The week started out on a postive note for those of us who spend time in the City of Ventura, where Ventura council adopts newsstand ordinance for downtown. The new ordinance requires dozens of haphazard newsstands to be replaced with classier multi-publication modules, which will eliminate ugly (and sometimes dangerous) sidewalk clutter throughout the city.
A hundred or so miles to the south, the City of Chula Vista contemplates Walkability's Price, and hopes it's low enough to convince its city council to approve a new streetscape project that will improve walkability on one of its main aterials. Improving walkability is a hot topic on the other side of the country also, where in the Washington, D.C. area a New program aims to improve pedestrian safety .
Why all this interest in improving walkability? For one thing, walking is cheap. As we learned from various sources this week transportation is The Hidden Cost of Living in the Suburbs. Based on the new Housing and Transportation Affordability Index from the Center for Neighborhood Transportation, walkability + cheaper housing = affordability.
Oh, and Beware the Ides of March Madness: brackets based on walkable urbanism. Turns out walkability is good for basketball, too.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Beyond Transit Oriented Development
POD.
No, it's not just an Apple product.
POD stands for Pedestrian Oriented Development, the topic of a recent speech by author and professor Reid Ewing (described in this recent article in the Planning Commissioners Journal). Ewing explained that effective POD requires higher density (8-12 dwelling units per acre), diverse land uses, and of course "good design" (e.g. short blocks, public spaces). Unfortunately, antiquated development codes and a continuing focus on auto-oriented development currently stand in the way POD. Nonetheless, Ewing estimates that roughly 3-5 percent of development in the US could be classified as POD, a number that will hopefully increase as cities begin to revamp their municipal codes to promote more walkable communities.
While planners have long touted the benefits of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), which promotes higher-density, mixed-use development around transit hubs, Ewing argues that in fact pedestrian-oriented development has more potential in many US cities, where there simply aren't enough people to support effective transit service.
Hopefully the transit folks won't hate me for saying this, but personally I agree. It's not that I have anything against transit per se. (Well, actually I do--not enough bang for the buck, too much focus on commute trips, biased towards expensive rail projects that primarily benefit rich, white people--but that's not really the point of this post.) It's just that I spend almost all of my time in places (Ventura County, Woodland Hills) that don't have the kind of density/population/job centers to support the frequent transit service that makes for good TOD. So no, transit and transit-oriented development don't excite me much.
On the other hand, I'm lucky enough to live in a community that's so walkable that I can literally go days without getting in my car (don't snicker, that's impressive for a LA suburb). I see the difference having sidewalks and places to walk to can make in travel patterns--imagine if my neighborhood also had short blocks, street furniture, and some of the other POD features that Ewing talks about. Moreover, I'd be willing to bet that implementing POD is cheaper--and maybe even more effective at reducing vehicle trips--than a lot of the transit projects out there.
No, it's not just an Apple product.
POD stands for Pedestrian Oriented Development, the topic of a recent speech by author and professor Reid Ewing (described in this recent article in the Planning Commissioners Journal). Ewing explained that effective POD requires higher density (8-12 dwelling units per acre), diverse land uses, and of course "good design" (e.g. short blocks, public spaces). Unfortunately, antiquated development codes and a continuing focus on auto-oriented development currently stand in the way POD. Nonetheless, Ewing estimates that roughly 3-5 percent of development in the US could be classified as POD, a number that will hopefully increase as cities begin to revamp their municipal codes to promote more walkable communities.
While planners have long touted the benefits of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), which promotes higher-density, mixed-use development around transit hubs, Ewing argues that in fact pedestrian-oriented development has more potential in many US cities, where there simply aren't enough people to support effective transit service.
Hopefully the transit folks won't hate me for saying this, but personally I agree. It's not that I have anything against transit per se. (Well, actually I do--not enough bang for the buck, too much focus on commute trips, biased towards expensive rail projects that primarily benefit rich, white people--but that's not really the point of this post.) It's just that I spend almost all of my time in places (Ventura County, Woodland Hills) that don't have the kind of density/population/job centers to support the frequent transit service that makes for good TOD. So no, transit and transit-oriented development don't excite me much.
On the other hand, I'm lucky enough to live in a community that's so walkable that I can literally go days without getting in my car (don't snicker, that's impressive for a LA suburb). I see the difference having sidewalks and places to walk to can make in travel patterns--imagine if my neighborhood also had short blocks, street furniture, and some of the other POD features that Ewing talks about. Moreover, I'd be willing to bet that implementing POD is cheaper--and maybe even more effective at reducing vehicle trips--than a lot of the transit projects out there.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Street Summit 2010
In true--ironic--LA fashion, I drove for 2.5 hours yesterday to learn more about how I could spend less time in my car. Yes, yesterday was the 2010 Los Angeles Street Summit, and I wanted to share some info about what I learned in the afternoon's workshops.
MoProject
MoProject is a multi-media contest that allows young people in California to enter their videos, posters, or spoken-word pieces about the health issues they deal with every day. Last year the contest focused on challenges to health in California, such as dangerous sidewalks. This year's asks California teens, how do you "own your health"? Sponsored by CANFIT, MoProject provides a venue for young people to become active participants in their community's health and development.
Greenfield Walking Group
Recently recognized by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for its success in promoting community health, the Greenfield Walking Group started in 2006 with a few moms who simply wanted to get some exercise by walking in their local Bakersfield park. Unfortunately, they were thwarted by nasty dogs and even nastier trash, not to mention a language barrier. Enter the walkability assessment. Working with California Walks, the ladies were able to assess the walking conditions in their park and identify key problems. Once armed with actual data, they were able to communicate effectively with city leaders about the lack of walkability in their park and develop real solutions for the area (lights, playground equipment, a jogging trail). Now 150 strong, the group has begun to branch out to other communities, teaching them how to advocate for improvements within their neighborhoods.
Trainings and Resources
Those of you who are interested in transforming your community the way that Greenfield ladies did can get some free help from folks at state and federal level. In California, the Office of Traffic Safety in partnership with UC Berkeley provides four-hour Community Pedestrian Safety Trainings in numerous cities throughout the state each year, as well as Pedestrian Safety Assessments for California communities.
The Federal Highway Administration also offers several programs related to walkability and pedestrian safety, including free technical assistance and bi-monthly webinars. The FHWA also recently revised its handbook on creating a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan.
MoProject
MoProject is a multi-media contest that allows young people in California to enter their videos, posters, or spoken-word pieces about the health issues they deal with every day. Last year the contest focused on challenges to health in California, such as dangerous sidewalks. This year's asks California teens, how do you "own your health"? Sponsored by CANFIT, MoProject provides a venue for young people to become active participants in their community's health and development.
Greenfield Walking Group
Recently recognized by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for its success in promoting community health, the Greenfield Walking Group started in 2006 with a few moms who simply wanted to get some exercise by walking in their local Bakersfield park. Unfortunately, they were thwarted by nasty dogs and even nastier trash, not to mention a language barrier. Enter the walkability assessment. Working with California Walks, the ladies were able to assess the walking conditions in their park and identify key problems. Once armed with actual data, they were able to communicate effectively with city leaders about the lack of walkability in their park and develop real solutions for the area (lights, playground equipment, a jogging trail). Now 150 strong, the group has begun to branch out to other communities, teaching them how to advocate for improvements within their neighborhoods.
Trainings and Resources
Those of you who are interested in transforming your community the way that Greenfield ladies did can get some free help from folks at state and federal level. In California, the Office of Traffic Safety in partnership with UC Berkeley provides four-hour Community Pedestrian Safety Trainings in numerous cities throughout the state each year, as well as Pedestrian Safety Assessments for California communities.
The Federal Highway Administration also offers several programs related to walkability and pedestrian safety, including free technical assistance and bi-monthly webinars. The FHWA also recently revised its handbook on creating a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan.
Friday, March 19, 2010
This Week on Foot
Los Angeles has been buzzing this week about a visit from NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, who has been sharing her experiences promoting bike and ped-friendly transportation in New York as part of this year's Street Summit. If you missed her opening speech on Wednesday (see excerpt from YouTube above), you have another chance on Saturday at 10:30 at LA Trade Tech College. You can also hear her interview on KPCC here.
Elsewhere in the Southern California region things haven't been so inspiring for pedestrians this week. Along the coast in Malibu, we heard about a Pedestrian hit and ran over multiple times by vehicles on the PCH.
Further up the coast in the Santa Barbara area, Foes of Curb Extensions Can’t See the Safety for the Cars.
At least some people in California are working on improving the pedestrian environment. In the Bay Area 25 motorists cited in West Oakland pedestrian safety sting. Also in Northern California, Fox News (!!) did some investigative reporting, asking Are Sacramento Streets Safe For Wheelchair Pedestrians? (I'll give you three guesses what the answer was). Maybe the Hi-vis coats keep pedestrians safe could work for folks in wheelchairs too.
On a lighter note, a follow up on last week's story about one European town's attempt to improve pedestrian safety for those whole like to imbibe: Romanian 'drunk pedestrian' traffic signs scrapped after 'excessive media coverage'. I wonder how I can get my hands on one of those, now that Romania doesn't need them?
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Factors in Childhood Obesity
I sometimes hear fitness buffs explain that losing weight is simple: eat less, exercise more. This might work nicely as a mantra to chant in your head while running up hills, but the reality is that obesity is a pretty complex phenomenon, particularly when it comes to children. As reported in this recent article from the LA times, race, family structure, household income, and several other factors are all linked to childhood obesity rates according to a newly-published study using data from the National Survey of Childhood Health.
I was especially interested in relationship between childhood obesity and outside activities, which is striking. Children who do not participate in activities outside of school are 40 percent more likely to be obese than children who do, and children who live in neighborhoods without a park or recreaction center are about 20 percen more likely to be overweight.
It seems to me that one of the barriers to getting children to do more outside of school (aside from cost, of course) is that it's hard to get them to those outside activities. What if a kids could walk themselves to soccer practice after school, instead of relying on a parent to drive them? Or walk to a park to play? I believe that an important part of addressing childhood obesity should be restructuring the built environment to make active transportation easy for everyone--especially kids.
I was especially interested in relationship between childhood obesity and outside activities, which is striking. Children who do not participate in activities outside of school are 40 percent more likely to be obese than children who do, and children who live in neighborhoods without a park or recreaction center are about 20 percen more likely to be overweight.
It seems to me that one of the barriers to getting children to do more outside of school (aside from cost, of course) is that it's hard to get them to those outside activities. What if a kids could walk themselves to soccer practice after school, instead of relying on a parent to drive them? Or walk to a park to play? I believe that an important part of addressing childhood obesity should be restructuring the built environment to make active transportation easy for everyone--especially kids.
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