Traditional Neighborhood Development

OVERVIEW

• A variety of urban design philosophies – including “traditional neighborhood development,” “transit-oriented development,” “place making,” and “new urbanism” – embrace similar principles for the physical development of neighborhoods, such as the ideas that:
  • Neighborhoods should include a mix of uses, including commercial and residential areas, schools and open spaces within walking distance of each other. Neighborhoods should have a defined center.
  • Neighborhoods should be walkable, with excellent pedestrian facilities.
  • Neighborhoods should be connected to one another by a continuous system of streets, and by transit.
  • Buildings should generally be set close to the street, at least in the neighborhood center.
  • The physical design of neighborhood spaces should promote social interaction, with streetscapes and greenspaces providing outdoor “rooms” where people can connect.
• This approach suggests that any interventions in the physical fabric of a neighborhood – infill development, new roads and infrastructure, etc. – should reinforce these principles.
• At a more detailed level, different schools of thought begin to diverge. For example, some approaches recommend a separate network of pathways for bikes and pedestrians at least in some circumstances; other approaches suggest that they share the same pathways with cars.

RESOURCES AND EXAMPLES

• The Congress for New Urbanism  describes itself as a growing movement recognizing walkable, human-scaled neighborhoods as the building blocks of sustainable communities and regions. Its website offers a plethora of examples of communities using the principles of New Urbanism to enliven neighborhoods. It also provides information and tools on low-carbon urbanism, LEED for Neighborhood Development, and improving transportation networks.
• Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations  Metropolitan Planning Organizations, or MPOs, have a primary role in determining how transportation money gets spent in their regions. (Often, a regional Council of Government or COG will serve as the MPO). At AMPO, you can find what your MPO is, get technical resources on transportation planning issues, and learn about what is happening with transportation funding across the nation.
• Walkable Communities, Inc. Provides workshops, trainings, and presentations to help communities figure out how they can become more pedestrian-friendly. Website has a list-serve and many helpful publications on the topic.
• The Project for Public Spaces has put out a “do-it-yourself guide to placemaking” called The Great Neighborhood Book (Jay Walljasper, 2007) and provides a host of resources on its website.

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Sustainable Neighborhood Design

OVERVIEW

• This approach emphasizes intervening in the physical design of neighborhoods in ways that make them more environmentally sustainable.
• Elements of the approach include:
  • Facilitating walking, bicycling, and transit use
  • Preserving and enhancing natural systems
  • Minimizing the environmental impact of buildings (e.g., water and energy efficiency, solar orientation, stormwater management)
  • Preserving agricultural land and encouraging local food production
  • Compact development
  • Restoring brownfields
• In many ways, elements of this approach overlap with the “traditional neighborhood design” approach described earlier; many practitioners would in fact view these approaches as highly interdependent

RESOURCES

• The “Green Playbook”  provides local governments with guidance and resources to rapidly advance green buildings, neighborhoods, and infrastructure. Well worth your time to explore.
• US Green Building Council  (USGBC) is the organization that created and administers the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification programs for green development including LEED for Commercial Buildings, LEED for Homes, LEED for Existing Buildings, and the new LEED for Neighborhood Development rating system.
• Rails-to-Trails Conservancy offers tools, information and even consulting services to help local advocates build greenways out of abandoned rail lines.
• Bikes Belong Coalition lobbies for stronger federal funding for bicycles; it also has a great compendium of statistics to help you argue for more bike-friendly infrastructure.
• Complete Streets  is an organization dedicated to making streets accessible not just for cars, but for all users – such as bicyclists, pedestrians, transit users, children, the elderly and disabled people.
• American Forests  Learn how to plant a tree; principles for maintaining healthy forests (including urban forests), and why forests are important. Their software, CITYGreen, works with Geographic Information Systems (ARCGIS specifically) to help model and calculate the benefits of increasing tree cover in a city. They worked with Lawrence Berkeley Labs and the “Cool Communities” program TransForm.  From their website: “TALC is a partnership of over 90 groups working for a sustainable and socially just Bay Area. We envision a region with healthy, vibrant, walkable communities that provide all residents with transportation choices and affordable housing. TALC analyzes county and regional policies, works with community groups to develop alternatives, and coordinates grassroots campaigns.”
• Commute Solutions  is a Santa Cruz (CA) County program that helps people identify alternatives to automobile commuting; it has a calculator to determine your personal “true cost of driving.”
• Scorecard – “The Pollution Information Site”  helps you find major sources of pollution by ZIP code including superfund sites near you, water pollutant discharges, air pollution sources, and more.
• Natural Resources Defense Council  In addition to a staff of scientists, lawyers, economists, and policy experts, NRDC also has a “Smart Growth” guide on its website where you can learn about communities that are fighting sprawl, saving open space, and revitalizing neighborhoods.
• Environmental Defense Fund’s “Living Cities”  focuses on solutions to congestion, air quality, and unsustainable development.

READING RESOURCES

• Our Ecological Footprint. By William Rees and Mathis Wackernagel. New Society Publishers , 1996
• Planning for Sustainability: Creating Livable, Equitable and Ecological Communities. By Stephen Wheeler. Routledge, 2004.
• The Natural Step for Communities. By Sarah James. New Society Publishers, 2004.

EXAMPLES

• SustainLane describes itself as the “web's largest people-powered guide to sustainable living.” Its City Rankings provides a listing of the 50 most sustainable cities in the US, based on criteria such as commuting, mass transit, air and water quality, local food, and green building.
• Portland, OR, generally considered to be the most sustainable large US city, provides information and plans at its Bureau of Planning and Sustainability website.
• Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) of Toledo, Ohio Energy-Efficient Affordable Housing is working with residents of Toledo to provide affordable housing that is 30% more energy-efficient than the law requires.
• Sustainable Seattle offers sustainability reports for the city, as well as support and resources to local community groups.
• “Sustainable City,” San Francisco  provides information on a grass-roots effort to develop and roll out a sustainability plan for the city of San Francisco.
• Compass Blueprint  is an effort to help plan a more sustainable future for communities in Southern California (basically LA and surrounding communities).
• “Reducing Calgary’s Ecological Footprint,”  The City of Calgary used an “Ecological Footprint” analysis to figure out how sustainable or unsustainable the city was, and identify what people, businesses and government could do to make it more sustainable. A 24-page document entitled “Towards a Preferred Future” on this website provides the details.

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