Watch & Learn: Andres Duany on New Urbanism

We are starting a regular post (hopefully weekly) of videos that are insightful and related to new urbanism and smart growth. We couldn't think of a better video to kick off the series with than a primer on new urbanism from the founding father himself, Andres Duany. This is a series of 9 clips from YouTube from a lecture that Andres did in San Antonio quite some time ago. Don't let the age of the video deter you though. The principles of New Urbanism are for the most part timeless and you won't find a better person to give you an overview. This series is pretty much a short overview of the book Suburban Nation. Enjoy...

Is there a park or public space (not a road) within a 5 minute walk of your home?

Sloan Street Park has a small playground and a little field that is inviting to the residents and visitors of the Mill Village area.Parks and public space is, in my opinion, one of the areas where our city excels.  Roswell is actually one of the metro Atlanta cities with the largest amount of park space per capita and it is apparent that people use it.  The city of Roswell estimates that there are around 2 million park visits annually to the city park system.  I live within a 5 minute walk of four parks and several trails and I use them almost daily and there are always visitors.  

Unfortunately, not every resident has the luxury of walking to the park.  Lack of walkable park access becomes more and more prevalent the further from the historic district you get.  But, the park space, over 900 acres not including the national park system, is distributed out with some of the larger parks away from the historic district.  

When you compare Roswell to the city of Atlanta, we're doing just fine though.  As of 2008, Atlanta had only 4.5% of its land dedicated to park space.  That was the lowest among the top 25 largest cities.  The Beltline will help increase that significantly though.  Now, Roswell actually trailed Atlanta in this area with only 4% of our land dedicated to parks and greenspace.  This seems bad but we must also take a look at population.  Comparatively speaking, the city of Roswell has 13.5 acres of parks and greenspace per 1,000 residents compared to the city of Atlanta's 7.7 (2007 data).  The national average is 13.6 acres.  Now, 13.5 is good when you compare us to our anchor city to the south however we might want to look to our neighboring county to the east for a few tips.  From 2000 to 2008, Gwinnett county acquired over 9,000 acres of new park land and was named the best large park system in America by the National Parks and Recreation Association. (I still can't bring myself to like Gwinnett though).  They are at 15.5 acres per 1,000 residents.  

If I could wave a magic wand and make one change to the park system here in Roswell, I would immediately take foreclosed or abandoned properties and turn them into pocket parks such as Sloan Street Park.  The goal would be to have a park within a walkable half mile of 90% of the residents of Roswell. Ideally, every child would have a park within a quarter mile walk but with the dendritic road system that we have, that just would not be possible.

So, to answer the original question,  'Is there a park or public space (not a road) that is within a 5 minute walk of your home?, the answer is likely no.  Roswell, we still have some work to do here and the focus, in my opinion, should be on small neighborhood parks instead of big multi-use parks with ballfields and such.

Source: AJC

CNU18 Review

Atlanta recently played host to the 18th Congress for the New Urbanism aka CNU18. The theme of this year's congress was New Urbanism: Rx For Healthy Places. It was put on with support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention here in Atlanta. The event brought leaders in New Urbanism and Smart Growth to Atlanta for several days. There were obviously a number of lectures but I think the biggest win for Atlantans might have been the 18 or so tours that went on in the area.

We even had one here in Roswell that was hosted by our very own Lew Oliver of Whole Town Solutions as well as the AIA and ICA. I helped out at the event pouring wine for tour participants (and myself) at Bulloch Hall. From what I could tell, the event was a success and our guests went away with a good feel for our city and the classical architecture that has been well preserved here.

Here is a video that kicked the conference off.

Now, I didn't attend the conference as I just don't have that kind of dough hanging around. However, I have scoured the internet to find videos, podcasts and articles that will give you a pretty good overview of what went down.

Video:

David Byrne speaking about new urbanism and bicycling

Part 1

Part 2

Podcasts

Strong Towns Presentation

Strong Towns Blog Post

James Howard Kunstler

Andres Duany on the Smart Growth Manual

Articles

David Byrne on Bicycles, Atlanta's Sprawl and Burying Highways - Creative Loafing Notable Quote: “…if you only drive to meet people exactly like yourself, you aren’t really sharing ideas, you’re just reinforcing your own pre-existing ideas. The thing about many cities — and getting out of the tin bubble — is that they facilitate random encounters, inspirations and connections.”

CNU Folks Pray for City Build for People and Bicycles - Saporta Report Notable Quotes: “I personally feel like the new urbanists bend over backwards to accommodate cars,” Brewer said, adding that one of his favorite places in the world is Eze in France, which is built into a hill on two-and-a-half acres — too compact a community for cars. “Why aren’t we new urbanists building new Ezes?” Brewer asked. “Why aren’t we more willing to put cars out. Keeping cars out means peace and quiet.

Beaches, Booze and Briefs: A New Urban Odyssey and Retail Lament - Place Shakers Blog Notable Quote: "CNU 18 was inspirational, uplifting and educational as usual, however, Atlanta’s downtown tourist district offered only a regrettable shopping experience. It was nearing my 9th day quickly and it dawned on me that in order to buy new shirts, pants, socks, and under garments for everyday use (and not consisting of souvenirs) I was at the mercy of a car and regional retail on the suburban fringe."

New Urbanists Convene in "Sprawlanta" Seeking Solutions to Bright Flight - Fast Company Notable Quote: "the suburban poor population grew at roughly five times the rate of the city poor population over the decade." The result is what has been termed as "bright flight" -- the shift among younger, highly educated, higher earning Americans from suburbs to cities, overturning the pattern of their parents' and grandparents' generation."

New Urbanism for the Apocalypse - Fast Company

Interesting Facts:

Georgia's CNU membership as of 2008 ranked 7th in the US. (Better than you might have thought)

Atlanta has the highest number of babies born in traffic of any U.S.

If you have any additional links or if you would like to add to the discussion, please post your comments.

New Urban Roswell Review

We haven't posted a NUR Update in a while but that doesn't mean it has been quiet.  Probably the biggest event recently was the 18th Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU18) that was held two weeks ago downtown.  Tours were held all over the metro area and we were lucky to have one right here in Roswell.  There were so many stories related to CNU18 that we decided to do a separate post.  Below you will find a rundown of everything that we have found notable over the past several weeks aside from CNU18.

Roswell

Faulty Lights Cause Confusion in Roswell - NorthFulton.com

Those darn reversible lanes.  I really think it's time to start on the South Atlanta Street project before someone gets killed.  

Metro

Jaywalkers Take Deadly Risks - AJC

This is a must read.  It is a telling case of how suburbia, bad urbanism and planning can combine for deadly outcomes.  Essentially, the article details just how dangerous the suburbs are for pedestrians, especially those who ride the bus.  Notable quotes: "21 to 25 percent of pedestrian crashes occurred within 100 feet of bus stops and 41 to 48 percent happened within 300 feet.", "Transportation for America, which advocates against sprawl and in favor of walking and mass transit, ranks Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta as the 10th-most dangerous metro area for pedestrians."

Water Stewardship Act A Strong First Step, More Green Steps Needed - Saporta Report

We are pleased to see that conservation has finally made it into our legislation concerning our water resources.  Additionally, it is also encouraging to see that water is now being viewed as an asset that is in limited supply.  We should be working on ways to reduce our water usage on all fronts as well as ways to ensure that the water filtering down into our watersheds is not polluted as is much of the runoff that reaches our rivers and streams today.  Notable quote; "In the end, SB 370 will be the strongest water conservation measure in the United States when it becomes law." 

Gwinnett Towers to be Dismantled - AJC

Does Success No Longer Live There? I think I like Gwinnett just a little bit more now. Well, just a little bit. I still find it disgraceful for the most part. The land use patterns in that county are some of the worst in the nation and the sprawl induced traffic is deadly if you hit it at the wrong time.  There are a few things to like though.  One of them being the Suwanee Town Center.  Success may still live there.

Since we're in Gwinnett...

Gwinnett's HOT Lanes One Step Closer to Construction - AccessNorthGa.com

Two words.  Not HOT.

Atlanta LINK Group Heads to Phoenix to Learn About Water, Education & Transportation - Saporta Report

I can see how this would be useful. Two areas we can learn from Phoenix are in water consumption and light rail. Let's hope our leaders bring some good ideas back to GA.

Gwinnett LEED Certified Library Ribbon Cutting - Greening Gwinnett

Kudos to Giwnnett for building a LEED certified library. In fact, just building a library is a great thing. However, I'm wondering just how green the library actually is even with it's LEED certification. The WalkScore is a 48 which is car dependent and just looking at the satellite images of the location, that is probably generous. let's work on building green communities not just green buildings.  Notable quote: "89% of construction waste associated with this project was recycled and diverted from local area landfills."

Beyond

Housing Market Strengthens for Smart Growth: Dramatic New Data from the DC Areas - NRDC Switchboard

I was thinking about doing something like this with the real estate info that came out in the May edition of Atlanta Magazine. However, after looking at the numbers, it dawned on me that Atlantans don't get it yet. Additionally, Atlantans don't have enough smart growth options. Virtually all neighborhoods are still car dependent.  If there were any similarity to the data that Kaid Benefield presents in his blog, it would be that Atlantans congregate around schools and not transit and the home values would correlate accordingly.

LEED for Neighborhood Development Formally Launches to Promote Smart, Sustainable Land Use - NRDC Switchboard

This is a huge step in the right direction for sustainability in the design of new towns and neighborhoods.  A lot of effort was put into this by the US Green Building Council, Congress for the New Urbanism, the Natural Resources Defense Council and others.  As part of the pilot program, 68 projects were certified nationwide as of March 2010.  Kaid Benefield consistently emphasizes that 50% of the buildings that we will have in 25 years have not been built yet.  That is why it is so important to get these new certifications in place.  One criticism that has been put forth is that the new system is too numbers based.

Who's to Blame for our Crumbling Roads & Bridges? Democracy, for One - The Infrastructurist

Crumbling infrastructure is a major problem. It is great to see that someone is bringing this to the forefront.  I initially found it interesting that the study blames democracy for the issues. However, this Notable Quote might clear up the headline: "Political forces often undermine a strong commitment to maintenance: Members of Congress, state legislators and local politicians thrive on ribbon-cuttings. Powerful special interests push for new and bigger highways. Meanwhile, federal and state policies – which should provide strong guidance in the wise use of taxpayer dollars – often fail to achieve the proper balance between building new infrastructure and taking care of what we already have built."

Court Battle in WA: Do 'Highway Purposes' Include Rail Lines? - The Infrastructurist

This is one that I ponder every time I drive up GA 400 between Buckhead and just south of the Glenridge Connector.  I see those MARTA tracks sandwiched between the northbound and southbound lanes and wonder why we haven't built more transit lines on the same corridors as our highways.  It only makes sense to me.  It would be pretty sweet to see the train extend all the way up 400 to Windward.  That's not gonna happen though.

Brookings Report: "Bright Flight" Transforming Cities & Suburbs - Worldchanging.com

This is a worthwhile post to peruse.  It makes you wonder where we are headed.  We can sometimes see the general direction but it is impossible to see the exact destination.  Notable quote: "The rate of poverty is rising five times faster in the suburbs than in cities."

Walkability 101-B, or why it's Good to be Connected - NRDC Switchboard

Great quick read on the dilemma that is posed by our dendritic street networks.  It makes the case that crappy street patterns and urban planning not only waste time but discourage interaction among neighbors. Notable quote: "Residents in metro Seattle areas with the most interconnected streets were found to travel 26% fewer vehicle miles than those in areas with many cul-de-sacs."

Image Courtesy of Fracker23 @ Flickr

Just How Big is the Spill?

I grew up on the gulf coast in Biloxi and Pensacola and know just how beautiful the sandy beaches and blue waters of the gulf can be. It pains me to see this oil spill destroying such a beautiful part of our country. I hope this will serve as a wake up call for many that we need to quickly work toward increasing the share of alternative forms of fuel in our transportation fleet. Additionally, I hope this will encourage less sprawl oriented development around our country. I have been skeptical of the 'official' reports of the flow rate since day one so I started looking around a little bit for other estimates. Some of them are downright scary and by all means catastrophic. I found this widget on the web and thought I'd post it. Not everyone in Roswell or Atlanta has a direct connection to the gulf but if you eat seafood, you will soon find out just how big your connection is. We sure do hope that BPs efforts tomorrow to plug this leak work.

Streets Alive: Did They Pick the Wrong Street?

 

The first ever Streets Alive event in Atlanta was held today in downtown Atlanta.  Streets were closed to automobile traffic from 1pm to 6pm today and were opened to pedestrians, cyclists, in-line skaters and performers.  The event was modeled on the Ciclovia event in Bogota, Columbia that essentially shuts down the main streets all over the city to motorized traffic every Sunday.  This type of event has gained popularity in the states and all over the world by cities looking to move away from car dependency and encourage other forms of transportation as well as other ways to enjoy the cities.

I decided to go down to see what it was all about today.  The weather was nice (just a little hot) and it turned out to be an interesting event.  The city agreed to close about a 1 mile stretch of Edgewood Avenue west of Peachtree as well as a shorter stretch of Auburn Avenue.  If I have any complaints about the event, it would be the location and the lack of understanding of the event. 

If you are familiar with that part of the city, you know that it has rapidly gentrified over the past 10 years and it has a very rich history.  However, even but it still has a little way to go in the areas of security and aesthetics.  It was interesting to see the older architecture illustrating the historic element of the area It is rich in history and there were some interesting businesses and stops along the route such at the Sweet Auburn Curbside Market.  The area overall just doesn't have a very welcoming feel to it.  The storefront below pictured below didn't make us feel welcome at all.  

While we were there, it seemed that the people, other than the cyclists, didn't really know what to do.  There were a lot of people off on the sidewalk and in the side parks but not as many were actually in the streets.  I'm sure that over time these types of events will become more popular and we will start to see people understand what they are all about.  

I really think the main problem here (if there was one) was one of location.  I think one of the main reasons for this type of event is to showcase the power of the local community and make people aware of alternative possibilities.  i.e. What else can we do with our roads?  That area of downtown does have a long standing community and a number of residential areas but it just didn't seem like the community was a big presence.  On the other hand, if the purpose of the location was to present a part of the city that was hindered by the movement of designing cities for the car rather than for people that began in the mid 20th century, they picked a good place.  You have an area that has been decimated by the freeway cutting right through it and many traffic policies that just don't work well for pedestrian life.  When I think about this event though, I wonder if putting the negative issues on display is more important than having a successful event where people feel welcome.  If you were looking to make people feel happy, I'd look at VaHi, Inman Park, Midtown (10th Street?), West Midtown or maybe even a section of Peachtree Street.

Now, how do I tie this back to Roswell?  If you have attended any of the Alive After Five events, you will know that we have our own little 'street' party here in Roswell.  It's not quite a Streets Alive but it may be getting close.  At the last event, the amount of traffic congestion on Canton Street was overwhelming.  The business owners love the traffic but I think they would benefit more from safer foot traffic.  My suggestion would be to shut down a really short stretch of Canton Street from Norcross Street south to the Atlanta Street intersection.  This wouldn't impact a significant number of commutes and it would make the entire scene safer and more fun.

Can your children or those in your neighborhood walk to school?

Judging from the non-scientific results of my morning commute behind countless yellow buses, I would guess that not too many kids in Roswell are walking to school.  Again this is a guess, but I would estimate that less than 5% of kids in Roswell are regularly walking to school.  This is unfortunate as many of our children today could be getting much needed exercise while walking to school and we could simultaneously increase air quality by having fewer cars on the roads and decreasing the congestion that is all too common around schools these days.  Additionally, walking to school is a lost form of independence in today's society.  Too many parents, for many reasons, won't even allow their children to walk to school even when the walk is reasonable.  Unfortunately, this choice isn't even available to most parents due to the way we have developed our neighborhoods and schools.  

To check just how walkable the public schools in Roswell are, I looked up the Walk Score for each of the 13 schools.  What I found wasn't surprising.  Eight of the thirteen schools are in Car-dependent locations while five are in Somewhat Walkable locations.  Now, I understand that this is not the perfect measure of whether it is easy for kids to walk to school but it does give a good indication of the density and environment surrounding the school.  Our development patterns have unfortunately favored big-box schools that are situated in areas that are not a walkable distance from a meaningful portion of the homes in the area and sited on parcels of land so large that it discourages walking.  Below is a breakdown of the Roswell schools with their Walk Score:

Elementary Schools

- Hembree Springs - 37 (Car-dependent)

- Hillside - 52 (Somewhat Walkable)

- Esther Jackson - 42 (Car-dependent)

- Mimosa - 66 (Somewhat Walkable)

- Mountain Park - 22 (Car-dependent)

- Northwood - 42 (Car-dependent)

- River Eves - 11 (Car-dependent)

- Roswell North - 37 (Car-dependent)

- Sweet Apple - 26 (Car-dependent)

Middle Schools

- Crabapple - 49 (Car-dependent)

- Elkins Point - 65 (Somewhat Walkable)

High Schools

- Centennial - 54 (Somewhat Walkable)

- Roswell - 65 (Somewhat Walkable)

Our leaders know that walking to school is a priority.  One of the three initiatives under our current Transportation Plan is the Complete Streets initiative.  Built in to the Complete Streets initiative is the Safe Routes to School program which is priority number one in that section of the Transportation Plan.  Our the focus is there but it will take time.  I did check the Georgia Safe Routes to School website and I did not see any Roswell schools listed as partners out of the 105 Georgia schools listed.  The one thing I wish our leaders were giving more consideration to is smaller more disbursed schools.  At least at the elementary and middle school levels. 

Resources

Georgia Safe Routes to School

National Center for Safe Routes to School

Does Pedestrian & Bicycle Commuting Exist in Roswell?

If you recall from our previous Smart Growth Roswell post, we posed the question "Are most of Roswell's residents able to walk or bike to work?"  As you probably know, one of the key components to successful new urbanism is walkability and connectivity.  We also think that the ability to safely ride a bike is integral to successful urbanism.  So, we wanted to take a look at these two forms of alternative transportation here in Roswell.  Primarily, we wanted to find out just how many of are walking or riding to work. 

Unfortunately, I couldn't find the most up to date statistics on this but rest assured that these numbers probably haven't changes significantly.  According to City Data, in 2000, only 0.1% of commutes in Roswell were by bicycle and 1.1% of commutes were by foot.  Additionally, 84% of commutes were made by solo drivers while another 11% were carpools.  I'd like to see up to date statistics but I think the story would be very similar.  Of course, bicycle awareness in Roswell has come a long way since 2000 just as it has all over the country but there still aren't too many individuals ready to brave the roads to commute to work.  There are also many neighborhoods that lack adequate sidewalks or bicycling facilities.  Now, just because people aren't walking or biking to work doesn't mean that they can't.  

So, to try and gauge where our community actually is, we took a look at a 2007 city survey.  The survey was sent to a sample of 1351 residents and 456 responded.  They were asked to rate their experience and satisfaction on 11 key livability metrics.  Ease of Bicycling in the City was rated as follows; Excellent 12%, Good 21%, Fair 37%, Poor 30%.  This was the largest percentage in the Poor category for any of the metrics that were surveyed.  Next worst were traffic flow/signal timing and ease of walking in the city at 25% and 19% respectively.  This screams loud and clear that we are not where we need to be when it comes to giving Roswell residents adequate alternatives to the automobile.  

That being said, not all is bad.  We are making good progress with the sidewalks with the Holcomb Bridge Rd. project, the connection of the Big Creek Greenway to the Alpharetta greenway and the Midtown streetscaping project.  Additionally, We also have multiple bike boxes.  The one pictured here is at the new Grimes Bridge/Oxbo intersection.  Here's a quick video from StreetFilms about bike boxes if you don't know what they are or how to use one.

Here's what we can look forward to in the future.  This is from the city's transportation plan. The vision for Roswell's bicycle and pedestrian plan consists of three components. 

1. Multi-Use trails along creek systems, parks, and natural areas. 

2. A “Roswell Loop” that establishes the premier bicycle and pedestrian corridors of the city and connects to every major park and civic resource. 

3. A “complete streets” approach on the key roads that connect to parks, neighborhoods, and schools.  

Additionally, Roswell is the only city in Georgia to be designated a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Cyclists.  All in all, we are heading in the right direction but we still have a long way to go before any meaningful percentage of our residents will be able to walk or bike to work.  Let's keep working to get off of this car dependence.  

Other Resources

Bike Roswell

Roswell Bicycles

Roswell Cycling Festival

RAMBO (Roswell Alpharetta Mountain Biking Association)

Atlanta

Atlanta Bicycle Coalition

PEDS

Does Atlanta Need an American Makeover?

This is a well put together video by AmericanMakeover.tv chronicling Atlanta's unstoppable sprawl. It showcases the New Urbanist community Glenwood Park near downtown as an alternative to the unbridled growth that the city has experienced. The video is short but informative and I suggest you check it out. Also, if you have not had a chance to check out Glenwood Park, do so next time you are down near Grant Park or East Atlanta (it's right between them just south of I20)

Air, Mortgages, Commutes and Apple

Here is our first installment of the Atlanta Rankings Project.  We are working to compile as many rankings of cities in the metro area as possible.  We will begin tracking this on another section of our website.  Until then, look for periodic updates on the New Urban Roswell blog.  

Business

The state of Georgia ranked 9th in the nation for mortgage fraud and misrepresentation in 2009.  We're heading in the right direction though.  Our previous rankings were 5, 6 & 8 in '06, '07 & '08 respectively.

Forbes annual ranking of the best cities for business puts Atlanta at #27.  This is down from a #6 ranking in 2009.  One very bright spot was our #6 ranking for colleges.  Another was the #25 ranking for potential economic growth.

Atlanta weighs in as having the fourth worst commute times out of the top 52 metro areas in the US.

Forbes has Atlanta as the nation's second most wired city.  We love our internet.

Environment

Atlanta makes it to #19 in the American Lung Association's annual rankings of cities with the most ozone pollution.  

Demographic

Peachtree City named one of the top 100 places to live in America by RelocateAmerica.

Georgians 46th in spending.  You wouldn't be able to tell by how packed he mall and restaurants are.  I guess other parts of the state balance out all of the hyper consumers here in Atlanta.

Fun

Well, it looks like Atlanta doesn't have a man card. AskMen.com has left our great city off the list of the top 29 Manliest Cities. I can live with being #30...

I guess It's now time to start ranking cities on how Apple friendly they are.  Atlanta comes in at 22.