Notes (July 31st, 2023): This post still needs a lot of work. It needs better structure and more examples. -TP

Let’s Put A Bench on Every Street Corner
In an era where social isolation underlies so many of our society challenges, a simple bench to draw us outside our private lives enabling us to connect may be the perfect antidote.
Social Life ProjectFred Kent
Who Owns the Intersection Defines the Social Life of Neighborhoods
You can tell a great city by its corners. If the intersection is owned by the vehicles, it is a city for cars and traffic. If the community controls the intersections/corners, it is a city of neighborhoods.
Social Life ProjectFred Kent
Starting at the Corner: A New Haven Success Story
Areas around Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut exploded with social life this past summer and fall — coming alive in spite of COVID-19 — we couldn’t help but notice and be reminded of our work there, years ago.
Social Life ProjectFred Kent

Midtown NYC Crosstown Streets : New Haven as a benchmark
Midtown Manhattan Crosstown Street Intersections are a major obstacle for the transformation of Midtown Crosstown streets are so full of traffic, especially stacked at corners across Midtown, with the impact being greatest between Lexington Avenue and Broadway from 59th Street down to 14th Street.…
Social Life ProjectFred Kent

New Haven

A transformation unfolding for 40+ years

We have not been able to find a similar effort in North America, with one exception: New Haven. In 1980, we implemented a plan to extend the corner of College and Chapel streets; the key intersection where town and gown comes together.

Starting at the Corner: A New Haven Success Story
Areas around Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut exploded with social life this past summer and fall — coming alive in spite of COVID-19 — we couldn’t help but notice and be reminded of our work there, years ago.
Social Life ProjectFred Kent
This intersection in New Haven was improved in 1980. It was one of our first success stories.

The original plan was to keep and preserve local stores like Claire's Corner Copia—a strategy that would prove to be evidence of the power of "place-keeping." We eliminated parking spots and expanded the sidewalk in front of Claire's.

We also worked on keeping many of the other buildings surrounding College and Chapel Streets, and led interventions that would improve the streets' connections to Yale University. As a result, Claire's Corner Copia (and the area around it) grew to be a much-loved local landmark.

Claire standing in front of Claire's Corner Copia, and then Chapel Street which became the boundary between the Yale campus and the downtown.

More recently (September 2020), Yale worked with the City to make a "Restaurant Row" on College Street, in efforts of mitigating the local economic effects of COVID-19. The City of New Haven shifted street space into sidewalks, putting down colorful stripes and replacing a lane of traffic.  This move, which instantly calmed traffic, demonstrated that New Haven was making progress on being a place where pedestrians and social life are the priority.

This triumphant turnaround for the corner of Chapel and College Street began in 1980 but has continued and adapted to even our most current context. The change has rippled outwards, reaching down the surrounding blocks and making a huge difference for a neighborhood once full of empty storefronts. Now the corner is a well-loved spot where folks can run into people they know, have a conversation, and meet for lunch or a coffee.

Midtown NYC Crosstown Streets : New Haven as a benchmark
Midtown Manhattan Crosstown Street Intersections are a major obstacle for the transformation of Midtown Crosstown streets are so full of traffic, especially stacked at corners across Midtown, with the impact being greatest between Lexington Avenue and Broadway from 59th Street down to 14th Street.…
Social Life ProjectFred Kent
How to Escape from the Global Car Culture: xxx ways to grow to Create the future we Want and Need
This as a future big post Back to the future to create the future we want Chautauqua: An American Utopia - Where Social Life FlourishesChautauqua.“There’s no place like it. No resort. No spa. It is at once a summer encampment and a small town, a college campus, an
Social Life ProjectJosh Kent

A Bench at the Corner Valencia Spain

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