The New Urbanism: Design Principles for Vibrant Communities

The New UrbanismDesign Principles for Vibrant Communities

Wisconsin Transportation ConferenceSeptember 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 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

197019

7219

7419

7619

7819

8019

8219

8419

8619

8819

9019

9219

9419

9619

9820

0020

0220

0420

0620

0820

1035,000

45,000

55,000

65,000

75,000

85,000

95,000

105,000

115,000

125,000

The Region1988: 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

ParkPreserve

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!


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.


• Have a broad range of housing types and price levels in a neighborhood.


• 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

BreweryHousing

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 school2001: 13 percent


• 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.


• 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 millionValue per acre: $2.3 million

Big box parcel area: 5.8 acres Assessed value: $2.1 millionValue 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%

<20 20-39 40-59 60-79 80+0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

120.0%

140.0%

160.0%

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

Perc

ent C

hang

e

Age GroupSource: 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%



No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19%



No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% ≥20%





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

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

Vierbicher999 Fourier Drive, #201

Madison, WI [email protected]

(608) 821-3967

The New Urbanism: Design Principles for Vibrant Communities

Government & Nonprofit

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