I'm an advocate of the "Shared Space" concept, which began in Europe and could have great promise in the U.S. if traffic engineers would give it a chance. If you don't know about Shared Space, or know about it but are unconvinced, check out this short video. It is a fantastic mini-documentary and the best application of the concept I've seen to date. If this won't convince you of the value of Shared Space nothing will.