Core Principles of Walkable Places and Lessons Learned in Fostering Them
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Transcript of Core Principles of Walkable Places and Lessons Learned in Fostering Them
Making Walkability Happen: Practice wisdom, derived principles
and ideas for action
M. Katherine Kraft, Ph.D.
September 9, 2014
• Purpose: Use practice wisdom to identify actions that are
essential for developing walkability
• Interviews with seasoned practitioners with recognized
successes (“tribal elders”)
- Reflect on successful projects and identify factors that made them
successful
- Identify key characteristics of walkable communities
• Interviewed to date
Purpose and Methods
Dan Burden
Victor Dover
Mark Fenton
Pete Lagerway
Lauren Marchetti
John Moffat
John Norquist
Jeff Olson
Lynn Richards
Jennifer Toole
Gary Toth
Charlie Zegeer
Developmental Phases to create walkability
Getting Starting and Engaging Community
Assessment Planning and
Priorities
Policies, Zoning and Design Guidelines
Institutionalization, Incentives and Market-based
Effective Approaches and Tactics
Getting Started
Listen and Vision
Develop Champion and
Vision
Walkability Principles
- Guidelines for practice
- Expedite outcomes
- Integrate our work
Defining Walkability
• The extent to which the built and social environment is safe, convenient, and attractive to people living, shopping, enjoying or spending time in an area on foot.
• “We want to build a place that people love.” • “The places we love were not created as a solution to
a traffic problem, they were created to bring joy to humanity.”
What we learned – general observations
Optimistic
“The wind is behind our sails, our task is to figure out how to use it.”
Top down, decide, announce and defend no longer works
“..most successful community change agents are those that listen and inspire.”
What we learned – ideas and actions
Process: How you work with communities
Project: Necessary features/elements
Policies: How we sustain them
How you work with communities: Community Engagement, Cultivating Champions, Finding Vision keepers and Empowering Leaders
“Community members are the true experts of where they live.”
How you work with communities?
Listen and Frame
Inclusive Process
Vision and Values
Leadership Matters
No One Size Fits All
Listen and Frame
Listen to the community and respect the local community traditions and norms
“Make no assumption about what the answer should be.”
“Understand the real community concerns and frame the issue in a way that addresses these concerns.”
“Get a good grounding in the social context of the place.”
An Inclusive Process is Vital
• “A multi-disciplinary team is useful, do not stay in one sector, broaden thinking.”
Vision and Values
Talk about the community vision and values – describe the place in 50 years and 100 years into the future
“One should not do anything in a place if it doesn’t advance the community vision.”
“Best advice is focus on community building and placemaking, then walkability and livability will follow.”
Leadership Matters
Empower a champion, Find a Vision Keeper
“Make it somebody’s job.”
“I think it really comes down to leadership. Leadership in two areas, one that represents political will, and a project champion – someone that feels strongly. Having that one person who lives, breathes this; is more important than political will. “
No One Size Fits All
No single policy solution – No silver bullet
“ Each community has its own traditions, its own culture, its coming from a place already, ….Acknowledge that every single community is going to have a slightly different starting point..respect that and build off of that instead of trying to one size fits all. “
Projects
“Walkability does not appear to happen organically. The machinery of development and re-development will not take you there without a conscious effort.”
Gateway Projects
• Use temporary and lighter, quicker, cheaper projects to show what is possible.
• “We have a mismatch between how people really want to live and the rules and regulations that guide development and land use.”
“Slow the the traffic” “Make the streets beautiful” “Streets are places, return to their multiple purposes.” “It doesn’t really matter what the question is, the answer is a good street network and bringing the buildings to the street.”
Policies and Incentives
• Change the incentive structure so that we move away from auto dependency
• The rules and the money have to steer the community toward healthier designs
In the words of our elders…
“It is not technical….we need the real essence of a social movement, to begin to function like a
movement and support one another. Hundreds of advocacy groups pushing own little niche, try
to create a broader movement.”
Process Principles: Big Idea
• Engage everyone possible, and find champions to push it forward, and eventually create collective community ownership of the vision and the process to get there.
Project Principles: Big Idea
• Mixed land use, an active transportation network, and human scale design that is appealing, safe, and universally accessible are central to walkable, livable places
– Gateway Projects
– Job descriptions
Policy Principles: Big Idea
• The rules and the money have to steer the community toward healthier designs – zoning ordinance must require and reward
compact, mixed-use development
– Roadway design guidelines must fully reflect Complete Streets principles and should create a transportation hierarchy of walking, cycling, transit, and motorized vehicles, in that order
– MPO funding scoring for projects should emphasize the active transportation modes
– Transportation plans and forecasts can not just focus on motor vehicle Level of Service and projections, but must also consider pedestrian, bicycle, and transit Levels of Service
– Parking policies must require that parking “pay for itself”