the new urbanism: design principles for vibrant communities

The New UrbanismDesign Principles for Vibrant Communities

Wisconsin Transportation Conference

September 29, 2014

Ben Zellers, AICP, CNU-A

The New Urbanism

• Look towards successful past design to

inform new development patterns.

Cars

Live

Here

People

Live

Here

The New Urbanism

• Look towards successful past design to

inform new development patterns.

The New Urbanism

• Look towards successful past design to

inform new development patterns.

The Transect

From http://www.transect.org

The Transect

From http://www.transect.org

The Charter of The New Urbanism

• http://www.cnu.org/charter

• 27 planning, design, and development

principles broken down in to 3

categories:

– The region: Metropolis, city, and town

– The neighborhood, the district, and the

corridor

– The block, the street, and the building

The Region

• Development patterns should not blur

or eradicate the edges of the

metropolis.

The Region

• Direct investment to smart growth

priority areas.

The Region

• Most codes outlaw construction of

compact, diverse, walkable cities and

villages.

• Make good design legal.

– Too many downtowns are illegal.

– Requiring over provision of parking.

– Zoning doesn’t match pre-existing lot/site

conditions.

– Minimum lot size too big.

– Jumping through hoops for mixed-use

development.

The Region

• Reject road planning and projections

that ignore induced traffic.

• Induced traffic = new road capacity

absorbed by drivers who previously

avoided congested roads.

• “Trying to cure traffic congestion by

adding more capacity is like trying to

cure obesity by loosening a belt.”

The Region

• Beltline in Madison/Monona

“Old” Beltline: 4 lanes; 45 mph speed limit; many curb cuts; stoplights

“New” Beltline – opened in 1988: 6 lanes; 55 mph speed limit;

freeway; free-flow interchange with I-39/90

35,000

45,000

55,000

65,000

75,000

85,000

95,000

105,000

115,000

125,000

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

The Region

1988: 6-lane

bypass opens

Data from WisDOT; CARPC

54,685

69,850

111,000

78,890

1984:

EIS

44,700 54,500

27%

41%

Neighborhood, District, Corridor

• Plan in increments of complete

neighborhoods.

• Neighborhoods should be compact,

pedestrian-friendly, and mixed-use.

• Many activities of daily living should

occur within walking distance to allow

independence for those who do not

drive, especially the elderly and young.

• Retain & protect major natural features;

have a variety of public places.

The five-

minute

walk

Park

The five-

minute

walk

School

Wetlands

& Park

Park

Preserve

School

Senior

Housing

Grocery,

Bank,

Etc.

View

Preserved

for Public

Neighborhood, District, Corridor

• An interconnected network of streets

with small block sizes should be

designed to encourage walking,

reduce the number and length of

automobile trips, and conserve

energy.

450’

(~2/25 mi)

4,140’

(~3/4 mi)

7 miles!

Neighborhood, District, Corridor

From http://www.charlotteobserver.com

Annualized per-

capita life cycle costs

From http://www.charlotteobserver.com

Neighborhood, District, Corridor

• Fire safety vs. life safety.

– Fire departments love wide streets – they

feel it allows them to handle fires better.

– Wide streets cause speeding, no matter

the posted speed limit.

– Speeding causes more severe driver and

pedestrian injuries and increases fatalities

from crashes.

• Best to have narrower streets that

connect.

Neighborhood, District, Corridor

• Have a broad range of housing types

and price levels in a neighborhood.

Neighborhood, District, Corridor

• Concentrations of civic, institutional,

and commercial activity should be

embedded in neighborhoods and

districts, not isolated in remote, single-

use complexes. Schools should be

sized and located to enable children to walk or bicycle to them.

Neighborhood, District, Corridor

• The downtown

Post

Office

City

Hall

Library

Senior

Center

Fire

Dept.

EMS

Church

Church

Brewery

Housing

Housing

Hotel Office RetailBank

Farmer’s

Market

(summer)

Village

Village

High

School

1.4 miles

1.7 miles

No

sidewalks

or trails . . .

Pupil Transportation

Budget: $633,000

1969: 41 percent

of children either

walked or biked to

school

2001: 13 percent

Neighborhood, District, Corridor

• Economic health and harmonious

evolution of neighborhoods, districts,

and corridors can be improved

through graphic urban design codes

that serve as predictable guides for

change.

• Consider form-based zoning,

especially for mixed-use areas like

downtowns.

• Better to show people

what you do want

than tell them what

you don’t want.

Neighborhood, District, Corridor

• Sidewalks are not the only ingredient

for making a place walkable.

Pedestrian routes must be: – Useful – aspects of daily life located close at

hand.

– Interesting – sidewalk lined with unique buildings

– Comfortable – buildings create “outdoor living

rooms”

– Safe – peds have a fighting chance against

autos.

From: The Walkable City, by Jeff Speck

Block, Street, Building

• Development must adequately

accommodate automobiles; it should do so

in ways that respect the pedestrian and the

form of public space.

• Streets should be safe for all modes of

transport.

– Autos travel at the speed the street is

designed for, not at the posted speed limit.

– Pedestrian fatalities at speeds of 36-45 mph

are 22 TIMES HIGHER than when cars are at

≤20mph.

3280 Feet 315 Feet

Block, Street, and Building

• Georgia pedestrian charged with

vehicular homicide in the death of her

4-year old son because they were j-

walking when hit by a drunk driver who

left the scene.

• Crossed street at bus stop instead of

walking 2/3 mi to cross at a crosswalk.

• Could have done more prison time

than the driver.

Kudos on the

sidewalks and

crosswalks, but . . .

High

School

NO!

On street parking: essential for businesses.

Well-managed street parking can generate tens

of thousands of retail sales per stall; ideal to

manage parking to maintain 15% stall vacancy.

Block, Street, Building

• Do everything you can to preserve

your historic buildings – that’s what

makes your community unique.

Downtown block area: 1.7 acres

Assessed value: $3.87 million

Value per acre: $2.3 million

Big box parcel area: 5.8 acres

Assessed value: $2.1 million

Value per acre: $362,000

More than 6 times as

valuable per acre!

Newer!

Even when compared

to a brand new big box

store with freeway

access in a bigger city,

the downtown block at

right is more than 2x

as valuable per acre.

Block, Street, Building

• A primary task of all urban architecture

and landscape design is the physical

definition of streets and public spaces

as places of shared use.

• The revitalization of urban places

depends on safety and security. The

design of streets and buildings should

reinforce safe environments, but not at

the expense of accessibility and

openness.

(before)

Raingarden

terrace

Pervious

pavers

LED Streetlights

Terrace

trees

Benches &

trash

receptacles

Bike

racks

Building sun

shades; many

windows

facing street

(after)

• Surface

parking

• Very little

greenspace

• Green roof

• Solar panels

• Increased

greenspace

Block, Street, Building

• Don’t be afraid to require good

design.

Block, Street, Building

• Allow alleys. Alleys:

– Prevent garages from dominating the

streetscape.

– Reduce pedestrian/bike conflicts with

cars by reducing driveways & curb cuts.

– Provide a place for transformers, meters,

communications boxes, trash pickup, etc.

– Allow for narrower lots (more lots can be served

by less infrastructure = higher property values per acre

= more value & less expense).

Transit vs. Poor Urban Design

Bus

Stop

You need to

drive if you

want to work

here.

Bus

Stop

Why it matters . . .

• VMT

• Drivers’ licenses

• Public health

Source: FHWA and US Census Bureau

Wisconsin: -12.1% VMT

Source: http://uspirg.org/reports/usp/moving-road

67%

Source: FHWA, US Census Bureau, Streetsblog.

~80%

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

120.0%

140.0%

160.0%

<20 20-39 40-59 60-79 80+

Percent Change in Population by Age Group, 2010-2040Outagame, Calumet, Winnebago Counties

Pe

rce

nt

Ch

an

ge

Age Group

Source: WI DOA

No Data <10% 10%–14%

Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults: 1985

(*BMI ≥30, or ~ 30 lbs. overweight for 5’ 4” person)

No Data <10% 10%–14%

Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults: 1990

(*BMI ≥30, or ~ 30 lbs. overweight for 5’ 4” person)

No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19%

(*BMI ≥30, or ~ 30 lbs. overweight for 5’ 4” person)

Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults: 1995

No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% ≥20%

Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults: 2000

(*BMI ≥30, or ~ 30 lbs. overweight for 5’ 4” person)

Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults: 2005

(*BMI ≥30, or ~ 30 lbs. overweight for 5’ 4” person)

No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%

Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults: 2010

No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%

(*BMI ≥30, or ~ 30 lbs. overweight for 5’ 4” person)

Conclusion

• Good design should be, at a minimum,

allowed; hopefully encouraged; ideally

required.

• Many zoning practices from the 1950s

and 60s, which remain in place today,

mandate bad design.

• Bad zoning and other bad government

regulations have led to many of the

problems communities are facing today.

Conclusion

• Good urban design, a solid transit system,

and sound planning are matters of public

health.

• Market has responded to government

regulations and provided vast tracts of

isolated large-lot single-family homes and

strip malls; we need to make “traditional”

neighborhoods legal again and give

people a choice in where they can live

and how they move around our cities.

Resources

• Book: Suburban Nation, Duany,

Plater-Zyberk, and Speck

• Websites & blogs:

– www.cnu.org (interdisciplinary

organization – become a member!)

– www.strongtowns.org

– switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield

– www.theatlantic.com/the-atlantic-cities

– www.planetizen.com

Questions?Ben Zellers, AICP, CNU-A

Vierbicher

999 Fourier Drive, #201

Madison, WI 53717

bzel@vierbicher.com

(608) 821-3967