Analysis of the area NE of the Sannomiya Stations, around the Ninomiya Shotengai. Above: the highlighted area in the upper-left is the Kitano Ijinkan neighborhood. The highlighted area at the bottom is the subject area. The streets above are highlighted hierarchically as follows: – Magenta: Covered arcades and open-air shopping streets. – Red: “Busy” Boulevards. – Orange: … Continue reading Kobe Ninomiya Area
Chuo-Dori, the Main Street of Nagano, runs north to Zenkoji temple from near JR Nagano Station. This tour shows only the section north of Showa-Dori, where the vehicular road has been narrowed, and the pedestrian infrastructure has been upgraded. This street is a quasi-S.L.O.W. street; it shares most of the characteristic physical qualities, but has traffic in both directions. It has many parallels to State … Continue reading Benches of Nagano: Chuo Street
The incredible density of woonerfs / narrow streets is off the charts. Continue reading Kanzakigawa Station & Mitsuya Arcade
Hankyu Juso Station (阪急十三駅), just 3 minutes from Umeda, is a commercial node with covered shopping arcades extending directly from both west and east exit. This post will focus on the west side of the station. Continue reading Juso Station & Arcades
Keep an eye out for these key S.L.O.W. features:
– Absence of parking lanes.
– Frequently spaced trees and/or stone bollards.
– Curbless #SuperFlat facade-to-facade pavement. Continue reading Nara’s Sanjo SLOW Street
A single one way lane provides total vehicular access, while maximizing the space available for city life. Continue reading S.L.O.W. feels fast (Single Lane One Way)
The walkability of central Kamakura is defined by three north-south spines: The Komachi-Dori Shotengai (nighttime walk-through video) Car-free Hokoten every day from 4 pm to 7 pm (Sundays and holidays 10 am to 4 pm). Stretches 590 meters (1,940 feet) north from Kamakura Station (JR East and Enoshima/Enoden lines) to Hachimangu Shrine. The Onari-Dori Shotengai (daytime walk-through video) Car-free Hokoten every day from 4 pm … Continue reading Walking in Kamakura
Stock photos and televised clips of Shibuya usually depict only the iconic scramble intersection, but there is a lot more to this central Tokyo neighborhood. In fact, in Shibuya’s liveliest commercial districts, you never have to wait to cross the street (these are the “Nightlife Alleys” described in The Hierarchy of Japanese Streets). The following screenshots from Walking in Shibuya at night by Rambalac reveal a true pedestrian … Continue reading The Shibuya You Don’t Know
Most of the commercial life of Onomichi is concentrated in a compact strip about 6,400 feet long, varying from ~200 to ~1,000 feet in width. The fully roofed (アーケード) portion of Onomichi’s central shopping street (商店街) is about 3,000 feet long. This commercial core is separated from the waterfront by two lanes of traffic (one lane in each direction) with a relatively high speed limit (40 … Continue reading Island of Walkability: Onomichi (尾道)
A Tribute to the photo collections of N. Lewis and D. Boxall My bad habit is looking at pictures of beautiful streets. I can stare at them for hours in a state of total wonderment. Because they feel comfortable, safe, welcoming, alive… and nobody seems to know why. But recently, I began to notice a pattern; the best streets all fit the same basic form with regard … Continue reading What I learned from #StreetOfTheDay
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