They think protecting drivers cars from scratches is more important than protecting pedestrians from getting hit, so they make the sidewalk part of the "clear zone"
Physical design is not neutral.
Physical design is an expression of our values.
this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2025
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I mean, I get where this post is coming from, but they didn't build guardrails along every single street and deliberately put them behind the sidewalks. They put it there because behind it is a steep dropoff.
It was never about "pedestrian bad", the guardrail wouldn't be there at all if it wasn't for the hill. Same thing with the parking meters others are mentioning. It's not because the meters are more valuable or whatever, it's because replacing them is expensive. Could they have put it in front of the sidewalk? Sure. But I'd bet the sidewalk was there for a while before the rail (plus the fact that there's a sidewalk at all is surprising, in the US)
I get the point this is going for, but don't forget, narrative manipulation can, and is, done by anyone.
The bigger issue I see here is that pedestrian access received exactly 0 minutes thought when this road was built, even though there's clearly enough foot traffic to form a desire path on the patch of grass on the left side of the picture. That doesn't happen without foot traffic, but not only is there no pedestrian crossing of any kind, but there isn't a foot path on the island on the left, even though there's a footpath leading up to it that just ends without anything to connect to.
What do they think people would walk there for? To just stop at the intersection and turn back?