Mobilities Journal

Crowds + Little Space = Conflict

One of the most common activities that you will find college students doing is walking around campus. Whether that be to class, to a club meeting, to the library, or anywhere else they may be headed. Consequently, you will see large groups of students stopped on the curbs at intersections, waiting to get the “go ahead” to safely cross the street. Everyday, there will always be certain parts on campus that get particularly crowded; but I have found that specifically the crosswalk on the corner of South College Avenue and Amstel Avenue gets especially crowded. This would not be a problem if the five foot brick wall was not lining the sidewalk  about six feet away from the curb. This wall heavily impedes the walkability of this area and consistently stops foot traffic multiple times throughout the day. I commend almost all of the urban planning techniques used around campus but this spot is one of the few areas that I believe needs to be rebuilt. Due to the poor use of space, this area gets extremely crowded at a surprisingly quick rate. Consequently, students cannot pass through; which creates an accessibility problem as well. If people who don’t use assistive tools while walking are having problems, imagine how this affects people who use wheelchairs or other walking aides. This may result in students being late for class or missing an important meeting which negatively affects their academic success. This problem needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

This page has tags:

  1. Accessibility david kim
  2. Walkability david kim

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