Blog

High Quality Trails Just Work...

Michael D Hadden — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 03:11:37 +0000

I loved this StreetFilms video of the Cultural Trail that recently opened in Indianapolis. It's a completely separate bicycle and pedestrian trail that connects Indianapolis' downtown amenities. I immediately thought of how successful the Beltline Eastside Trail has been when I saw the traffic on this trail.

We can and should build the Roswell Loop as soon as possible and also look to create as many path connections through the center of our city as possible.

The Indianapolis Cultural Trail: The Next-Gen in U.S. Protected Bike Lanes from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Ponce City Market is Going to Look Nice

Michael D Hadden — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:00:24 +0000

I can't wait to see the renovation of the old Sears building in the Old Fourth Ward! Ponce City Market posted a nice fly through of what it will look like. Enjoy...

Stacked Flats Coming to Roswell

Michael D Hadden — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 02:05:42 +0000

This is a cross-post from my monthly column, Community Design Matters, in The Current.

You can call the project whatever you want; apartments, stacked flats, too dense, gentrification, revitalization, progress, catalytic. But, no matter where you stand, it increasingly looks like we will soon see the first major redevelopment in Roswell’s historic district under the new Groveway code. Lennar Multifamily is planning on dropping $43 million+ into the parcel of land where the Frazier Street Apartments currently sit and the Roswell City Council allowed Lennar to take a major step forward last month when it approved the site plan by a 5-1 vote. It should come as no surprise to readers that I am a proponent of this project. I actually purchased a home in April that quite literally backs up to this project, not in small part due to my strong convictions about the project’s value to the surrounding community.

That said, there have been no shortage of arguments made as to why this is a bad idea. These tend to center around six main themes; Density, Mix of Uses, Cars, Schools and Displacement. If you were able to attend the May 13th City Council meeting you would have seen Chris Cassidy, Regional VP, Lennar Multifamily, address these concerns with the council and audience. Here’s a recap with color. As far as density is concerned, this project will be 32 units per acre (320 units on 10 acres) which is an increase from the roughly 16 units per acre currently. Given the cost of the property and need for profitability, this is the optimum amount that Lennar believes is suitable. Additionally, people living in close proximity to amenities is what creates truly walkable places.

Another big concern was that it did not adhere to the Groveway code because it was not mixed-use. First, there are many varieties of mixed-use from vertical to horizontal. Second, not every building or parcel in our historic district needs to be mixed use and the code does not require that. All mixed-use all the time is a nice vision but realistically, it doesn’t always work. Putting space for retail on the ground floor doesn’t magically bring a business to fill it. Ideally, these apartments will provide patrons for what should eventually be a vertical mixed use parcel right next-door where the Value Village and Southern Skillet strip mall currently sits. These apartments will be the spark needed to finally get that parcel redeveloped.

Probably the single biggest concern centered around the car. Yes Roswell, we are preoccupied with our cars, but not just our own cars. We are preoccupied with everyone else’s cars and what they do with them.

The evil twins of Traffic and Parking came up numerous times and were addressed well by Mr. Cassidy. On parking, Lennar feels that the number of spaces they are requesting (a variance, as they are requesting fewer spaces than our minimum parking reqs. require) is appropriate given the usage in other similar properties. They have found that they require approximately .9 spaces per room in similar projects. This means that the 420-445 that they are considering would be appropriate and they will tweak the # of spaces to meet the number they feel is appropriate. Big concerns were raised by councilman Igleheart as well as others in the audience that this would not be enough and the “what if’s” were flying. But, you must remember that apartments are rarely 100% leased, people vacation, take business trips, work at different times and some don’t even have cars (some). The point is that you don’t build the church for Easter Sunday and we shouldn’t build our parking lots with excess capacity. It’s a waste of space and money.

It’s as simple as this. Lennar and Mr. Cassidy understand apartment parking needs far more than an ordinary citizen going off their gut feelings. If Lennar isn’t interested in doing more projects in Roswell, it would be shocking considering they are putting such a sizable investment into the heart of our city. Gambling on parking requirements and upsetting the city seems like a losing deal for them. Additionally, we want walkability in this area. NOTHING kills walkability more than the blank expanses of surface parking lots. Mr. Cassidy referred several times in his presentation to the Highlands of West Village project in Smyrna as being a good comparison for what they are looking to construct here. The parking allotment there is roughly the same as what they are looking to do here without any significant issues.
The car dominated another discussion which was about what cars do when they aren’t parked. Arguments were raised that the traffic counts would be unbearable and that we would grind to a halt in that part of town. The city’s traffic studies suggest otherwise (these are the same people that were crazy enough to suggest that the round-a-bout would not be a total disaster). Lennar had the most conservative analysis possible done. They did not remove the Frazier St Apartments traffic from the count and added the estimated traffic from their project on top of that. The models showed increased traffic but not significant enough congestion to warrant concern from DOT.

The concerns raised about the impact to schools would normally apply. The only problem is that the demographic that Lennar is targeting generally won’t have kids or won’t have them living with them. Thus, Fulton county’s estimates of 168 to 265 students borders on absurdity. The true number will be much lower than that and comparable properties say that the number may even be in the single digits but it is more likely between 10 and 20. That does not account for the displacement of the school age kids that are currently living there which could end up with an overall reduction to Roswell North, Crabapple Middle and Roswell High.

Another concern raised, which I agree with, is that the current conceptual name is not appropriate. Canton City Walk tries to play on the success of Canton Street and the fact that the target demographic will desire walkability. However, it just doesn’t sit well with most people who hear it. That said, the name is conceptual and will be reviewed by Lennar. I have even heard that they may be open to suggestions.

Finally, there were some folks in the audience who were appropriately concerned with the designs. The initial concept was exactly that, a concept. Lennar has worked extensively with our city staff and their team of architects and advisors to put together a project with a design that will reflect some of the history and vernacular of Historic Roswell while also incorporating a new feel. Mr. Cassidy stated that the designs had “significantly changed” since they were initially released. Having seen them, I can agree. The new designs should go before the Historic Preservation Commission for final approval on July 17.

It is exciting to see a project that increases walkability, brings unique residences and cleans up the heart of our city coming to us in the near future. if all goes well, we could see construction begin toward the end of this year and we might have some new neighbors sometime next year. Once that happens, the true power of proximity and walkability will start to be realized in our historic district.

Why is Holcomb Bridge the worst road in Metro Atlanta?

Daniel Noto — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 16:04:41 +0000

If you are a resident of Roswell, Alpharetta, or even Johns Creek, there is a phrase that you are absolutely petrified to see when driving anywhere in Roswell: Holcomb Bridge Road.

Why is that? It's because the traffic and congestion on this road is by far the worst in nearly all of North Fulton. Among the many, many reasons for this congestion (i.e. WAY too many lights...), the worst of them has to be the complete lack of coordination between the stop lights. We are all forced to drive light-to-light catching every single red light along the way. The worst part of it has to be when we look ahead down the road and see large sections of the road completely empty because we're all back, stuck at a red light.

When I say "coordination between the stop lights", I am referring to the concept that is, for some reason, foreign to the city planners of Roswell, Alpharetta, or any other town in the Greater Atlanta area (including Atlanta). The idea is that the lights are timed so that once the first light turns green, the next stop light will turn green 10-15 seconds later, and then next light will turn green 10-15 seconds after that, etc.

Cities like New York, Chicago, Boston, and even Los Angeles (WHAT?!) have coordination of stop lights to help traffic moving more smoothly during peak rush hour times.

Now, I do understand that people will say "Holcomb Bridge is two directions... how do you do that on a 2-direction road?" The solution is: coordinate in the direction of rush hour traffic. For Holcolm Bridge, coordination should happen in the direction of 400 in the morning and away from 400 in the afternoon and evening.

Lastly, and this is just perfect, the AJC had an article from March 2011 ("Turning Georgia's Traffic Signals Green") stating that the DOT was beginning an initiative to start coordinating lights throughout Metro-Atlanta and even named Holcomb Bridge Road specifically as one of the major arteries needing repair... Well, needless to say, I think there has been absolutely no action in those 2 years and things are just getting worse with the continual population growth in North Fulton County.

So, until Roswell or Alpharetta, figure out the most basic of road planning concepts (that even LOS ANGELES figured out), I'll continue to avoid Holcomb Bridge Road like the plague... And I hope, for your sanity, that most of you do as well.

CNU Week: 30A

Michael D Hadden — Wed, 29 May 2013 12:01:12 +0000

I had planned to attend this years CNU21 in Salt Lake City but unfortunately won't be there. It is one of those places where people interested in walkability, place making and quality development can go to nurture their inner geek. This week, I'll be posting a number of my favorite things about the new urbanist movement.

If you have a 30A sticker on your car, you may be a closet new urbanist. There are three incredible new urbanist towns along 30A that attract hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. Those are Rosemary Beach, Alys Beach and the town that started it all, Seaside. I could write a bunch of words about these spots but it wouldn't do them any more justice than these three videos. The first two are about Seaside and the last is a pretty slick flyover of what Alys Beach's eventual buildout will look like...

CNU Week: Sustainable Street Network Principles

Michael D Hadden — Tue, 28 May 2013 12:00:55 +0000

Let's call this Transportation Tuesday... One of the most important aspects of our built environment is our transportation infrastructure. Sidewalks, Streets, Roads, Highways, Railways, etc.. One of the most frustrating parts of good urban design is the fact that a DOT can crush a good development because the roads are poortly designed or because they won't allow proper widths due to a number of voodoo reasons that we won't get into here. CNU has been working for a long time with the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) through the CNU Project for Transportation Reform to come up with guidelines that will help build more people friendly places. In 2012, the released their Sustainable Street Network Principles.

Here are the main points. If you would like to dive into them, download the pdf.

Principles

Create a Street Network That Supports Communities and Places
Create a Street Network that Attracts and Sustains Economic Activity
Maximize Transportation Choice
Integrate the Street Network With Natural Systems at All Scales
Respect the Existing Natural and Built Environment
Emphasize Walking as the Fundamental Unit of the Street Network
Create Harmony With Other Transportation Networks

Key Characteristics

A web of streets and travel modes that maximize connectivity
Desirable places where multiple networks overlap
Inherently complex
Major streets designed and spaced properly
All streets safe and walkable
Wide variety of street types, each with a role in the network

CNU Week: The Best Books of the New Urbanism

Michael D Hadden — Mon, 27 May 2013 12:00:52 +0000

Next up for CNU Week are my top books that espouse what the new urbanist movement is all about. Some are very accessible and others are wonky..

Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream - Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Jeff Speck

You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. - Morpheus, The Matrix

Suburban Nation is THE red pill of the built environment. It will change your views on a lot of things. I guarantee that. It gets a little wonky at time but for the most part is a very accessible read and it is highly entertaining and witty.

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

This one is easily the most accessible of all the books listed here. It came out last year and has done very well for a general audience. It is packed with stats on why walkability trumps virtually every other measure when considering what is needed to build a great place. Speck lays out the four requirements of a good walk and the 10 steps to get there. Most places in the US have a long way to go.

The Language of Towns and Cities - Dhiru Thadani

This is really the encyclopedia of the New Urbanism. I'm not sure how long Dhiru worked on it but it is a master piece. It is not a book you read but you definitely want to flip through it and go back to it for reference. It is well written and beautifully illustrated. I mean, BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED.

City Comforts: How to Build an Urban Village - David Sucher

City comforts is a more fun version of the Language of Towns and Cities written from the perspecetive of a layperson to help people who love great places but need help illustrating the principles of great places to others. There are tons of pictures and it's very fun to flip through.

Curbside Chat: A Candid Talk about the Future of America's Cities, Towns and Neighborhoods - StrongTowns.org (Chuck Marohn)

The Curbside Chat is where you want to go if you are a fiscal conservative and are wondering if this urban vs. sprawl argument has any substance. Chuck Marohn of StrongTowns.org lays out some pretty compelling cases that our sprawl development pattern is going to eventually cost much more to maintain than the revenue it will produce. It's a quick read or you can just watch a Curbside Chat on YouTube from RoswellNEXT's Town Hall Roswell in April 2013.

CNU Week: The Charter of the New Urbanism

Michael D Hadden — Sun, 26 May 2013 12:00:11 +0000

The first thing that comes to mind is the ultra geeky but incredible precient Charter Document.. below is the quick and dirty version. The actual document is accompanied by essays on each of the 27 points. If you enjoy this blog, it's worth a read and if you would like to support CNU, you can do so here.

Preamble

The Congress for the New Urbanism views disinvestment in central cities, the spread of placeless sprawl, increasing separation by race and income, environmental deterioration, loss of agricultural lands and wilderness, and the erosion of society’s built heritage as one interrelated community-building challenge.

We stand for the restoration of existing urban centers and towns within coherent metropolitan regions, the reconfiguration of sprawling suburbs into communities of real neighborhoods and diverse districts, the conservation of natural environments, and the preservation of our built legacy.

We advocate the restructuring of public policy and development practices to support the following principles: neighborhoods should be diverse in use and population; communities should be designed for the pedestrian and transit as well as the car; cities and towns should be shaped by physically defined and universally accessible public spaces and community institutions; urban places should be framed by architecture and landscape design that celebrate local history, climate, ecology, and building practice.

We recognize that physical solutions by themselves will not solve social and economic problems, but neither can economic vitality, community stability, and environmental health be sustained without a coherent and supportive physical framework.

We represent a broad-based citizenry, composed of public and private sector leaders, community activists, and multidisciplinary professionals. We are committed to reestablishing the relationship between the art of building and the making of community, through citizen-based participatory planning and design.

We dedicate ourselves to reclaiming our homes, blocks, streets, parks, neighborhoods, districts, towns, cities, regions, and environment.

We assert the following principles to guide public policy, development practice, urban planning, and design:

The region: Metropolis, city, and town

1) Metropolitan regions are finite places with geographic boundaries derived from topography, watersheds, coastlines, farmlands, regional parks, and river basins. The metropolis is made of multiple centers that are cities, towns, and villages, each with its own identifiable center and edges.

2) The metropolitan region is a fundamental economic unit of the contemporary world. Governmental cooperation, public policy, physical planning, and economic strategies must reflect this new reality.

3) The metropolis has a necessary and fragile relationship to its agrarian hinterland and natural landscapes. The relationship is environmental, economic, and cultural. Farmland and nature are as important to the metropolis as the garden is to the house.

4) Development patterns should not blur or eradicate the edges of the metropolis. Infill development within existing urban areas conserves environmental resources, economic investment, and social fabric, while reclaiming marginal and abandoned areas. Metropolitan regions should develop strategies to encourage such infill development over peripheral expansion.

5) Where appropriate, new development contigu- ous to urban boundaries should be organized as neighborhoods and districts, and be integrated with the existing urban pattern. Noncontiguous development should be organized as towns and villages with their own urban edges, and planned for a jobs/housing balance, not as bedroom suburbs.

6) The development and redevelopment of towns and cities should respect historical patterns, precedents, and boundaries.

7) Cities and towns should bring into proximity a broad spectrum of public and private uses to support a regional economy that benefits people of all incomes. Affordable housing should be distributed throughout the region to match job opportunities and to avoid concentrations of poverty.

8) The physical organization of the region should be supported by a framework of transportation alternatives. Transit, pedestrian, and bicycle systems should maximize access and mobility throughout the region while reducing dependence upon the automobile.

9) Revenues and resources can be shared more cooperatively among the municipalities and centers within regions to avoid destructive competition for tax base and to promote rational coordination of transportation, recreation, public services, housing, and community institutions.

The neighborhood, the district, and the corridor

10) The neighborhood, the district, and the corridor are the essential elements of development and redevelopment in the metropolis. They form identifiable areas that encourage citizens to take responsibility for their maintenance and evolution.

11) Neighborhoods should be compact, pedestrian friendly, and mixed-use. Districts generally emphasize a special single use, and should follow the principles of neighborhood design when possible. Corridors are regional connectors of neighborhoods and districts; they range from boulevards and rail lines to rivers and parkways.

12) Many activities of daily living should occur within walking distance, allowing independence to those who do not drive, especially the elderly and the young. Interconnected networks of streets should be designed to encourage walking, reduce the number and length of automobile trips, and conserve energy.

13) Within neighborhoods, a broad range of housing types and price levels can bring people of diverse ages, races, and incomes into daily interaction, strengthening the personal and civic bonds essential to an authentic community.

14 ) Transit corridors, when properly planned and coordinated, can help organize metropolitan structure and revitalize urban centers. In contrast, highway corridors should not displace investment from existing centers.

15) Appropriate building densities and land uses should be within walking distance of transit stops, permitting public transit to become a viable alternative to the automobile.

16) Concentrations of civic, institutional, and commercial activity should be embedded in neighborhoods and districts, not isolated in remote, single-use complexes. Schools should be sized and located to enable children to walk or bicycle to them.

17) The economic health and harmonious evolution of neighborhoods, districts, and corridors can be improved through graphic urban design codes that serve as predictable guides for change.

18) A range of parks, from tot-lots and village greens to ballfields and community gardens, should be distributed within neighborhoods. Conservation areas and open lands should be used to define and connect different neighbor- hoods and districts.

The block, the street, and the building

19) A primary task of all urban architecture and landscape design is the physical definition of streets and public spaces as places of shared use.

20) Individual architectural projects should be seamlessly linked to their surroundings. This issue transcends style.

21) The revitalization of urban places depends on safety and security. The design of streets and buildings should reinforce safe environments, but not at the expense of accessibility and openness.

22) In the contemporary metropolis, development must adequately accommodate automobiles. It should do so in ways that respect the pedestrian and the form of public space.

23) Streets and squares should be safe, comfort- able, and interesting to the pedestrian. Properly configured, they encourage walking and enable neighbors to know each other and protect their communities.

24) Architecture and landscape design should grow from local climate, topography, history, and building practice.

25) Civic buildings and public gathering places require important sites to reinforce community identity and the culture of democracy. They deserve distinctive form, because their role is different from that of other buildings and places that constitute the fabric of the city.

26) All buildings should provide their inhabitants with a clear sense of location, weather and time. Natural methods of heating and cooling can be more resource-efficient than mechanical systems.

27) Preservation and renewal of historic buildings, districts, and landscapes affirm the continuity and evolution of urban society.

Sidewalk Cafe vs Street Tree

Michael D Hadden — Fri, 24 May 2013 01:19:35 +0000

I'm not sure which way to go on this. As a dyed in the wool new urbanist, I love sidewalk cafes and street trees. The both add signifcantly to the public realm when done right. Which is why I'm torn on the proposal by the owners of Salt Factory to expand their sidewalk cafe. We will get an upgraded sidewalk in that spot, albeit narrower. But, the cost will be the nice little tree that lives next to the road. I'm never the one crying to save a tree when a worthy development comes along but this one gets me. Trees define space and frame a street. I think we will miss the little tree when it is gone and we will have four more tables at Salt Factory. I think they should keep it as it is and add seating on their roof.

Learning From Sloan Street Park

Michael D Hadden — Sat, 04 May 2013 13:24:53 +0000

This is a cross-post from my monthly column, Community Design Matters, in The Current.

Sloan Street Park: Roswell’s only neighborhood park is surrounded by homes and townhomes, has a playground, a gathering space, a monument and even has a doggie poo station. image: Bing Maps

When was the last time you visited a park? Here in Roswell and North Fulton, we are blessed with great parks . In fact, the Roswell Parks & Rec department has been named Agency of the Year by the Georgia Recreation & Park Association a record eight times, last receiving the award in 2011. Alpharetta also won the award in 2011 for the mid-size city category. Some of the great parks in our area include Riverside, Roswell Area, Wills, Overlook, the Big Creek Greenway and the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area.

What do these all have in common? They are destination parks. Most visitors drive to them. Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with destination parks but when you lack the other types of parks, your city can certainly become boring not to mention difficult to navigate for some folks. Think about this, can you walk to a public park in ten minutes or less? If you are in the historic district, that answer is probably yes. I’m fortunate to be able to walk to five and if you count the grounds at Barrington and Bulloch, seven. Unfortunately, most of us don’t have that type of park proximity.

How can our cities increase park access for all? Well, what most of the cities of North Fulton are lacking is easy access to small neighborhood parks sometimes called pocket parks. These are the types of parks where neighbors bump into each other while on a stroll. The kind where kids can actually go without a parental escort, maybe gaining some confidence and independence in the process. The kind that have buildings lining the edges defining the space and creating a sense of place. Unfortunately, we’ve largely forgotten about public neighborhood parks out here in the burbs. We forgot about them in favor of big yards and lawnmowers. We traded traditional neighborhoods with walkable parks for our easy, no hassle, happy-motoring access to all the happiness that stuff in strip malls provides us.

Roswell is a great case study, we have no fewer than 22 parks in the city. Of those there are 11 linear parks, 5 district parks, 1 national recreation area and six “small urban parks” as the city refers to them. You might be surprised by their names; City Hall, Heart of Roswell, Sloan Street, Terramont, Town Square & Triangle Parks. These are just our public parks. The list does not include private parks such as those in Martin's Landing and other subdivisions.

Now, 22 is a respectable number of parks with a diverse range of types totaling over 900 acres. Add to that Roswell’s commitment to preserve over 5,000 acres of greenspace (including but not limited to parks) and you have a city that is serous about parks. Well, serious about destination parks. We have the "small urban parks" but even those six can be a challenge to walk to which limits their utility.

Three of the six are adjacent to Hwy 9 and another is adjacent to Holcomb Bridge Rd. For the most part, they don't serve a neighborhood and are actually smaller destination spaces. Actually, only one of our public parks, Sloan Street Park, could really be considered a neighborhood ‘pocket park’ and not surprisingly, it’s the only one with a playground.

What makes it unique is that it is focused on the people that live and work around it while also being useful to all ages. It should serve as inspiration for the next generation of parks in Roswell. We can start focusing on building true neighborhoods with cozy walkable parks where neighbors can gather and kids can play with friends without calling it a ‘play date.’

Now, neighborhood parks sound warm and fuzzy but public money spent on parks would be better utilized by the private sector, right? Wrong. A well maintained network of public parks supports property values, boosts the local economy, increases social capital, improves public health and helps preserve the environment. One of the best examples of a park creating value is our nation’s most famous park, Central Park. Frederick Law Olmstead (also designed Piedmont Park) tracked the values of property adjacent to the park from 1856 to 1873 to justify the $13 million investment. He found that values increased by an impressive $209 million in those 17 years.

Beyond the economic case, the quality of life benefits are huge. Simply being able to walk out the front door and stroll to your park is a luxury that is largely lost these days. We’ve chosen to build our parks in places where it’s tough to walk. Most of our parks have few homes fronting them. Many of them are separated from residential areas by busy street on at least one side. Neighborhood parks have homes and businesses that front the park. People can walk right out into their park. They meet their neighbors there and the best thing is that they can walk right back home when it’s time. Sloan Street Park is just that kind of park.

We need more parks like Sloan Street Park to start completing our neighborhoods. You should check it out. It might not be special to you but then again, it’s probably not your neighborhood park. Where can we build the next one?