September 11, 2005
Malls Are No Substitute For Community Public Space
The Boston Globe story today about malls checking IDs to make sure teenagers are chaperoned by adults when shopping at certain times, points out yet again that while they may look like "public" space, malls are privately owned businesses and can't substitute for shared community public space.
September 8, 2005
Where Are People Using Public Transit?
The five U.S. counties with the highest percentage of workers taking public transit to their jobs are in the New York City area, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, with the Bronx and Brooklyn tied at 57.9 percent. Boston's Suffolk County, Mass., comes in at a highly respectable #8, with 29.4% of employed residents using public transportation to get to work, just a shade behind San Francisco County.
Middlesex County, Mass., comes in at #25, with 10.5% public transit usage - a decent figure considering so many people here work in places where public transportation is either unavailable or painfully inadequate.
When measured strictly by city, New York is far and away the leader, and the only American city where more than half -- 53% - use public transportation to get to work. Washington, D.C. at #2 is well behind, with one-third of its residents using the transit system. Boston is third, at 31.8%.
Middlesex County, Mass., comes in at #25, with 10.5% public transit usage - a decent figure considering so many people here work in places where public transportation is either unavailable or painfully inadequate.
When measured strictly by city, New York is far and away the leader, and the only American city where more than half -- 53% - use public transportation to get to work. Washington, D.C. at #2 is well behind, with one-third of its residents using the transit system. Boston is third, at 31.8%.
September 5, 2005
Medford, Ore. Eyes Largest Redevelopment In Its History
" Twelve years after the leveling of the Medco lumber mill complex, a large commercial-industrial development will rise out of the ashes in northwest Medford," the Mail Tribune reports. "Plans for Northgate Centre, an 84-acre development with shopping, office space and manufacturing, will be presented to the city planners in the next couple of months."
The $220 project would be the largest redevelopment project in Medford's history, Mike Montero, urban development consultant and chairman of the Rogue Valley Area Commission on Transportation, told the paper.
Interestingly, while it is sited at the intersection of three highways and one major local thoroughfare, plans for the first phase of the project call for small and mid-sized stores, along with pedestrian-friendly plazas. "The clients’ position is that the site is not planned for big box," Montero told the Mail Tribune - and developers are seeking local and regional retailers, not national chains you can find in a mall. In other words, developers are looking to create a unique sense of place, not another strip mall. Planners want to create a place where people can come, stroll and shop, finding things they couldn't find in any other mall in America; not to mention a place where people could live, shop AND work.
Update: State corrected to Oregon.
The $220 project would be the largest redevelopment project in Medford's history, Mike Montero, urban development consultant and chairman of the Rogue Valley Area Commission on Transportation, told the paper.
Interestingly, while it is sited at the intersection of three highways and one major local thoroughfare, plans for the first phase of the project call for small and mid-sized stores, along with pedestrian-friendly plazas. "The clients’ position is that the site is not planned for big box," Montero told the Mail Tribune - and developers are seeking local and regional retailers, not national chains you can find in a mall. In other words, developers are looking to create a unique sense of place, not another strip mall. Planners want to create a place where people can come, stroll and shop, finding things they couldn't find in any other mall in America; not to mention a place where people could live, shop AND work.
Update: State corrected to Oregon.
September 1, 2005
Suburban Office Building, Street Done Right
Not everyone wants buildings up at the sidewalk everywhere in the suburbs, and I understand that. Sometimes people want to keep a feeling of calmness, openness and spaciousness, instead of the more lively, energetic feel that a traditional town/city centers can produce.
Unfortunately, lack of imagination and good planning often end up giving us the look and feel of Rte. 9 or Speen Street - hideously pedestrian-hostile throughout most of Framingham (despite the presence of sidewalks, no one wants to use them unless they have to). However, it IS possible to create a suburban-style stretch of road with offices set back from the street, that is just as accommodating to cars as the soulless strip-mall version, yet is pleasing to pedestrians as well.
I was walking on the Leggatt-McCall Connector this afternoon, and struck again by how well planned it is for the coexistance of foot and vehicular traffic. Kudos to whoever designed the office building where Medetech is currently located - although there's parking between the building and sidewalk, it's so well buffered that it doesn't negatively impact walkers. And by buffered, I don't mean a few shrubs. I mean not only rows of tall trees, but much of the parking is downhill from pedestrian-level, so you don't feel like you're walking by that typical suburban sea of asphalt. And there's a nice, grassy divider between lanes of traffic, giving the street a human scale.
Here's a view walking on the Connector:
The crosswalk at the driveway in and out of the Medetech building is extremely well marked
and the path from the road into the building was clearly designed with thought to be friendly to pedestrians as well as cars
It's a great walking environment for the many workers in nearby office buildings. And it's just a short walk to lots more retail and services across Rte. 30 - Shoppers World and the new Fidelity building with a major Bank of America branch, among other destinations. Unfortunately, the pedestrian-friendly environment ends abruptly just before Rte. 30. Would you want to try to brave this intersection on foot to get to Shoppers World?
I didn't think so. No pedestrian crossing signal, no crosswalks, multiple lanes of traffic, and no sidewalk on the other side to walk up to the bank or to get to Shoppers World. What a disgrace. Much better that we all get in our SUVs, tanked up with $3+-a-gallon gas, to drive the half mile to the mall since it's too dangerous to walk. Argh.
Unfortunately, lack of imagination and good planning often end up giving us the look and feel of Rte. 9 or Speen Street - hideously pedestrian-hostile throughout most of Framingham (despite the presence of sidewalks, no one wants to use them unless they have to). However, it IS possible to create a suburban-style stretch of road with offices set back from the street, that is just as accommodating to cars as the soulless strip-mall version, yet is pleasing to pedestrians as well.
I was walking on the Leggatt-McCall Connector this afternoon, and struck again by how well planned it is for the coexistance of foot and vehicular traffic. Kudos to whoever designed the office building where Medetech is currently located - although there's parking between the building and sidewalk, it's so well buffered that it doesn't negatively impact walkers. And by buffered, I don't mean a few shrubs. I mean not only rows of tall trees, but much of the parking is downhill from pedestrian-level, so you don't feel like you're walking by that typical suburban sea of asphalt. And there's a nice, grassy divider between lanes of traffic, giving the street a human scale.
Here's a view walking on the Connector:
The crosswalk at the driveway in and out of the Medetech building is extremely well marked
and the path from the road into the building was clearly designed with thought to be friendly to pedestrians as well as cars
It's a great walking environment for the many workers in nearby office buildings. And it's just a short walk to lots more retail and services across Rte. 30 - Shoppers World and the new Fidelity building with a major Bank of America branch, among other destinations. Unfortunately, the pedestrian-friendly environment ends abruptly just before Rte. 30. Would you want to try to brave this intersection on foot to get to Shoppers World?
I didn't think so. No pedestrian crossing signal, no crosswalks, multiple lanes of traffic, and no sidewalk on the other side to walk up to the bank or to get to Shoppers World. What a disgrace. Much better that we all get in our SUVs, tanked up with $3+-a-gallon gas, to drive the half mile to the mall since it's too dangerous to walk. Argh.
Soaring Gas Prices And Our Auto-Dependent Society
We may be about to pay a heavy price for decade of development that foolishly assumed an endless supply of cheap gasoline.
Gas prices soared past $3 a gallon in many places this week, and the issue for American consumers may go beyond expense. "Concerns are now mounting over limited supplies of gasoline, including the possible return of long lines and scarcity reminiscent of the 1970s gas crisis," Associated Press reports. "In Georgia, a few gas stations were charging as much as $6 per gallon Wednesday after other retailers had run out of gas and long lines were reported across the state."
What, exactly, are our options if we face a long stretch of time with shortages of gasoline, and prices at $5, $6 or more per gallon? Few people outside of major urban centers have the option to walk or take public transit to do anything - even to get to the store, let alone to work.
A colleague of mine returned from England recently marveling at the lack of sprawl - towns were compact and easily reachable by train. It's the same feeling I get whenever I come back from Europe - astonished at how easy it is to get around without a car. It's not simply that you can take public transit within major cities or between them; but that once you take a train from a city to a smaller town, you often don't need a car to get where you want to go within the town.
Yes, cheap gas gave many Americans the "freedom" to live in the exurbs, with daily 40-mile commutes in single-passenger gas-guzzlers. It allowed and encouraged sprawl. But it ended up taking away our freedom of choice when most of us living outside of densely packed urban centers CAN'T realistically walk or take public transportation anywhere.
I'm not trying to take away people's private cars. I'm not hostile to the automobile (although I've always been against monster-size gas-guzzling behemoths driven in urban and suburban settings by single commuters). What I object to is the extreme auto-obsession here that builds everything exclusively around the needs of the single-passenger automobile, to the expense of every other kind of transportation - walking, cycling and public transit.
In a number of smaller communities outside more densely packed European cities, you'll see development patterns where cars, pedestrians, cyclists and trains &/or buses pleasantly co-exist. It's a much rarer site in the U.S. Perhaps prices like $7/gallon in Amsterdam and $6/gallon in the U.K. have something to do with this?
Update: Planner Wally Siembab argues at Planetizen.com that it's possible to retrofit suburbs so residents can shop, get services and work within a mile or two of their homes. See The Smart Sprawl Strategy.
Gas prices soared past $3 a gallon in many places this week, and the issue for American consumers may go beyond expense. "Concerns are now mounting over limited supplies of gasoline, including the possible return of long lines and scarcity reminiscent of the 1970s gas crisis," Associated Press reports. "In Georgia, a few gas stations were charging as much as $6 per gallon Wednesday after other retailers had run out of gas and long lines were reported across the state."
What, exactly, are our options if we face a long stretch of time with shortages of gasoline, and prices at $5, $6 or more per gallon? Few people outside of major urban centers have the option to walk or take public transit to do anything - even to get to the store, let alone to work.
A colleague of mine returned from England recently marveling at the lack of sprawl - towns were compact and easily reachable by train. It's the same feeling I get whenever I come back from Europe - astonished at how easy it is to get around without a car. It's not simply that you can take public transit within major cities or between them; but that once you take a train from a city to a smaller town, you often don't need a car to get where you want to go within the town.
Yes, cheap gas gave many Americans the "freedom" to live in the exurbs, with daily 40-mile commutes in single-passenger gas-guzzlers. It allowed and encouraged sprawl. But it ended up taking away our freedom of choice when most of us living outside of densely packed urban centers CAN'T realistically walk or take public transportation anywhere.
I'm not trying to take away people's private cars. I'm not hostile to the automobile (although I've always been against monster-size gas-guzzling behemoths driven in urban and suburban settings by single commuters). What I object to is the extreme auto-obsession here that builds everything exclusively around the needs of the single-passenger automobile, to the expense of every other kind of transportation - walking, cycling and public transit.
In a number of smaller communities outside more densely packed European cities, you'll see development patterns where cars, pedestrians, cyclists and trains &/or buses pleasantly co-exist. It's a much rarer site in the U.S. Perhaps prices like $7/gallon in Amsterdam and $6/gallon in the U.K. have something to do with this?
Update: Planner Wally Siembab argues at Planetizen.com that it's possible to retrofit suburbs so residents can shop, get services and work within a mile or two of their homes. See The Smart Sprawl Strategy.
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