How Do You Make An Area Pedestrian-Friendly?

Philly.com asked successful restauranteur Avram Hornik about the Ben Franklin Parkway, an "oft-deserted strip." How do you turn an area with buildings and residences into a thriving center of activity? Not by designing it so traffic whizzes through but pedestrians are put off, that's for sure.

"There's museums, schools, some residential, but it's not really a pedestrian area people go to stroll around. You don't hear people say, 'Oh, let's go to the Parkway and just hang out.' While on Walnut Street and Rittenhouse Square people do that," Hornik said.

"You have to change the architecture of the space, you have to make it pedestrian-friendly, you have to do landscaping, you have to create a mixed-use environment that makes the walk from Logan Circle to the Art Museum something people want to do.

"Just plopping a sidewalk cafe in that area right now would do no one any good. Nobody is going to walk five blocks just to sit outside. But if there's a series of sidewalk cafes, of small-scale amusements, now this is not something the city would necessarily have to invest in."

New York’s One-Time Slums Are Thriving

First one-time "dowdy" areas like TriBeCa became hot areas to live. "Then far bleaker neighborhoods like Harlem, the South Bronx, Fort Greene and Williamsburg saw their rubble-blanketed lots, burnt-out shells and down-at-the-heels brownstones transformed into appealing, sometimes voguish habitats," the New York Times reports in a Sunday feature, The Next TriBeCa? Stick a Pin in the Map. "Now even the badlands of East New York, Bushwick and Red Hook are luring adventurous developers and homesteaders. There is scarcely a New York neighborhood that is not on an upswing."

What's prompted the rebirth of neighborhoods that not too long ago, many people feared walking through in broad daylight, let alone investing in? The story says:

Waltham Eyes ‘Smart Growth’ Zoning

Waltham has hired a consultant to overhaul its zoning codes. And that consultant is looking to create business centers with residential as well as commercial activity.

"People can walk to the store and their jobs. They wouldn't have to use their cars if they didn't want to," the consultant, Ralph Willmer at McGregor and Associates in Boston, told the Waltham Daily News Tribune.

Such development can reduce congestion as well as improve quality of life for those who dislike dependence on automobiles or are unable to drive.

"That's where urban planning is going," Building Commissioner Ralph Gaudet told the paper. "It's what's called live, work and play zones."

Charles River Path From Newton to Boston’s Science Museum!

"By fall's end, people will be able to do something they never could before along the Charles River: walk, jog, or cycle on a single pathway from Norumbega Park, near Route 128 in Newton, to the Museum of Science in Boston," today's Boston Globe's West edition reports (I don't see the story on the Web yet).

What a fabulous idea -- being able to recreational walk or bike, or COMMUTE by foot or bicycle, along the river.

"Perhaps the most dramatic piece of the new pathway is the Blue Heron Bridge, a 140-foot suspension bridge for pedestrians that crosses the river by Cheesecake Brook in Newton. ... One couple has already asked to hold a wedding ceremony there...."

I used to live in downtown Waltham, just blocks from the Charles. In the early '80s, there wasn't that much pedestrian access to enjoy the river.

Now I live in Saxonville, just blocks from the Sudbury River. There's the lovely Carol Getchell Trail along the river for a couple of miles, thanks to Friends of Saxonville. But that's about it for river access around here, except for a few small disconnected parks. Imagine how fabulous it would be if there were a walkway and bikeway ALL ALONG the Sudbury River, including right in the business district, and you could actually get from one place to another on it as well as using it for recreational hiking.

If they can do it by the Charles, why can't we do it along the Sudbury River?

Update: The full article (although not the cool graphic of the trail) is now on the Globe West Web site.

Traditional Development Planned For Austin Suburb

A more traditional community/neighborhood development is underway in the Austin suburb of San Marcos, near Texas State University, designed to offer suburban living without the sprawl.

"Your kids will be able to walk to a store," developer Jeff Etheredge -- a native of San Marcos -- told the Austin Business Journal. "What we tried to do is blur the line between residential and commercial, so it's a more accessible neighborhood."

This kind of smart development doesn't mean densely packing 8 residences per acre. A lot has to do with walker-friendly design. "Homes will have wide front porches, the garages will be in rear alleys and the streets will be narrower," the article explains. "[Etheredge's] goal is to make the neighborhood pedestrian-friendly. Put another way: Wal-Mart stores won't be welcome."

There are 352 homes planned for 106 acres, with another 5 acres of commercial development and a 14-acre riverfront park.