Naturally terminated vista

Little in this world is more powerful and satisfying to humans than a well-designed human habitat juxtaposed against nature. The photo of the center of Banff, Alberta, Canada, shows Banff Avenue, with Snow Peak in the distance. The mountain town was laid out with Rocky Mountain peaks terminating the main street at both ends. Do traffic engineers and transportation planners think of such things today? The value of this, economic and otherwise, is astounding.

Banff Avenue gets 20,000 to 30,000 cars a day, depending on the time of year, yet it is a human-scale main street. A good part of the charm is the dramatic connection to nature provided by the peaks in the distance.