October is National Community Planning Month | Thirteen characteristics of walkable neighborhoods | Characteristics of great places

The CNU Public Square article, "Thirteen characteristics of walkable neighborhoods," reminds me that this month is National Community Planning Month, which I have been remiss in writing about.  

Years ago, the American Planning Association used NCPM as a way to bring attention to best practice urban design and public spaces neighborhoods and cities.  They stopped doing that awhile ago.  I think that was a mistake because you can never have too many examples of what's good in the midst of a planning paradigm that produces a lot more bad.

 I wrote some pieces, with the intent to write more.  

-- "National Community Planning Month: Schools as neighborhood anchors," 2022
-- "Community Planning Month and Transportation," 2022
-- "Planning books to read for National Community Planning Month," 2020
-- "October as National Community Planning Month (and "defund the police")," 2020
-- "Community planning, capitalism, and housing/real estate development," 2020

Ridge Avenue in Roxborough, Philadelphia.  One side is historic small commercial buildings.  On the other side is a new, modern design, apartment building with ground floor retail.

Given the previous entry, "BTMFBA + programs to lease the properties to local businesses | Philadelphia," definitely an article on best practice in commercial district revitalization is in order.  I do have a series:

-- "Basic planning building blocks for urban commercial district revitalization programs that most cities haven't packaged: Part 1 | The first six," (2020)
-- "Basic planning building blocks for urban commercial district revitalization programs that most cities haven't packaged: Part 2 |  A neighborhood identity and marketing toolkit (kit of parts)," (2020)
-- "Basic planning building blocks for urban commercial district revitalization programs that most cities haven't packaged: Part 3 | The overarching approach: destination development/branding and identity, layering and daypart planning," (2020)
-- "Basic planning building blocks for "community" revitalization programs that most cities haven't packaged: Part 4 | Place evaluation tools," (2020)

Boise has a great program to support neighborhood identity development and community building.

This series is on neighborhood revitalization:

-- "The need for a "national" neighborhood stabilization program comparable to the Main Street program for commercial districts: Part I (Overall)," 2020
-- "To be successful, local neighborhood stabilization programs need a packaged set of robust remedies: Part 2" 2020
-- "Creating 'community safety partnership neighborhood management programs as a management and mitigation strategy for public nuisance programs: Part 3 (like homeless shelters)" 2020
-- "A case in Gloucester, Massachusetts as an illustration of the need for systematic neighborhood monitoring and stabilization initiatives: Part 4 (the Curcuru Family)" 2020
-- "Local neighborhood stabilization programs: Part 5 | Adding energy conservation programs, with the PUSH Buffalo Green Development Zone as a model," 2021

But frankly, the blog is full of thousands of entries that are related to best practice in community planning.

The CNU article about walkability is more about technical conditions, less so about people:

1. The neighborhood is the increment of planning. A single freestanding neighborhood is a village. 

I make this point in the entry, "National Community Planning Month: Schools as neighborhood anchors," which builds on writing back to 2011, but urban planning isn't really set up that way.

2. The neighborhood is limited in size to a 5-minute walk (0.25 miles, 400 meters) from edge to center, where the needs of daily life are available. 

From the standpoint of how retail is organized, this isn't practical.  More like a mile, probably more.

3. Neighborhood streets are in an interconnected network, allowing multiple routes to destinations. 

This is a basic precept from Jane Jacobs Death and Life of the Great American City (1961).

4. Neighborhood streets are spatially defined by buildings. Neighborhoods are nested together to make a town or city.  

Neal Street NE, DC.  

5. Neighborhood buildings are diverse in function but compatible in terms of size and configuration on the lot. 

I often quote Stephen Semes' point on neighborhood buildings comprising an "architecture of the ensemble."  New modern buildings often contrast terribly in terms of the ensemble.

6. The civic buildings of a neighborhood are located in important areas, for example, attached to squares. 

This one is tough.  The civic buildings and structures of a community tend to be a library, elementary school, maybe a transit station.  Schools aren't centrally located in this way.  

Mt. Pleasant DC's plaza is focused around an old streetcar turnaround.  The nearest library is a few blocks away, same with schools.  Although I do think when possible neighborhood libraries should be sited in this way.  Idea Store branch libraries in the Tower Hamlets borough of London are sited like this.

I will say that the Salt Lake City and County libraries don't do this very well, and often the building facade isn't permeable and doesn't connect to the street.

A plaza function may be provided rather than as a primary space, adjacent to a library or transit station.  

I do think if there are neighborhood centers, this kind of space needs to be built in.

7. Neighborhood open space is defined rather than amorphous. 

Parks, pocket parks, plazas, etc.

8. Everyone living in a neighborhood has independence of movement, since activities of daily life are within walking distance.

Ideally yes.  As we get old, it's harder to walk.  I have a heart condition and I walked 2+ miles today after a serious workout yesterday, and it was very hard.  Plus, I didn't have to walk back, I got picked up (a grocery store trip).

9. Reduced auto trips means less traffic and lower costs. 

10. Human-scale streets and squares provide opportunity for social interaction. 

11. Transit is made feasible by providing sufficient density near transit stops. 

12. There is a full range of housing types and workplaces, allowing age and economic integration.  

13. Civic buildings and spaces encourage democratic initiatives

Other lists of characteristics of great places to live or visit

Dan Burden has his own list, "How Can I Find and Help Build a Walkable Community?":

1. Intact Town Centers
2. Residential densities, mixed income, mixed use
3. Public Space
4. Universal Design
5. Key Streets are Speed Controlled
6. Streets, Trails are well linked
7. Design is properly scaled
8. Town is designed for people
9. Town is thinking small
10. In Walkable communities there are many people walking
11. The Town and Neighborhoods have a vision
12. Decision Makers are Visionary, Communicative, and Forward Thinking

Astoria.

Kyle Ezell's Get Urban: The complete guide to Urban Living is out of print, but the book makes a great point that you can find good urbanism in towns that aren't necessarily the largest US cities like NYC or Boston, that most places, Omaha or Tulsa, college towns, secondary cities in metropolitan area--like Royal Oak and Birmingham in Oakland County, or the Grosse Pointes in Wayne County, abutting Detroit--have some areas of great urbanism.  

We were recently in Astoria, Oregon, but didn't get to spend much time there due to a crotchety MIL, and the Downtown at its Sunday Farmer's Market, was hopping.

"The 20 Ingredients of an Outstanding Destination" by Roger Brooks International:

1. They begin with a plan.
2. They defined a strong brand and retail focus.
3. They orchestrated recruitment of “critical mass” or “clustering.”
4. They each have anchor tenants.
5. Lease agreements included defined operating hours and days.
6. People living and/or staying downtown.
7. Pioneers with patient money were convinced to invest.
8. They started with just one or two blocks - “demonstration project.”
9. Solving the parking dilemma.
10. Public washrooms.
11. Development of gathering places.
12. Creation of good first impressions: Community Gateways.
13. Design, fabrication & installation of a wayfinding system.
14. A good first impression: downtown or district gateways.
15. 20/20 signage: retail signage rules & regulations.
16. Sidewalk cafes and intimate surroundings.
17. They invested heavily in retai beautification.
18. They provide activities and entertainment: bring downtown to life!
19. They gave downtown districts a name.
20. The marketing is experiential: focus on activities, not buildings.

The Project for Public Spaces Place Game and How to Turn a Place Around workshop but focused on the overall place.

My own "Revisiting factors influencing housing purchase," which lists access to amenities as a factor in deciding where to purchase a house.