Let?s organize the city outside our front door with as much care as we do our homes In the new podcast The War on Cars, journalist Sarah Goodyear likens the way people drop scooters just anywhere?as amply documented on social media?to the way her teenage son drops his socks around the house.
Docklessness has become synonymous with lawlessness, a plus in the eyes of the disruptors, a minus in the eyes of those who are don?t view ?disruption? as a merit badge. This is partially positional: When you are riding a scooter, it?s a convenience; when you are looking at a scooter, it?s a tripping hazard.
As any parent knows, the best defense is good offense. A laundry basket in a prominent place, not inside the closet. A shoe bench with baskets, one for each family member. A drop zone just inside the front door with a spot for keys, mail, tote bag, coat. But for the average city-dweller, the ?drop zone? actually begins further out, in the shared space of the block: yards, stoops, the entrance of the apartment building, sidewalks, streets.
Some of this space may be civic, but the principles we use at home can still apply.
Mobility companies have opened up a conversation about how we use our streets. It?s time we rethink how we organize the cities outside our front doors with as much intention as we do our homes.

Laura Bliss recently wrote in CityLab, ?if you want to see what your city is failing to provide proper space for, look on the sidewalk. It?s probably there.?
Kyle...