Legalize jaywalking!

The author makes several excellent points - the kind you would get from a humanities or ethnic studies course - that show how laws are enforced to target and oppress specific demographics. Initially these anti-"jaywalking" laws were put in place at the behest of the auto manufactures to remove pedestrians from the streets so cars can travel unimpeded, but as many laws in the Jim Crow era did, they targeted people of color, primarily in poorer parts of town. Removing these laws, followed by reclaiming these voids within our communities as public space, we will likely see improvements in our neighborhoods.

An interesting connection to this is community building through place-making. Streets and roads, etc. divide communities and removes what was once a common space and replaces it with a void of liminal travel lanes that pose a risk to everyone that is on it or even nearby. Removal of some roads and putting others on a kind of diet to slim them out and reduce their speeds can increase communal interactions. Increases in community interactions and development of personal connections has been shown to reduce crime and increase overall well being. That is without even touching the health benefits of reducing or eliminating car travel.