Getting

Started . . .

America Walks
Everybody Walk
Initiative

March 9, 2015

Why pay for sidewalks near

Chenango Town Hall if no one
walks there anyway?
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Background
Growing movement.
EveryBody Walk
collaborative.
Surgeon Generals Call
to Action on Walking &
Walkability, 2015.
Whats working?
Share as practice
briefs. >
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The idea
Use practice wisdom, identify actions that are
essential for developing walkability
Interview seasoned practitioners (tribal elders)
ID key characteristics of walkable communities
Reflect on successful projects
Process, project (infrastructure), policy themes
Dan Burden
Victor Dover
Mark Fenton
Pete Lagerway

Ian Lockwood
Lauren Marchetti
John Moffat
John Norquist
Jeff Olson

Lynn Richards
Jennifer Toole
Gary Toth
Charlie Zegeer
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Process
Principles

Listen to informed
community input; create
collective community
ownership of the vision &
process to get there.
Engage everyone possible,
find champions whose job it
is to push walkability forward.
Truly interdisciplinary teams.
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Work group:

Trails Bike/Ped

Advocate

Enviro
advocates

Planning

Fire

DPW

Neighborhoods

Vision

Transit

Rec.

Elected

Parks

Econ.
Devlpmt

NAR
Banks

Developer

Chamber
Employers

Health

NAHB
Main St.

Schools

PTOs
Hospital

Insurer

ADA Found.
ACS AHA

Churches

Service
Orgs.

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Project Principles
Mixed land use
Active transportation
network
Human scale design
that is appealing, safe,
and universally
accessible
Central to walkable,
livable places
Gateway Projects
Job descriptions

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Policy Themes
The rules and the money have to steer the
community toward healthier designs . . .
Zoning ordinance must require and reward
compact, mixed-use development.
Roadway design guidelines must fully reflect
Complete Streets principles and should create
a transportation hierarchy of walking, cycling,
transit, and motorized vehicles, in that order.
MPO funding scoring for projects should
emphasize the active transportation modes.

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Transportation plans
and forecasts can not
just focus on motor
vehicle Level of Service
and projections, but
must also consider
pedestrian, bicycle, and
transit performance.
Parking policies must
require that parking
pay for itself.

LOS

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The two questions

that are NOT the
real problem:
Technical. How
do we do it?
What are best
practices?
Financial. How
do we pay for it?
Wheres the
money?

Urban
Street
Design
Guide

OVERVIEW

OCTOBER 2012

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E.g. Gateway, demonstration, pilot projects.

Complete Streets: Pedestrians, cyclists,

transit riders, & drivers of all ages &
abilities considered in every road project
(new, repair, maintenance).

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First step ideas . . .

1. Start with paint.
2. Improve
wayfinding
3. Make crossing
safer curb
extensions.
4. Add street
furnishings.
5. Bike parking.
6. Parklets.

8. Better transit
stops.
9. Improve a goat
trail.
10. Do a road diet!
11. Calm traffic w/
islands, circles . . .
12. Pave the shoulder
on a rural road.
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1. Paint missing lines.

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Or move them.

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Paint some high

visibility
crosswalks.

Ladder style

Artistic
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Add sharrows or a
bicycle lane . . .
Sharrow
(shared use
arrow)

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Diagonal
parking
increases
on-street
capacity,
but . . .

But reverse angle:

Less severe collisions.
Pedestrians off road.
Safer for bikes.
York, PA
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2. Wayfinding.
Fun &
informative

Walkyourcity.org

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3. Curb extensions
for Safer Crossings.
Baltimore

Missoula

Queens NY
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4. Street furnishings
Benches
Bike parking
Public art

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5. Bicycle parking;
use the curb
extensions!

Salt Lake
City library
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Park City
Montpelier

6. Build a parklet
(or a few of them).
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7. Transit stops!

Pad, Seating
Shelter, trash can
Schedule, arrival info!
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8. Improve a goat trail

Start where theres

clear demand!
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9. Lane re-alignments

Often called road diets, 5

or 4 lanes down to 3.

Can reduce collisions

& severity.
Improves conditions
for peds & cyclists.
During routine paving?
Urbana, IL; before & after.

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Hutchinson, KS.

E. Avenue A;
other fourlane roads.

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E. Avenue A, Hutchinson, KS they did it!

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10. Install
medians where
no turns are
possible on
center lanes.

Include ped
crossings where
appropriate;
ideally offset.
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Roundabout;
often to
replace 4way stop.

Glens Falls, NY

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Prove the big

vehicles can
make it (cones,
hay bales).
Longmont, CO
Seattle

Madison, WI
Glens Falls, NY

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11. Require multi-modal transportation

analysis (not just traffic) for all development.

Motor vehicles: Turn lanes, signal light.

Ped: Sidewalk links, building up front.
Bike: Lanes, parking; employee bike share?
Transit: Shelters, walkway, street crossing.
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12. Rural settings? Begin paving shoulders.

First priority: routes

to schools, parks,
housing, shopping
centers.
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Rural areas are

where we can
affect the shape of
development
before its done!

Rural housing . . . ?

or just more suburbia?

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Evidence, facility
design, cost
estimating, wayfinding.

Companion
pieces . . .
Getting the
community
on board.
Resources.
Walk audits, inventory,
events & short-term
trials, Complete Streets
resolution.

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How to sell it? Three words!

Economics
Economics
Grandchildren

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Why should we have the GUTS to do it?

30 minutes of daily physical activity
recommended (60 min. for youth).
< 20 % of Americans actually meet these
recommendation (thru LTPA).
365,000 Estimated annual deaths in
America due to physical inactivity &
poor nutrition. (2nd only to tobacco.)
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Economics. Walking the Walk:

How Walkability Raises Housing Values in
U.S. Cities (CEOs for Cities report)*
walkscore = 72

walkscore = 29

Higher score = $4,000-$34,000 home value

*www.ceosforcities.org/work/walkingthewalk
www.walkscore.com
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On Common Ground
Natl Assoc. of Realtors pub.; Summer 2010
www.realtor.org

The Next Generation of

Home Buyers:
Taste for in-town living.
Appetite for public
transportation.
Strong green streak.
Plus, Americans are
driving less overall!
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Walkability.
Why we care & why
you should too!
Builder Magazine,
Mar. 2014
Consumer desire
Flexibility in design
Lower development
costs . . .
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Grandchildren . . .

Olshansky et.al., A
Potential Decline in Life
Expectancy . . .
New Eng. J. of Med.,
March 17, 2005
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