Inviting Alleys and Pedestrian Paths

Our exploration of Inviting Alleys broadened into ideas about alleys and pedestrian paths. Alleys mix people and an few cars, but people have the upper hand. Paths are for pedestrians
We liked had some features in common. They were:

• Places inhabited by people; and inviting to inhabit (maybe even a tiny mystery)
• Places you'd want to walk, with interesting walking surfaces (and wheelchair surfaces too)
• Places with residences where you'd dream of living
• Places with successful little businesses tucked away
• Places that have plants

I like this alley because it looks like people visit here. A few cars come and go, but pedestrians would feel safe. It has variety: paving, heights, widths, plants, colors.

This alley leads back into a cluster of housing for a religious order. The gate and its tree sentinels make for a little mystery.

The topography here didn't allow a street, but this path provides access back to several houses, then along the edge of a hill to the next street.

St Andrews Scotland has several of these pedestrian paths that connect the E-W streets in the core of the medieval city. Some have housing and a few have shops and restaurants. This view doesn't seem so inviting, perhaps because of the blank wall at the entrance, and tall buildings.

This St Andrews walking street seems more inviting than the one above, perhaps because of the stairs and doorways and lower heights of the buildings.

This Baltimore street started a conversation about adding more green, which brought in the two images below to illustrate how it could be done in a tight space.

Adding a few pots of plants makes the space more inviting.

Window well and planter box outside this rowhouse don't take much space and the railing would keep the plants from some mischief.

Here is a pocket garden off an alley in the same Federal Hill Baltimore neighborhood.

A gated walkway to access a private back yard gives daylight to the buildings and a tiny mystery to the street.

The gated walkway can even be a tunnel

Click to enlarge and peek into the green pocket behind this house.

Even on a foggy night, the right lights and walking surface can make an inviting mystery.

Living spaces might be on the alley, but care is needed with utilities, garbage cans, etc so the space remains inviting to occupants and viewers from the street.

A low house surrounded by plants seems like a wonderful find down this alley.

This was a SODO Friday challenge Jan 7, 2011 (learn about SODO Friday). You are welcome to comment or send in more images of Alleys and Paths.