Charles R. (Chuck) Wolfe, M.R.P., J.D. provides a unique perspective about cities as both a long time writer about urbanism worldwide and an attorney in Seattle, where he focuses on land use and environmental law and permitting. In particular, his work involves the use of sustainable development techniques and innovative land use regulatory tools on behalf of both the private and public sectors. He is also an Affiliate Associate Professor in the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington, where he teaches land use law at the graduate level. He contributes regularly to several publications including Planetizen, CityLab/The Atlantic Cities, The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, Grist, seattlepi.com, and Crosscut.com. He blogs at myurbanist.com.
The last several posts have tracked the primacy of pedestrianism as a lead motivator in reshaping our cities.
We know that attempts at making American cities more walkable are not new.
In 1962, M.R. Wolfe. Professor of Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington, issued an early rallying call in the AIA Journal for the inevitable role of the pedestrian on the shopping street. He argued that increasingly autocentric mall development should not forget the commonality of street culture with forebears of the Western culture overseas, and plainly and with illustrative principles suggested that the pedestrian should not be forgotten.
Transit users can be broadly categorized into two groups, dependent users and choice users. Nationally, the pontification quotient was high last week–on how to sell transformative visions of urban development to the choice users–those who are not transit-dependent due to income or circumstance.
From Ontario to Seattle-based inquires about the true currency of urbanism to selling public transportation as an I-Pad-ish “seduction”, it was hard to be more creative than the next insightful blog-flaneur.
But it is a new week. We asked George Jetson about his views on choice users, after reviewing a Chicago Tribune piece last Fall which contrasted Jetsonian, airborne public transit in a future Chicago with a dense, capped “Blade Runner” model of climate control.
From his Skypad Apartments, an arguably transit-oriented development, Jetson said it simply. “We had it wrong–we forgot about our feet–we assumed that the convenience of automation and technology was the solution. Instead, we should have asked what will get us out of our vehicles.”
On cue, today the Vermont-based Planning Commissioner’s Journal sounded off via Reid Ewing: it is pedestrian-oriented development that will make the sale.
The study profiled past research on transit-dependent versus transit-choice users. Choice-users own cars and tend to be middle to upper income earners. Attracting choice-users is a primary objective of transit-oriented development and public transit in general. Choice-users tend to avoid transit if their perception of it is negative.
In Portland seven of every ten transit users claim to be choice riders; although sharp differences are found between bus and rail customers; 93 percent of MAX light-rail passengers are choice-users.
Thanks to George Jetson for validating today’s researchers and pundits. Successful urban centers and transit-oriented developments entice transit-choice users by providing good walkability, superior levels of service and access to many areas, jobs, services and amenities, particularly other urban centers.
And lately, it seems that walkability is leading the way.
See the refined and updated version of this post in seattlepi.com, here.
Crosscutrecently adapted the original February 23 post, which contrasted “sustainable stairways” in three Italian venues, with a “greened-up” escalator in a suburban mall.
For those who need remedies for the tongue-in-cheek, magnificent stairways do exist in older Seattle neighborhoods, as documented in the Seattle Stairways Walks Blog, not to mention steep, green alleys nearby.
Seattle has recently seen and speculated: Transportation behavior changed by necessity (and consequent “community-building” often occured) during the city’s 2008 snow and Summer 2007 “freeway fright” construction.
For those weeks of necessity, we lived in an auto-limited world.
And just last week, by the way, we saw how Nord Alley can work.
Fast forward and head north from Nord Alley.
In the March 6 Vancouver Sun, Public Affairs consultant Bob Ransford reports on lessons learned from the Winter Olympic city’s experiments with pedestrian space and alternate forms of transportation, and the so-called “Vancouverism” branch of urbanism:
