Sprawled Out: The Search for Community in the American Suburb

Community program helps spruce up Milwaukee homes

From Milwaukee Magazine's News Buzz blog:

Owners of “middle-market” homes in Milwaukee are benefitting from a new program that connects them with designers and architects, at no cost, as they plan home improvements.

Milwaukee Ald. Michael Murphy, one of the project’s supporters, sees it as a way to encourage entire neighborhoods to spruce up. “Milwaukee has a rich and diverse housing stock, and by encouraging strong design and high quality improvements,” he says, the program can “stimulate greater reinvestment from additional area homeowners as they seek to improve their homes and make them more functional.”

Read the rest at: Milwaukee News Buzz - Milwaukee News and Reports, Local, State, Politics, Blogs, Cartoons » Blog Archive What a lovely charrette!

Terms, mind-sets must be changed to encourage and enable more walking in cities

Walkable community advice from Roger K. Lewis, a practicing architect and a professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Maryland:

How can we encourage and enable more walking? What will motivate people to change long-standing perceptions and deeply engrained behavior? We must plan and develop -- or redevelop -- metropolitan environments so walking becomes safe, comfortable, enjoyable and stimulating. This requires satisfying several design criteria:

-- Street patterns must be easily navigable and latticelike, with blocks that are not too big and intersections that are not too far apart. Streets must be continuous and interconnected, providing motorists and pedestrians with more than one path for traveling to a destination.

-- Public streets must be artfully proportioned. Widths of sidewalks, planting strips, cart ways and medians are critical, as are the heights and setbacks of buildings flanking streets. Well-configured street spaces balance a sense of architectural definition and enclosure with desirable exposure to sky, sunlight, air movement and views.

-- To make walking truly pleasurable, streetscape quality and amenity are important. A thoughtful mix of shade trees and vegetation beautifies streetscapes and makes them ecologically greener. Good lighting and signage, convenient street furniture and attractive paving materials enhance a streetscape experience visually and functionally.

-- It must be safe to walk, day or night. In addition to good lighting and durable walkway paving that doesn't trap high heels, streets need well-marked crosswalks and synchronized traffic-control signals. Police or other public safety officials should be seen regularly patrolling streets.

-- Buildings facing public streets need lots of windows, entrance doorways and storefronts. These benefit merchants looking for customers and pedestrians looking for merchandise. Because there is safety in numbers, streets lined by eateries with outdoor seating are even safer, not to mention livelier. People will walk along such streets because walking is delightful.

Read the rest at: Roger K. Lewis - Terms, mind-sets must be changed to encourage and enable more walking in cities

U.S. Secretary of Transportation: "Transportation is a public health issue"

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood: "People want options. They want to be able to be more physically active on streets that are friendlier to pedestrians and bicyclists. And when adults model physical activity, our kids see it, and they get it."

From LaHood's blog:

Yesterday, DOT Undersecretary Roy Kienitz talked about how transportation decisions that value things like "vehicle throughput" instead of pedestrian safety affect America's communities. And about how transit decisions that emphasize "minutes-saved" pit outlying suburban commuters against their inner-lying urban neighbors. Recognizing that those policies have had an effect on public health, he said, "Transportation is about more than engineering."

But, as Undersecretary Kienitz told yesterday's meeting, DOT has taken steps to fix the formula and find a different approach.

Through our work with HUD and EPA in the Obama Administration's Partnership for Sustainable Communities, through our TIGER discretionary grants, and through a range of other programs like Safe Routes to School, we're funding the kinds of projects that will help develop livable communities and provide opportunities for people to walk, bike, or take transit.

Everywhere I go, I hear from Americans that this is what they want. In fact, walking and biking have increased by 25% in the last ten years.

Read the rest at: Transportation is a public health issue; DOT doing its part to keep kids moving - Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

Skipping Superman to ensure a connected community

ABOVE: 51st Street, pre-sidewalk

I arrived at last night's Common Council meeting fresh from a day at Great America with the family -- though "fresh" is not a word I could have used to describe my ragged physical state. My daughter was a bit disappointed that we had to shorten our day at the park so I could make it to a meeting, but, as I told her, Woody Allen once said that eighty percent of success is showing up, even if you show up smelling like a theme park. ("OK, Dad. But, who's Woody Allen?")

The council chamber was filled to overflow with Franklin residents who live near Puetz Road, which had been mentioned as a candidate for widening using STP (Surface Transportation Program) funds. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and Puetz will be left as is for the time being.

The long line of speakers during Citizen Comment Period gave me a chance to have a conversation with the landlord mentioned in yesterday's post right after he made his remarks regarding sidewalks on 51st Street. 

To recap: This individual, who has a rental property at the corner of 51st and Drexel, took a petition up 51st Street for signatures against sidewalks. His argument was centered on winter maintenance: Why should he and other homeowners have to shovel sidewalks? They don't want sidewalks, he claimed.

In talking to this gentleman, I learned, first of all, that he does not have a waxed handlebar mustache like a silent movie villain. In fact, he seemed entirely reasonable and listened patiently as I made my case. He was willing to compromise, though at that point his notion of compromise was a widened bike lane or expanded road shoulder. I explained to him why that was unacceptable, but also how north-south and east-west arterial routes should be treated as infrastructure by the city -- a public conveyance, just like streets -- opening up the possibility of having the city clear the walkway.

All in all, I think we came to some semblance of mutual understanding. Afterward, I made my comments to the Council and hoped for the best.

Far from being a struggle to get the first segment of 51st Street sidewalk installed, however, the Common Council was unanimous in their support for the effort to make the road traversable by bike and foot. The first segment is paid for by Community Development Block Grant funds; the Council took a closer look at other projects earmarked for CDB funds. 

Alderman Kristen Wilhelm suggested using CDG funds to create another extension of the 51st Street sidewalk -- not the entire length of the street, which would be too costly, but further north nonetheless. The Department of Administration's Mark Luberda noted that it would be difficult to get that funded since the sidewalk would not terminate anywhere specific, and the grant requires a destination or official commitment to completion.

Alderman Wilhelm (a member of the Trails Committee) noted that we could possibly extend the sidewalk further to Minnesota Ave., which then allows access to Pleasant View Elementary (located to the east). Turns out the length of that segment would be nearly the same as the initial segment planned for this summer. Voila! 

Alderman Tim Solomon (another member of the Trails Committee) voiced his contention that the 51st Street sidewalk is absolutely vital, and further moved for an amendment to scratch certain CDG projects (city hall sound system and fire alarm upgrades). Instead, he said, let's make additional extension of the 51st Street project the top priority with CDG funds, both this year's and next if necessary.

The motion and amendment passed unanimously -- and the 51st Street sidewalk segment project is not only securely in place but actually extended farther north to allow it to access Pleasant View Elementary. (Click the small photo at right to enlarge map.)

Terrific news - the finish line at Rawson Ave. is in sight. And, equally important, the Council demonstrated a unified commitment to taking the actions needed to make Franklin a truly connected community. It won't happen all at once, but these first steps will go a long, long way toward making Franklin hospitable to walking, biking, and the enhanced sense of sociability that comes from being "out and about."  

And, best of all, my daughter said the result was worth her having to skip the Superman Ride at Great America.

 

An inviting streetscape emerges on 51st Street: A return to human scale threatened by an off-site landlord?

ABOVE: Work being done on 51st Street

Even in roughed-out form, one can appreciate the improvement occurring along Franklin's 51st Street between Drexel and Puetz. Engineers have preserved many of the trees fronting homes along the street, and soon residents will be treated to a wonderful and useful walkway as well as increased curb appeal for their property.This is going to be a much, much more inviting space than the cracked asphalt should that it replaces.

And that's not to mention that, for the first time since it was built decades ago, Franklin High School students will have access to a sidewalk in front of their school.

Soon, the walkway will continue north of Drexel for approximately 1/3 mile, built with a Community Development Block Grant. It'll provide a way for the senior residents at Clair Meadows to stroll outside their current "boundaries," and eventually will connect to the retail area on Rawson. Eventually 51st Street -- the only north-south connection for a mile in either direction -- will at long last stop acting as a speedway and instead function as an attractive conveyance for cars and pedestrians.

A space like the one above looks so inviting because, unlike most of the suburban built environment, it's designed to human scale and creates a sense of spacial enclosure in a suburban context.

Human scale and spacial enclosure is why, for instance, we feel comfortable on foot in a city setting like the one below:

...And why we feel anything but comfortable attempting to set foot outside our vehicles in a space like the one below:

Hard as it may be to believe, many refer to the area pictured above as my city's "downtown." Yet there are simple streetscape solutions that work in a suburban context that would transform this bleak area. It can be as simple as putting the parking in back of the buildings (see below):

Tonight I'll be attending the Franklin Common Council meeting to speak during citizen's comment period is support of the 51st Street sidewalk.

Why do I have to hire a babysitter and attend this meeting? Because, believe it or not, there is a gentleman -- a landlord who owns an apartment complex on the corner of Drexel and 51st (but does not LIVE there, of course) -- who is against providing safe mobility for those in our community who do not have access to a vehicle. And he took the time to get signatures from the homeowners living on 51st Street.

You can imagine how those little "sign my petition" encounters went. "Do you know what the city is trying to do to your property...?" 

I doubt he brought up the fact that walkable communities experience experience increased property values, and that walkways actually slow down speeding traffic on overdesigned arterials like 51st Street. He probably didn't talk about new freedom of movement that will be afforded to elderly residents of the Clair Meadows senior apartments. I'm certain he didn't broach the subject of the sidewalk as safe conveyance for students and parents at Pleasant View Elementary and Franklin High School.

And, most importantly, I'm sure this landlord didn't mention that there are members of the Franklin Common Council who want nothing better than to put a lane of additional traffic in their front yard by widening 51st Street.

Doubt it? Read the ready-to-go plan here:  Download 51st street widening.

Because, you see, no one walks and we need more room for cars -- and those cars gotta move fast.

The landlord's beef, evidently, is he'll be damned if he'll be responsible for shoveling snow for "other people" (hard not to imagine  this guy twirling a waxed handlebar mustache, ala a silent movie villain).

Please consider attending tonight at 6:30, City Hall, to voice your support for a small but very important step toward making our community safer for young and old, more attractive to new residents and property tax-lowering commercial investment, and, above all, something better than a drive-thru suburb.

Good Advice from The New Republic

Posted from my iPad (clumsily), a quote from The New Republic's blog that certain Franklin aldermen should keep in mind before they scuttle pedestrian access on a road project tomorrow night:

"What is needed to catch up with the pent up demand for walkable urban places, especially in the suburbs, is complete transportation policy reform. Since transportation drives development, we need to build the second half of the American transportation system--rail and bus transit and bikes and walking-- while repairing our existing roadway system. Only this will allow for the emergence of the walkable urban places that the market, economy, and environment demands."

Christopher Leinberger, The New Republic

“Leave Your Car in the Garage” as sell copy for real estate

The trend toward walkability as a real estate selling point is noted at How We Drive, the Blog of Tom Vanderbilt’s Traffic 

Trawling through some real estate brokerage sites, typically in fairly dense small towns and pre-war suburbs, a refrain keeps catching my eye: “Leave your car in the garage.” The listing will then note the proximity to trains, schools, etc. I’m not sure who first came up with this rallying cry — and based on what I’ve seen in some of these towns (pedestrians being mostly people moving to and from their cars) I wonder if it might be more real-estate bluster than anything else — i.e., the potential of walking is there, as is the potential for the great room to be great and the massive chef’s kitchen to produce fare worthy of Grant Achatz, but in the end this potential gives way to some real or imagined vehicular reality (I need to get groceries, it’s just easier). But I can’t say I’ve ever seen a real estate ad that promised: “Take your car out of the garage, often!”

Read the rest at: How We Drive, the Blog of Tom Vanderbilt’s Traffic » Blog Archive » “Leave Your Car in the Garage”

Making trails part of USEFUL INFRASTRUCTURE rather than appendages and afterthoughts

ABOVE: What passes for a road shoulder in Franklin on the road leading to its middle school and Little League Complex. Good luck, kids!

Sometimes it's the little changes that make the difference. Let's hope this sensible Comprehensive Master Plan amendment, initiated by Plan Commission member Kevin Haley via the Trails Committee on which he also serves, is the beginning of the end of random, pointless trails in Franklin.

Item III.F on the July 8th Plan Commission Agenda:

F. City of Franklin (Adoption of Milwaukee County Trails Network Plan)
Property: City-wide
Zoning: City-wide

Regarding: 1. (Comprehensive Master Plan Amendment) AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE CITY OF FRANKLIN 2025 COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN TO INCORPORATE THE MILWAUKEE COUNTY TRAILS NETWORK PLAN AS A GUIDELINE REFERENCE WITHIN THE COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN 


"Baby boomers are coming of empty-nest retirement age, and at the same time their children are buying their first homes, and neither group wants large lots in remote places where little is going on."

Another reason a viable trail and sidewalk system is INFRASTRUCTURE, and not merely "parks and recreation."

Today's home buyers aren't just looking for good schools and low crime rates when they evaluate a neighborhood, many brokers say. They're paying much more attention to what they can walk to.

"Everyone wants to know now how close they are to stores," says Linda Duggan, an owner of The Duggan Group real-estate agency. She recently had clients who, given a choice between a house in Danville, Calif., and another that was bigger, newer, $300,000 cheaper—and 20 minutes farther from town—chose the first one. Earlier this year Scott Newman, of Newman Realty in Chicago, started highlighting how close his listings are to amenities. The number of amenities in walking distance can vary sharply from block to block, he adds.

"For a lot of Americans, the whole problem of traffic congestion and having to drive everywhere to do almost anything has made other choices more attractive," says Kaid Benfield, director of the Washington-based Natural Resources Defense Council's Smart Growth Program. Urban planners say it's also a matter of demographics: Baby boomers are coming of empty-nest retirement age, and at the same time their children are buying their first homes, and neither group wants large lots in remote places where little is going on. Fear about future oil prices is also increasing the attractiveness of walkable neighborhoods. 

Read the rest at: A Walker's Guide to Home Buying - WSJ.com

RETROFITTING SUBURBIA: "The next 50 years' big sustainable design project"

RETROFITTING SUBURBIA author Ellen Dunham-Jones on "the next 50 years' big sustainable design project":