step street
{{Short description|Type of pedestrian street}}
File:Step Street at West 229th Street Heath Avenue IMG 8464 HLG.jpg
A step street is a thoroughfare fitted with steps for pedestrian traffic rather than paved or tracked for motor vehicles. It is a practical way of providing access up and down a slope that is too steep for automobiles. Step streets consist of a staircase of stone or concrete steps, often with a handrail on posts down the center, and sometimes lined with trees. Examples can be found in hilly urban areas.
Step streets fell out of popularity with urban designers as the use of the automobile increased in cities, and some step streets have been removed and redesigned as graded walkways to address accessibility concerns and to allow other wheeled transport such as bicycles, strollers, and wheeled shopping baskets.
In the early 2010s, efforts were made to restore some of these open-air staircases in New York City.{{Cite news|last=Feiden|first=Douglas|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/step-by-step-rebuilding-new-york-citys-open-air-staircases-1436393623|title=Step by Step, Rebuilding New York City's Open-Air Staircases|date=2015-07-08|work=Wall Street Journal|access-date=2020-03-03|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660}}{{Cite web|url=https://archpaper.com/2016/02/wxy-steps-design-one-new-yorks-long-neglected-stair-paths/|title=WXY steps up design on one of New York's long-neglected stair paths|last=Wachs|first=Audrey|date=2016-02-02|website=Archpaper.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-12}}
Examples
- In New York City, there are 102 step streets across the city's five boroughs. Of these, the majority (64) are in the Bronx.{{Cite web|last=Clark|first=Roger|date=2018-11-12|url=https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2018/11/13/step-streets|title=NYC's 'Step Streets' Have Their Ups and Downs|website=www.ny1.com|language=en|access-date=2020-03-02}} Others are scattered through hilly areas of Upper Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island.{{Cite web|url=https://forgotten-ny.com/1999/06/step-streets-rare-streets-devoted-only-to-the-access-of-pedestrians-in-the-bronx/|title=STEP STREETS|last=Walsh|first=Kevin|date=1999-06-06|website=Forgotten New York|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-02}} Some of the more notable step streets in New York City include Bushman Steps, which led to the Polo Grounds stadium in Upper Manhattan,{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/bushman-steps/history|title=Bushman Steps Highlights : NYC Parks|website=www.nycgovparks.org|access-date=2020-03-03}} as well as the Joker Stairs in the Bronx, one of the filming locations for the 2019 movie Joker.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/19/us/joker-stairs-bronx-trnd/index.html|title=The 'Joker' stairs might be New York's latest tourist attraction|last=Asmelash|first=Leah|date=2019-10-20|publisher=CNN|accessdate=2019-11-14}}{{Cite news|last=Jacobs|first=Julia|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/movies/joker-stairs-bronx.html|title='Joker' Stairs Become a Bronx Tourist Draw. Hope You're in Shape.|date=2019-10-31|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-03-03|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
- The city of Pittsburgh maintains over 700 sets of steps, some of which are classified as streets as part of a traditional street grid and often mapped as such with a disclaimer for drivers.{{Cite web|url=https://pittsburghpa.gov/citysteps/|title=Pittsburgh Citywide Step Assessment|website=www.pittsburghpa.gov|language=en|access-date=2020-08-24}}
- Rue Foyatier in Montmartre, Paris, is said to be the most photographed staircase in Paris, with over 250 steps.{{Cite book|last=Haight|first=Mary Ellen Jordan|url=https://archive.org/details/parisportraitsre0000haig|url-access=registration|quote=Rue Foyatier stairs.|title=Paris Portraits, Renoir to Chanel: Walks on the Right Bank|date=1991|publisher=Peregrine Smith Books|isbn=978-0-87905-361-1|language=en}}
- There are also several step streets in San Francisco, California.{{Cite web|url=http://www.sisterbetty.org/stairways/|title=Stairways of San Francisco|website=www.sisterbetty.org|access-date=2020-03-02}}{{Cite web|url=https://sf.curbed.com/maps/sf-staricases-beautiful-coolest-urban-steps-san-francisco|title=The coolest urban staircases in San Francisco|last=Keeling|first=Brock|date=2019-08-20|website=Curbed SF|language=en|access-date=2020-03-03}} One of these is the Lyon Street Steps between Broadway and Green Street in Pacific Heights, with 332 steps.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F9eEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT114|title=DK Eyewitness San Francisco and the Bay Area|publisher=DK Publishing|year=2019|isbn=978-1-4654-8840-4|series=Travel Guide|page=114|access-date=March 3, 2020}} Another, the Filbert Street Steps, descend the east slope of Telegraph Hill and run through the Grace Marchant Garden, tended by the residents who live along these steps.{{Cite web|url=http://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Saving_Grace%E2%80%99s_Garden:_30_Years_Since_the_Battle_of_Filbert_Steps|title=Saving Grace's Garden: 30 Years Since the Battle of Filbert Steps|last=Habegger|first=Larry|date=Spring 2016|website=www.foundsf.org|publisher=The Semaphore|language=en|access-date=2018-09-03}} In total, there are 600 public stairs in San Francisco, not all of which are step streets.{{cite book|last=Bakalinsky|first=A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Il_eqxyQaw8C|title=Stairway Walks in San Francisco (Large Print 16pt)|publisher=ReadHowYouWant.com, Limited|year=2011|isbn=978-1-4596-1900-5|page=|access-date=2020-03-03}}
- The town of Gurabo, Puerto Rico, is popularly known as Pueblo de las Escaleras ("town of the stairs") due to the number of step streets in the district of El Cerro near the center of town.{{Cite web|title=Gurabo|url=https://www.discoverpuertorico.com/regions/gurabo|access-date=2022-01-13|website=Discover Puerto Rico|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=El pueblo de las escaleras - kooltouractiva.com|url=https://www.kooltouractiva.com/kooltouractiva/tour/tour-istiando/247-el-pueblo-de-las-escaleras.html|access-date=2022-01-13|website=www.kooltouractiva.com}}
- In Montreal, Rue Saint-Christophe contains both stairs and a small slide, and is part of Parc Simonne-Monet-Chartrand.{{Cite web |last=Ville de Montréal |title=Parc Simonne-Monet-Chartrand |url=https://montreal.ca/en/places/parc-simonne-monet-chartrand |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=montreal.ca |language=en}}