NUR Top5 - Traffic, Soccer, Entertainment Districts, Walkable Urbanism

We're once again trying something new here.  The plan is to post this weekly.  Each week, I will be sifting through the noise out there (I already do that) to bring you the top five stories of the week related to new urbanism, complete neighborhoods and Roswell.  First though, please check out my most recent article in the Roswell Current, The Elusive Neighborhood Grocery Store.  In no particular order, here’s what we have this week.

Chicagos Ambitious Plan for Zero Traffic Fatalities - The Atlantic Cities

Chicago wants to eliminate all pedestrian, bicycle and overall traffic crash related fatalities by 2050.  I’d love to see Roswell take on a challenge like this.  We should start by lowering all of our current 25 mph speed limits to 20 mph.  The 20 is Plenty movement is a great one that will reduce deaths worldwide if it can take root.  I also think our obsession with adding more and more traffic signs to our roads is counterintuitive.  People tend to drive more recklessly when they feel they don’t need to anticipate and pay attention.  Road signs and safety features have been proven in some cases to reduce driver awareness or increase complacency and in many cases have no impact on safety (they just make our city uglier).

Urban Entertainment Districts: Blocks Where No One Has Fun - Salon.com

Reading this, you can’t help but conjure up images of Atlantic Station, Lindberg Center, the proposed Avalon development in Alpharetta and Buckhead Atlanta development in Buckhead.  Although, not exactly what the article is referring to, they are close enough as they are manufactured environments devised primarily for corporate profit.  Atlantic Station and Lindberg Center have a distinctly plastic feel.  The jury is still out on Avalon and Buckhead Atlanta.  There are dozens of other spots that feel authentic such as Canton Street, Va Highlands, Inman Park, Downtown Decatur, and the old Buckhead Village... that grew up incrementally.  I think incremental growth is the key.  Roswell should be wary of any situation where one developer is planning on developing a huge tract of land all at once to create a place... You run the risk of that place being distinctly corporate and not distinctly Roswell.  (now, all of the these corporate developments are good but they likely will never reach the greatness of an incrementally incubated environment)

Arizona DOT Study: Compact, Mixed-Use Development Leads to Less Traffic - StreetsBlog

This one is no secret but the article has some great data.  It is applicable to Roswell primarily in the Groveway area as it is the only area in our city that has a true grid system with potential to be built out as a Mixed-Use environment (if you assume our NIMBYs will continue to block any action at the HBR/400 interchange).  The study basically concludes that as net residential density increases, daily vehicle miles traveled per capita decreases.  It talks about the added benefits of the grid distributing traffic more evenly than the sprawl arterial system as well as the park-once ability when visitors come to a mixed-use area.  There isn’t a need to go back to the car to drive to the next parking lot over.  Why?  Because it’s more interesting to walk there.

Atlanta Needs a New Football Stadium, But Not For the Falcons - Curbed Atlanta

I had originally thought this article in the AJC addressing recent Stadium cost overruns and overzealous revenue projections would be appropriate for the Top 5.  However, I loved the idea from Curbed Atlanta that we need a soccer stadium instead of a new NFL stadium.  Recruiting an MLS team to Atlanta would be big.  Curbed thinks the right spot for a soccer specific stadium would be along Northside Dr by the Atlanta Water Works.  However, I think our own 400/HBR intersection would be a really sweet spot.  Roswell, could stake a claim to a sports franchise and it would then make even more sense for a MARTA connection in Roswell.  We have a large Latino community and the northern burbs are ripe with young soccer talent that would love to attend the games.  The Real Salt Lake team is located in the suburb of Sandy which is very similar to North Fulton in demographic... it’s worth a shot.

Now Coveted: A Walkable, Convenient Place - NY Times Opinion 

We’ve written about Christopher Lienberger here before.  He basically coined the dichotomy of Walkable Urbanism vs. Drivable Suburban development.  He makes the case as we have as well that walkable urbanism is spreading beyond our large city centers and actually into our smaller cities and towns.  This is mainly due to a change in preference amongst our two largest generations.  This is nothing new but reaffirms virtually everything that NUR is about.  Roswell, needs to get in gear quickly to meet the coming storm of demand/need for walkable urbanism.  

Fire Truck Fire Truck.. Zoom Zoom Zoom...

This has to be the world's smallest fire truck. It looks ridiculous in the setting but could really be useful in areas with narrower streets. Much of the reasoning behind our neighborhood streets being so wide and thus speed inducing is due to the needs of fire and emergency vehicles.

In America, we have an obsession with large equipment that many parts of the world just don't have. This truck is in Ontario and probably serves its purpose for 99% of the emergencies it responds to. It's also a lot cheaper to buy, service and maintain and doesn't require as much asphalt (expensive) to get through a neighborhood.

If the Forsyth FD had one of these, they probably wouldn't have as much of a problem with the narrow streets in Vickery Village. Remember that many more people die in US each year due to high speeds on roads than due to fires in buildings.. just sayin..

ht: Chuck Mahron @ Strong Towns

Richard Florida from CNU20

I thought I would share this interesting excerpt from a Better Cities & Towns! article recapping a talk by Richard Florida from his plenery talk at CNU20 in West Palm Beach:

The urban/suburban debate is likewise false, he said. “Great communities and great neighborhoods pretty much look the same,” he said. They are human-scale, include a mix of uses, and are close to transit. “These are the kind of things that people desire, and it is not just in the urban core that you find them,” he said.

This about sums it up to me.  I am a die hard new urbanist and I live in a suburban city which may sound like a paradox.  However, what most people don't realize is that New urbanism isn't about skyscrapers and Manhattan like density.  It's about creating places where people actually want to be.  

Check out the whole talk below.

TIA/TSPLOST and Historic Gateway Planning Meetings

This week, there are two important meetings going on at City Hall that I encourage everyone to attend.  I may not depending on when the stork arrives at my house. 

On Monday, 5/21, starting at 5:30pm in the rotunda at City Hall, there will be a discussion of the upcoming TSPLOST Transportation Tax vote.  Attendees will hear from representatives from all sides of the spectrum.  Here is the list: Roswell Department of Transportation (RDOT), the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), the Council for Quality Growth (CQG), the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce (NFCOC), Metro Atlanta Voter Education Network (MAVEN), Citizens for Transportation Mobility (CTM), the local grassroots Tea Party, and the Transportation Leadership Coalition (TLC).  Roswell has several horses in this race and residents should get informed asap.  That leads us to the next meeting.

On Wednesday, 5/23, starting at 6:00pm in council chambers at City Hall, Scott Ball, Senior Project Manager with from DPZ, will be presenting DPZ's completed work.  Attendees will see the Cultural Resources Study, Summary Report, Detailed Special Projects, and Design Standards.  The Historic Gateway Master Plan is intended to work in conjunction with the Historic Gateway Transportation Plan which is one of the projects that could be funded if the TSPLOST passes in July.

Please consider attending these meetings, educate yourself and voice your opinion.

Neat TimeLapse of Venice

I've never been to Venice but this time-lapse video of 'Venice in a Day' makes me want to go. What an amazing place.

CNU Self Critique from CNU20

One of the reasons I love the Congress for the New Urbanism as an organization is its willingness to self-critique and learn from past mistakes. This video highlights thoughts on those mistakes. The last line in the video is from Andres Duany and pretty much calls out the political discourse in our society. It's worth a watch.

It's Time to Celebrate Roswell

Roswell is about to reach a milestone.  Our dining scene is now healthier than ever.  How do we know this?  We are about to have our fifth McDonald's location!  If you haven't had a chance to see one of the other four, this is what the new one will look like.  It will be at 600 Crossville Rd in just the right spot to snag some hungry cars for its drive through.  Happy Meals for Happy Motoring Roswell!

Atlanta's New Rail Map?

This is what the rail map in Atlanta could look like in 10 years if the region votes yes to fund transportation with a 1 cent sales tax in July.  It doesn't make it up to Roswell but it's a big step in the right direction for the region.  

Additionally, the Historic Gateway Transportation project is on the list.  We'll have some real money to get rid of the reversible lanes on 9 from the river to the square.

ht: TheMidtownArchive

Canton Street Arbor - Cool Concept, Bad Parking Solution

This is a plan that is on life support for the property at the southeast corner of the Woodstock|Canton intersection.  It was approved with conditions by the Historic Preservation Commission in Jan 2011 but didn't get off the ground due to zoning/use issues.  

One interesting tidbit is the that the property and vision belong to Mayor Jere Wood.  He wants to build an arbor in the style of those built around Georgia in the early to mid 1800's.  See the image of the Brush Arbor at the Marietta Campground below for an idea of the building type.  I wanted to comment on it as I love building but hate the site layout.  It's another case of parking requirements killing progress and inhibiting good designs from becoming reality.

Now, check out the rendering of the arbor that Mayor Wood has had designed for his property.  It is strikingly similar to the Brush Arbor above which was built circa 1839.  It may be a copycat but it sure would be a great addition to our historic district and Canton Street if it were done the right way.

Now, here's a site plan with new parking shaded in red and the proposed arbor in green.

As you can see, there is a lot of additional parking.  The parking will be pervious so it wouldn't be asphalt but it's still parking.  The plans I saw showed the use as Assembley which would require 58 additional spaces to be added to the lot.  Now, the mayor decided he would compromise and say that the use was to be retail instead which would have a lower parking requirement.  This still leaves the entire lot with 95 parking spots.  That's a lot of parking for business that have peak traffic at different times of day.  Another solution is to allow fewer spots because there are spots at the soccer fields right up the road.

The parking requirements are one problem but another is the location of the new parking.  This design would further erode the public realm around that intersection.  I think you could find a way to tuck a lot (not all) of the necessary parking in between the existing buildings and tweaking the layout of the existing parking spaces a bit.  You could even pull the arbor building closer to the sidewalk.  But wait, there are minimum setback requirements to deal with.  You can't build a building close to the sidewalk like Salt Factory or Roswell Provisions or Go With The Flow.. That would be against code.

I'd love to see this get built as a hybrid retail and assembley space but even more than that, I'd love dopey zoning get out of the way and let the free market decide what gets built. 

images: AJC, City of Roswell

Another Sign... That You Can't Drive

Happy May Day Roswell.. Your gift is at the intersection of Mimosa and 120.  We should all thank DOT for prohibiting left turns from Mimosa to 120 during all hours of the day instead of the previous rush hour restrictions.  I feel safe and protected now.  In fact, I'm going to sleep well tonight knowing that no one will be making left turns from Mimosa on to Hwy 120 at 3am.  Sleep easy Roswell.. One less thing to worry about and we get another shiny new sign to brighten up our historic town square.