Ms. Belzer was here to talk about Urban Transportation Corridors (UTCs) and if they’re feasible for our region. UTCs are neighborhoods and districts that can accommodate new mixed use development and roads that can accommodate multimodal travel such as cars, bikes and pedestrians and are served by quality public transit service.
Today, I happened onto this article from “Switchboard” that pretty much echoes Ms. Belzer’s thoughts on how housing near transit creates thriving communities.
I like the imagery this article uses, comparing a city to a pizza: “… The suburban experiment that was so influential in the 20th century involved dividing up the functions of the city into different zones: housing, shopping, office, recreation. This works about as well as eating the elements of your pizza in different courses: you’re still getting the same nutritional value, but you’ve lost the joy of your pizza.” — Eric Jacobsen, Why Suburbia is Affecting Your Spiritual Life
Interesting analogy, I know transit has a big stake in how an area develops, but should transit drive development or follow development. In the city the developers started their own streetcars to their development to sell lots, and because of that we have a lot of neighborhoods that are easy to serve by transit. But in the old west the trains came to some towns and they thrived and grew, while those the trains by past, they probably died.
Hmmm… the old "chicken and egg" argument. The boss and I were talking about the Shadle area last night and how it already has a Walmart, a strip mall, a wide arterial through the middle of it and transit serving it. And yet it's really not an attractive area for friendly for pedestrians. So how do you get it there? Something we're working on analyzing in the office…