What’s the least desirable place to be in a city? Probably the sewer. The second place? An alleyway. I don’t even have to ask you to think about it, everyone reading this probably just nodded their head in agreement. Immediately.
Fortunately for alleyways, they have a lot going for them. First of all, they’re not used to transport shit, so we’re already better than the sewers. They’re ubiquitous, above ground, underutilized, sometimes they’re located in desirable neighborhoods and they’re an untapped resource for nearly every city.
Alleyways are the literal manifestation of the proverbial ‘diamond in the rough’.
I spent the last week observing one alleyway in particular. It’s situated in one of the most popular and expensive areas in Boulder, CO. Right on the Pearl St. mall. It’s between 14th and 15th st, closer to 15th and just dying to be utilized. Currently it’s used as a quick, unpleasant thoroughfare between a parking garage and the beautiful destination that is the Pearl Street mall. The mall is Disney World and the alleyway and what lies beyond, is the ‘behind the scenes’ — unattractive, dark, smelly and the entire time you’re traveling between your car and the mall, you mentally tune out and pretend that you’re not there.
I know this because I spent a copious amount of time watching people walk through this alleyway, or, not even notice it. It’s like the 9 3/4 platform in Harry Potter, those who knew about it, used it, begrudgingly, those who didn’t need to use it, didn’t even acknowledge it or notice it.
Currently, it really has no purpose it’s only real existence is because two buildings weren’t built next to each other and that, coincidentally, a parking garage was built adjacent to it. Five moss green, domed sconces loom over the alley and only two have bulbs. It’s paved, but far from flat and the only attractive aspect of the alley is that it is relatively clean. Two large, blue signs are posted on either end, sternly warning that nothing, except breathing and walking are allowed in the alleyway. The signs, unintentionally make you wonder, why shouldn’t I be able to hang out in this alley? Why can’t I enjoy it, or rather, why isn’t it an enjoyable place?
That’s an excellent question, why aren’t more alley’s being used? Let’s change that, starting with this very deserving alley. Here are my prospective design changes.
First, light.
On average Colorado gets 300 days of sunshine a year. That’s a lot of sunlight that can be utilized for our newly acquired, soon to be the talk of the town, alleyway. How can we passively add color to our space? Think stained glass windows, a canopy but built from colored, shatter proof plastic. You could create a three-dimensional, art instillation using different colors and shapes, casting a beautiful mosaic of color down into the alleyway, while also providing some coverage from the rare precipitation.
Dome, or street lighting provides a cone of light, but it falls off quickly, meaning those types of lighting leave a lot of dark areas. A quick and currently hip way to fix this issue is to provide wide dispersion lighting. Globe string lights are a perfect solution for this. They’re inexpensive, they come in LED versions(which are low power consumption, typically 1watt per bulb) and could easily be hooked up to a solar panel, offering inexpensive, beautiful and safe lighting that now makes an alley far more appealing at night.
Next, lets walk on something cooler.
Currently, the alleyway was last paved when the wright-brothers flew. It’s unmaintained, ravaged by time and frankly ugly. Pavement is basic.
There is literally an infinite number of possibilities that are more aesthetically pleasing and cooler than pavement. How about just matching the Pearl Street mall? Lay brick down in the alley, tie it in with the beautiful destination. Or perhaps permeable walkways. Nature intertwined with man, how about pavers with grass in between? Or, perhaps, down the middle of the alley, plant some plants or trees, or have a raised bed down the middle with some plants and bricks on either side. How about hanging plants, or encouraging manageable vine growth. Bringing some nature back into the urban environment.Make the Lorax proud.
Finally, lets toss some utility into the mix. I get it, no one wants to ‘hang-out’ in the alley, but it’s in such a perfect area not to be put to work. How about bike storage? One side of the alley can be used as a bike racks for all the college students and tourists who frequent the mall and the other side be used as a walk way. You could even include some wall murals to really jazz up the joint.
The idea that the alleyways are still sitting dormant and unused is a shame – especially the one that I observed. I get it, not all alleyways are created equal, some are definitely being used to house less attractive, but entirely necessary parts of the city system; trash, recycling and the like. However, those alleys that are sitting there, untouched and with untapped potential, I say let’s change that. Let’s re-design them and make them a cohesive part of the urban landscape.
