Walkability:Fact or MythDoes walkability make for a sustainable community?

Lane Kendig, FounderKendig Keast Collaborative

Walkability Values

• Walkability is good planning.• Separating pedestrians from

automobiles makes walking more desirable and safer.

• Planning for pedestrian connectivity is needed.

• Walking is good for health.• Highly promoted as a sustainability

strategy.

Does Walkability = Sustainable?“Walkability reduces automobile trips and thus makes more sustainable community.”

•For this to be true the following must be true:• There must be a significant modal split

change.• Total automobile mileage significantly

reduced.

•Questionable.

Evaluate Whether Trips Walkable?

• Home based trips.• Work.• Shopping.• Socializing• Recreation.• Kids’ activities.

• How long are these trips?

Walking Facts

• Speed: 3.1 mph.• Distance: ¼ to ½ mile.• Time: 5 to 10 minutes.• Average walking

commute: 11.9 minutes.

Commuting Trips

Percent by Mode and Travel Time

ModePercent of Commutes

TravelTime

Car 76.1 28.8

Car Pool 10.0 24.2

Transit 5.0 47.8

Bicycle 0.6 -

Walk 2.9 11.9Source: Commuting in United States 2009National Average

Shopping Trips

• Scale determines walkability.• Neighborhood - Walkable• Drug store, convenience and smaller.• ¼ to ½ mile spacing 1,500 – 4,000 people.

• Community - Automobile• Supermarket and hardware anchors• 2-3 miles spacing7,000 – 13,750 people.

• Regional - Automobile• Regional centers, category killers, building

supply.• 5-10 mile spacing 50,000+ people

Socializing Trips

• How many of these are walkable?• Visiting neighbors.• Church.• Social organizations.• Meeting friends.• Eating out.

Recreation Trips

• How many of these are walkable?• Walking for exercise.• Picnicking.• Movies.• Theater• Trail bikes, skiing, camping, boating.• Museums.• Sporting events.

Trips for Children

• Which are walkable?• Day Care.• Schools – percent of children walking

declining.• After school events• Soccer, baseball, swimming, football,

hockey.• Dance, gymnastics, ice skating.• Scouts

Walking Trips

• Work – few walkable except in highest intensity cities.

• Shopping – only neighborhood stores.

• Social – only neighborhood based.• Recreation – most are auto trips.• Children – most are auto trips that

require parent to make two stops.

Sustainable StrategiesWalkability is the Low

HangingEasy.

Little impact.

Too few trips.Short distances.

Over hyped.

Case Studies

• A review of New Urbanist communities.• Build-to lines.

• Residential in walking distance?• Market Area for retail?• How is parking handled?• True urban character?

Urban

• Buildings enclose space D/H.

• Spaces are streets and plazas.

• Space is architectural

Enclosed Space

Distance across space

Height of Enclosure

D/H = 0.25

D/H = 0.5

D/H = 1.0

D/H = 3.0 to 4.0

D/H = 4.0+

D/H = 3.0

D/H = 3.0+

D/H = 7.0 to 10.0

New Urbanist Center

Most Parking to Rear

VIEW FROM OFFICE BUILDINGS

View from Townhouses

Aerial Perrysburg – Source Map Quest ImageryAerial Perrysburg – Source Map Quest Imagery

Parking Dominates

Looks like a great streetscape!

Until one sees parking lots to rear. Auto-urban

Auto-urban new urbanist shopping center with at grade parking fields.

Aurora, Colorado.

Category killer retail

Parking fields.

Pretend urban street.

Parking fields.

Big box retailers.

Out parcels.

Mashpee Commons

Regional Center, 3.5 miles to town. Surface Parking. Auto Urban. Example from Sustainable Development Projects, APA Press.

Nearest residential

1,700 ft.

walkable commercial

surrounding parking

Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg

Not too different from last 3 examples lots of surface parking.

EFFICIENCIES

INTENSITYFLOOR AREA RATIO

Auto-Urban Urban

Stories Surface Parking Structured Parking

Parking Stories

1 0.503 0.619 2

2 0.673 0.897 2

4 0.809 1.493 3

8 0.900 2.571 5

20 0.965 5.073 10

40 0.989 7.508 15

All examples based on offices with 3.3 parking spaces per thousand square feet.

Sustainability Requires Picking

the High Hanging Fruit

Picking the High Hanging Fruit

• Structured parking mandated.• Higher density uses less land.• Eliminate auto-urban strip

commercial, down zone and no new.• Build new transit.• Plan nodes of regional scale on

transit.

True Urban

• Structured parking to provide:• Floor area ratios well above 1.0.• Enclosure of space.• More building sites.

• Mixed Use.• Vertical mixed use with residential.• Horizontal mixed use with high density

residential next to retail/office.

Structured parking. + High density urban residential.

Structured Parking

Residential

High density residential

Santana Row, San Jose, CA

Lake Oswego, OR

New Urban

Old Auto-Urban

High Density Housing

Two story urban of traditional downtown.

Street Face

Adjacent Housing

Structured Parking Entrance

Mizner Park

Mixed use:

Commercial.Office.Multi-Family.Town Houses.

Mizner Park, Boca Raton, FL

Town House

Street Face

Ground Floor Commercial

• “Build and they will come” is not valid planning.

• Beware of competition.• Existing businesses unlikely to

relocate.• Do market study to determine need.• Mandating ground floor commercial is

a mistake. What happens if it does nor rent?

Struggling town center, no supermarket anchor.

Salt Lake, UT

Pretty, but substantial vacancies.

Still auto-urban as it relies on surface parking.

Bossier City, La.

Surface Parking dominant land cover

Build in highway commercial corridor, no nearby residential.

Eliminate Strip Commercial

• Too many communities zoned strip commercial.

• Older cities did it on streets with trolley or bus service.

• Suburbs on all arterials.• The pattern is not sustainable.• Create nodes instead.

Strip Commercial Zoning, Milwaukee

Strip Commercial

Node surrounded by high density residential

Eliminate Strips Build Nodes

Do Not Fear Height

• Tall building can be integrated into old communities.

• Allows town centers to grow and provide mixed use.

• Height is a design issue and can be handled.

Tall Building from Historic Area

Maximum FAR on Average Height

The tall buildings must be off-set with lower buildings.

Modes of Transportation

• Walking – 1,320 ft. radius.• Bicycle – Community scale but safety

and weather concerns.• Bus Transit – Flexible but moderate

speed.• Rail Transit – Higher speed but limited

routes, serves regions.• Car Pool – Flexible but requires active

co- ordination. • Car – Total flexibility.

Commuting Trips

Percent by Mode and Travel Time

ModePercent of Commutes

TravelTime

Car 76.1 28.8

Car Pool 10.0 24.2

Transit 5.0 47.8

Bicycle 0.6 -

Walk 2.9 11.9Source: Commuting in United States 2009

Transit

• For the region, this is the mode that can increase sustainability.

• The national average is low – 5%.• New York, Chicago, San Francisco

have much larger rates.• Portland invested and created

increased share.• Planned nodes of shopping,

employment.

Lake Forest, IL

Town Square

Transit Station

Parking

Built as rail suburb.

Lake Forest Town Square

View to Marshall Fields

Enhanced Transit

• Parking requirements based on national average.• 86% commute by car • 5% by transit.

• Change mode mix.• 10% transit -81% car.• 15% transit -76% car.• 20% transit- 71% car.• 25% transit-66% car.

Impact on Parking

Transit Car Parking Spaces Per 1,000 sf.

Mode Percent retail office

5% 81% 5 3.3

10% 76% 4.7 3.115% 71% 4.4 2.920% 66% 4.0 2.725% 61% 3.7 2.5

EFFICIENCIES

Office buildings with various parking ratios due to transit ridership.

INTENSITYFLOOR AREA RATIO

Design Parking Spaces per 1,000 sf.

Stories

Parking Stories

3.3 3.1 2.9 2.7 2.5

1 2 0.619 0.633 0.648 0.663 0.679

2 2 0.897 0.927 0.958 0.992 1.028

4 3 1.493 1.548 1.606 1.670 1.738

8 5 2.571 2.668 2.773 2.886 3.009

20 10 5.073 5.262 5.466 5.686 5.924

40 15 7.508 7.784 8.081 8.402 8.749

Nodes

• Central place or CBD employment and shopping.

• Regional nodes or edge cities.• 2 million square feet retail.• 6 million square feet employment primarily

office.

• Sub-regional centers are often single use and need to be planned for both.

• Nodes and surrounding area 1 mile radius.

Radial Rail Lines

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Designed to send workers to CBD

Radial Rail Lines

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Limited service area, originally the centers of suburbs. Now serve small populations.

Circumferential Rail Lines?

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Provides for more service area and replaces roads for circumferential travel.

E.J. & E.!

Planning

• Needs to be long term.• Nodes and rail lines determined in

advance.• Roads coordinated with these.• Rail service available from start of

nodes.• Rail service at start of development.

Nodes

Regional

Sub-regional

Circumferential

Circumferential or radial

RadialTransit Lines

High Speed Rail

Heavy Rail

Growth Areas

Urban Areas

Urban Cores

High Hanging Fruit Strategy

• Plan regional, and sub-regional nodes at transit stops.

• The surrounding area within ½ mile should be higher density residential.

• Invest in transit.• Mandate structured parking.• Eliminate strip commercial on roads

in favor of nodes.

Results

• Increased use of transit.• Use 33% to 25% of the land auto-

urban consumes.• Walking and biking gains share of

total trips.• Shorter trip lengths.• Less energy for trips.• Less miles of roads.

Questions

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EFFICIENCIES

INTENSITYFLOOR AREA RATIO

Auto-Urban Urban

Stories Surface Parking Structured Parking

Parking Stories

1 0.409 0.575 2

2 0.514 0.808 2

4 0.590 1.329 3

8 0.636 2.280 5

20 0.668 4.506 10

40 0.680 6.680 15

All examples based on four parking spaces per thousand square feet.

Jackson, Wyoming

Classic town center with high FAR

Surface Parking

On Street Parking

Peripheral parking makes town center work.