Problem
A street without windows is blind and frightening. And it is equally uncomfortable to be in a house which bounds a public street with no window at all on the street.
Solution
Where buildings run alongside busy streets, build windows with window seats, looking out onto the street. Place them in bedrooms or at some point on a passage or stair, where people keep passing by. On the first floor, keep these windows high enough to be private.
Related Patterns
… wherever there are Green Streets (51), Small Public Squares (61), Pedestrian Street (100), Building Thoroughfare (101) - in short, any streets with people in them, these streets will only come to life if they are helped to do so by the people looking out on them, hanging out of windows, laughing, shouting, whistling.
On the inside, give each of these windows a substantial place, so that a person feels encouraged to sit there or stand and watch the street - Window Place (180); make the windows open outward - Windows Which Open Wide (236); enrich the outside of the window with flower boxes and climbing plants - then people, in the course of caring for the flowers, will have the opportunity for hanging out - Filtered Light (238), Climbing Plants (246).
Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 769.