Design for Walkability

I stumbled across a SPUR Report from 2013 on how to strengthen San Jose's future through urban design. For my own notes, I would like to go over the first part of the report that introduces the importance of design in cities. 

What is Urban Design?

• "the physical organization of buildings, streets and open spaces into whole places that work for people."

What does Urban Design address?

• The placement, orientation and form of buildings
• Site planning, or the physical arrangement of buildings and uses within development projects
• Multiple scales, from the human body to the neighborhood or district
• Circulation and access for all travel modes
• Human experience, activity, social interaction and travel behavior
• The arrangement and design of streets and open spaces
• The connection of buildings to the public realm and to one another
• Above all: the integration of these things

The Case for Walkable Urbanism

• Sustainability
• Mobility and Access
• Prosperity and Economic Growth
• Public Life
• Public Health
• Social Equity

Design for Walkability: Seven Key Components

1. Create fine-grained pedestrian circulation
• frequent and densely interconnected pedestrian routes that shorten both actual and perceived distances 
• smaller city blocks are good examples
2. Orient buildings to streets and open space
• buildings should be placed right at the edges of streets and public spaces, not set back
3.  Organize uses to support public activity
•  active use of space, for example retail, should be along pedestrian routes, and private spaces should be tucked away
• residential entrances should provide a graceful transition from public to private
4. Place parking behind or below buildings 
• parking is an expensive, space-hungry, and unattractive use and should be located to support and enliven public spaces
5. Address the human scale with buildings and landscape details
• people experience the built environment at the scale of their own bodies in space, and buildings should meet and engage people at that scale
6. Provide clear, continuous pedestrian access
• sidewalks are the city's connective tissue and should include elements like trees, lighting, street furniture and public art
7. Build Complete Streets (from the National Complete Streets Coalition, Smart Growth America)
• "A Complete Street provides safe, comfortable, attractive, and convenient access and travel for pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit users of all ages, abilities, and preferences. The design of a Complete Street considers both the public right-of-way and the land uses and design of the adjoining properties, including appropriate building heights and the planning of adjoining land uses that actively engage the public street realm."

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This information is adapted from the 12/2013 SPUR Report, "Getting to Great Places: How better urban design can strengthen San Jose's future." 

Recap: Housing the Millennial Generation

As a Millennial who moved to the country's most expensive city a year ago, it only made sense to attend SPUR's forum last week on "Housing the Millennial Generation." Speaker Jed Kolko is an urban economist from UC Berkeley's Terner Center for Housing Innovation. He jam-packed a ton of data-heavy information into an amazingly coherent presentation, and I will outline the takeaways.

Millennial housing myths:
1. Millennials are driving today's housing demand.
2. Demographics don't explain Millennial housing behaviors.
3. Millennials are more urban than previous generations.

Reality:
1. Millennials are not driving today's housing demand.
2. Demographics explain Millennial housing behaviors.
3. Millennials are less urban than previous generations.

What it means:

• Since demographics explain Millennial housing behaviors, it's not attitudes.
• Household formation and home ownership may have permanently shifted later in life.
• Housing investments must reflect seniors' preferences and needs.
• Absent major policy shifts, there will be plenty of demand for suburban homes.

The key takeaway for me: It's SO easy to overlook demographics. But the people that makeup our nation can be one of the strongest forces and contribute immensely to shaping the world around us. 

inman / SF Bay Area

Check out Jed Kolko's website and more related posts like "Why Millennials Still Live With Their Parents."

The Yard at Mission Rock

Last month at a SPUR forum entitled Activating San Francisco's Southeast Waterfront, I learned more about the history and current activity in this unique part of the city. I do know a few things about this area, as my best friend works at a restaurant off 3rd and 16th Streets. First, it doesn't really feel like San Francisco. The streets are wider, it lacks car and people traffic, and empty lots, parking lots, and big commercial style buildings are common. It doesn't feel walkable, especially absent storefronts and housing - I kind of feel like an ant walking around in a giant maze-park when I'm here, and this doesn't happen often in this city. Part of this may be due to the spot's shipyard history, or maybe because of the large UCSF/Mission Bay campus. Nonetheless, I will definitely agree with SPUR that this tiny 1-mile stretch of SF will blow up in the coming years. Based on proximity alone, but also with the Warriors Stadium going up at the 3rd and 16th Street intersection, and being connected to the waterfront as well as MUNI, this place has a lot of potential. 

The point of this post, though, was to draw special attention to the Yard at Mission Rock, a "pop-up shipping container village" located in this neighborhood across the water from AT&T Park. The space is a "unique neighborhood gathering spot created out of repurposed shipping containers to provide daily shopping, food and beverage & cultural and community events." This concept curiously reminded me of my experience at Papirøen, a "public space experiment" in Copenhagen, Denmark. Much like Papirøen, a re-purposed public space that once served as paper storage, the "Yard" at Mission Rock once housed shipping containers. I think it's a beautiful comparison and more importantly an incredible idea to conduct an "experiment" that draws people to a place that was formerly off-limits or separate from the public. It's a chance to use the space without much planning or construction, and to quite literally experiment with how people interact with and feel about a space. Whether the space will turn into something else, time will tell, but for now it's a great way to make use of it! 
 

It's quiet today, but I bet it's poppin' on game day.

HUGE parking lot at the old Port of SF

Eat, drink, socialize, rest.

Welcoming space facing the ball park.

Step across the street to China Basin to get next to the water.

Wide streets...lots of potential :)

Pano!