“If the summer of ’69 was the summer of love,” Transportation Alternatives executive director Paul Steely White recently told the LA Times, “the summer of ’09 might be the summer of the pedestrian.”

Indeed, over the past few months New York City has witnessed the regeneration of its public spaces, ranging from the lovely (the High Line) to the lively (Summer Streets) to the downright quirky (Times Square’s lawn chairs).

In reclaiming public spaces for pedestrians, these design interventions reflect the most fundamental Jane Jacobsian principle of urban planning: “Downtown is for people.”

Let’s hope this trend continues into fall. And, of course, beyond.