Sidewalk

How do factors like race, class, and gender affect sidewalk relations in Jane Jacobs’s Greenwich Village, compared to Sixth Avenue in the 1990s? Use examples from the book to support your claims.

One of Duneier’s key arguments is that laws and policies to create order may actually lead to greater disorder. Discuss how the unintended consequences of specific policies and policing tactics change the sidewalk economy. Note how factors like race, gender, and class impact these “quality-of-life” decisions.

Much of the book centers around the clash between the informal guidelines of the sidewalk and society’s desire for more formal regulations. Discuss the benefits and limits of formal social regulation in controlling the sidewalk economy, using examples from the book.