Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
On Mother Nature Network, Chris Turner asks, where did the term “jay walker” come from? Back in the early twentieth century, “jay walkers” were those who carelessly wandered in the way of other pedestrians and later motorists. ‘Jay’ was a derogatory term for a hick,” someone who didn’t know how to act in the city”. City ordinances against jay walking began to appear as early as 1912. Turner writes, “the simple brilliance of the jaywalking idea is that it changed the mental landscape of the city. A space that had once been for everyone – the street – was now just for cars. To challenge the automobile’s dominance was to be reckless and dumb and behind the times – a fool, a hick, a rube.”
Image from theihno
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