My wife and I walked to the other side of the Jardin des Tuileries, the garden I featured yesterday. With more time, we would’ve explored, but we were on our way to our next tourist landmark. The Rue de Castiglione dead-ended at the garden, and I snapped this picture of this perfectly proportioned urban street.

Most people don’t give much consideration to a street’s width and the height of its surrounding buildings. However, in addition to my interest in architecture, I love looking at the design of cities. Notice the proportion of the street to its walls — the building facades. They are human-centered and create the perfect outdoor “room.” The buildings are not overpowering, and the road is not too wide.

Compare this with the typical American suburban equivalent with massive 6 to 8-lane monstrosities with sparsely populated one-story structures. They feel like vast wastelands. Of course, many of these suburban streets are not designed for people or walking. They are just built for cars and nothing much more.

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