Walkable Neighborhoods-Economic Implications

Walkability, Economics and the State of Place Index

From a human wellbeing perspective the benefits of walkability have become common knowledge. Walkable neighborhoods produce lower rates of obesity and associated chronic diseases as well as environmental benefits of reduced emissions of greenhouse gases, and improved sustainability and resilience. Now real estate developers have begun to understand these implications and have pushed walkability into the forefront of real estate developments. This is because now 80% of 18-24 year olds want to live in walkable neighborhoods. An AARP survey found that an average of 60% of those over 50 want to live within a mile of daily goods and services.  In 13 of 15 major U.S. markets, an increase of one point in Walk Score ( a way of measuring walkability to commercial destinations on a scale of one to 100) translated into home price premiums of between $700 and $3000.

In New York the city’s Department of Transportation found the following:

• a series of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure projects translated into significant returns on investment, with protected bike lanes tied to a 49 percent increase in retail sales, compared with 3 percent boroughwide;
• small expansions of pedestrian rights-of-way were tied to a 49 percent reduction in commercial vacancies, compared with 5 percent citywide;
• transformation of an underused parking area translated into a 172 percent increase in retail sales at local businesses over three years; and
• conversion of a curb lane into outdoor seating increasing pedestrian numbers by more than 75 percent and increased sales at bordering businesses by 14 percent.

Another finding is that mixed use downtown development generates ten times the tax revenue per acre than does sprawl development. It also saves 38 percent on upfront infrastructure costs per unit, and saves 10% on ongoing services delivery.

Maria Alfonzo, who talks about these benefits in her article for the Urban Land Institute has pioneered a new tool she calls the State of Place Index that aims to quantify the economic benefits of Walkability.

Using Houston as an example in the article, the index showed a potential increase in retail sales and tax dollars from improvements for walkability. The index works like this- Firstly neighborhoods are classified within a region according to the types of interventions and investments needed in terms of walkability. Secondly, priorities are set within a neighborhood itself, and types of walkability interventions are indentified, eg, pedestrian amenities, traffic safety, parks and public spaces. These are ranked as to which will give cities and investors the biggest impact for the least cost.

Finally, specific interventions and/or development projects are identified that would have the biggest impact on the State of Place Index. A predicted return on investment is calculated. This tool goes someway to identifying winning strategies that any city can begin to implement and gives a framework in which cities can start to understand where in their own neighborhoods walkability interventions/investments can be made successfully.

https://urbanland.uli.org/sustainability/houston-economic-case-walkability/
All images and text are found at uli.org
Stateofplace.org

Community Led Urban Design

Community Led Urban Design in San Francisco

San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood is the latest and best example of a neighborhood participating in deigning its open spaces. The idea being that parks are best designed by the community that surround them is not new but is seldom done with success and continuity. To do this the community needed to be engaged with thoroughly.

In this case it is Boeddeker Park, redesigned in 1985, it never lived up to its potential as the neighborhood's largest public park. The Tenderloin neighborhood is the densest in San Francisco and with its accompanying poverty named the park 'Prison park'. Because of its reputation and the need for better public space for residents The Trust for Public Land, in partnership with the City of San Francisco's Recreation and Parks Department, teamed with WRNS Studio to redesign and completely rebuild the site.

Much in the way skyscrapers were built under the 'Build it and they will come' philosophy, the Urban Design equivalent seems to be 'hold a symposium and they will turn up'


A new clubhouse was proposed to meet the needs of the community. The idea of a clubhouse builds on the San Fran tradition of having local clubhouses and is designed to be a living room for the local community, an edgy offset piece of architecture to compliment and contrast with the new park. These ideas came directly from the community outreach meetings. The forums and meetings were held at local youth clubs, civic halls and other community buildings nearby with key decisions made at these forums.

Source Ref-  https://www.dexigner.com/news/30400
All pictures from dexigner taken by Matt Millman.

Flood Proof Urban Design

Brisbane Gets Serious about Flood Proof Design.

The worlds first flood proof Ferry terminal has just been awarded the Good Design of the year Award 2017 in Australia. The set of ferry terminals in Brisbane by Aurecon and Cox Rayner Architects (now Cox Architecture) with landscape architecture by Lat27 has been turning heads for its contemporary angular design features. In 2011 the existing ferry terminal was destroyed by tidal surges but the new pontoon can survive a freak weather event (every 500 years), accommodating the rivers tidal range of 2 metres. The design is the product of a design competition instigated by the Queensland government after the tidal surge of 2011.

The new ferry terminal is infact a series of 8 terminals all connected by landscape architecture that any riverside city would be proud of, using local plant species and incorporating green transport routes for walkers, joggers, and cyclists.

The judges were also impressed with the level of collaboration within the multidisciplinary team that included architects, engineers, and landscape architects. They were also excited by its potential to be replicated globally which could save lives and potential costly damage during freak weather events at smaller Ferry Terminals such as the one at Brisbane. Perhaps even larger terminal could learn from its technology too.  

Brisbane Ferry Terminals designed by Aurecon and Cox Rayner Architects (now Cox Architecture), landscape architecture by Lat27. Images courtesy of Landscape Australia taken by Christopher Frederick Jones

Links- https://landscapeaustralia.com/articles/Three-urban-design-projects-awarded-at-2017-Good-Design-Awards/#img=0