After closing streets to cars, should we replace buildings with tents?

Kevin J. Krizek, a professor of environmental design, argued in a July 22 Sun-Times op-ed — “With fewer cars on the streets, now’s the time to reinvent roadways” — for blocking off some streets to motor traffic in favor of bicycles and pedestrians. Reading that, I began to consider how much farther his ideas could go.

Just as streets are space-intensive and motor vehicles are costly, the buildings we live and work in are bulky, expensive to maintain and energy inefficient. If we were to raze a significant portion of these inefficient structures and replace them with tents, we would have a less expensive and less cluttered environment in which to live and work.

This would be every bit as practical, ecofriendly, cost effective and beneficial to the majority of the people as making streets less accessible.

Both ideas are equally sensible, and deserve an equal degree of consideration. C.R. Green, Uptown