Hi Ho! Redesigning Disney World .. but for cars
An American thought experiment might help imagine a different Barnes and Mortlake - Story 132
The idea of pedestrian-first street is hardly new on this blog. It has come up in discussions of walking, cycling and the way we navigate public space. Yet it remains oddly difficult to picture. What would Barnes or Mortlake look and feel like if the car were not the starting point?
It should be straightforward. Pedestrian districts exist across London. But habits of mind are hard to shake. For the past century, the template has been the same: start with roads, fit people around them. To reverse the lens — to imagine a neighbourhood designed for people before cars — takes work.
One way to do that is to suspend disbelief. Don’t worry about planning committees or political acceptability. For a moment, just imagine.
That is what an American YouTuber, Streetcraft, has done. Being American helps in this case because he choose a place where the contrast is stark. In this part of the United States, the landscape is reduced to two archetypes:
Disney — An All-American Main Street setting, cheerful and car-free.
Everywhere else — a car-first environment, codified in Los Angeles a century ago with the first zoning ordinances.
Streetcraft’s conceit is simple: take the former and redesign it to resemble the latter. By turning Disney World into a car park with rides, he shows what has been lost.
The point is unsubtle but effective. Start with a place built for people and then add cars, and the intrusion is obvious. You are left asking why anyone would accept it.
Does that help you imagine what a new Barnes and Mortlake might look and feel like?