Pedestrian Scrambles: Becoming the Norm?

Recently, in the metronews there was an article titled “Young, Bloor set to scramble.” This article announces that on Friday October 9th pedestrians will be able to cross the intersection of Yonge and Bloor streets in any direction –north-south, east-west, or diagonally -when the traffic lights give them the signal to do so. The new signal will halt all the cars in every direction allowing the pedestrians to cross however they like. Yonge and Bloor will become Toronto’s second “scramble” crossing, following the intersection of Yonge and Dundas, which came to be in August of 2008. At the end of the article the writer quotes a city councillor saying that “we’ve been waiting for ages” for it.
After reading this article what came to mind was the lack of uniqueness that exists in the world, and the way everything now resembles something else. For instance, the newest scramble at Yonge and Bloor will resemble the scramble at Yonge and Dundas which resembles the pedestrian scramble in Los Angelos and in Shibuya, Japan. I believe that although the pedestrian scramble may have appeared to be something different and exciting, by creating these scrambles all over the place it is becoming something typical and expected and it is diminishing the "wow factor." I think by solely creating a second pedestrian scramble at Yonge and Bloor it will take away from the pedestrian scramble at Yonge and Dundas, and eventually this type of crossing will become the norm across city intersections.


http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/photos/2008/08/yonge-dundas_scramble_milestones_max_01.jpg