Katherine Sexton, Materials Science, Renaissance, Summer 2026
After walking down a block in my neighborhood of Florence, it has become very clear that the street was designed for people rather than cars. The buildings are right up against the sidewalks, the streets are narrow, and there is little to no parking. Everyone is out and about walking both on the sidewalks and on the streets. Even though the city was built before cars were invented, they are still driven within the city. At first, I was scared because I am so used to cars being on the streets very separate from pedestrians in the US. However, it seems like this mixed use works well here and there is a sort of flow between the pedestrians and cars on the streets.
Swanson School of Engineering 