A sobering detailing of the impact of our parking policies on our daily lives and the fabric of our communities.
“GENTRIFICATION IS A PROCESS in which low-income households are displaced by rising costs as higher income households move into a neighborhood. When a neighborhood gentrifies, housing and land costs rise. As rents and house values increase, current residents and business owners can often no longer afford to live or operate there, and may move elsewhere to find more affordable opportunities. This is a process of displacement that destabilizes communities, and can result in significant financial and emotional stress for those affected.
This toolkit presents strategies for addressing the pressures of gentrification in a community during different phases of gentrification: before it happens, as it is happening, and after a neighborhood has been gentrified. It is possible to have development without displacement. These tools may offer a starting point for collaboration with community residents, non-profit organizations, local businesses, elected officials, and even developers. We understand that not all neighborhoods are dealing with pressures of gentrification.”
NOTE: This resource is intended for Chicago, but is useful in many other local contexts.
TOD, or transit-oriented development, means integrated urban places designed to bring people, activities, buildings, and public space together, with easy walking and cycling connection between them and near-excellent transit service to the rest of the city. It means inclusive access for all to local and citywide opportunities and resources by the most efficient and healthful combination of mobility modes, at the lowest financial and environmental cost, and with the highest resilience to disruptive events. Inclusive TOD is a necessary foundation for long-term sustainability, equity, shared prosperity, and civil peace in cities.
Zoning codes are the unseen yet decisive guiding force that can either help or hinder the creation of great, walkable, people-scaled places. This primer from our Form-Based Codes Institute gives you the basics on form-based codes: what they are, where they work, and how they can help create and sustain great places.
What’s the difference between a conventional zoning code and a form-based code?
Conventional zoning is primarily focused on what happens inside the buildings—the uses. That’s how different zones get their names, like “single-family residential,” “multifamily residential,” “industrial,” or “retail/commercial” for example. With such zoning, the quality, scale, character, and design of buildings and blocks—which are so important for creating great places—take a back seat to what’s happening inside the buildings, if they’re even considered at all. And the character of streets and other public spaces around development are never addressed. Most conventional zoning fails to encourage walkable, mixed-use development because it’s designed to separate uses.
A form-based code on the other hand focuses first on the shape and scale of the buildings and blocks, as well as the features of the streets and other public spaces. And because a form-based code starts with a community vision or plan, these codes are more likely to preserve the features and character that community members cherish. They also encourage the mix of uses and walkability that is so important for vibrant places.
“Vancouver, British Columbia, has aggressive aspirations for sustainability. Its goal is to be entirely powered by clean energy by 2050 — not just electricity, but transportation and heating as well. (I talked to city manager Sadhu Johnston about it in July 2016.)
As part of that effort, the city adopted the goal of 50 percent “sustainable mode share” by 2020 — half of all trips in the city taken by walking, biking, or transit rather than automobile.
Fun fact: The city hit that target in 2015, five years early.”
This video tells how that happened, arising out of the rejection of a plan to build a network of freeways through the city in the 60’s and 70’s.