According to a study in the Journal of Planning Education and Research, there are some common design traits that make certain New York City streets more walkable. This article from CityLab looks into whether these same design characteristics are applicable in smaller cities.
After counting pedestrians on hundreds of blocks in New York City, researchers found that active uses (well-trafficked buildings or busy parks, schools, and cafes), street furniture or items (from benches to fire hydrants to ATM machines), and first-floor windows (measured by window-to-facade ratio) all had statistically positive relationships to the number of pedestrians.
But what about smaller towns? What are the design traits that most encourage pedestrian activity on these streets?
Reid Ewing, a planning scholar at the University of Utah and lead author on the New York City paper, helped a slew of graduate students apply this question to Salt Lake City, Utah. Using similar methodology as in the New York study, the researchers spent 30 minutes counting walkers on 179 blocks in downtown Salt Lake City. Out of five broad categories of design features, they found that two had statistically significant relationships to the number of people on foot.
The first key factor was what the researchers call transparency, or “the degree to which people can see or perceive what lies beyond the edge of a street and what human activity is contained there.” Transparency includes the proportion of first-floor facades to windows, and the proportion of active uses at the street level.
The second key factor highly related to pedestrian activity in Salt Lake City was imageability – a visual identity that could be made of parks or plazas, unique views or vistas, old or unusual architecture, and al fresco dining.
The findings should remind planners in smaller and midsized American cities that walkability is more than about density, street-level retail, or any one design quality in isolation.
