Columbus Avenue interrupts the orthogonal logic of San Francisco's grid. At Broadway this disruption takes on a unique identity: the jum bled mixing point of districts that are vigorously diverse. In reading this intersection as a place unto itself, how do we unscramble all the messages coming at us? How do we attend to one conversation when three others are within earshot? As you exit the peculiar inner-city tunnel on Broadway, driving toward downtown, you see before you, flickering in the exhaust fumes, a dazzling oasis of lights and color. Layers of open shops and restaurants spill their contents out onto the sidewalk. The cityscape is flooded to the knees with waves of cars and people. Then, you see her—first in line among a row of impressive signs, a long and stringy figure that stretches three stories of a building. She leads you on with her blinking beacons—as you approach she looms before you, a monster with her awk ward body and evil expression; she stares you down. In the distance you see the free way, a bridge arching its spine into the blue hills across the Bay, and, once the light turns green, you make for your getaway. The intersection of Columbus and Broadway exists as both path and desti nation. For through-traffic it is the junction of major arteries: another set of stop lights with special potential for delay. The trajectories of these wide streets are resolute. Distances along them are foreshortened by views of the Bay Bridge and of office towers downtown, both beckoning destinations. To experience this place on foot is quite a different matter. The inter section is less a crossing of paths than it is a bringing together of corners. Because the intersection is hourglass shaped, its narrow waist seems to focus like a lens, drawing together disparate interests and activities on all sides: Chinatown, Italian Quarter, Red Light District and Downtown Fringe. Each character hugs the perimeter of a block, and not one street maintains a con sistent identity across the common ground between. The diagonal traverse
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