Community Concerns - Sustainability
It is no secret that climate change is one of the biggest threats – if not THE biggest threat – to all people of the world since World War II. The corrective solutions to climate change must take place in a multi-faceted approach. Creating walkable environments is chief among them.
According to Peter Calthorpe, an architect and author who wrote Urbanism in the Age of Climate Change, from 1980 to 2005 Americans gobbled up 20% more land than we had used prior to that and drive over 50% more than we drove before that. This is due primarily to vehicular-based sprawl. In much of the United States, people have to drive everywhere for everything (or have Uber and Amazon do it for them).
Not every American wants to live in and work in a dense city center. That’s okay, even light density, pedestrian environments can produce the necessary changes to our ecology. Living a sustainable lifestyle doesn’t mean having to give up your car and walk or bike to everything. Living and working in walkable neighborhoods means some daily and weekly activities can be achieved by foot. Perhaps more importantly though, it means even our driving trips are significantly shorter.
Neighborhoods - Street Networks
Connected street networks allow for accessibility by foot. Disconnected road networks lead to more driving to get places and more traffic congestion which leads to more gas emissions. Connected street networks are not just good for businesses, they are good for sustainability as well.
Streets - Fundamental Ingredients
There are many elements that go into creating a walkable street corridor. When well-composed, these ingredients build a street corridor that people enjoy walking in. More people walking means fewer people driving.
Streets - Scale and Proportion
We all know that pedestrian-heavy places that have intense street corridors, like downtowns, are environmentally friendly. But less intense street corridors, ones with a more balanced proportional intensity, are also sustainable. Learn how different levels of intensity can create a range of pedestrian-friendly spaces.
Streets - Intersections and Streetscape
Streetscape can actively provide opportunities for environmentally friendly efforts. From bio-swales to pervious paving, streetscape has the potential to outwardly display a community’s priorities toward sustainability.
Buildings - Forming the Public Realm
Neighborhoods can have rows of houses with front yards and still be responsible, sustainable communities. The placement and shape of buildings has a direct effect on the welcoming atmosphere of the public realm which can encourage or discourage pedestrians.
Buildings - Architectural Design
The most sustainable thing a building can do is to be placed in a compact, walkable neighborhood. Mixed-use buildings that have even a modest array of sustainable construction details can provide a green urbanism that provides a powerful antidote to irresponsible vehicular-based sprawl.