Strolling through Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall, you are bound to spot a variety of sights, but one thing you will not find is any cars. On July 3, 1976, with the help of architect Lawrence Halprin, Charlottesville converted its East Main Street into the Downtown Mall we know of today. Crucially, Halprin took the drastic and uncommon step to block the district off from cars and create a pedestrian-only space. In doing so, he constructed a downtown that not only economically saved businesses by establishing a walkable space for customers, but also revitalized the city culturally — in a move many other U.S. cities can learn from.
In the 1970s, Charlottesville’s central core was struggling. Many of the businesses downtown were losing customers to the recently opened and more accessible Barracks Road Shopping Center. With the growth of the suburbs and the emergence of federal policies like the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, the U.S. was shifting to becoming a car-centric country. As a result, many community members experienced an added distance from the inner city. This made the journey downtown for a fresh pair of pants or a haircut no longer economically feasible. The Charlottesville City Council understood this, and decided that parts of Main Street would be blocked off as the paved road was converted into a brick walkway.
To accomplish this, they hired Halprin, a renegade thinker and renowned landscape architect in this car-dominated era. Drawing inspiration from Copenhagen, he designed the area with a European style of free pedestrian flow and communal gathering space. To this day, Halprin’s architecture supports the maintenance of the Downtown Mall as the city’s economic, social and cultural hub. Thus, other U.S. cities would be wise to learn the many benefits of a walkable downtown, including increased pedestrian safety, community engagement, citizen health and economic growth…