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{{Short description|Public thoroughfare in a built environment}}
{{Distinguish|Strait}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Typical Street In The Royal Borough Of Kensington And Chelsea In London.jpg|thumb|Service street ("mews") in the [[Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea]] in [[London]]. Mews are typically found at the back of older rows of townhouses, with a more elegant street in the front.]]A '''street''' is a public [[thoroughfare]] in a city, town or village, typically lined with [[Building|buildings]] on one or both sides.  Streets often include pavements ([[sidewalk]]s), [[pedestrian crossing]]s, and sometimes amenities like [[Street light|streetlights]] or [[Bench (furniture)|benches]]. A street can be as simple as a level patch of [[Dirt road|dirt]], but is more often [[pavement (material)|paved]] with a hard, durable surface such as [[Tarmacadam|tarmac]], [[concrete]], [[cobblestone]] or [[brick]]. It can be designed for both social activity and movement.

Originally, the word ''street'' simply meant a [[paved road]] ({{langx|la|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 planning|urban planners]] draw a significant modern distinction: a road's main function is transportation, while streets facilitate public interaction.<ref name="Dictionary">[http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/d01.html Dictionary].</ref> Examples of streets include [[pedestrian street]]s, [[alley]]s, and [[downtown|city-centre]] streets too crowded for [[Motor vehicle|motor vehicles]] to pass. Conversely, [[highway]]s and [[motorway]]s are types of roads, but few would refer to them as streets.<ref name="Using">[http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/8661-need-advice-road-vs-street.html Road vs Street] at Using English forum.</ref><ref name="Avenue">[http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/26412-avenue-vs-street.html Avenue vs Street] at Using English forum.</ref>

When a street needs to support heavy through traffic, it can come to resemble a road. Such a street-road combination is known as a [[stroad]].

==Etymology==
[[File:Via_dell'Abbondanza_1.JPG|thumb|[[Roman roads|Roman street]] in [[Pompeii]]. Its east–west-oriented ''[[Decumanus Maximus]]'']]
The word ''street'' has its origins in the Latin ''[[wikt:strata#Latin|strata]]'' (meaning "paved road" – an abbreviation from ''[[wikt:via#Latin|via]] [[wikt:strata#Latin|strata]]''<ref>History of English, Jonathan Culpeper, Routledge 1997, p. 2</ref>); it is thus related to ''[[stratum]]'' and ''[[stratification (archeology)|stratification]]''. The first recorded use of word ''stratæ'' referring to the road has been made by [[Eutropius (historian)|Eutropius]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Guest, Edwin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XEYjMYf-AFUC&pg=PA188|title=On certain Foreign Terms, adopted by our Ancestors prior to their Settlement in the British Islands (Pt. II)|year=1852|journal=Proceedings of the Philological Society|volume=5|number=124|pages=188|author-link = Edwin Guest}}</ref> Ancient Greek ''[[wikt:στρατός|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 a dialectical meaning of "straggling village", which were often laid out on the verges of Roman roads and these settlements often became named [[Stretton (disambiguation)|Stretton]]<!--intentional link to DAB page-->. In the [[Middle Ages]], a ''road'' was a way people travelled, with ''street'' applied specifically to paved ways.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=street|title=Online Etymology|access-date=2006-11-14}}</ref>

==History==
Streets have their roots to antiquity in [[Historic roads and trails|ancient road]]s or [[trade route]]s, designed for practical purposes like [[transportation]], [[commerce]] or defence. In many cities, streets may have originated as [[Trail|path]]s through [[wilderness]] or were shaped by natural features like [[river]]s, [[hill]]s or the coastline.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

As towns and cities grew from the first civilizations, streets were planned to facilitate urban development. Early street names often echoed local landmarks, businesses or key figures. Some streets were named after royalty, national heroes or historical events. Over time when settlements increased, streets were modified to support growing populations.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

During the [[Industrial Revolution]] in the 18th and 19th centuries, industrialization dramatically changed many cities. Streets became centres for commerce, trade and industrial activity, leading to the construction of factories, [[warehouse]]s and transportation hubs. It resulted in [[overcrowding]], [[pollution]] and changes in the architecture of surrounding buildings.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

As cities grew, so did the demographics and the functions of certain streets. In some cases, a street may have become associated with particular communities, industries or events. For example, certain streets may have become known for their vibrant cultural or artistic scenes or for being focal points during [[political protest]]s or [[social movement]]s.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

In the 20th and 21st centuries, streets probably underwent major transformations with the advent of [[automobile]]s, [[public transport system]]s and urban planning policies. Many streets have been pedestrianized, revitalized with new businesses, or preserved for historical purposes. Streets that once served as industrial centres might now house cafes, [[boutique]]s and galleries.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

Subsequently, streets have been shaped by urban planning and gentrification. Older neighbourhoods may have been revitalized or developed into trendy areas, often displacing long-time residents. Street names and the businesses along them may also change as a result of economic shifts and demographic changes.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

==Role in the built environment==
[[File:Tverskaya Street2.jpg|thumb|[[Tverskaya Street]] the main radial street in [[Moscow]]. ]]

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 history|ancient]] as human habitation, the street sustains a range of activities vital to [[civilization]]. Its roles are as numerous and diverse as its ever-changing cast of characters.{{cn|date=June 2025}}

Streets can be loosely categorized as [[main street]]s and [[side street]]s. 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 parking.{{cn|date=June 2025}}

===Circulation===
[[Image:St.JamesSt.-Montreal -1910.jpg|thumb|[[Saint Jacques Street|Rue Saint-Jacques]], a street in [[Montreal]], 1910|upright]]
{{Main|Traffic}}
{{See also|Street network}}

Circulation, or less broadly, [[transportation]], is perhaps a street's most visible use, and certainly among the most important. The unrestricted movement of people and [[Good (economics)|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 the middle for motorists, reserving [[Sidewalk|pavements]] on either side for pedestrians; other arrangements allow for [[streetcar]]s, [[Trolley bus|trolleys]], and even [[wastewater]] and rainfall [[Surface runoff|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 was said, would allow for even denser development in the future.

These plans were never implemented comprehensively, a fact which today's urban{{Who|date=January 2022}} theorists regard as fortunate for vitality and diversity{{Vague|date=February 2024}}. Rather, vertical segregation is applied on a piecemeal basis, as in [[sanitary sewer|sewers]], [[utility pole]]s, depressed highways, elevated railways, [[common utility duct]]s, the extensive complex of underground malls surrounding [[Tokyo Station]] and the [[Ōtemachi]] subway station, the elevated pedestrian [[skyway]] networks of [[Minneapolis]] and [[Calgary]], the [[underground city|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 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. <!-- todo: give examples like 77th street farmer's market --> Many streets are bracketed by [[Bollard (traffic)|bollards]] or [[Jersey barrier]]s so as to keep out vehicles. These measures are often taken in a city's busiest areas, 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.

====Vehicular traffic====
{{main|Traffic}}
{{See also|Carriageway}}
[[File:Shanghaid03.jpg|thumb|A street full of vehicles in [[Shanghai]]|upright]]
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 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 [[lane]]s of traffic.

Which lane is for which [[Driving on the left or right|direction of traffic]] depends on what country the street is located in. On broader two-way streets, there is often a ''centre line'' [[road surface marking|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 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.

====Parking for vehicles====
{{Main|Parking}}
[[File:Castro, San Francisco (29583259582).jpg|thumb|[[Street parking]] on [[Castro District, San Francisco|
Castro]] Street in [[San Francisco]]]]
Many streets, especially [[side street]]s 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 street]]s more often have parking lanes marked.  Some streets are too busy or narrow for parking on 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 meter]]s 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 the pavement may designate the meter corresponding to a parking space.  Some wide streets with light traffic allow ''angle parking'' or ''herringbone parking''.

====Sidewalk and bicycle traffic====
[[File:Kitano Street Kobe01s5s4110.jpg|thumb|[[Kitano-chō|Kitano]] Street in [[Kobe, Hyogo]], [[Japan]].]]
[[File:Cycling Amsterdam 04.jpg|thumb|Safe from traffic for [[cycling]] along a fully segregated ''Fietspad'', properly designed [[cycling infrastructure]] in [[Amsterdam]].]]
[[Sidewalk]]s (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 a social function, allowing neighbors to meet and interact on their walks. They also can foster economic activity, such as window shopping and [[sidewalk cafe]]s. Some studies have found that shops on streets with sidewalks get more customers than similar shops without sidewalks.<ref>{{cite web|title=Economic Revitalization|access-date=2011-07-15|url=http://www.completestreets.org/complete-streets-fundamentals/factsheets/economic-revitalization/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717072553/http://www.completestreets.org/complete-streets-fundamentals/factsheets/economic-revitalization/|archive-date=2011-07-17}}</ref>

An important element of sidewalk design is accessibility for persons with disabilities. Features that make sidewalks more accessible include [[Curb cut|curb ramps]], [[tactile paving]] and accessible traffic signals. The [[Americans with Disabilities Act]] requires accessibility improvement on new and reconstructed streets within 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 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 [[Cycling in the Netherlands|Protected Bicycle Path]] totally separate from the traffic which is safe for cycling.

====Tramlines====

[[File:P1010997 23.04.2013 Amsterdam Strassenbahn.JPG|thumb|Damrak, in Amsterdam with a tram, Fietspad and pavement]]

[[Trams]] are generally considered to be [[environmentally friendly]] with tramlines running in streets with a combination of tram lanes or separate alignments are used, sometimes on a segregated [[Right-of-way (transportation)|right of way]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.o[88pmerriam-webster.com/dictionary/tram|title=Tram – Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary|work=merriam-webster.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409061036/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tram|archive-date=9 April 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Signalling and effective braking reduce the risk of a [[tram accident]].

===Vehicular amenities and roadside hardware===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Ammansuburb.jpg|thumb|right|270px|A suburban street in [[Amman]], [[Jordan]].]] -->
Often, a [[curb]] ({{Langx|en-gb|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 meter]]s, [[bicycle stand]]s, [[Bench (furniture)|benches]], [[traffic signals]], and [[street light]]s are often found adjacent to streets. They may be behind the sidewalk, or between the sidewalk and the curb.

====Landscaping====
There may be a [[road verge]] (a strip of grass or other vegetation) between the [[carriageway]] ({{langx|en-021|roadway}}) and the pavement on either side of the street on which [[grass]] or [[tree]]s are often grown there for [[landscaping]]. These are often placed for beautification but are increasingly being used to control [[stormwater]].

===Utilities===
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.

===Street numbering===
Practically all public streets in Western countries and 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 [[Address (geography)|addresses]] located along the streets. [[Alley]]s, 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}

===Interaction===
A street may assume the role of a [[town square]] for its regulars. [[Jane Jacobs]], an economist and prominent urbanist, wrote extensively on 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.

===Identity===
{{Globalize|section|North America|date=February 2024}}
[[File:Elfreth's Alley.JPG|thumb|Pedestrians walking along [[Elfreth's Alley]], [[Philadelphia]]]]A street can often serve as the catalyst for the [[neighborhood]]'s prosperity, [[culture]] and [[wikt:solidarity|solidarity]]. [[New Orleans]]' [[Bourbon Street]] is famous not only for its active [[Nightlife (activity)|nightlife]] but also for its role as the centre of the city's [[French Quarter]]. Similarly, the [[Bowery]] has at various times been [[New York City]]'s [[Theater District, Manhattan|theater district]], [[red-light district]], [[skid row]], restaurant supply district, and the centre of the [[nation]]'s [[Underground music|underground]] [[punk rock|punk]] [[subculture|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 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, 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newspaperarchive.com|title=NewspaperArchive® - Genealogy & Family History Records|website=www.newspaperarchive.com}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ftJm0hwGAGEC&dq=%22ten+most+beautiful+streets%22&pg=PA87 Kirkpatrick, Mario Carter. ''Mississippi Off the Beaten Path''. GPP Travel, 2007.]</ref>

Streets also tend to aggregate establishments of similar nature and character. [[East 9th Street (Manhattan)|East 9th Street]] in [[Manhattan]], for example, offers a cluster of [[Japan]]ese restaurants, clothing stores, and cultural venues. In Washington, D.C., 17th Street and P Street are well known as epicenters of the city's (relatively small) gay culture. Many cities have a [[Radio Row]] or [[List of restaurant districts and streets|Restaurant Row]]. Like in [[Philadelphia]] there is a small street called [[Jewelers' Row, Philadelphia|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.

==As distinct from other spaces==
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2016}}
[[Image:centralbeirut.jpg|thumb|right|[[Beirut Central District|Centre Ville]], [[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]]|upright]]
A [[road]], like a street, is often paved and used for [[transport|travel]]. However, a street is characterized by the degree and quality of the street life<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Nevola
 |first1               = Fabrizio
 |date                 = 24 November 2020
 |title                = Street Life in Renaissance Italy
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=A3oREAAAQBAJ
 |publication-place    = New Haven
 |publisher            = Yale University Press
 |page                 = 19
 |isbn                 = 9780300175431
 |access-date          = 1 June 2023
 |quote                = [...] what is street life? [...] the street can helpfully be understood as a ecosystem [...]. [...] street life as an area of study sets out to cross between the physical and social fabrics of the city and to reveal the nature and degree of interdependence of one upon the other.
}} 
</ref>
which it facilitates, whereas a road serves primarily as a through-passage for [[road vehicle]]s or (less frequently) for [[pedestrian]]s.<ref>
{{cite book
 |author1              = National Association of City Transportation Officials
 |author-link1         = National Association of City Transportation Officials
 |date                 = 1 October 2013
 |title                = Urban Street Design Guide
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=5chSvgAACAAJ
 |publisher            = Island Press
 |isbn                 = 9781610914949
 |access-date          = 1 June 2023
 |quote                = [...] this design guide emphasizes the core principle that urban streets are public places and have a larger role to play in communities than solely being conduits for traffic.
}} 
</ref>
[[Busker]]s, [[beggar]]s, [[Flâneur | boulevardier]]s, patrons of pavement [[café]]s, [[peoplewatching| peoplewatchers]], [[streetwalker]]s, and a diversity of other characters are habitual users of 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 a [[housing development]] feeding directly into individual [[driveway]]s. In the last half of the 20th century planners of suburban streets often abandoned the tradition of a rigid, rectangular [[Grid plan| grid]], and instead designed systems to discourage through-traffic. This and other [[traffic calming]] methods provided quiet for families and [[home zone | play space]] for children within a {{linktext|streetscape}}. Adolescent suburbanites find, in attenuated form, the amenities of street life in [[shopping mall]]s 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 concrete |asphalt]] and may not make any concessions for through-traffic at all.

===Nomenclature===
{{main|Street or road name}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-S53267, St. Petersburg, Newski-Prospekt.jpg|thumb|[[Nevsky Prospekt]], the main street in the city of [[St. Petersburg]], 1901]]
[[File:Hurontario St. from Dundas St 2022.jpg|thumb|[[Hurontario Street]] in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, is commonly referred to by its former highway number.]]
[[Image:Avenida Cruzeiro do Sul.jpg|thumb|An avenue in [[São Paulo]].|upright]]

There is a haphazard relationship, at best, between a thoroughfare's function and its name. For example, London's [[Abbey Road (street) |Abbey Road]] serves all the vital functions of 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 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 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 highway| decommissioned]]. [[Hurontario Street]] in [[Mississauga]], [[Ontario]], Canada (which 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, the main shopping precinct is located around [[Queen Street, Auckland |Queen Street]] and [[Karangahape Road]].

Streets have existed for as long as humans have lived in permanent settlements<ref>
For example, archeologists identify streets, alleyways and culs-de-sac in ancient Mesopotamia:
{{cite book
 |last1                = Nemet-Nejat
 |first1               = Karen Rhea
 |year                 = 1998
 |chapter              = City Life
 |title                = Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=lbmXsaTGNKUC
 |series               = Greenwood Press "Daily life through history" series, ISSN 1080-4749
 |publication-place    = Westport, Connecticut
 |publisher            = Greenwood Publishing Group
 |page                 = 103
 |isbn                 = 9780313294976
 |access-date          = 1 June 2023
 |quote                = The residential areas were connected by a network of streets, and most homes were entered through narrow alleyways and culs-de-sac
}}
</ref>
(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 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 [[sidewalk]]s) along the sides.

In an even narrower sense, some may think of a street as only the vehicle-driven and [[parking]] part of the thoroughfare. Thus, sidewalks (pavements) and [[road verge]]s 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, a ''New York Times'' writer lets casually slip the observation that automobile-laden [[Houston Street (Manhattan) |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."<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/09/nyregion/thecity/09stre.html ''New York Times'' article]{{registration required}}</ref> Published in the paper's Metro section, the article evidently presumes an audience with an innate grasp of 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.<ref>{{cite web|author= Bill Rankin|url=http://www.radicalcartography.net/?vancouver|title= Vancouver Roads|publisher= radicalcartography|year= 2005|access-date= 2010-06-19}}
</ref>

==Culture==
{{Further|Children's street culture}}
Streets may be used as cultural spaces, for socializing and [[Street party|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 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]]<ref name="park street">{{cite journal |last1=Roy |first1=Arjab |title=Confronting Epochs: The Many Faces of Colonial and Postcolonial Park Street in Kolkata |journal=Sanglap: Journal of Literary and Cultural Inquiry |date=2017 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=166–203 |url=http://sanglap-journal.in/index.php/sanglap/article/view/63 |access-date=12 June 2021}}</ref> [[Madurai]],<ref name="happy street">{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/society/the-name-happy-street-evokes-positive-feeling-and-madurai-is-preparing-to-bring-it-on/article17750163.ece |title=Happiness on the street |first=Soma |last=Basu |newspaper=The Hindu |date=31 March 2017 |access-date=12 June 2021}}</ref> [[Visakhapatnam]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Andhra-Pradesh/2017-09-25/RK-Beach-to-showcase-North-Coastal-traditions/328950|title=RK Beach to showcase North Coastal traditions|website=The Hans India|date=26 September 2017}}</ref> and [[Bangalore]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/280316/bengaluru-commercial-street-becomes-happy-street-for-a-day.html|title=Bengaluru: Commercial street becomes 'Happy Street' for a day!|date=28 March 2016|website=[[Deccan Chronicle]]}}</ref>

In the United States, "open street" events have been arranged in [[Detroit]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2017/10/01/open-streets-detroit-festival/106214088/|title=Metro Detroiters drawn to open street festival|website=detroitnews.com}}</ref> and [[New York City]].<ref name="eater new york">{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Erika |title=NYC's Open Streets Program Gears Up for 2021 Run |url=https://ny.eater.com/2021/3/25/22350089/nycs-open-streets-program-2021 |access-date=13 June 2021 |work=Eater New York |date=25 March 2021}}</ref>

==See also==
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
* [[Alley]]
* [[Built environment]]
* [[City bicycle]]
* [[Complete streets]]
* [[Cycling infrastructure]]
* [[Intersection (road)|Intersection]]
* [[Lane]]; [[Green lane (road)]]
* [[Living street]]
* ''[[Manual for Streets]]'' (in the UK)
* [[Spreuerhofstraße]] (world's narrowest street)
* [[Pedestrian-friendly]]
* [[Pedestrian street]], [[Auto-free zone]]
* [[Protected intersection]]
* [[Road]]
* [[Shopping street]]
* [[Street furniture]]
* [[Street reclamation]]
* [[Street suffix]]
* [[Street Vendor]]
* [[Tram]]s
* [[Urban car]]
* [[Woonerf]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist|25em}}

==External links==
{{Commons|Street}}
* [http://www.mheu.org/en/street/ A virtual exhibition on the history of streets]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060220133837/http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/street?view=uk AskOxford: What is the difference between a 'street' and a 'road'?]
* [http://www.streetnote.org streetnote, street music] Live street music and musicians from the streets of the US
* [http://escholarship.org/uc/ucdavislibrary_streetnotes] Biannual exhibition of poetry and documentary about streets and traffic.
* [http://www.streetsblog.org Streetsblog]&nbsp;– News focusing on streets and street life in the modern urban landscape. (No affiliation.)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051126155832/http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20050224.html What distinguishes a street from a lane from a road from a boulevard, etc.?]&nbsp;– An ''Ask Yahoo!'' editor's examination of the issue.
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=N8YOAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22paved+streets%22+%22first+city%22+%22united+states%22&pg=PR38 A Treatise on Highway Construction, Designed as a Text-book and Work of Reference for All who May be Engaged in the Location, Construction, Or Maintenance of Roads, Streets, and Pavements, By Austin Thomas Byrne, 1900]&nbsp;– Boston appears to be the first city in the United States to pave its streets, by 1663, many with pebbles.

{{Road types}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Streets| ]]
[[Category:Types of roads]]