The Erie Streets of Superbowl Sunday

You already know the Supebowl is the most watched television show with tens of millions of viewers (and the cold and pandemic keeping many of us indoors anyway). Even so, Sunday afternoon felt as if the world forgot about streets. Driving home during the big game there was an emptiness rivaled only by 4 am trips to the airport. Feeling this void made me think about our planning meetings that start end or end talking about streets, and sometimes lead to robust street commentary. If the topic is about a neighborhood or town - it is most commonly defined by the major throughfares or mainstreet and people reference street boundaries. If the topic is a new building, people talk about the amount of traffic they fear it may generate (note that the reality is much less frightening than the imagination). If the topic is design or aesthetic related, the view from the street dominates the conversation.

This week’s conversation will be about the Buccaneers win, Tom Brady, the halftime show, the commercials. In the meantime, we will get back to planning work and people will think about streets again.

-Ellison