In Pictures: Transforming an ugly parking lot into a walkable shopping area

Too many of the strip mall/big box parking lots along Rte. 9, Rte. 30 and elsewhere are not only visually unpleasant, but they make it all but impossible to walk from place to place -- even between retail destinations that are only a few hundred feet away. But those design patterns can change! Check out this development vision for a town in Illinois. This 5-picture slideshow starts out with an ugly ocean of asphalt in front of a chain restaurant, and ends with an attractive "walkable design [that] would allow residents to shop with their feet instead of their cars. The revamped shopping center would keep all the same amenities in place and add a sense of community character."

Another scenario from Memphis shows how a few design changes can transform a residential neighborhood with an unappealing pedestrian streetscape into one where pedestrians would love to stroll.

Which version would you rather live, work and shop in? These attractive neighborhoods become possible when developers and town officials keep walkable streetscapes in mind.

(Thanks to my colleague Mitch Betts for the links.)

Who says you can't draw people to downtown Framingham?

It was standing room only at Nevins Hall Saturday morning, when Greg Mortenson, author of the best-selling Three Cups of Tea, took the stage to talk about his work in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Parking woes? People parked several blocks away and walked, and that didn't seem to be much of a deterrence (after all, a number of people [including me] stood for more than an hour for the presentation). Kudos to the library's Framingham Reads Together program, for bringing such a great speaker to town.

After it was over, though, I couldn't help be a little sorry for a great opportunity lost by many of the surrounding people. As hundreds of attendees walked back to their cars, how many stopped to patronize local businesses? How many even knew what local businesses were around? Many of the attendees were from out of town. And because we don't yet have an obvious, uninterrupted retail/dining district surrounding town hall, a lot of people who might have patronized some of the many interesting locally owned business downtown just headed back to their cars.

It seems a pity there weren't menus and coupons for some local eateries. They could have advertised "Three Cups of Tea specials" for all those people! The Danforth Museum was handing out fliers for Framingham Reads Together future events; but it's too bad some of the area restaurants weren't doing the same.

Soon there's another big opportunity: Patriots Day, when a lot of people will head downtown again to watch the runners go by. I think this would be a great chance for local restaurants, grocers and ethnic food places of all sorts to promote themselves. I know we've had ethnic fairs on Patriots Day in the past, but I don't think we should just count on people making their way to a fair after the race. I think it's better to promote our local businesses to the crowd while they're standing around waiting!

Why not a "walking tour" map of various ethnic grocers, restaurants and bakeries that could be handed out to spectators along the Marathon route?? Why not a logo for all those participating, and brochures at each explaining some interesting things to buy at the Asian Grocery (with recipes) or Brazilian bakery (with an explainer of some of the more popular items) or Russian store or Italian market? Why not a "driving tour" map as well, adding points of interest for food lovers like B&R Artisan Bread and North End Treats?

I was happy to hear about the recent partnership between Brazilian-owned businesses and MIT to help all downtown businesses stay open. I believe Framingham's downtown ethnic mix can make it an appealing alternative to cookie-cutter mall chain stores. However, until we have a streetscape like Boston's North End or Waltham's Moody Street, which would encourage people to stroll from block to block and window shop until finding an unexpected destination, it would help if we could take more actions so people know about our local businesses. I hope some of the grant money for downtown businesses will go toward this kind of promotion.

As for Greg Mortenson's presentation, it was great. If you've read Three Cups of Tea, you know what incredible work he's done building schools to educate children - and especially girls - in Pakistan and Afghanistan. If you haven't, I heartily recommend it; and it's not too late for some other Framingham Reads Together events around the book.

I also did a brief (8 minutes or so) video report of his talk (apologies for the lack of tripod; it was a spur-of-the-moment idea to try to video with my little point-and-shoot camera from the sidelines).

Another Herbert Hoover legacy: Soul-less zoning

Many of us have Herbert Hoover on our minds these days, wondering whether our economy is once again on the precipice, as it was during the Hoover administration. However, I didn't know until today that Hoover, along with his economic infamy, was also a key player in creating zoning regulations that outlawed great community development patterns.

"As Commerce Secretary, he championed the Standard Zoning Enabling Act to address 'the moral and social issues that can only be solved by a new conception of city building,' " writes Rick Cole at Citiwire.net.

"In 1926, the Supreme Court upheld zoning to protect health and safety by 'excluding from residential areas the confusion and danger of fire, contagion and disorder which in greater or less degree attach to the location of store, shops and factories.' The quite sensible idea that people shouldn’t live next to steel mills was used to justify a system of 'zones' to isolate uses that had lived in harmony for centuries."

The end result? Neighborhoods where you can't walk anywhere. Notes Cole:

"Take any great place that people love to visit. You know, those lively tourist haunts from Nantucket to San Francisco. Or those red hot neighborhoods from Seattle’s Capital Hill to Miami Beach’s Art Deco district. Or those healthy downtowns from Portland, Oregon to Chicago, Illinois to Charleston, South Carolina. What do they all have in common?

The mix of uses that gives them life are presently outlawed by zoning in virtually every city and town in all 50 states."

I'm not sure if I'd go quite that far -- even Framingham recently allowed housing and retail again downtown -- but it is true that a large number of communities would not allow building patterns that were used to create great neighborhoods like Back Bay in Boston.

Bike, urban planning events of note at the Boston Public Library

The first annual "Boston Bikes Update report" by the city's director of bicycle programs, Nicole Freedman, takes place Thursday, Jan. 29, 7 pm at the Boston Public Library main branch (Copley Square) Rabb Lecture Hall. Focus is on what steps are needed to create a "world-class bicycling city.

Also at the Boston Public Library: Enrique Peñalosa, former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia and leader in urban thinking, comes to Boston for a series of events titled “The Future of Transportation: People, Professionals, Politics”.

There will be several opportunities to hear him, including a lecture onThursday, February 5, 6:30PM Rabb Lecture Hall. (Thanks to Craig Della Penna for the tip).

Better community design makes happier citizens

Public spaces that bring people together in congenial activity produce happier citizens than those – like traffic jams – that spur animosity and aggression, says [University of British Columbia professor emeritus John Helliwell, who studies economics and human well-being.] . . .

That's just one of many fascinating nuggets of info in an article about the transformation of Bogota, Columbia: From Living Hell to Living Well. The city's former mayor realized that improving people's economic standard of living was a difficult, long-term prospect. So, he looked at ways to improve other factors in their quality of life.

Bogota mayor Enrique Peñalosa

"increased gas taxes and prohibited car owners from driving during rush hour more than three times per week. He also handed over prime space on the city's main arteries to the Transmilenio, a bus rapid-transit system based on that of Curitiba, Brazil.

"Bogotans almost impeached their new mayor. Business owners were outraged. Yet by the end of his three-year term, Mr. Peñalosa was immensely popular and his reforms were being lauded for making Bogota remarkably fairer, more tolerable and more efficient."

The mayor's overall results? Rush hour traffic moves three times faster than before. The murder rate plunged 40%. Traffic deaths are down. There are 1,200 new parks.

" 'A city can be friendly to people or it can be friendly to cars, but it can't be both,' the new mayor announced. He shelved the highway plans and poured the billions saved into parks, schools, libraries, bike routes and the world's longest "pedestrian freeway." . . .

" 'Before Peñalosa, mayors were terrified to take on the issue of auto-dominated public space, for fear that motorists would rebel politically,' says Walter Hook of New York's Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP). 'But he not only challenged auto dependency, he succeeded politically. He's given other politicians the courage to follow. And other mayors have realized that they can't build their way out of congestion.' '

Despite economic challenges, Bogota's mayor helped "to transform a city once infamous for narco-terrorism, pollution and chaos into a globally lauded model of livability and urban renewal."

We may not be living in the Third World, but there are good lessons here about what local officials can do in an era of constrained finances. Here in Framingham, sadly, we're heading the wrong direction, with an announcement that one of the first things to be cut back is sidewalk plowing.