Street

:For alternate uses of the word "street," see Street (disambiguation).

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A street is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable surface such as cobblestone or brick. Portions may also be smoothed with asphalt, embedded with rails, or otherwise prepared to accommodate non-pedestrian traffic.

Related Topics:
Public - Land - Building - Urban - People - Dirt - Paved - Cobblestone - Brick - Asphalt - Rails - Pedestrian

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A street is superficially similar to a road, but they are not the same. Examples of streets include pedestrian streets, alleys, and center-city streets too crowded for road vehicles to pass, none of which are usually considered roads. Conversely, highways and motorways are examples of roads but not streets.

Related Topics:
Road - Pedestrian street - Alley - Center-city - Road vehicle - Highway - Motorway

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Historically, there have been streets for centuries, even before motor vehicle were used, especially in the Old World. However, much of the New World developed around transportation provided by motor vehicles. In some parts of the English-speaking world, such as North America, many think of streets as strips of publicly-owned land located between rows of privately-owned lots in a usually urban area which have vehicle thoroughfares (basically roads) running through the middle and usually have sidewalks along the sides. In an even narrower sense, some may think of a street as only the vehicle-driven and parking part (if any) of the thoroughfare; thus, sidewalks and tree lawns 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."

Related Topics:
Urban - Vehicle - Road - Sidewalk - Parking - Tree lawn

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