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60-549: Telegraph Avenue is a street that begins, at its southernmost point, in the midst of the historic downtown district of Oakland, California , and ends, at its northernmost point, at the southern edge of the University of California, Berkeley campus in Berkeley, California . It is approximately 4.5 miles (7.2 km) in length. Among some Berkeley residents, especially University of California students, Telegraph refers mainly to

120-399: A New York Times writer lets casually slip the observation that automobile-laden Houston Street , in lower Manhattan , is "a street that can hardly be called 'street' anymore, transformed years ago into an eight-lane raceway that alternately resembles a Nascar event and a parking lot." Published in the paper's Metro section, the article evidently presumes an audience with an innate grasp of

180-432: A housing development feeding directly into individual driveways . In the last half of the 20th century planners of suburban streets often abandoned the tradition of a rigid, rectangular grid , and instead designed systems to discourage through-traffic. This and other traffic calming methods provided quiet for families and play space for children within a streetscape . Adolescent suburbanites find, in attenuated form,

240-788: A charter member of the Greenwood Garden Club. In 1950, Gwin received a citation from the National Congress of the Daughters of the American Revolution in recognition of her work in the conservation of trees. Streets also tend to aggregate establishments of similar nature and character. East 9th Street in Manhattan , for example, offers a cluster of Japanese restaurants, clothing stores, and cultural venues. In Washington, D.C., 17th Street and P Street are well known as epicenters of

300-539: A city. For example, Yonge Street divides Toronto into east and west sides, and East Capitol Street divides Washington, D.C. into north and south. Some streets are associated with the beautification of a town or city. Greenwood, Mississippi 's Grand Boulevard was once named one of America's ten most beautiful streets by the U.S. Chambers of Commerce and the Garden Clubs of America. The 1,000 oak trees lining Grand Boulevard were planted in 1916 by Sally Humphreys Gwin,

360-560: A combination of tram lanes or separate alignments are used, sometimes on a segregated right of way . Signalling and effective braking reduce the risk of a tram accident . Often, a curb ( British English : Kerb ) is used to separate the vehicle traffic lanes from the adjacent pavement area and where people on bicycles are considered properly are used to separate cycling from traffic as well. Street signs , parking meters , bicycle stands , benches , traffic signals , and street lights are often found adjacent to streets. They may be behind

420-481: A dialectical meaning of "straggling village", which were often laid out on the verges of Roman roads and these settlements often became named Stretton . In the Middle Ages , a road was a way people travelled, with street applied specifically to paved ways. The street is a public easement , one of the few shared between all sorts of people. As a component of the built environment as ancient as human habitation,

480-521: A few hours or a day, in order to make it possible for the inhabitants to use their street for recreational activities. Cities implementing this initiative include Kolkata Madurai , Visakhapatnam and Bangalore . In the United States, "open street" events have been arranged in Detroit and New York City . Sather Gate Sather Gate is a prominent landmark separating Sproul Plaza from

540-453: A four-block section just south of the university, from Bancroft Way (which borders the campus) to Dwight Way. As a center of campus and community life, this section of Telegraph Avenue is home to many restaurants, bookstores, and clothing shops, along with street vendors occupying its wide sidewalks. Here Telegraph Avenue attracts a diverse audience of visitors, including college students, tourists , hippies, artists, street punks, eccentrics, and

600-520: A main street, these lanes may be separated by intermittent lane lines , marked on the street pavement. Side streets often do not have centre lines or lane lines. Many streets, especially side streets in residential areas, have an extra lane's width on one or both sides for parallel parking . Most minor side streets allowing free parallel parking do not have pavement markings designating the parking lane. Main streets more often have parking lanes marked. Some streets are too busy or narrow for parking on

660-598: A social function, allowing neighbors to meet and interact on their walks. They also can foster economic activity, such as window shopping and sidewalk cafes . Some studies have found that shops on streets with sidewalks get more customers than similar shops without sidewalks. An important element of sidewalk design is accessibility for persons with disabilities. Features that make sidewalks more accessible include curb ramps , tactile paving and accessible traffic signals. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires accessibility improvement on new and reconstructed streets within

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720-517: A street, despite its name, and locals are more apt to refer to the "street" outside than the "road". A desolate road in rural Montana , on the other hand, may bear a sign proclaiming it "Davidson Street", but this does not make it a "street" except in the original sense of a paved road. In the United Kingdom the inhabitants of many towns will refer to their main thoroughfare as the High Street (in

780-427: A street, is often paved and used for travel . However, a street is characterized by the degree and quality of the street life which it facilitates, whereas a road serves primarily as a through-passage for road vehicles or (less frequently) for pedestrians . Buskers , beggars , boulevardiers , patrons of pavement cafés , peoplewatchers , streetwalkers , and a diversity of other characters are habitual users of

840-408: A street; the same people would not typically be found on a road. A stroad is a thoroughfare that mixes - often unhappily - the characteristics of a street and a road. In rural and suburban environments where street life is rarer, people frequently use the terms "street" and "road" interchangeably. Still, even here, what is called a "street" is usually a smaller thoroughfare, such as a road within

900-577: A wall between Telegraph Avenue and present day Martin Luther King Jr. Way (formerly Grove Street), and sliced the Temescal District in half. The events of the 1960s and 1970s had made Telegraph, as well as Berkeley, a symbol of the counterculture of the 1960s . Over the next couple of decades the Berkeley end of Telegraph became home to increasing numbers of homeless people and panhandlers , and by

960-399: Is perhaps a street's most visible use, and certainly among the most important. The unrestricted movement of people and goods within a city is essential to its commerce and vitality, and streets provide the physical space for this activity. In the interest of order and efficiency, an effort may be made to segregate different types of traffic. This is usually done by carving a road through

1020-566: The Berkeley Hills where it became Fish Ranch Road, named some time after 1870, the year the Oakland Trout Company incorporated its fish and frog farm in the vicinity. In Berkeley, the trustees of the private College of California (the predecessor of the University of California ) laid out a residential subdivision south of their new campus in order to finance its construction. The streets were named alphabetically from east to west;

1080-564: The Classical Revival Beaux-Arts style, Sather Gate was completed in 1910. Atop the gate are eight panels of bas-relief figures: four nude men representing the disciplines of law, letters, medicine, and mining, and four nude women representing the disciplines of agriculture, architecture, art, and electricity. They were sculpted by Professor Earl Cummings . From 1910 to 1977, the panels were removed due to differences with Jane Sather. By 1979 they were all reinstalled. Originally,

1140-653: The United States and Canada it would be called the Main Street —however, occasionally "Main Street" in a city or town is a street other than the de facto main thoroughfare), and many of the ways leading off it will be named "Road" despite the urban setting. Thus the town's so-called "Roads" will actually be more like streets than like road. Some streets may even be called "highways", even though they may carry no highway designation at all: This may arise when an historic road that

1200-633: The homeless . Telegraph Avenue originated from several separately named thoroughfares. In 1859, a telegraph line was constructed between Oakland and Martinez by the Alta Telegraph Company , and the existing roads which ran alongside it were then renamed "Telegraph Road". The segment of the Telegraph Road which ran from downtown Oakland out to the Peralta estate in Temescal was previously known as

1260-466: The Ōtemachi subway station, the elevated pedestrian skyway networks of Minneapolis and Calgary , the underground cities of Atlanta and Montreal , and the multilevel streets in Chicago . Transportation is often misunderstood to be the defining characteristic, or even the sole purpose, of a street. This has not been the case since the word "street" came to be limited to urban situations, and even in

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1320-401: The "Peralta Road". The segment which ran to and up Harwood's (now Claremont) Canyon was first known as "Harwood's Road", named for William Harwood, an early Oakland politician who leased grazing land in the canyon. The Telegraph Road followed the route of present-day Telegraph Avenue from Downtown Oakland to Temescal , then ran along what is now the route of Claremont Avenue up to the summit of

1380-462: The "destination" districts, when the volume of activity outgrows the capacity of private passenger vehicles to support it. A feature universal to all streets is a human-scale design that gives its users the space and security to feel engaged in their surroundings, whatever through traffic may pass. Despite this, the operator of a motor vehicle may (incompletely) regard a street as merely a thoroughfare for vehicular travel or parking . As far as concerns

1440-467: The 1990s had become a destination point for runaways from around the United States. The numbers of panhandlers have decreased since a series of police sweeps in the late 1990s. University students remain the largest daily population on Telegraph, which still serves as the anchor of food, culture and student life on the south side of campus. More recently, a Korean business district has emerged just south of Temescal along Telegraph Ave. Attempts to change

1500-549: The Latin strata (meaning "paved road" – an abbreviation from via strata ); it is thus related to stratum and stratification . The first recorded use of word stratæ referring to the road has been made by Eutropius . Ancient Greek stratos means army: Greeks originally built roads to move their armies. Old English applied the word to Roman roads in Britain such as Ermine Street , Watling Street , etc. Later it acquired

1560-584: The US. In most jurisdictions, bicycles are legally allowed to use streets, and required to follow the same traffic laws as motor vehicle traffic. Where the volume of bicycle traffic warrants and available right-of-way allows, provisions may be made to separate cyclists from motor vehicle traffic. Wider lanes may be provided next to the curb, or shoulders may be provided. Bicycle lanes may be used on busy streets to provide some separation between bicycle traffic and motor vehicle traffic. The bicycle lane may be placed between

1620-412: The amenities of street life in shopping malls where vehicles are forbidden. A town square or plaza is a little more like a street, but a town square is rarely paved with asphalt and may not make any concessions for through-traffic at all. There is a haphazard relationship, at best, between a thoroughfare's function and its name. For example, London's Abbey Road serves all the vital functions of

1680-400: The automobile age, is still demonstrably false. A street may be temporarily blocked to all through traffic in order to secure the space for other uses, such as a street fair , a flea market , children at play, filming a movie, or construction work. Many streets are bracketed by bollards or Jersey barriers so as to keep out vehicles. These measures are often taken in a city's busiest areas,

1740-672: The bridge over Strawberry Creek , leading to the center of the University of California, Berkeley campus. The gate was donated by Jane K. Sather , a benefactor of the university, in memory of her late husband Peder Sather , a trustee of the College of California , which later became the University of California. It is California Historical Landmark No. 946 and No. 82004649 in the National Register of Historic Places . Designed by John Galen Howard and built by Giovanni "John" Meneghetti in

1800-423: The canyon segment. Berkeley changed Choate Street to Telegraph Avenue in 1890. In 1910, Sather Gate was built at the northern end of Telegraph Avenue. The university built Sproul Hall on Telegraph in the 1940s. In the 1950s the campus expanded south to Bancroft Way; Telegraph Avenue was shortened by 1½ blocks and buildings were demolished to make room for Sproul Plaza and several other new buildings including

1860-540: The center of the city's French Quarter . Similarly, the Bowery has at various times been New York City 's theater district , red-light district , skid row , restaurant supply district, and the center of the nation 's underground punk scene . Madison Avenue and Fleet Street are so strongly identified with their respective most famous types of commerce, that their names are sometimes applied to firms located elsewhere. Other streets mark divisions between neighborhoods of

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1920-484: The cities of Berkeley and Oakland opted to change Humboldt and Choate to Telegraph since Oakland's portion of the thoroughfare was already aligned with what remained of the old Telegraph Road between the new Claremont and downtown Oakland. Since Telegraph Road was a county road, a petition to change its name to Claremont Avenue was presented to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors on January 12, 1880. The petition

1980-501: The city's (relatively small) gay culture. Many cities have a Radio Row or Restaurant Row . Like in Philadelphia there is a small street called Jewelers' row giving the identity of a "Diamond district". This phenomenon is the subject of urban location theory in economics . In Cleveland, Ohio , East 4th Street has become restaurant row for Cleveland. On East 4th is Michael Symon 's Lola Bistro and other restaurants. A road , like

2040-422: The driver, a street can be one-way or two-way : vehicles on one-way streets may travel in only one direction, while those on two-way streets may travel both ways. One way streets typically have signs reading "ONE WAY" and an arrow showing the direction of allowed travel. Most two-way streets are wide enough for at least two lanes of traffic. Which lane is for which direction of traffic depends on what country

2100-438: The gate served as the formal southern entrance to the university campus. The university later expanded further south of Strawberry Creek, and the gate is now well separated from Berkeley 's city streets by Sproul Plaza. Between October 2008 and April 2009, Sather Gate underwent restoration that focused on its bronze and steel metal work, which had deteriorated over time. It remained open to pedestrian and vehicular traffic during

2160-511: The main shopping precinct is located around Queen Street and Karangahape Road . Streets have existed for as long as humans have lived in permanent settlements (see civilization ). However, the development of modern civilization in much of the New World was driven by transportation provided by motor vehicles. In some parts of the English-speaking world, such as North America, many think of

2220-522: The majority elsewhere (though not in Japan; see Japanese addressing system ) are given a street or road name , or at least a number, to identify them and any addresses located along the streets. Alleys , in some places, do not have names. The length of a lot of land along a street is referred to as the frontage of the lot. A street may assume the role of a town square for its regulars. Jane Jacobs , an economist and prominent urbanist, wrote extensively on

2280-855: The middle for motorists, reserving pavements on either side for pedestrians; other arrangements allow for streetcars , trolleys , and even wastewater and rainfall runoff ditches (common in Japan and India ). In the mid-20th century, as the automobile threatened to overwhelm city streets with pollution and ghastly accidents, many urban theorists came to see this segregation as not only helpful but necessary in order to maintain mobility. Le Corbusier , for one, perceived an ever-stricter segregation of traffic as an essential affirmation of social order—a desirable, and ultimately inevitable, expression of modernity. To this end, proposals were advanced to build "vertical streets" where road vehicles, pedestrians, and trains would each occupy their own levels. Such an arrangement, it

2340-661: The modern urban role of the street. To the readers of the Metro section, vehicular traffic does not reinforce, but rather detracts from, the essential "street-ness" of a street. At least one map has been made to illustrate the geography of naming conventions for thoroughfares - comparing and contrasting "avenue", "boulevard", "circle", "road", "street", and other labels. Streets may be used as cultural spaces, for socializing and street parties , or for public festivals. In India, some cities have designated one or more streets as "happy street" or "fun street", closing them for motor traffic for

2400-463: The name of the area to Koreatown have led to controversy, as most residents of the surrounding neighborhoods do not identify as Korean or Korean-American. A large Ethiopian and Eritrean population has also resulted in a string of Ethiopian restaurants , cafes and social clubs, stretching along Telegraph from about 30th Street in Oakland all the way into Berkeley. As a result of heavy foot traffic and

2460-465: The narrow width of the street, the area near the Berkeley campus is designated as a one-way street by the city, and there have been talks of completely eliminating car access, a topic still hotly debated in the city council. A proposal by AC Transit to build a Bus rapid transit line on Telegraph has stirred up controversy, especially on the northern end where it might result in the elimination of parking and/or car access. Street Originally,

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2520-480: The new student union building. The Berkeley end of Telegraph Avenue, along with Sproul Plaza, has been the site of numerous protests and riots beginning in the 1960s. In 1969, Telegraph was the site of massive confrontation between police and demonstrators during the conflict over People's Park . Alameda County Sheriff's deputies killed one man (James Rector) and permanently blinded another (Alan Blanchard) when they fired buckshot loaded shotguns at people sitting on

2580-425: The pavement may designate the meter corresponding to a parking space. Some wide streets with light traffic allow angle parking or herringbone parking . Sidewalks (US usage) or pavements (UK usage) are often located alongside on one or usually both sides of the street within the public land strips beyond the curbs. Sidewalks serve a traffic purpose, by making walking easier and more attractive, but they also serve

2640-562: The period of restoration. Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. , coordinated the restoration, which received a 2010 Design Award from the California Preservation Foundation. Sather Gate is part of the historic Sproul Plaza , a major center for student activity and the scene of many protests during the Free Speech Movement . The gate is a notable subject of one of the most recognizable and iconic photographs of

2700-484: The roof above Telegraph Ave. At one point, protesters were chased down Telegraph as far as Willard Junior High School (now Willard Middle School) at Derby Street, with Sheriff's deputies firing teargas canisters onto the school grounds. The 1960s also saw the construction of the Grove Shafter Freeway , which parallels Telegraph Avenue half a block west, between Downtown Oakland and 56th Street. The freeway created

2760-410: The side. Sometimes parking on the sides of streets is allowed only at certain times. Curbside signs often state regulations about parking. Some streets, particularly in business areas, may have parking meters into which coins must be paid to allow parking in the adjacent space for a limited time. Other parking meters work on a credit card and ticket basis or pay and display . Parking lane markings on

2820-737: The sidewalk, or between the sidewalk and the curb. There may be a road verge (a strip of grass or other vegetation) between the carriageway (North American English: Roadway) and the pavement on either side of the street on which Grass or trees are often grown there for landscaping . These are often placed for beautification but are increasingly being used to control stormwater . Although primarily used for traffic, streets are important corridors for utilities such as electric power; communications such as telephone, cable television and fiber optic lines; storm and sanitary sewers ; and natural gas lines. Practically all public streets in Western countries and

2880-404: The street as a thoroughfare for vehicular traffic first and foremost. In this view, pedestrian traffic is incidental to the street's purpose; a street consists of a thoroughfare running through the middle (in essence, a road ), and may or may not have pavements (or sidewalks ) along the sides. In an even narrower sense, some may think of a street as only the vehicle-driven and parking part of

2940-400: The street is located in. On broader two-way streets, there is often a centre line marked down the middle of the street separating those lanes on which vehicular traffic goes in one direction from other lanes in which traffic goes in the opposite direction. Occasionally, there may be a median strip separating lanes of opposing traffic. If there is more than one lane going in one direction on

3000-568: The street sustains a range of activities vital to civilization . Its roles are as numerous and diverse as its ever-changing cast of characters. Streets can be loosely categorized as main streets and side streets . Main streets are usually broad with a relatively high level of activity. Commerce and public interaction are more visible on main streets, and vehicles may use them for longer-distance travel. Side streets are quieter, often residential in use and character, and may be used for vehicular parking. Circulation, or less broadly, transportation ,

3060-496: The third street was named "Choate Street", after Rufus Choate . Oakland subsequently extended a road to connect with Berkeley's Choate, but named it "Humboldt Avenue". Oakland's first horsecar line was built in 1869 and ran along Telegraph Road to 36th Street. It was extended to Temescal a year later, then to the university campus via Humboldt and Choate after the university relocated from Oakland in 1873. A business district grew up along Choate and Humboldt Streets. The horsecar line

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3120-461: The thoroughfare. Thus, sidewalks (pavements) and road verges would not be thought of as part of the street. A mother may tell her toddlers, "Don't go out into the street, so you don't get hit by a car." Among urban residents of the English-speaking world, the word "street" appears to carry only some of its original etymological connotations (i.e., the facilitation of traffic as a prime purpose, and "street life" as an incidental benefit). For instance,

3180-532: The travel lanes and the parking lanes, between the parking lanes and the curb, or for increased safety for cyclists, between curb and sidewalk. These poorer designs can lead to Dooring incidents and are unsafe for cycling. A more sensible design is found in the Netherlands with a Protected Bicycle Path totally separate from the traffic which is safe for cycling. Trams are generally considered to be environmentally friendly with tramlines running in streets with

3240-413: The ways that interaction among the people who live and work on a particular street—" eyes on the street "—can reduce crime, encourage the exchange of ideas, and generally make the world a better place. A street can often serve as the catalyst for the neighborhood 's prosperity, culture and solidarity . New Orleans ' Bourbon Street is famous not only for its active nightlife but also for its role as

3300-643: The word street simply meant a paved road ( Latin : via strata ). The word street is still sometimes used informally as a synonym for road , for example in connection with the ancient Watling Street , but city residents and urban planners draw a crucial modern distinction: a road's main function is transportation, while streets facilitate public interaction. Examples of streets include pedestrian streets , alleys , and city-centre streets too crowded for road vehicles to pass. Conversely, highways and motorways are types of roads, but few would refer to them as streets. The word street has its origins in

3360-526: Was built to connect distant towns was named a "street" but originally never was in the truest sense. Some roads of this type which later became designated as numbered highways, became identified as said highway and may continue to colloquially be labelled as such from force of habit even if sections of it are subsequently urbanized and become an actual street and has its highway status decommissioned . Hurontario Street in Mississauga , Ontario , Canada (which

3420-450: Was eventually replaced by a steam dummy line, and later by an electric streetcar line. This transportation corridor stimulated the development of neighborhoods along its route, as well as an amusement park , Idora Park , between 56th and 58th Streets. When the segment of Telegraph Road leading up to Harwood's Canyon was renamed "Claremont" to suit the interests of a developer of the district (see Claremont, Oakland/Berkeley, California ),

3480-458: Was formerly Ontario Highway 10 , but predates it), is an example of this. In some other English-speaking countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, cities are often divided by a main "Road", with "Streets" leading from this "Road", or the cities are divided by thoroughfares known as "Streets" or "Roads" with no apparent differentiation between the two. In Auckland in New Zealand, for example,

3540-619: Was granted. Although the 1880 petition included it, the segment of the old Telegraph Road that ran up the canyon to the summit of the Berkeley Hills was renamed Claremont Road by the Oakland City Council (which by then had annexed the previously unincorporated area) on February 14, 1913, acting on a petition by the owners of the Claremont Hotel . The only discernible difference in naming was the substitution of "Road" for "Avenue" for

3600-438: Was said, would allow for even denser development in the future. These plans were never implemented comprehensively, a fact which today's urban theorists regard as fortunate for vitality and diversity . Rather, vertical segregation is applied on a piecemeal basis, as in sewers , utility poles , depressed highways, elevated railways, common utility ducts , the extensive complex of underground malls surrounding Tokyo Station and

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