Putting People Back In The 'Hood

An important aspect of creating healthy, sustainable communities and regions where people want to live is to develop human scale communities.
Human scale communities are places that are designed to create tight-knit neighborhoods where people feel comfortable interacting with others and are not dependent on automobiles as their only means of getting around. Creating town centers and neighborhoods where walking and bike riding are convenient and safe makes sound economic sense. They are now essential for the growth of small towns and cities.
Unlike many suburban areas where large subdivisions are developed as isolated units and not integrated into the community fabric, human scale communities consist of compact mixed-use neighborhoods. The compact nature of human scale neighborhoods makes them walkable and accessible.
Every human scale community is different, but most have the same general characteristics.
• They define the public realm as a place for social interaction. Lots tend to be small (less than ¼ acre), with shallow front yards and semi-public areas (such as front porches) to encourage interaction.
• Neighborhoods contain a mix of uses, with recreation, schools, and shopping within a walkable distance.
• Multiple modes of transportation are encouraged: pedestrians, bicycles, automobiles, and transit.
• Streets are designed not only to serve motorized transportation but also to provide a sense of community and encourage social interaction.
• Buildings are designed to be visually interactive with the street, be compatible with adjacent structures, and frame the street. Residential buildings contribute to an interactive neighborhood environment. Commercial buildings are designed with storefronts oriented towards and close to the sidewalk to engage the interest of pedestrians.

People in the land use community often complain about the lack of pedestrian activity in communities. Walking is touted as a physical activity that can be accomplished by most people. Often we hear 10,000 steps per day for a healthy lifestyle. When planners talk about community design the term five minute walk for a mix of services is also mentioned frequently. So exactly how far is 10,000 steps? If a person of average height has a stride of 30 inches they will take 2112 steps to cover one mile. Not many people will set out on a five mile walk to meet this requirement. Being the geek I am I strapped on my trusty pedometer to see how far I walk during various tasks. I was very surprised at what I found.

Part of my job is to teach community planning classes to local officials. And I know I move around a lot when I teach. I walk and talk. In one three hour class I covered 3.46 miles. That’s probably too much movement for teaching but that is just how I am wired.
So what else did I measure? Planners complain about being an automobile dependent society and that we drive everywhere rather than walk. So I measured just how much walking I did on several trips through big box retailers. After a week of daily trips I am averaging about half a mile of walking each time I go shopping at the local supercenter. Sounds like a lot of walking around aimlessly but just one trip to the back of the store and to the checkout is almost a quarter of a mile. I also shop a lot of farmers markets. I am lucky enough to be able to hit a local farmers market six days a week. Average distance walking around these markets? 600 feet or a little more than a tenth of a mile. Parking lot to office, 214 steps or in my case about 650 feet.

So what does all this mean? If communities were built with a mix of uses they would be well within the amount of walking we do every day. We do do lots of walking but we seem to drive to places to do it. So the next time someone tells you people won’t walk you can say “ Yes We Do” . We just don’t walk to places. And ask why we can’t walk to the store instead of in the store.