Children’s Streets” consist in pedestrianizing the streets around nursery and elementary school. The aim is to make the route between home and school safer for children, but also to combat pollution.
Removable barriers are installed wherever possible. They allow the passage of emergency vehicles and services (garbage trucks, etc.), but prohibit the passage of other motorized vehicles.
More picture and before/after sliders at the bottom: https://www.paris.fr/pages/57-nouvelles-rues-aux-ecoles-dans-paris-8197#des-rues-aux-enfants-avec-un-amenagement-specifique
I think, these streets are really important for connecting with neighbors. Obviously, if everyone just walks out of their house and disappears into their car, you’re never going to meet anyone ever. But even when adults walk on normal streets, it happens a lot that you just walk past each other with maybe a greeting and that’s it.
On these streets, the kids can come out to play. They’ll probably play with the neighbor kids. And if you’re a parent looking after your kids, you’ll probably meet the neighbor parents. You’ll have at least the kids to talk about. Or your kid might even chat up a non-parent walking through and suddenly you’ve got a conversation with them, too.
