Chapter 3 Summary

In this chapter Jane Jacobs talks about the different ways sidewalks affect peoples’ lives. She argues that in the city people are in theory brought together but there is really no togetherness because people don’t socialize with the anonymous people on their sidewalk. People probably do this because in the cities privacy is such a precious commodity and people in large cities feel that if they talk to somebody on the street in the morning, then whatever they say will be around the whole neighborhood in the evening. People choose to socialize with the people they trust such as the guy at the candy store or the deli across the street. Another argument Jacobs has about the lack of “togetherness” on the sidewalks and the neighborhoods is because the cities and suburbs that are being planned only suit one demographic of people and the other people that don’t fit the mold this plan for people socializing with their neighbors in pre-planned places just doesn’t work.