Category: Urban Planning

“Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time” by Jeff Speck (book) and “The General Theory of Walkability” by Jeff Speck (TED Talk):

How do you get people to walk?

1. A reason to walk (balance of uses)

• • • Traditional neighborhood design (locate uses close enough to each other to allow walking; non-euclidean zoning; avoid super-sizing facilities – e.g. single vs. multiple ball diamond; avoid car-oriented life)
    • Fill in missing/under-represented uses (offices/appointment businesses, retail and services/walk-in businesses, dining, entertainment, housing, schools, recreation, worship, health care, and parking)
    • Walkable cities require transit

2. A safe walk (reality and perception)

• • • Parallel parking provides protective barrier for pedestrians/bicyclists
    • Wide vehicle lanes increase vehicle speed (narrower vehicle lanes decrease vehicle speed)
    • Trees decrease vehicle speed
    • Induced demand (increasing infrastructure increases demand, e.g., more vehicle lanes increases number of motorists, more bicycle lanes increases number of bicyclists)

3. A comfortable walk (space and orientation)

• • • Prospect (“open plain” = open street) and refuge (“wooded cover” = awnings, overhangs, and shade trees)
    • Fill in missing teeth (develop empty/abandoned lots that interrupt the walk)

4. An interesting walk (signs of humanity)

• • • It only takes 25′ of building to hide unattractive land uses (e.g., parking deck, highway overpass)

Eight Assets

• • • Physical Design & Walkability
    • Green Initiatives
    • Cultural Economic Development
    • Entrepreneurship