Complete Streets

Stockholm Complete Street
Originally uploaded by ITDP-Europe

Here is a collection of the information out there for complete streets:

The Complete Streets Website http://www.completestreets.org/

APA Resources, including policy inventory and best practices manual
http://www.planning.org/research/streets/

Good photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38607288@N03/
(ITDP-Europe)

Information on Complete Streets and the Aging
http://www.aarp.org/makeadifference/advocacy/GovernmentWatch/StrongCommunities/articles/aarp_one_minute_guide_complete_streets_act.html
http://www.planetizen.com/node/28644

Advocates of Walking and indexing tool:
http://www.walkscore.com/

SF Bay Local:
Better Streets San Francisco
http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/planning/Citywide/Better_Streets/proposals.htm

Oakland
Walk Oakland, Bike Oakland
http://www.walkoaklandbikeoakland.org

Parking Management - Share Parking

Situation: The district I am studying is currently self-parked. Each parcel provides its own parking, which was required by a parking ratio and perhaps exceeded with perceived need. Businesses are struggling (due to many factors) and the ease of parking is critical in many business owners' eyes to future success.

Problem: Parking is inefficiently provided throughout the project area. Surface parking lots are far more abundant than any other type of open space and seem to take over developable space. Most visitors seem to park and visit a single establishment rather than the district as a whole.

Solution?: Managed, shared parking districts. In these districts parking lots are shared, land is more efficiently used. Shared parking districts can decrease car trips, the number of parking spaces demanded, and promote walking.

Issue: How does a city write policy or encourage private land owners to share land for parking? What about issues of liability? What about issues of land acquisition? How can a city implement shared parking where private parking has dominated?

Nonmotorized Level of Service Rating Factors

LOS, or Level of Service ratings are a graded system typically applied to vehicular traffic on our streets. LOS grades A-F evaluate the ease and efficiency of traffic traveling on a given street, not necessarily it's Level of Service for all modes. The Victoria Transport Policy Institute has conducted a lot of research on non-motorized transportation planning and developed a Nonmotorized Level of Service Rating. Here is my summary of criteria for grading nonmotorized LOS, grades are based on:

• Network continuity: sidewalks
  
• Network quality: are sidewalks properly designed and maintained?
  
• Road crossing: safety and speed of road crossings
• Traffic Protection: Separation (distance and physical separations) from motorized traffic
• Congestion and user conflicts: hazards, such as street furniture, crowding
• Topography: steep inclines
• Sense of security: visibility and lighting
• Wayfinding: signage, maps,
• Weather protection: shade trees and awnings
• Cleanliness: litter, graffiti, maintenance
• Attractiveness: Quality of nearby buildings and landscaping, open space, parks, plazas, recreational area

Action Words

These are some verbs that I commonly use in writing future plans that I call "action words":

• achieve
• address
• align
• analyze
• capture
• conduct
• consider
• create
• develop
• discourage
• enhance
• ensure
• establish
• expand
• explore
• find
• foster
• gather
• identity
• implement
• improve
• initiate
• install
• introduce
• investigate
• maintain
• manage
• monitor
• plan for
• prepare
• promote
• provide for
• pursue
• recognize
• rethink
• revamp
• secure
• strengthen
• support
• utilize
• verify
  

ULI's UrbanPlan - Lessons in Development

All land uses
Originally uploaded by districtdirt

There are a lot of trade-offs to balance if you are developing land. UrbanPlan program, which is incorporated into selected high schools through economics or government courses, sets up a scenario that tests the trade-offs. In it, teams of 5, a marketing director, a site planner, a financial analyst, a city liaison, and a neighborhood liaison have to respond to an RFP. It was developed at UC Berkeley through the Fischer Center at the Haas School of Business. Now, it has gone national through ULI. I was there at the beginning, I drew the site plan, I contributed to some of the graphics in the workbook, and I implemented the program for ED1 at UC Berkeley. The process has matured and many students have now experienced the juggling act of public-private partnerships. I'm still going strong as a facilitator, and from time to time, on the Yorktown City Council as a juror.

How Bears Study the Environment

My alma mater, the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley (Go Bears!), is going to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. While there are plenty of parties, lectures, and exhibitions, the enduring product of this place is the research that helps shape the way we understand the built environment. These following research centers utilize the interdisciplinary possibilities among the three departments (architecture, landscape architecture, and city planning.)

• The Center for Environmental Design Research (CEDR) fosters research in environmental planning and design, ranging from the local environments of people within buildings to region-wide ecosystems, from small details of building construction to large-scale urban planning, from the history of the built environment to the design process itself. CEDR manages and edits Places, the main journal in the U.S. principally focused on urban design.
  
• The Institute of Urban and Regional Development (IURD) helps scholars and students understand the dynamics of communities, cities, and regions while informing public policy at local, state, and national levels.