Walkable Urbanism on the Rise

Time for something a little different:  An "infographic" we thought might interest those living or thinking about living in Reston's Silver Line station areas.  

Click to Enlarge Image



Walkable Urbanism on the Rise
Infographic by CustomMade

Letter: What Sets Reston Apart? Lucinda Shannon, RestonNow, January 24, 2014

Reston resident Lucinda Shannon writes about Reston's walkable places.

What do you want to add to your community?

With the addition of the Silver Line and future development in Reston, our community is going to change. How it changes is something most of us are considering. In addition to the negatives, there will be positives. What do you think makes Reston stand out from other neighborhoods?

I would like to see us continue our commitment to developing walkable places. . . .

Click here to read the rest of her letter.

Reston's 55 miles or so of pathways--most of them through natural areas--are a key, if not unique, feature of this planned community.  Can we extend that walkability to the planned urbanizing areas?   If so, how?

The last ditch Dulles Corridor density grab is on!

The following was posted on Terry Maynard's "Thinking Things Reston" blog on Reston Patch, September 13, 2013.

The Reston Task Force effort is nearing its end with County plans to take its draft revised Reston Comprehensive Plan language to the County Planning Commission on October 30.

. . . and the density grab is now in full swing!

The avaricious drive for more a more profitable higher density or a more office-centric use mix has come on like gangbusters in the last two RTF meetings as developers and their friends strive to squeeze every last potential square foot into the new Comprehensive Plan. 

These efforts are not about building a better Reston.  They are about corporate greed.

Let’s take a look at what’s been happening. 

First, there is “walking distance,” the distance people are willing to walk to take transit, specifically the new Silver Line.   The standard—and County policy—is that high-density can be permitted within a quarter-mile circle of the platform because that is the distance people will walk to get there, more so for residents than workers.   Many analyses show that willingness to walk drops substantially by that distance as the attached graphic shows.  (For those of us who are metrically challenged, 400 meters = 1/4 mile.)

 

But, oh, no, developer friends say, the “REAL” distance should be measured from the station entrances which, in the Silver Line’s case, are at least 200’ from the platform.  As the County image analysis below shows, that adds 29% to the area for higher density development.  Does anyone suppose that the people who live or work in this extra 29% will actually walk to the station entrance and expect a train to pick them up there?   There really is a logical reason to make the limit at ¼-mile from the platform.  Greed is the only rationale for extending it.

Second, why not count hotels as residential space instead of commercial space?  This is important because one of the key focuses of the task force efforts has been to bring non-residential commercial and residential space into balance.  Why?  Because that markedly increases transit use and reduces automobile trips, easing congestion growth.

So, if you move hotels from the left, non-residential side of the ledger to the right, residential side, you decrease real residential space--the places where people live--by 5-10 percentage points (roughly the amount of space hotels will occupy) and increase commercial (mostly office) development by the same amount.  As a result, instead of a 50-50 jobs-residential space balance, you end up with something like a 60-40 jobs-residential balance.  Result:  Fewer transit riders, more vehicle trips, greater congestion, more environmental damage, and a greater need for road infrastructure.

A very bad planning idea, but great for someone’s bottom line. 

Third, if that hotel ploy doesn’t work and if, as the current draft Plan language proposes, we are allowing up to 30% of proposed development space that is hotels, retail, or “certain” institutional use not to count against the mix balance, then why not also allow it not to count against density???  Voila!  We’ve just increased density by nearly a third—and it’s non-residential density at that!  Ka-ching!  Millions more in profits even if it means perpetual gridlock on Reston’s streets. 

From a Reston planning perspective, the right thing to do is to eliminate the free pass for hotels, retail, and “certain” institutional uses all together.  All of these businesses have employees who commute to work.  The space they require should count as non-residential space in County calculations. 

And since last Tuesday’s meeting, more harebrained density increase, mix unbalancing schemes have been brought up in private e-mail, telephone, and other exchanges among task force members by what can only be called the “Friends of Office Density” or FOOD. 

As FOOD, these schemes are inedible, even poisonous.  They are exactly what drove RCA to make its serious complaint about the course of the draft Comprehensive Plan at its August 10th meeting along with a wide variety of other, more complex language that would, in the County’s vernacular, “add flexibility” to the Comprehensive Plan.  As it stands now, the Plan language is so flexible there is no spine to it.  The draft language virtually guarantees that the density and mix goals laid out in Scenario G will not be achievable, much less achieved.  

We need to stop this last ditch density grab in its tracks!

Terry Maynard
RCA Representative to the Reston Task Force
RCA Board of Directors

Overview of Jeff Speck Presentation and Panel Discussion, July 22, 2013

Understanding Urbanization: Building on Reston’s Past to Create Its Future

Monday, July 22, 2013

Reston Association Headquarters, Reston, VA

Introduction of symposium and opening thoughts:

Supervisor Catherine Hudgins:

80+ attendees; goal of evening is to improve walkability in Reston.  About 60 thousand people live in Reston of which 30 thousand (½ ) live, work and play in community.  CH is not concerned with worries about congestion and thinks that there are ways to deal with it.  She thinks that now is opportunity to explore ideas.  She thinks change is good.

RA Acting Executive Director Cate Fulkerson:

Jeff Speck is an advocate of sustainability, walkability and smart growth.  He lectures on this around the country and lives currently in Washington, D.C.  He is currently a huge fan of Coalition for Smarter Growth, a local organization.

“Walkability”

Presentation by Jeff Speck

UPDATE:  Mr. Speck's presentation has been placed on the County's Reston Master Planning website.  It is available through this link.  It is a large PDF file. 

“Jeff is a city planner and architectural designer who, through writing, lectures and built work, advocates internationally for smart growth and sustainable design.”  (from blurb on symposium program.

In addition, he is author of following books: 

Suburban Nation: the Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream

The Smart Growth Manual

Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time

Speck’s opening remarks:

• As he speaks once per week around nation, walkability is what people are looking for.
• Demographically of the 100 million households that will be formed in the next 25 years only 12% of families will have children and will look for a big house, a big yard and schools. The biggest market will be young people pre-children and baby boomers that are looking for a retirement lifestyle.
• New Urbanism: is defined by pedestrian culture.
• He works with both existing communities such as South Beach in Florida and new communities such as Kentlands in Gaithersburg, MD.  In doing this work, he looks back in history to see which old regional communities closely match current client; Kentlands was modeled after Georgetown in Wash, D.C.
• In addition to his client work, in his function as Director of Design at the National Endowment for the Arts from 2003 through 2007, he oversaw the Mayor’s Institute on City Design.  In this effort, every 2 months he gathered 8 mayors and 8 design professionals who worked together for 2 ½ days to solve urban design problems.  One Mayor stated that people wouldn’t remember him for balancing the budget but would remember him for adding a park. The mayors wanted to see more people out walking. They concluded that a sustainable city is a walkable city. The resulting solutions are included in his books.

His presentation was a synopsis of the last book according to his comments.

• “Walkable City” deals with how to get people to walk.
• Costs of owning a car: 80% is owning the car; 20% is driving the car.  So owning a car means once you own one, driving it more, costs less/mile.  But the costs of driving are unequally shared by taxes for roads paid by drivers and non-drivers alike.
• Back in the 19^th century people lived adjacent to factories that emitted a tremendous amount of fumes causing health problems among the populace.  Some people suggested separating the homes from the factories immediately drastically improving the life span of the people. These people became known as the first planners and were regarded as heroes. This was the start of Euclidean zoning and resulted in separation of large areas of land into single uses such as housing, retail and office.  Despite all you hear about mixed use and smart growth when Jeff goes into a community to plan a new development, he finds that there have been many years of single use development to deal with.
• There are only 2 tested ways to build neighborhoods, traditional and suburban sprawl.  Traditional is defined as compact, diverse and walkable, Suburban sprawl .is characterized by super sizing and results in large public facilities such as schools and parks located beyond walking distance of residents.

“Walkable City” has four main parts:

1.  Reasons to Walk

2.  Safety: Real and Perceived

3.  Comfort When Walking

4.  Interesting Walk is Imperative.

1. Reasons to Walk

• Must have a balance of uses
• Must have diverse mixed uses
• Prefer traditional neighborhood model vs. urban sprawl model
• This includes live, work and play in same neighborhood.
• Comfortable grid of streets helps shorten journeys.
• Mass transit is needed for a walkable city or region.
• Walking is much healthier than driving.

2. Safety: Real and Perceived

• Pedestrian must feel safe and not worry about getting hit by vehicles. Crime is not as big a threat to safety as vehicles.
• Block size is super important; Portland has great size @ 200’ long vs. Salt Lake City @ 600’.  The longer the block, the wider the street which makes crossings more dangerous.  In California 24 different cities were categorized by block size. As block size doubles the non-highway fatal crashes almost quadruples. Reston Town Center is so good because its block size is smaller. This is a walkable model. Just south of Reston Town Center (between the W&OD Trail and the Dulles Toll Road) you have large blocks making it the driving model.
• Congestion is a problem caused by planners who build more lanes in anticipation of more traffic.  With increased capacity, comes more traffic as people are then able to live further and further away from jobs which leads to sprawl. This is known as induced demand. Free roads exacerbate this problem. Reducing lanes reduces the accident rate while often maintaining the same vehicle capacity.
• People drive faster on wider streets.  12’ lanes are too wide; 10’ are 30 mph lanes.
• Bikes being separated from cars by reducing lanes provide dedicated bike lanes.   Proper street design allows the same amount of traffic to be accommodated despite reduction of lanes. Also known as ‘road diets.”
• A road diet reduces a road from 4 lanes to 3 lanes with the center lane used for turns. Before a road diet, the 4 lane road is very dangerous because the center lanes, the fast traffic lanes, also become the left turn lanes.  When this occurs, center lane visibility may be blocked by vehicles in the center lane on the other side of the intersection. It is better to skip the center lane and add bike lanes or parking. Road diets are generally found to handle the same vehicle capacity as the 4-lane version with a greatly reduced accident rate.
• Biking is a huge revolution currently in this country.  If bike lanes are built, people will use them.  IF bike lanes can be separated from vehicle lanes, women and children will increase bike ridership even more. Portland dramatically increased the number of bicyclists from just the same to 15 times the rest of the country by spending 2 million per year on bike lanes
• Parallel parking makes pedestrians feel safer; puts a line of steel between pedestrians and traffic.
• Bike lanes located beside curb protected by lane of parallel parking provides absolute best safety for all users; walkers, bikers and drivers.
• Trees along streets are essential to making pedestrians feel safer. Trees along roadways also make drivers slow down making them safer. 
• The tighter the corner radius, the safer the street will be; a wide radius encourages cars to travel faster.
• Tunnels under intersections also encourage faster traffic as well as separate neighborhoods.  Bridging sunken highways with wide bridges that provide space for buildings as well as traffic (air rights?) helps to link neighborhoods together and provide wider walkable ranges.
• All details matter:  This includes even the height of curbs.  Super tall curbs impede walking.

3.  Comfort When Walking

• Human requirements for feeling comfortable haven’t changed in thousands of years.
• The prospect for what a person is walking toward must be obvious.
• Refuge from danger must be available.
• Walkers want to feel contained.  Therefore a ratio of 1:1 of vertical to horizontal space is ideal.  A ratio of 1:6 is too big.
• Current zoning codes are a problem as they are mute as to what is good vs. what exists now.

4.  Interesting Walk is Imperative

• Walkers want to know that other humans are around.
• Walkers do not want to be bored.
• Therefore, hide parking.  5 levels of parking can be hidden by a 3 story building if garage screened properly.
• Also garages with ground level retail and other uses provide interest for walkers.
• Hiding the surface parking in the middle of the block will help to keep the walk more interesting.
• Walkers require interesting facades. Speck encourages city planners to vary architectural styles to do this and eschews blank walls and minimalistic themes.
• Walkers want architecture that rewards them as they get closer.

Speck stated that he was not employed to work specifically on Reston problems, but that he realized several Reston features that would figure into how to make village and town center areas more walkable. 

• Reston is way ahead of most other communities because it was master planned.
• However some sections are definitely suburban (attractive and desirable with curvilinear streets and yards that people want) and would never be termed “walkable” in terms of allowing cars to be abandoned.
• Pathway system throughout community does promote walking and biking.
• Town Center and village centers do provide areas that are walkable to some degree.
• Proximity to transit is a problem/opportunity for walkability but contains problems of how to segue transit to existing development around Metro station areas.
• Town Center is separated from transit by a section of non-walkable development south of TC including large blocks, wide streets and fast traffic.  In order to correct this, redevelopment of this area is necessary into grid of narrower streets and smaller buildings/blocks.
• Wiehle is completely unsatisfactory as no residential exists close to station areas and pedestrian/biker access to station is terrible.  Grid of streets is missing and existing streets are too wide/fast.  Walkers are not safe.
• Most of Reston won’t change and can’t change. Many people will opt for the automotive environment. But there is this opportunity to create a walkable environment between stations that should not be ignored.

 

Panel Discussion:

Participants: Greg Trimmer of JBG; David Whyte, TOD and street design expert, and Heidi Merkel, Fairfax Co. staff lead for Reston master planning special study.

Greg Trimmer Comments:

• He favors walkable, mixed use development that promotes biking
• JBG invests only in TOD development (Comment:  The Fairways Apartments complex being re-developed by JBG is not “TOD development” despite what Mr. Trimmer says.)  It has invested in property in proximity to all three Reston Metro station areas.
• There is a very highly educated workforce in Reston that favors mixed use development.  (Comment:  The same educated workforce also opposes excessive density that will undermine Reston’s planning principles--transportation, environment, etc. These are not mutually exclusive, although developers would like people to believe so.)
• In the Reston Heights project, JBG has attempted to facilitate easy access to Town Center Metro Station, but current VDOT rules have thwarted every solution proposed.  Luckily Supervisor Hudgins interceded on JBG’s behalf and provided a “slip sheet” which is a special waiver to allow plans to proceed without hold-up until VDOT allows solution.  JBG is willing to pay for solution at future date.

David Whyte Comments:

• There are a few pockets around the village centers that may undergo change but most of the area will remain unchanged.  (Comment:  Wait a minute!  That’s Phase 2 of the master plan planning effort.  So has the future of the village centers already been cooked?)
• Streets in Reston need to regulate usage.
• Through traffic by out-of-area commuters has to be curtailed.
• This can be done be re-designing streetscapes.

Heidi Merkel Comments:

• Reston is undergoing an evolution in form around metro stations.
• The ½ mile radius for increased allowable density around the metro stations will not extend south of Sunrise Valley Drive.
• Goals around the stations are diversity of housing, environmental stewardship, and making sure green natural areas are integrated into the area.
• This includes planning parks, plazas and meeting spaces.
• VDOT has had an epiphany regarding street design and has designated Fairfax County as the prototype area to experiment with new street designs.
• Urban Design Standards are very, very specific about what is required around each transit station area.
• Zoning will be tool to get it done.
• Goal is to “live, work and play” without getting into a car.
• Village centers in Reston already have a strong walkable connectivity.

Questions and Answers: 

•  Q. With single narrow traffic lanes how do you handle double parked delivery trucks that block traffic?

• A. This is a management problem primarily.  Parking delivery zones need to be established in each block. Also delivery time periods may be established.

• Q. Lives within 3 blocks of grocery store but does not choose to walk to store in bad weather.
  A. Can’t control the weather. Some people may choose to walk in bad weather but driving 3 blocks is not likely to cause traffic congestion.

• Q. Notice that building construction near Reston Parkway comes first. Traffic mitigation comes second.  What are plans to change this? (audience applause)
  A. Hoping to provide more housing in this area. Also, people who take the Metro may stop driving to work.
  A2. Most of the traffic is not going to the new building.  Adding a lane will simply move the congestion further away.  Also, shouldn’t have to subsidize through traffic.

• Q. Question on bicycle planning.
  A. There are a lot of different markets for bicyclists. In general, they are trying to separate bicycles from pedestrians. In the case of Reston Parkway over the Toll Road it is unsafe for bicycles to ride through an interchange. The bicycle lanes will be placed off the roadway for their safety.

• Q. In Europe people walk their dogs in the streets and inside and outside of buildings. What provisions are being made for dogs?
  A. There are plans to add dog parks in the transit areas. The point was made that there are more American households with dogs than with children.

• Q. Considering sameness, how do you think this will work with the Design Review Board?
  A. Rather than rules, the answer is to have a multitude of designers.

• Q. Will the zoning code be changed to incorporate form-based development?
  A. Don’t plan to do this. There is more concern about usage rather than form.

• Q. How do you plan to handle traffic trying to reach the 3700 car parking garage for Metro (2,300 public, 1,400 for center employees)?
  A. Improving pedestrian and bicycling facilities. Hope to get some relief from Reston Station Boulevard. Phase 2 will help in 10 years. Roads will not be narrowed near Wiehle station. There will be problems that can’t be solved for several years.

Ken Plum

Reston is among the most successful planned communities in the country. Businesses compete to come here, and there will be growth with the addition of metro. That leaves us with a challenge. Look at Arlington and notice that they left traditional family housing intact while doing a phenomenal job of transit oriented development. How we take advantage of this opportunity, through good planning, will make change work for us. 

(Comment:  Arlington succeeded, in part, they used smaller TOD circles—1/3-mile, they possess an underground rail system that enables a full surface grid of streets, they planned for smaller dwelling unit and office work space size (& recently reduced their planned workspace size further), they have a robust bus transit system, etc.  Fairfax County has none of these, not even in Tysons.)

CEOs want faster commutes and walkable places, Greater Greater Washington, June 20, 2013

By Dave Alpert

The Federal City Council, an association of business leaders, wants DC to ease driving in and out of the city. At the same time, it wants walkable, livable neighborhoods. But what about when these two conflict?

The group took a survey of its members, mostly business CEOs and presidents and the like. 68% say that traffic congestion is a "significant" problem facing DC businesses (though, actually, I'm surprised 32% don't think it's a problem!) and 71% say car-driving commuters are "very important" in making decisions about where to locate businesses.

99% want a more modern signal system "to ease the flow of traffic," which usually means timing signals for commuters, though 89% also want to see "active neighborhoods that provide a variety of amenities and services for all residents within a 20 minute walk."

This is, essentially, the decision planners are wrestling with in the MoveDC citywide plan: should transportation policy favor driving in and out of the city, or work to make neighborhood more livable? The problem is that, in many situations, the two forces are in diametric opposition. . .

. . .  Routes 123 and 7 will form massive barriers at Tysons, especially since the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is widening the already-huge Route 7 even more, and the signal timings will force people to cross in two separate phases. All of this is because their priority is to move cars most efficiently. . . .

Click here for the rest of Alpert's article. 

Two thoughts on Alpert's article:

• We are quite likely to see the same conflict in Reston, especially in the Wiehle Station TOD area where Wiehle runs straight through the heart of the "walkable" mixed-use station are development.  The problem may be less at Town Center and Herndon-Monroe station areas where the main north-south trans-corridor connector is near the periphery of the area of development.  Still, Sunrise Valley & Sunset Hills are likely to pose similar barriers to north-south pedestrian traffic unless, of course, grade-separated crossings (tunnels or bridges) are installed to facilitate their movement. 
• Also, Alpert's solution to the conflict between pedestrians and cars is "congestion pricing," that is, tolling the roads variably depending on how severe the traffic is.  From this writer's perspective, it would be totally impractical, political suicide, and probably illegal in Virginia to put tolls of any kind on city or TOD area streets.  It may work to vary tolls on existing toll roads according to traffic demand.  It makes no sense whatsoever on local streets.

Today’s Dream House May Not Be Tomorrow’s, New York Times, April 28, 2013

Robert Shiller--Yale economics professor, one of America's foremost housing experts, and co-creator of the Case-Shiller Housing Index--has an excellent article in today's NYTimes about the future of housing in America.  He tracks the evolution of housing since the beginning of the last century and says this about where we are now:

AT the moment, walkable urban areas — pleasant places where people can stroll to work and to restaurants — are becoming more popular. Last year, a Brookings Institution study of the Washington area by Christopher B. Leinberger and Mariela Alfonzo concluded that such neighborhoods, where creative people cluster, show the highest property values. Far-flung suburbs are losing value relative to cities and close-in suburbs that offer such walkable areas. And these denser places seem to fit in better with more environmentally conscious values, too.

Attitudes toward renting have also been changing. A MacArthur Foundation survey, conducted by Hart Research Associates in February and March, asked Americans if they thought that, “given our nation’s current situation,” buying a home had become more or less appealing. Fifty-seven percent said it had become less so, with only 27 percent saying it had become more appealing. When asked if they agreed with the statement, “For the most part, renters can be just as successful as owners at achieving the American dream,” some 61 percent agreed; 28 percent did not.

Perhaps that trend will continue. Renting, which connotes mobility, might come to be identified with a high-status lifestyle in the new economy. If renting does become more important, owners of existing housing will be affected unevenly. . . .

He concludes this way:

If you want to settle down for a quiet life and watch your children grow up in a nice neighborhood, you might well act now to lock in an ultralow mortgage rate. Then again, if you’re restless, ambitious and determined to be mobile, it might be sensible to rent rather than own. Calculating the best economic return may not even be possible, given the uncertain investment potential.

Instead, it may be wisest to choose the housing that best meets your personal needs, among the choices you can afford.

 Click here for the rest of this thoughtful article.  

On the Docket: Reston Heights, Sunset Hills; Reston Patch, December 7, 2012

Progress on two more projects near International Center, Reston Station.

By Karen Goff

Next up in the development of Reston: a discussion about new projects at Reston Heights (near International Center) and adjacent to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station.

The Reston Planning and Zonning Committee will be discussing two future developments at its Dec. 17 meeting.

JBG's Reston Heights West has been approved for nearly five years. . . .

Developers are seeking to reduce these (approved building) heights . . . .

The amended plan also includes a proposed signalized intersection on Reston Parkway. . . .

The rest of the article is here.  

Restonians, including RCA, opposed this development proposal intensely years ago largely because of the impact on Sunrise Valley Drive traffic.  The accepted proffer of a signalized intersection will not improve traffic flow on Sunrise Valley Drive; in fact, it will delay traffic.  All it accomplishes is making it easier for people--residents, workers, shoppers, etc.--to enter and exit the planned new development.

Since the Reston Heights development plan is driven primarily by the future arrival of Metrorail at Reston Parkway station, added proffers making the vision of transit-oriented development (TOD) feasible would be important if they can be added at this late date.  There are two specific proffers the P&Z Committee should insist upon:

• Construction of a pedestrian-bicycle bridge over Reston Parkway near the Dulles Toll Road linking the expansive development to the Reston Town Center Metrorail station.  Relatedly, build a connecting pathway along the DTR from the east to west boundaries of this property.  All this would be part of the pathway along the DTR first recommended by the RMAG four years ago. 
• Construction of a pedestrian-bicycle bridge across the Dulles Corridor to the Plaza America center.  

These added bridges would substantially contribute to the walkability of the southeast quadrant of the Reston Town Center TOD area as residents would be within easy walking distance of both the commuter rail line and basic shopping while commuting workers could easily walk to jobs in the International Center/Reston Heights area.

It would be a start toward making the Reston Town Center area a more walkable community.