Seven rules for sustainable communities

New ideas: Streetcar City as crucial to sustainability Canada and US comparisons prove falsehoods Integrating green infrastructure is possible at high density We can cut carbon by over 50% just by land use changes alone.

, 1975

We forgot that: Every City over 5,000 people had Streetcars. We forgot that: Most homes in the streetcar city were single family homes.

Restore the Streetcar City “ Tax Lots” were economic place holders. In Vancouver it took 80 years to realize planned density on streetcar arterials.

Restore the Streetcar City The walking distance city and the streetcar city. Housing form changes from townhouse to bungalow

Interurban to Bloomsbury Park, Raleigh North Carolina 1913

Restore the Streetcar City

We forgot that: Interconnected streets provide many alternative routes if congested Only two types of streets: Residential streets Streetcar arterials

Restore the Streetcar City The agricultural landscape of 40 acre squares is cut up into 8 equal 5 acre blocks. Streetcar arterials every 4 blocks or 10 minute walk apart.

Design an Interconnected Street System US and Canadian cities identical during streetcar city period. Grid is most common form of interconnected street system. 640 x 320 feet. VANCOUVER B.C. SEATTLE WA.

Design an Interconnected Street System Intersection density much higher in Streetcar City form No alternative routes and highly loaded main intersections in sprawl form

Design an Interconnected Street System Intersections impossible to cross on foot. Big Box magnets at overloaded intersections. 400% more traffic through intersection. 60% more pedestrian fatalities.

Restore the Streetcar City Ideas from the 1960’s pollute our thinking. We think the region is made of nodes. But for most southern, midwestern, and western cities it is really made of corridors left over from the streetcar and interurban era. We value speed over everything. We value access not at all.

Locate Good Jobs Close to Home Transit systems continue to be built as hub and spoke systems, even though jobs are no longer in the center.

Restore the Streetcar City Ideas from the

We forgot that: Five minute walking distance is a key feature of the streetcar city. In the streetcar city the five minute walk merges into continuously accessible corridors.

Larc 581 Sustainable Cities A five minute walking distance to commercial services and transit J.

Larc 581 Sustainable Cities A five minute walking distance to commercial services and transit J. .3 Mile

A five minute walking distance to commercial services and transit .3 Mile

We forgot that: The Streetcar city concept allows for many jobs close to corridors.

Locate Good Jobs Close to Home Jobs do fit into block stucture.

Locate Good Jobs Close to Home Speeds on congested freeways now approaching jogging pace. The quest for speed is hopeless.

Locate Good Jobs Close to Home Streetcar arterial in Oklahoma City. Capable of absorbing many thousand new jobs.

Locate Good Jobs Close to Home Plan from the Damascus Area Design Workshop. Jobs areas grouped within the block and arterial structure

We accept that: For slower transit to make sense affordable housing must be more evenly distributed in regions.

Different house types all on the same street close to transit. Different Dwelling Types on the Same Street.

Density doesn’t need to look dense. Vancouver architects have re learned this lesson. 3306 West 5 th Ave. Freestanding house is less than 15’ wide. Different Dwelling Types on the Same Street.

Density doesn’t need to look dense. Hidden secondary suites Different Dwelling Types on the Same Street.

Density doesn’t need to look dense. Secondary suites Over 50,000 secondary suites. 25,000 of them “illegal” Different Dwelling Types on the Same Street.

Density doesn’t need to look dense. Intensifying the arterials. Different Dwelling Types on the Same Street.

Density doesn’t need to look dense. Doubling the frontage. Laneway housing. Different Dwelling Types on the Same Street.

Density doesn’t need to look dense. Vancouver architects have re learned this lesson. 5458 Larch Street Project is 28 DU per acre. One level of underground parking. Different Dwelling Types on the Same Street.

Suburban housing using most energy per sq. foot and per capita. 15,000 KWh/year High rise is better. 8,000 KWh/year Midrise is best. 5,500 KWh/year Different Dwelling Types on the Same Street.

We know that: Preserved Nature provides a natural interface to the streetcar city grid Why? For zero impact For access to nature To bound and protect neighborhoods

Larc 581 Sustainable Cities A Linked System of Natural Areas and Parks Infrastructure that works with not against natural systems.

Plan from the Damascus Area Design Workshop. An armature of linked natural areas and parks.

We forgot that: We spend too much on infrastructure. Every dollar’s worth of pavement produces a dollars' worth of environmental damage. Work with natural systems not against them.

Lighter Greener Cheaper Smarter Infrastructure Natural Forest Zero runoff, 45 percent evapotranspiration.

Lighter Greener Cheaper Smarter Infrastructure Urbanized situations, runoff added. Velocity increases by 100 Amounts increase Temperature increases

Lighter Greener Cheaper Smarter Infrastructure Green infrastructure condition. 1” a day or 1 mm per hour infiltration across the site.

Larc 581 Sustainable Cities Lighter Greener Cheaper Smarter Infrastructure

http://www.pringlecreek.com/

THANK YOU! [email_address]

Streetcar City A City of: Linked Centres, A Green Grid, Green Jobs, and Linked Riparian Zones http://www.urbanstudio.sala.ubc.ca/2010/book%20templates.html

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Seven rules for sustainable communities

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