In Sarah Schindler’s article on architectural exclusion she examines the built environment and how it excludes much of the lower class. For example, during the time that he was appointed, Robert Moses shaped much of New York’s infrastructure, including a number of “low-hanging over passes” (2)(3). He directed that these overpasses be built intentionally low so that buses could not go under them (4). This meant that people of color and poor people who used buses could not get through (5). Many Court, judges, and lawmakers fail to find fault with these types of physical acts of exclusion because it is difficult to show the necessary intent to discriminate, especially when its involving the land and built environment (15). This article shows just some of the subtle ways the built environment is being used to segregate parts of the population from others. Schindler argues that the built environment often is constructed in a way that furthers political goals (39). Many would also agree that architecture can be, and is, used to exclude to favor some groups and disfavor others (40)(41). As Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein say “there is no such thing as a ‘neutral’ design.” (54). But, Schindler explains that some legal scholars say that “it is hard to understate the central significance of geographical themes… are spatial experiences (58). Schindler says that the architecture directs both the physical movement and access to places. Lack sidewalks and crosswalks make it difficult to cross the street or walk through a neighborhood, sometimes this is intentional (86). For example James Loewen describes architectural exclusion in some towns where “[s}idewalks and bike paths are rare and do not connect to those in other communities…” (87).  so if someone wanted to walk or bike to another area, then, it might have to be along the shoulder of a busy road or on the road itself. Another example is the Eight Mile Wall used in Detroit in 1940 to separate an existing black neighborhood from a new white one that was being constructed (93). Another form of exclusion Schindler talks about is the placement of transit stops. Many transit stops are placed to make it more difficult or certain groups of people to gain access to certain parts of the community (119). Many highways are also routed to “destroy low-income and especially black neighborhoods” (153). Residential parking permits make it expecially difficult for people who either don’t live in the neighborhood or don’t know anyone that lives there. The exclusions from this article identify many problems that make it hard and even dangerous for lower-class citizens to live in areas near upper-class communities.

http://www.yalelawjournal.org/article/architectural-exclusion