Making the walk walkable

A few summers back, I was an unpaid intern at the City of Spokane. The fact that I was unpaid is not of great concern to me (it did, in the end, work out quite handsomely for me) but, it did provide me with a specific motivation: attempt to avoid any costs whatsoever in the performance of my work. I labored on a number of projects while I was there, and I could regale you with stories about federal grant application or the design of local economic development strategies, but this post is more pedestrian.

I'm fond of saying that the purpose of transportation systems is to bring your destination within walking distance. While that is useful in pointing out that no car, bus, train, bike or other transportation mode is necessary if you're within walking distance, it also raises the question, "what is walking distance?" This is an important question because the design of effective walkable districts is dependent on understanding the willingness and capability of pedestrians to utilize it.

While different pedestrians have variations in ability, I'm not going to dwell on that issue for this particular entry. However, I will briefly state that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has the potential to greatly enhance the ability of people to have access to the world around them without significantly disadvantaging anyone. The minimal costs associated with ADA compliance is trivial compared to the sums lavished on roads and highways. Whenever I say "pedestrian" in this entry, please remember that it's not just people in sneakers, but also people in chairs and with strollers and other devices who use many of these same facilities and deserve the same level of access.

Making it Walkable

Pedestrians need more than a strip of concrete to make the walk walkable. Yes, the distance is key and that implies density. Ultimately, density is determined by the private sector in response to travel patterns and availability of investment. However, there are public decisions which can greatly enhance the walk, and perhaps influence private decision-making.

Shortcuts. One of the reasons we use vehicles for travel is to make ourselves less sensitive to the distances involved. It stands to reason, then, that pedestrians are less likely to walk if they have to go far out of their way to reach their destination. For my internship, I took a shortcut through a park. Pedestrians are more flexible with their courses than cars because it takes far less space and infrastructure to support a pedestrian route than it does for an automobile route. Creating shortcuts can provide great advantages for relatively small costs.

Plenty of destinations. Just because a person is busy walking to a final destination doesn't mean that the final destination is the only destination! Having the ability to combine trips is a powerful incentive to coax reticent walkers to ditch their cars. You may expect that I would introduce you to several studies which emphasize this point, but rather than do that, I will just mention one thing: shopping malls. The entire theory behind shopping malls is the power of combining trips, and the success of a well-managed mall is a testament to this concept.

Presumptive signalling. I can't emphasize this enough: waiting for a cross signal greatly slows an already slow travel method, and requiring a pedestrian to push a button mandates the wait. The signals should be set to allow enough time for a pedestrian to cross without prompting from pressing a button, thereby eliminating the need for the button. If the light changes automatically for automobiles, then the signal should allow a pedestrian to cross as well. If the signal isn't normally long enough for a pedestrian to cross then the signal may cycling too quickly or the cross street may need to go on a diet.

Alternatives. If there are multiple routes to a destination, then no single barrier or hazard can prevent the trip from occurring. Having alternatives also goes especially well with presumptive signalling by allowing the pedestrian to take advantage of the cross signal no matter which one is active. It also provides a greater opportunity to engage an interactive, varying environment.

Interactive environment. Pedestrians experience their environment in much greater detail than auto drivers. This not only gives the adjacent property owners an excellent opportunity to interact with the pedestrians, but it also levies a minor obligation as well. If a walking area is boring, then the pedestrian will avoid it for more interesting areas. And when people aren't attracted to a place and occupy it, then a place may not maintain a positive reputation.

Safety, cleanliness. This is fundamental: the trip must be reliably safe. Unclear sidewalks, overhanging branches, uneven surfaces, and anything that reduces the visibility of pedestrians in an auto-dominated environment are serious barriers to pedestrian activity. Cleanliness is a standard by which the safety of a path is judged, so walkways must also be well maintained.

Refuges. Providing pedestrian amenities to manage the effects of fatigue and weather are useful as well. Awnings, besides being useful for site identification, are attractive for pedestrians who wish to avoid sun or rain. Benches provide an opportunity to rest and interact. There is also the technical pedestrian refuge: a space in the median of a road where a pedestrian can stop so they only have to cross half the traffic at one time.

Human services. In addition to managing the negatives of pedestrian activity, it's helpful to have some services available to be provided directly to the pedestrian, such as meals, coffee, etc. Not only does this enhance an area for the pedestrians, it also provides people with an excuse to become pedestrians for the adjacent properties. One of the first thing we noticed as students surveying Sprague Avenue in the University District was that there's the smell of coffee from a local roaster, but no coffee retail. Without this amenity, there's really no way for people to gather and produce a community.

Friendliness. And another part of making that community is having a culture that appreciates the presence of other people. I was struck one morning, heading to City Hall, by the great attitude of another downtown employee. He was wearing a "Cruisers" (a local burger joint) shirt, asking how I was doing that day. We weren't at his place of work--he was just being friendly to a fellow pedestrian. When I told him that I was impressed he said he was "just making Spokane a great place!" True.