of the English-speaking world, such as North America, many think of the street as a thoroughfare for [[vehicular traffic]] first and foremost. In this view, pedestrian traffic is incidental to the street's purpose; a street consists of a thoroughfare running through the middle (in essence, a [[road]]), and may or may not have [[sidewalk]]s along the sides. In an even narrower sense, some may think of a street as only the vehicle-driven and [[parking]] part of the thoroughfare. Thus, [[sidewalk]]s and [[tree lawn]]s would not be thought of as part of the street. A mother may tell her toddlers "Don't go out into the street, so you don't get hit by a car." Among urban residents of the English-speaking world, the word appears to carry its original connotations (i.e. the facilitation of traffic as a prime purpose, and "street life" as an incidental benefit). For instance, a ''New York Times'' writer lets casually slip the observation that automobile-laden [[Houston Street]] is "a street that can hardly be called 'street' anymore, transformed years ago into an eight-lane raceway that alternately resembles a Nascar event and a parking lot." [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/09/nyregion/thecity/09stre.html] Published in the paper's Metro section, the article evidently presumes an audience with an innate grasp of the modern urban role of the street. To the readers of the Metro section, vehicular traffic does not reinforce, but rather detracts from, the essential "street-ness" of a street. [[Image:Hammond Street Cambridge Massachusetts 050227.jpg|thumb|A residential street in [[Cambridge]], [[Massachusetts]], [[USA]]]] At least one map has been made to illustrate the geography of naming conventions for thoroughfares; street, avenue, boulevard, circle, and other suffixes are contrasted against one another.<ref>[http://www.radicalcartography.net/?vancouver radicalcartography<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ==Etymology== '''Street''' has its origins in the Latin ''strata'' (meaning "paved road"), thus is related to [[stratum]] and [[stratification]]. Its original use, in [[Old English]] applied the word to [[Roman roads in Britain]] such as [[Ermin Street]], [[Watling Street]], etc. Later it acquired a dialectical meaning of "straggling village", which were often laid out on the verges of [[Roman era|Roman]] roads. In the [[middle ages]], a road was a way people travelled, with "street" applied specifically to paved ways.<ref><cite>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=street Online Etymology] accessed [[November 14]], [[2006]]</ref> ==See also== {{Commons|Street}} {{Col-begin}} {{col-2}} *[[Built environment]] *[[Living street]] *[[Longest Street in North America]] *[[Parliament Street, Exeter]] (Narrowest street in the World) *[[Pedestrian-friendly]] *[[Pedestrian street]], [[Auto-free zone]] {{col-2}} *[[Road]] *[[Segregated cycle facilities]] *[[Street furniture]] *[[Street reclamation]] *[[Urban car]] {{col-end}} ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/street?view=uk AskOxford: What is the difference between a 'street' and a 'road'?] *[http://www.streetnote.org streetnote, street music] Live street music and musicians from the streets of the USA *[http://www.streetsblog.org Streetsblog] – News focusing on streets and street life in the modern urban landscape. (No affiliation.) *[http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20050224.html What distinguishes a street from a lane from a road from a boulevard, etc.?] – An ''Ask Yahoo!'' editor's examination of the issue. *[http://sg.shownearby.com/directory/streets Streets in Singapore] Streets in Singapore {{Road types}} [[Category:Streets and roads]] [[Category:Streets| ]] [[ar:شارع]] [[az:Küçə]] [[bg:Улица]] [[cs:Ulice]] [[cy:Stryd]] [[da:Gade]] [[de:Straße]] [[es:Calle]] [[eo:Strato]] [[fa:خیابان]] [[fr:Rue (voie)]] [[fy:Wei]] [[it:Strada]] [[is:Gata]] [[he:רחוב]] [[lv:Iela]] [[nl:Straat]] [[ja:道路]] [[pl:Ulica]] [[pt:Rua]] [[ru:Улица]] [[simple:Street]] [[sk:Ulica]] [[sl:Ulica]] [[fi:Tie]] [[sv:Gata]] [[tr:Sokak]] [[uk:Вулиця]] [[yi:גאס]] [[zh:街道]]