Main Street in Santa Monica is one of the rare streets in LA with a true mix of transportation modes: you've got respectable numbers of walkers, busses, cars, bikes, rollerbladers, skateboarders, longboarders, unicyclists — you name it — all movin' right along at very moderate speeds to + from a nice variety of retail ranging from high-end boutiques to the more utilitarian car washes + cafes. It's a less car-obsessed street than most (unlike its high-strung neighbor Neilson Way), despite still being five lanes wide. One bright day, while waiting for my jewelry-obsessed wife to finish gemstone shopping, I wondered: how would it look with more honest proportions — proportions that better reflect its actual character? Narrowed, Main Street's sidewalks begin to feel wider. Building details, like the ornamental brickwork to the right, come into closer focus. And with less black asphalt around, this already sunny street becomes that much sunnier. See it narrowed!
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