After reading the assigned portions of Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities, “Our House” the 1982 pop song by Madness “popped” into my head. For those unfamiliar with the song, the lyrics are available here: https://genius.com/Madness-our-house-lyrics.
In “Our House” Madness constantly repeats the phrase “Our house in the middle of our street.” And although repetition is a device often used in songs and poetry, in this case, the reiteration of the same line seems extreme. The listener gets the feeling that the house and the street are inexplicably linked. And after reading Jacobs, the song takes on new meaning. Jacobs writes “Cities are full of people with whom, from your viewpoint, or mine, or any other individual’s, a certain degree of contact is useful or enjoyable, but you do not want them in your hair. And they do not want you in theirs either” (Jacobs 56). This observation shows how our homes and our streets are connected. According to Jacobs, city-dwellers are keenly aware of the relationship between the privacy of their homes and the noisy streets outside.
As a resident of Brooklyn, I can attest to this assertion. Sometimes, the only place I can find solace, after a long day, is at home, in my apartment. Still, city life is a huge part of my identity. I shudder at the thought of living in upstate NY. The social climate there puzzles me. What do people do without immediate neighbors?
“Our House” is all about a working-class family and the centrality of their home. The stanzas paint a picture of a family whose members fight and make-up. It also paints a picture of sisters and brothers playing together and annoying one another. And then, always in the background, it highlights the idea of the house being rooted in what the singer refers to as “our street.” The simple fact that the singer calls his street “our street” suggests that he believes that his block informally belongs to his family or/and community.
Jacobs says “Formal public organizations in cities require an informal public life underlying them, mediating between them and the privacy of the people of the city” (Jacobs 57). Essentially, in cities there is a grey area between public and private spaces. Many of us have a sidewalk or a street in our neighborhoods that we know intimately. It may appear to be a public space, but for us it offers a sense of semi-privacy. We may even view ourselves as partial owners of some of these places.
Jacobs knew this when she opposed Robert Moses. Consider the Cross-Bronx Expressway. According to the video clip assigned for homework (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaLSRTNT5fw), the Tremont community in the Bronx was full of vibrant communities where everybody knew each other. That all ended when a huge number of people were evicted and a highway went up, dividing the remaining members of the community in half. Jacobs understood that Moses, no matter how much he claimed to be helping NYC, was wrecking the “our street” mentality she held so dear.
Questions:
- Do you relate to the “our street” mentality I have described?
- Can you think of a place near your home that feels private although it is officially public?
- Do Jacobs’ arguments against Moses speak to you? Please explain your answer.
Jacobs, J. (1961). The death and life of great American cities. New York: Vintage Books.
