When jaywalking became a crime

About this episode

The episode explores the origins of jaywalking in Kansas City and its impact on urban design in the U.S.

Kansas City was not only the birthplace of the term “jaywalking,” it also became the first city in the U.S. to arrest people for such a crime. Fueled by auto industry propaganda, this decision set off a nationwide trend to redesign our roads for the car — at the expense of everyone else. Mackenzie Martin reports in the first of our two-part series.

People in this episode

Host: Mackenzie Martin

Topics covered

• jaywalking
• history
• automobile industry
• urban design

Keywords

• Kansas City
• crime
• road design
• auto industry propaganda

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Kansas City, U.S.

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