We have roads, but we have no streets. Time for a change.

A street in Brooklyn (from the article).

A street in New Albany.

One by one, day after day, we post these statements of transformative principle, safe in the knowledge that the planet is filled with practical examples of their utility.

One by one, day after day, elected and appointed officials in the city of New Albany fail to grasp the central point, letting precious time slip past as they embarrass themselves through abject ignorance.

Granted, no one wants to get involved with the filth of politics, and yet the only real answer to this conundrum is to fire the incumbents. You'll have two opportunities to do so this year, and in the process, to select individuals who "get" it.

Reimagining Our Streets as Places: From Transit Routes to Community Roots (Project for Public Spaces)

In a city the street must be supreme. It is the first institution of the city. The street is a room by agreement, a community room, the walls of which belong to the donors, dedicated to the city for common use. Its ceiling is the sky. Today, streets are disinterested movements not at all belonging to the houses that front them. So you have no streets. You have roads, but you have no streets.
– Louis Kahn, The Street

Streets are our most fundamental shared public spaces, but they are also one of the most contested and overlooked. Today, and for most of the last century, we have taken for granted the idea that our streets are primarily zones for cars, parking, and the transporting of goods. This has not been the case, however, throughout most of history. Across many cultures and times – since the beginning of civilization, in fact – the street has held vast social, commercial, and political significance as a powerful symbol of the public realm.

The street was “the first institution of the city,” as architect Louis Kahn once wrote, and even if we don’t always recognize it, streets are still a powerful force in shaping our physical and mental landscapes. We name them after our idols and fallen heroes—in remembrance of presidents or literary figures, civil rights leaders or old Hollywood stars. In many of our own lives and experiences, they are sites for both celebration and rebellion: Stages for summer block parties and holiday parades, they are also the place we gather to express public dissent—as with recent demonstrations following the grand jury decisions in St. Louis and New York, where millions took to the street in protest of widespread police brutality and racial injustice. When streets function well on the level of everyday experience, they provide opportunities for people to connect in a way that no other public space can.