A Guide to Great Streets

Using examples of exceptional streets from diverse settings across the world, Kaid Benfield tries to tease out what makes a great city street.

1 minute read

September 7, 2012, 11:00 AM PDT

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


Benfield evaluates images from diverse settings ranging from a leafy residential street in Coral Gables, Florida to the densely urban Beauchamp Place in London to discern what makes them appealing and what can be replicated in other communities.

There isn't one type of street or setting that Benfield seems to prefer more than others, but there are some common elements that capture his attention. These include: features that provide shade in warm climates, mature landscaping, visual openness, visual anchors, human scale, and a feeling of enclosure.

Thursday, September 6, 2012 in Switchboard

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