Contextual Analysis: South Craig Street, between Forbes and Fifth

Contextual Analysis: South Craig Street, between Forbes and Fifth

Physical Attributes

1. Ebb and flow of traffic
2. Windy
3. Wide sidewalks
4. Paid street parking
5. Smalls trees line sidewalk
6. Contains Razzy Fresh, police station, offices
7. Bus stop
8. Sidewalk is for the most part even
9. Cross street, Winthrop street is under construction, therefore there is some debris left on the block from the work there.
10. Brick buildings
11. 4 street lamps adjacent to the road along the sidewalk
12. Nothing that stands out about the space
13. Trees are barren
14. When cars are parked bumper to bumper on the street, it can feel claustrophobic.
15. A Power line runs on the corner of Winthrop and South Craig
16. Power line runs along one side of South Craig.
17. Benches in front of 300 South Craig
18. Unclaimed bike whose chains are rusted.
19. Lack of loading docks, causing delivery trucks to park in the road.
20. Lulu’s plays 90s music, which is audible as you walk past it on South Craig.
21. Boxes of books outside of Caliban Book Store
22. Smells like food
    • onions
    • garlic
    • curry
    • coffee
23. Outdoor seating available at some restaurants, but not utilized in the winter
24. Smell of exhaust from cars during traffic jam
25. Crosswalk is faded, poor maintenance of traffic lines and pedestrian markers
26. Bike Rack
27. USPS Mail Box
28. Two-way street

Social Attributes

1. Liminal space, people going from place to place
2. Near police station
3. People smoke outside of the buildings
4. Used by high school students
5. High school girls in uniforms pass by
6. Lot of college students passing
7. Homeless people walk around
8. independent businesses
9. Young people gather in Razzy Fresh—open until midnight
10. Business people go to Luca, a fancy Italian restaurant.
11. Carnegie Mellon Shuttle has stops along this block
12. Quizno’s employees take a break outside.
13. Guy sells flowers outside of PNC bank
14. Multiple businesses have “Help Wanted” signs facing the street.
15. Personal services available, such as dentist, travel agent.
16. Businesses on side street put advertising signs on South Craig
17. Nightlife congregates at KBox
18. Educational buildings brings academics to the street
19. Competition of local coffee chain vs. international chain
    • Coffee Tree Roasters vs. Starbucks
20. Blind intersection at both ends (all four directions stop)
21. Drivers disregard pedestrians
22. Some students walk in groups, especially at night
23. At night, CMU shuttle drivers sometimes ignore students, perhaps due to poor visibility
24. Graffiti artists have tagged the mailbox
25. Bicyclists ride on the sidewalk
26. People look for parking