Improving Walkability in an Unsustainable Area Lauren Shur
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An Assessment of the Paramus Business District: Improving Walkability in an Unsustainable Area Lauren Shur Final Project Master of Arts in Sustainable Studies Ramapo College of New Jersey 5/10/12 Contents Introduction . 1 Background Information: Active Transport . 3 Neighborhood Design and Land Use . 4 Heightened Awareness of Walkability Issues in Communities . 5 Suburbia’s Influence on Accessibility and Travel Behavior . 5 The Effects of Travel Behavior on Health . 6 Socioeconomic Status and Neighborhood Accessibility . 7 Suitable Environments for Children . 8 Age-Friendly Neighborhoods for Seniors. 9 Creating Walkable Streetscapes for Economic Revitalization . 9 Walkability Raises Property Values . 11 U.S. Cities on the Cutting Edge . 13 Identifying Transportation Decision Makers . 15 Researching Walkability Advocacy Groups . 15 Method . 17 Results . 21 Discussion . 31 Conclusion . 34 References . 36 Appendix . A1 Abstract: This study examines how places with low walkability negatively affect people’s health and well-being, as well as the environment and the economy. Segregated land use, where residential buildings are separate or far away from businesses, causes more people to drive to amenities, and results in longer driving trips than that of centralized business areas. This paper provides steps for organizing coalitions, gaining awareness, and for advocating for better walkability standards in a neighborhood. Key Terms: walkability, (neighborhood) accessibility, active transport, non-motorized travel, New Urbanism, Smart Growth Introduction New Urbanism is on the rise across America. Its premise is based on walkable and livable communities that are convenient and have a positive effect on people of all ages and with unique personal needs. Such a community provides substantial space for all users, including pedestrians, cyclists, physically disabled individuals, and drivers. It also features a wide array of amenities within walking distance, such as adequate food stores, a diversity of businesses and services, workplaces, homes, entertainment, and public spaces for people to congregate, socialize, and be physically active. The New Urbanism principle for community design benefits the physical health and well-being of residents, while reducing environmental stressors such as automobile pollution in the air, land, and water. In addition to this, another argument for improving neighborhood accessibility for all types of travelers is that peak oil is no longer an issue of the future, as drivers are already coming to grips that current gas prices are unaffordable and continuously rising. 1 Smart Growth is an approach to land-use planning, where mixed land-use is encouraged and segregated land-use is deemed to be unsustainable and uneconomical. The feasibility of implementing Smart Growth designs in communities largely depends on the current layout of the area. Suburbia is often said to be unsustainable, as most suburban settlements are characterized by separate and distinct sectors for commercial activity and residential zones. In these types of settlements, which usually lack adequate public transportation systems, residents are forced to use their own personal vehicles to get to their daily needs and responsibilities. However, many suburbs that were developed pre-World War II still retain old-fashioned neighborhood designs, where places of residence are located in or near the heart of the downtown and businesses, and often public transportation is a more viable means of travel. This project focuses on the challenges of implementing Smart Growth planning and creating sustainable, livable communities, particularly in areas with segregated land-use and automobile-dominant landscapes. Implementation requires making changes to municipal codes, as well as having the economic means within the budgets of all levels of government. However, the likelihood of successfully creating major physical changes within a community is greatly increased by the support of residents and their will to improve the social and environmental health of their neighborhood. One way of assessing how eager a community is to close the gap between their homes and amenities is to survey residents on how they value walkability, or the ease of access for pedestrians, cyclists, and other non-drivers to reach basic amenities. In this study, residents of two adjacent municipalities in Bergen County, New Jersey will be surveyed and interviewed in regard to walkability issues in their neighborhood. The first municipality, the Borough of Paramus, is highly definitive of an unwalkable suburb, where amenities cannot be safely or easily accessed without the use of a car. The adjacent municipality, the Village of 2 Ridgewood, has the old-fashioned feel of a downtown encompassed by apartments, single-family homes, and ample space for non-drivers to comfortably coexist with vehicular traffic. The survey results are expected to show discrepancies in physical activity behaviors between residents of the two municipalities. Furthermore, this project will provide guidelines for walkability or Smart Growth advocacy residents to push for change in their own neighborhoods by gaining support from influential groups or other residents, as well as with the use of different strategies for getting walkability issues on the town’s agenda. Before going into the details of the study, some key terminology and issues related to walkability will be discussed to provide general background information. Active Transport Active transport is a term that is used to describe non-motorized travel modes, such as walking or biking. There are many benefits of choosing active transport over motorized travel. As Americans are faced with fast-paced lifestyles and lack of time for non-work related activities, many people lead sedentary lifestyles and do not engage in enough physical activity. Low levels of exercise are one of the leading causes of issues such as obesity and heart disease (Klein et al., 2004) (Jakicic & Otto, 2006) (Anderson et al., 2005). Active transport not only alleviates human health problems, but also reduces environmental hardships that are associated with vehicular travel. The amount of carbon emissions in the atmosphere has exceeded 380ppm, while most scientists agree that this is a dangerous level to be at since the lifetime of CO2 is extensive and emission rates are increasing (Hansen et al., 2008) (Canadell et al., 2007) (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA], 2012). Transportation accounts 3 for about one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions (Greene, Baker, & Plotkin, 2011) (Lutsey & Sperling, 2008). In addition, gas-powered vehicles release toxic petroleum by-products which, in the form of runoff, enter groundwater and municipal water sources. People and animals are exposed to these non-point sources of toxins on a daily basis and the negative impacts are difficult to pinpoint. For many people, the benefit of active transport which resonates the most is the fact that walking and biking are free and cost-effective, while rising gas prices are becoming too expensive to continue paying for. Neighborhood Design and Land Use The design of a neighborhood has a great deal of influence on how sedentary or active a resident’s lifestyle can be. Urban design can be thought of in two ways- the traditional neighborhood and suburban sprawl. The traditional neighborhood is characterized by mixed land use and pedestrian friendly spaces, where amenities and shopping areas are within walking distance of homes. This type of community was the primary form of settlement in America up until the end of World War II, when an influx of national wealth allowed government and developers to rapidly exploit the landscape with suburban sprawl. With the inception of the modern city, or suburbia, land use was strategically divided so that housing clusters, business districts, and civic institutions are disconnected from one another (Duany, Plater-Zyberk, & Speck, 2010). This segregation helped to paint the picture of the American Dream and the glamorized automobile culture, as the new vision of success was suddenly based on seclusion and privacy. The public was eager to attain this perceived notion of upward mobility, personal property, and independence, which fueled the housing market and the construction of affordable, homogenous developments like Levittown, NY (Kelly, 1993). 4 Heightened Awareness of Walkability Issues in Communities In most cases, the original design of towns still exists today. Automobile-dependent neighborhoods with separate sectors for residencies and shopping districts often lack safe spaces for non-motorists, such as sidewalks or pathways for bicyclists. Unfortunately, there are many individuals who would like to exercise more or who want to be able to walk or bike to shops, but their mobility is inhibited by traffic and roads that are unfit for pedestrians. Advocates for active transport sometimes refer to this issue as walkability, a term that encompasses both walking and biking, as well as other modes of non-motorized travel (Sandt, 2001) (National Complete Streets Coalition [NCSC], 2009) (Walkable and Livable Communities [WALC], 2012) (WalkScore, 2012). A rising number of communities are becoming aware of the need for walkable space. Some communities have been successful in gaining the attention of city officials and were eventually able to see the necessary accommodations for pedestrians and cyclists in their neighborhood. However, these implementations