Quote of the Week: Parking

Since I've been thinking about Parking lately, I thought this one would be good...

As more land is used for parking, less land is left for the things that really make a city great: a place to live, work, shop and socialize. Our data supports this concept. ...

The best use of the city’s land is making great places that attract people. The role of transportation policy should be to provide access to these places in the fairest, most efficient ways.

Christopher McCahill from Too Much Parking, Too Few Residents at New Urban Network

The article covers analysis of New Haven, CT and has an interesting image of New Haven's parking space in 1951 and the same area in 2008.  It looks like cancer.

Where to Park on Canton Street?

I recently read this article on The Roswell Neighbor discussing the availability of parking on Canton Street and potential solutions to the issue.  I know this is a hot topic for many especially since the restaurant scene has exploded here over the past ~5 years.  I think the common complaint is that it takes too long to park and thus we need more parking.  However, let's not over react.  

I go to Canton Street (by car) almost weekly to eat and the longest it has ever taken me to park at peak time is about 10 minutes.  When I do get a spot, it's usually within 50 yards of the main restaurant area. Anywhere else on Canton is a breeze to park.  There are 1,847 parking spots between Magnolia St and Woodstock St and a recent study suggest that the area is 69 spaces short during peak times.  

A normal parking space is about 180 sq ft (10x18).  So, 69 spaces is 12,420 sq ft. or ~.285 acres.  When you add in driving space, that effectively doubles.  So, just to meet the current peak demand, Canton St would need to figure out where a half an acre could be paved to park some cars.  I'm not so sure that we need to do this given the demand but I wanted to think about what we could do to prepare for added demand if that does come.

Here are my recommendations in order of cost from the least to the most expensive:

• Do nothing - The current situation isn't actually as bad as it seems.  There are plenty of spaces within a short walk along Mimosa, at City Hall and across 9 from Diesel.  Proper direction and labeling could help.  There is also some opportunity for lot reconfiguration and multi-use lots in areas.
• Create a Parking Lot - I don't have any ideas on where to do this since we won't be able to find a half/acre unless we tear down a building or two.  If we do that, then we might as well do it right.. see the last two entries.
• Deck Behind Restaurants - Here, we would just build a deck where a current parking area is.  See the red shaded area on the map.
• Surface Lot Behind Buildings - This one is actually my favorite as it will do a lot to complete Canton Street and give additional parking.  You tear down the old antique store and move a 2-3 story building up to Canton Street and line the north side of Webb Street with either shop fronts or townhomes.  Behind the buildings invisible to Canton Street, you would have a surface parking lot that is larger than what is existing. If demand grew, you could eventually build a deck here.
• Deck Behind Townhomes - Here we would line the southern tip of Canton St, the northern side of Magnolia and the southeastern tip of the Webb Street Extension with townhomes or live work units with some retail below.  The corner of Canton & Magnolia would be a small office or bank building.

Here's the visual:

Now, let's not forget the age old problem of charging for parking.  If the need to charge arises and you have built an expensive deck, the logical course of action would be to charge for the deck and leave the surface parking alone.  However, what you really need to do is price the deck lower than the surface parking.  This will price the commodity properly by pricing the most sought after commodities (street parking) higher than the less desirable (deck parking).  If you fall into the trap of charging for deck parking while not charging for street parking, you will still have congestion which will cause a perceived lack of parking because everyone will try to park on the street for free first and use the deck as a last resort.  

Quote of the Week: Wesley Marshall on Cul-de-sacs

A lot of people feel that they want to live in a cul-de-sac, they feel like it's a safer place to be.  The reality is yes, you're safer - if you never leave your cul-de-sac. But if you actually move around town like a normal person, your town as a whole is much more dangerous.

Wesley Marshall of the University of Colorado co-authored a study that compiled data on 230,000 crashes over 11 years in 24 mid-sized towns in California.  The safest neighborhoods all tended to be built prior to 1930 on more traditional interconnected grids.  Read on at the Atlantic.

Why I'm a Car Hater...

30,797

I got to thinking about this when I read about two fatal auto crashes today in the AJC.  One was a pedestrian killed when crossing Roswell Rd in Sandy Springs earlier today and another was a crash in Milledgeville where two Georgia College freshmen from Gwinnett were killed.

First, let me tell you that cars are incredibly useful.. I have two.  I’m not getting rid of them.  I’ve owned 6 different cars in my life.  I liked them all and loved some of them.  We need them because we can’t function ‘normally’ without them.  But, the more I think about it, they all suck in ways that you don’t normally consider when you’re driving around.  Here’s why I hate cars:

• Safety - They kill people.. they kill LOTS of people.  Driving a car on a daily basis is the most dangerous activity that most Americans regularly participate in.  Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people aged 5-34 in the US.  Your odds of dying in a car crash in any given year are about 1:6500 (est.).  This equates to roughly a 1:83 lifetime chance of dying in a car crash.  Traffic fatalities vary greatly in a given year and usually range from 30k to 40k.  There were 30,797 in 2009.  Fortunately, US fatality rates have been declining in recent years.  Now, we’re all going to die but traffic fatalities are frustrating because most are preventable in some way.  My Solution: Build places that don’t rely on the car to function.
• Cost - Car related costs account for around 20% of most American families’ expenses.  That’s a lot of money to spend on a depreciating asset.  It does get you around but so do your two feet.  The average car costs about $8,000 per year to own and operate.  Most families own two.  So, let’s just say most families have one nicer car and one older car and conservatively call it $12,000 per year.  Let’s start the counter at the age of 25 and say we own a car through our 75th year.  That’s $600,000 in money that could be significantly reduced by cutting back on car ownership.  That’s not chump change.  Neither is this, the US spent $959.9B on road construction and maintenance in the 12 mos ending July 2011.  That’s almost a Trillion.  Let’s not forget the estimated lifetime medical costs from serious auto injuries.  This totaled roughly $99B in 2009, third behind cancer and heart disease.  That’s just the crashes that occurred in 2009!!!  That a Trillion in 10 years.  These are all budget busters.  My Solution: Build places that don’t rely on the car to function. 
• Health - Aside from safety, they are a health hazard.  Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxides all pose health hazards.  Additionally, car pollutants combine to form ozone which influences asthma, most notably in children.  We also need to consider the amount of time people sit on their rears commuting burning virtually no calories.  It’s no coincidence that as our sprawling development pattern has permeated the countryside, our waistlines have sprawled out in a highly correlated direction.  Finally, let’s not forget the hundreds of thousands of serious injuries that are sustained in car crashes.  These are all REAL problems that could be mitigated.  My Solution: Build places that don’t rely on the car to function.
• Sanity - Just watch drivers.  People get crazy when they get behind the wheel.  Observe yourself and you might find that you act differently too.  How do you react when a car suddenly gets in front of you on a road versus when a person suddenly gets in front of you on a sidewalk?  The car is a bubble that creates distance and mutes communication.  Speeds beyond 20mph take humans beyond speeds that we have evolved to function at.  This takes us into an environment that we aren’t as equipped to function in.  We don’t know how to react and we have no real way to communicate and thus we resort to anger or conflict.  We need to stop the insanity.  My Solution: Build places that don’t rely on the car to function.

To dive into these concepts in more depth, check out the book Traffic by Tom Vanderbilt.  It should be required reading for everyone on the road.  There are also some good facts on the CDC’s Motor Vehicle Safety page as well.

If we build places that don’t rely on the car to function, we’ll have a lot more good people around for a lot longer.  We need to stand up against widening roads, building unnecessary roads and decreasing connectivity.  Our congestion problems can be solved by getting people out of their cars, not by encouraging the same behavior that causes the congestion.  This will in turn save thousands of lives.

This post is in memory of all my family and friends who have died in car crashes.  

Oxbo Reallignment - Increasing Connectivity

The city council recently approved the a design contract for the realignment of Oxbo Road!!!   This is not a project that is going to occur overnight but it will be a fantastic win for the historic district.  After the design phase, right of way acquisition ($3.6M) and construction ($3M) will still be needed.

It will add two new intersections to our network and will make an existing one way street into a two way street.  This will not only reduce congestion at the Oxbo/Atlanta St intersection but it will increase connectivity and walkability throughout this entire section of the historic district.  

You can get a more detail in the NorthFulton.com article here.

image: City of Roswell

Density and Mixed Use in Roswell

Anyone who has read this blog knows that I'm a supporter of mixed-use development as well as livable, context appropriate density.  We keep up with issues that are going on in and around Roswell and today, I came across an article in the Roswell Neighbor that I found interesting.  Essentially, the East Roswell Forum, one of the groups responsible for crashing the mixed-use/density party at Holcomb Bridge/400 the first time around, has decided to sound the alarm bells to the leaders of its member subdivisions about the potential resurrection of mixed-use and density at the HBR/400 intersection in the Roswell 2030 master plan.  For the record, I do feel that the proposal this group rallied against was inappropriate and I am glad it was not built.

That being said, this group obviously yields some power but I'm not sure just how representative they are of the community as a whole.  Unfortunately, the article did not link directly to the email that was circulated.  So, there is no way to determine whether it is representative and/or factually accurate.

Anyway, I have attended four of the Imagine 2030 meetings and have seen scores of residents come out to give input.  There is no effort to hide this master planning effort from the populace.  I even drove all the way out to East Roswell Park for the event held on the east side of town.  I found that it was well attended although not crowded.  Now, I'm not sure what section of town all of attendees live in but I can assure you that the meetings weren't attended exclusively by developers, politicians and realtors.  From my anecdotal discussions, most people were simply residents of Roswell who cared enough to take time out of their busy lives to attend.  Many of them were supporters of gradual increases in density and mixed-use but for the most part they wanted more walkability, bikability and less congestion.

Having said this, virtually every time something came up about the HBR/400 corridor, people wanted it cleaned up.  They dislike what is on the ground there.  I do too. I've actually posted on it before here.  I want something different and I'm going to guess that what I want will match the vision of a good number of our neighbors.  Here's a quick overview: 

• Density - I'm not too concerned with the number here. I'm more concerned with the character and context.  You can have beautiful single family homes that can be in the high teens in units per acre while you can have ugly apartment complexes that are only 10-12 units per acre.  I think we're more concerned with what they look like.  If you've been to Paris since the mid-1800's, you'll notice that they pack an incredible amount of density into the city while still looking and feeling appropriate, beautiful, safe and relatively uncongested.  Below, you're looking at 384 units per acre mixed-use with transit and you wouldn't find significant traffic, crime or overall congestion. You could argue that the French are more civil than we are here in Roswell but I'm not buying it.  The design is the key... not the # of homes on an acre. 

• Transit - Bus Rapid Transit first, then MARTA rail later (density of 10-15 units/acre can support heavy rail ridership needs). Anything built should be done so with the intent of connecting to rail in the future. 
• Building Height - 5-6 stories.  No high-rises.  It's amazing what kind of density you can get even without looking like Hong Kong.  In some areas, Paris actually is more dense than Vancouver, one of the densest cities in the world. 
• Programming - Residential (Townhomes, Condo/Loft, Apartment), Office, Retail, Hotel, Public Space. There might even be some room for single family on this parcel but I don't think it would fly with a potential developer and I'm not sold that Roswell needs more single family housing.  We could definitely use some more class A office space and retail given the number of aging strip malls and office complexes we have.  Not many employers are looking to Roswell these days.  This is a major opportunity to attract high quality jobs to our city.
• Mixed-Use - Significant vertical (intra-building) and horizontal (intra-block) mixed-use.  We don't have to expound too much on this one.  Suffice to say that, on average, new residents of Atlantic Station reduced their overall vehicle miles traveled by more than 70% after moving into Atlantic Station.  They also have reported a high level of satisfaction with amenities like grocery and retail being nearby.  Say what you will about the look of the place but it's hard to argue with the results in the area of driving reduction and convenience.  Many people rail on MU because of the high profile failure of Prospect Park and the Streets of Buckhead but there have been significantly more failures in the single use area since 2007 than there have been in the mixed-use area.  The concept is not the problem, the timing, financing and hubris are.
• Street Grid - Highly networked with two flyways over 400 to the north and south of the current bridge.  If designed properly, a road network coupled with an increase in density in the area could actually increase the mobility.  The key is getting people out of their cars at the peak commuter times and increasing the choices available to them.  If this land is to be developed, I believe we are only going to accomplish a reduction in congestion by building a network and coupling with with a transit component.   

The way I see development in this area should be akin to Glenwood Park off of I-20 in Atlanta... not Atlantic Station.  The city and developers may see differently but I think many of the residents would be happy with something that looks like this.

Now, we should not forget that what is on the table at this point is nothing but an idea of what could potentially go there that resulted from brainstorming sessions with actual Roswell residents.  Nothing is set in stone.  But, at the end of the day, we need to recognize that this parcel of land is extremely valuable and something will happen there.  Do we want it to be useful for the city and attract visitors from the region?  Or do we want a single use office park or 'lifestyle' center that is built to be obsolete in 10 years and does nothing to improve our community?

Images: YouTube! Guess the Housing Density | Dover Kohl & Associates

Watch & Learn: Can Removing Traffic Signs Increase Safety?

Readers, watch out! You might think I'm a little crazy here but at least check out the video. I've been having more and more issues with road signs lately. I think it has to do with my belief that our roads are oversigned. You could spend more time reading the signs on the sides of our roads in some places than you actually spend paying attention to the road you are driving on.

No, you might think this is a safety issue but I'm not sure that it is. There have been numerous studies showing that removing signs altogether may actually increase safety due to drivers becoming more aware of their surroundings. Here's a link.

Now check out the video and see a 'shared space' in action.

Now, do I think we could get away with something like this in Roswell? I'm not sure but I think there may be some areas where it could work like the southern end of Canton Street and the new Round About at Norcross St and Grimes Bridge. I'll leave you with this example of over signing.

Roswell 2030 - Holcomb Bridge & 400 Interchange

The planning process is well underway and from what I can tell, there are a lot of good ideas being put forth.  I attended the final presentation of the three day Focus Area Workshop.  The workshp focused on the Holcomb Bridge/GA 400 interchange and the area that surrounds it.  There were essentially two proposals that came out of the workshop and both of them were pretty good.  

My belief is that this interchange is ripe for redevelopment as well as for transit oriented development.  Within the next 20 years, I foresee this interchange becoming the economic center of Roswell.  You can forget about the Holcomb Bridge/Alpharetta Hwy intersection where our 'Town Center' Plaza is.  What really surprised me about tonight's session was the amount of energy that I saw around smart growth and new urbanist ideas.  Even if people didn't really know what those terms meant, they knew that they wanted walkability, connectivity, mixed-use, density and transportation.  Here are some of the more interesting ideas that I saw:

• Loop of pedestrian flyways that would encircle the area and provide pedestrian accessibility that does not exist currently
• Create multiple right turns off of the 7A exit that would turn right into a town center and onto Holcomb Bridge giving drivers additional turn options getting off 400
• BRT Station at exit 7A that would provide transit access
• Medium density development along Holcomb Bridge corridor expanding east and west from the 400 HBr interchange

Some of the comments that I heard compared the area to Atlantic Station and other highly urban mixed-use developments.  Personally, I don't want to see Atlantic Station here in Roswell but the tightly knit, mixes of use that Atlantic Station provides are exactly what I would like to see.  Many of the people I talked to were keen on development in excess of 6 stories in that area.  I don't think that will work and I'm beginning to lean further and further away from tall buildings for many reasons (many of which are outlined here).  The one thing that I did not see a plan for was a MARTA train connection in this area.  They were focusing more on the BRT bus mode.  The train station is a long way off but I still think there needs to be a plan in place to accommodate that expansion.

From what I can tell the community is really coming out to support the process and there are many great ideas that are coming out of the process.  The key is to participate.

Banish the Cul-de-Sac

This is the 22nd post in a series of posts this December that will chronicle the 25 things we would most like to see in Roswell. None of these are actually happening... at least in the way we'd like them to. Please enjoy and have a happy holidays!

 

This one really, badly needs to happen.  If you want to start dealing with congestion on our major roads such as Holcomb Bridge and Hwy 9, creating a more connected road network will work wonders and eliminate the perceived need for more lanes on those large roads.  So, my suggestion is that all new subdivisions should be forbidden to have cul-de-sacs and existing subdivisions should be given incentives to add themselves to the effective network.  The only acceptable reason for a cul-de-sac is due to geographic or topographic limitations.  In 2009, the state of Virginia led the way by banning cul-de-sacs in new developments.  

The modern day cul-de-sac is a necessity that, in it's modern form, was principally borne from the large lot single-use zoning methods of the 20th century.  Essentially, the zoning created superblocks and the only way to get to the center of those superblocks was to create cul-de-sacs to access the land in the middle.  So, that's exactly what developers did.  They glorified the privacy that the cul-de-sac provided and completely forgot about the connectivity that it killed.  

There are many studies out there that conclude that overall connectivity fosters: 

• Decreases in vehicle miles traveled
• Decreases in body mass index
• Increases in walkability
• Increases in bikability
• Decreases in serious/fatal car accidents
• Increases in emergency response times 

The City of Roswell has a limited effective network due to the fact that so many superblocks with limited connectivity were created in the suburban subdivisions and large commercial parcels permeating throughout our city.  The image below illustrates the comparison between all roads in Roswell and the effective network in Roswell. 

The effective network on the right consists of olly 44% of the total roads in the city.  The other 56% are essentially cul-de-sacs.  They stem off of an arterial or collector road and don't allow alternative entrances/exits.  

I'd like to see the cul-de-sac banned on future development and remediated where possible on existing development.  You can check out this Ga Tech study from 2006 to see some examples of how Roswell can start to repair the mess.

images: City of Roswell

Add Circulator Bus Routes in North Fulton

This is the 19th post in a series of posts this December that will chronicle the 25 things we would most like to see in Roswell. None of these are actually happening... at least in the way we'd like them to. Please enjoy and have a happy holidays!

 

As I was going through some of the needs assessment for the North Fulton Comprehensive Transportation plan that was adopted earlier this year by the cities of North Fulton, I noticed a recurring theme.  It was one that came up at the January 2010 charette that I attended as well.  That was the theme that our residents want a viable transportation alternative to get around North Fulton.  right now, we don't have much.  Just a few MARTA routes that generally lead to the Dunwoody Springs train station.  This doesn't help me much if I want to go from Roswell to Johns Creek or from Milton to Alpharetta.  

The theme was that of circulator buses.  Other transportation needs were for BRT and heavy rail up the 400 corridor but those are obvious and don't get us more mobility in our region.  They simply take us to a central node on a spoke and no wheel system.  That's okay if there is only one job center but North Fulton is itself a job center.  The image below is from the needs assessment report that was put together by the Atlanta Regional Commission.  It shows the distribution of job locations for residents of North Fulton.  The obvious job centers are downtown, buckhead and perimeter.  However, there is a meaningful distribution of jobs in North Fulton as well.  

What does this mean?  it means that the residents of North Fulton need to get around North Fulton.  The days are gone when Roswell was solely a bedroom community where its residents would vacate during the day and head downtown.  So, in order to effectively manage additional growth, the circulator buses are starting to become a necessity.