The Street

If American cities were living creatures, their streets would be arteries. Just like living beings, American cities have changed and evolved throughout time. American cities have always had main thoroughfares for transport of people and goods. However, these streets were initially meant for whole communities. The pace of these streets was much slower than it is now though. Before cars, the street was shared by everyone using it. This was because there wasn’t any issue with pedestrians not having enough time to move out of the way of carts pulled by horses. (Norton, 2011, p.24) Children played on the streets, which was a necessary space for them because families often worked, and there was not much domestic space for children to occupy. Kids were such a common part of the street traffic that cash rewards were often given to the lucky children who helped catch runaway horses (Ward, 1978, p. 248).

With the advent of cars, the street began to change in character. Cars became more and more affordable, while advocate groups for automobiles gained traction within the public eye and government. Policymakers began to view nondrivers as the minority, a vision that always leaves children unaccounted for. Nevertheless, automobiles gained traction within American life, becoming a utility throughout the 1920s and well into the 30s. (Petroski, 2016, p. 16) This idea of utility meant that infrastructure changed to fit the needs of drivers, not pedestrians. In practice, this looked like paved streets meant only for cars. These streets were wider too, meant to accommodate parked cars on the sides and traffic from both directions. All of these changes took away space from the pedestrian and gave priority to the motorist. 

The change towards cars as the dominant mode of transport had some positive effects on children’s health though. The lack of demand for horses meant that they declined in numbers, taking their stables with them as well. These horses and their infrastructure had been the main supplier of manure for city streets, and with them gone, children’s health improved. In a study undertaken by Hoa Nguyen, she found that a 100% increase in driver registration provided 32 fewer deaths from infectious diseases spread through manure. (Nguyen, pp. 12-13)

Loss of Play Space

Although it would look like traffic safety was not a priority of the general public, the opposite was the case. When cars started to appear on city streets en masse in the 1920s, they were unwelcomed guests. People viewed the streets as pedestrian, walking was the most legitimate form of transportation, and accidents with pedestrians generated huge pushback against motorists (Norton). Public media took the side of pedestrians as well, and newspapers published scathing articles against reckless motorists. There was even a silent film that portrayed the death of a child from a car as martyrdom (Ward,1978, p. 250). 

In the mid-1920s the narrative was successfully flipped by automotive groups, namely AAA, the American Automobile Association. They started public safety programs that educated children on the dangers of traffic. This education created the responsibility for pedestrians, specifically children, to look out for themselves (Ward,1978, p. 252). At this point, motorists could point the finger back at pedestrians. If a child got hurt in a car accident it was their own fault for not paying attention to the road, or not following the safety protocols they were being taught in school. (Norton, 2011, p. 319) This program was immensely effective in changing public attitudes. The car had officially cemented its place in American culture. 

Children were greatly affected by the shift in narrative accomplished by motor lobbyists. They experienced a quick and brutal ejection from their largest play area, the street. With no true way to voice their own need for space in a world run by adults, they were left in limbo. Fast, dangerous streets no longer afforded the same availability of play space (Zelizer, 1985, p. 35). At the same time, children were not welcome to play in the home as it was a space meant for adults (Nasaw, 2012, p. 19). Homes were small and often overcrowded, especially in urban environments. Without streets to play in children had to deal with changing expectations, a reconstruction of what childhood meant. This timing coincided with playground reformer’s push for new public spaces intended specifically for children but Nasaw notes that this change was not natural and slow to come by. Children felt attached to their neighborhoods and were not open to playing in new places where they would be subject to direct adult supervision (Nasaw, 2012, p. 18).

Domesticizing Play

The loss of children’s play space due to cars taking over streets created a new way of constructing childhood. The lack of space for safe play coupled with a new view on children’s worth created a perfect storm for children to be domesticized, especially in their play practices. Play became much narrower, shifting towards the domestic realm. In Zelizer’s work, she argues that children became increasingly priceless in the eyes of adults during the. Further, she highlights how automobile accidents with children shifted public perception towards creating safer spaces for children to exist in. Bulletins suggested reforms such as changing front rooms into playrooms specifically for children (Zelizer, 1985 p. 51). This was a radical shift from the freedom that children had previously experienced playing on city streets. It was also a new stress on families, many of who did not have the space to support such a drastic change, like the tenements in New York.

Infrastructure creates realities for children, even imprinting itself in ways that aren’t often recognized until later in life. (Petroski, 2016, p. 15) Although her work is not based in America, but rather in Amsterdam, Lia Karsten has undertaken important research regarding modern children and their relation to cars and public space. She coined the term “backseat generation” (Karsten, 2005, p. 278) in reference to kids whose world is shaped through being driven to different locations for play and activity, as opposed to previous generations who found that stimuli more easily accessible outside of their homes. At the same time, there is an important distinction to be made. Many children of the past played outside both out of choice, but also out of necessity. Homes were not always child-friendly spaces, and that shift has been a more recent one (Karsten, 2005, p. 279). Children’s mobility has gradually declined from what it was in the 1920s (Ward, 1978, p. 255). That decline can be attributed in great part to the influx of cars and their role in creating more dangerous streets.