This Place Is…

Sidewalk Coverings

August 14th, 2006

Spend a hot afternoon in Old Sacramento and you quickly understand why early settlers went through the trouble to build fancy porches over the sidewalk: Protection from the brutal sun.

As hot as it is in Sac, it really doesn’t seem so bad when you’re under some shade.

But the unintended benefit of these roofs is that they draw the indoor activity out into the public realm of the sidewalk: Colorful signs and merchandise displays seem to belong among the pedestrians. Walking along the street is just like window shopping, only in 3 dimensions. These porticos also add additional real estate to the second story of the building.

This sort of feature would be perfect for east coast and midwest cities where there are different sorts of elements to battle in different seasons. It might be an effective strategy to enliven a downtown commercial district.

Entry Filed under: Interactions, Good Places