walk/live opening lecture

Our Process

“I think you should be more explicit here in step two.”

Eric?

THE POWER OF COLLECTIVE IMPACT

Walk/Live St. Louis 2012

New Collaborations

Transformative Projects

DesiredOutcomes

Identify Opportunities

CONNECTING THE DOTS...

Need for a more walkable St. Louis

REALTORS –> New Partners for Smart Growth

EPA Grant – West End

Housing & Community Solutions, Inc.

OUR MISSION: To build sustainable and diverse communities through projects that promote collaboration, community and economic revitalization in the St. Louis region.

OUR PROJECTS:St. Louis DrillDown, Walk/Live St. Louis 2012, Transit-Oriented Development, Historic Preservation, Social Entrepreneurship and Housing Development.

WE ARE:A catalyst, a collaborator, and a champion that helps move St. Louis forward.

Website: www.housingandcommunitysolutions.orgPhone: 314-367-3147Email: paul@housingandcommunitysolutions.org

Livability and the role of TransportationLivability and the role of Transportation

Now that we are here … What can we do?Now that we are here … What can we do?

35th Anniversary of Walk

Courtesy of Ian Lockwood

Courtesy of Ian Lockwood

Courtesy of Ian Lockwood

Courtesy of Ian Lockwood

Courtesy of Ian Lockwood

Is this the landscape we want to leave our children?

“There is No There There”

…Gertrude Stein

Fifty percent of all American cities are now under concrete and asphalt.

(In Los Angeles it is now 66 percent.)

Houston, Texas

1990 2050

Aging Population

Depressive Disorders

19 million American adults

• Leading cause of disability in the USA

• Treatment:

• Medication

• Social Contact, including therapy

• And…..

JaniceBurdenAge 93

Peak Happiness

1965

Bryant Park, New York City

Bryant Park, New York City

Bryant Park, New York City

Dan Burden and Samantha Thomas, Walkable and Livable Communities Institute

St Louis, Missouri

West Lafayette, Indiana (Home of Purdue University)West Lafayette, Indiana (Home of Purdue University)

Where would you rather walk? Where would you rather bike? Which is the safest place to bike?Where would you rather drive? Where would you rather live? Which is the safest place to drive?

Bridgeport Way, University Place, WashingtonBridgeport Way, University Place, WashingtonBridgeport Way, University Place, WashingtonBridgeport Way, University Place, Washington

Marine Drive, Dundarave, B.C.

Anywhere in California

Houston, Texas

How Do We Get to Truly Reasonable Speeds and costs?

We find ourselves stuck in a transportation planning paradigm that was developed in an environment completely different than where we are now. We continue to build roads that are affordable and maintainable. Not only that they produce high driving speeds, at the expense of our health, our safety, and our government budgets. Today safety losses on our streets are higher than our congestion costs.

If you plan cities for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic.

If you plan for people and places, you get people and places.

Marine Drive, Dundarave, B.C.

Highway 93, Missoula, Montana

USA

Canada

Marine Drive, Dundarave, B.C.

Marine Drive, Dundarave, B.C.

What is the Purpose of Cities?

Safe place to raise a familySafe place to raise a family

Low SpeedLow Speed

Low NoiseLow Noise

Low VolumeLow Volume

CrystalBeach, Florida

More Association Neighborhood Pride People to watch over one another Sense of community

With almost double the cost per capita of the average Western nations, the U.S. receives less in the way of health care and health outcomes.

This makes us vulnerable in global competition

Source: The Kaiser Family Foundation, April 2011

The Average U.S. Family now pays $16,000 per year in health care costs, and this figure is rising.

What are these people doing?What are these people doing?

St Louis’s Abundance Inventory

ProsperityDiverse culture, arts & economy, proximity to the nation, river transport, great seasonal attractions, tourism, urban trails, well priced housing. education, access to health, healthy lifestyles, affordability, arts, sciences

Planet

Water, sunshine, daylight, heat, land green spaces, waterfront, biodiversity, trees, harvestable energy, urban, suburban and rural habitat

PeopleHistory, culture, visitors, jobs, preservation, historic buildings, great schools of learning, many cultural heroes, walkability/linkages, civic engagement, neighborhood villages, housing,

Illustration by Steve Price, Urban Advantage

Crossing Island

Bike Lanes ColorizedTurn Lane

(colorized)Transit Stop

Can handle 25,000 vehicles per day

Can handle 25,000 vehicles per day

"If we want a booming economy of mom and pop stores, we'd better build the environment where they succeed”

Santa Barbara, California

Charleston, S.C.Charleston, S.C.

Beacon Hill, BostonBeacon Hill, Boston

1550 feet from THE CHEERS BAR, 6 other bars, 8 deli’s, 4 banks, 3 hardware stores, 2 florists, 18 restaurants, 5 churches, grocer, pharmacist, medical and dozens more.

1550 feet from THE CHEERS BAR, 6 other bars, 8 deli’s, 4 banks, 3 hardware stores, 2 florists, 18 restaurants, 5 churches, grocer, pharmacist, medical and dozens more.

AmericaAmerica’’s First Developments First Development

Orlando, FloridaOrlando, Florida

1550 feet fromNOTHING1550 feet fromNOTHING

Cleveland, Ohio.

Monterey, California

Monterey, California

The Illustrative Plan (above) is the result of this planning process; it shows the hypothetical buildout of the corridor, locating building footprints (newand existing), open space, and parking areas. The corridor was divided into four study areas, the Western Gateway, the Neighborhood Center, the Village Center, and the Town Center. Each area has it’s own unique characteristics and challenges which were addressed.

Quick sketches were done to study buildings that would result from the hypothetical building footprints in the Illustrative Plan, combined with the proposed height limits in the study areas and potential architectural regulations of the new code. each street, which corresponds to written code regulations.

Size neighborhoods for a 5-minute walk

Make blocks a walkable size:

• Block perimeters of 1,500’ to 2,000’

• Create a connected network of streets

Design for a mix of land uses:

Centers include denser housing, a square, civic uses, and neighborhood- oriented retail.

Civic Civic BuildingsBuildings

Neighborhood Neighborhood CentersCenters

Parks Parks and Open and Open SpacesSpaces

© Citizen Planner Institute

Before and After Espanola Way, circa 1986

South Beach, Florida Ocean Drive

City MakingCity Making

Thornton Park, Orlando, Florida

Du/a 9-12

Du/a 15-22

Du/a 22-28

The BreakdownThe Breakdown

Winter Park VillageWinter Park Village

Orlando Avenue

Webster Ave.

Lee Rd.

Denning Dr.

Solana Ave.

Winter Park

Village

K Mart

Winter Park

Vo Tech

Orlando Avenue

Webster Ave.

Lee Rd.

Denning Dr.

Winter Park

Village

K Mart

Residential Redevelopment

Mixed Use Redevelopment

Lee Road Extension

W.P.V. Development

If Cities are to reduce auto-dependence a working alternative should include:

Strip centers are replaced with town squares, destinations are a walkable scale

1800 vehicles per hourper lane

800 vehicles per hourPer lane

Every blizzard proves motorists prefer two lane roads

Indeed they place medians and edge buffers on 4-lane roads when they get to design them (before snow plows arrive). So why not convert to 2-3 lanes, when conditions allow?

Abbott Road, E. Lansing, Michigan

Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, Florida

15-20,000 ADT

Walkability AuditsA Tool for Organizing Strong Communities

and Developing Complete Streets

For further information contact:

Dan Burden and Kelly Morphy

Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, www.walklive.org