The Evolution of the Street — I. 
one hand there appear windows, balconies, 
and projecting windows which command a 
view not merely across the street but up and 
down it, in order that the inmates of the 
houses may enjoy such animation as the 
street affords. There appears, too, a con¬ 
scious effort to give attractiveness to the 
street facade. Posts and lintels are carved, 
the doorways are emphasized, windows and 
balconies are made picturesque and decora¬ 
tive features, and what had been before a 
dead wall is now rendered as attractive as pos¬ 
sible, for there is appreciation of the chance 
to make an impression by means of the wall 
that the house shows to the street. The 
desire for architecture’s outward expression 
is born into the world! On the street’s 
part also there is a change. T his is likely 
to appear in a more careful grading, on 
account of the increased demands on the 
road. Perhaps, for the same reason, is the 
paving bettered. Rude, crude, noisy at 
first, but giving a sure foothold and a dry 
one, the way is now slightly widened so that 
there may be room to sit before the doors. 
And then, repeatedly, the roof will be made 
to project over the door so as to afford a 
sheltered spot,—more from the roof drain¬ 
ing than from the storm, and in hot climates 
as much, perhaps, to act as an awning that 
will keep the sun from entering the open 
door, as to keep the threshold dry. 
All is still crude, irregular, lacking in 
system or orderliness, but the street has 
unmistakably appeared. Thenceforth, the 
advance will consist mainly in the inaugura¬ 
tion of order and system, in adaptation to 
increasingly pressing requirements of traffic, 
in the effort to satisfy a rising esthetic ideal, 
and to extract from the street, conceived as 
a strip of public territory, the maximum of 
public or civic usefulness. The street will 
not be considered by itself in this develop¬ 
ment, but will be thought of as one of the 
co-ordinate parts of a street system. Still 
there will be, within itself, a straightening 
of lines or evening of edges. Something 
like a walk will appear, in the paving of a 
footpath directly before the houses. There 
will come by degrees an attempt to light the 
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