|
by Richard Louv | San Diego Union Tribune
In late July, the superintendent of Murrieta Valley Unified
School District in sprawling Riverside County issued a press
release recommending that students attending Vista Murrieta
High School avoid walking to school. Drive, he said.
Students should come by "private vehicle, carpool or
by using the district's bus service." Why? Surrounding
freeway ramps, a pedestrian-unfriendly bridge and fast cars
were simply too dangerous. Sidewalks would have helped, too.
So it goes in sunny Southern California, which, counting
the number of sunny days, should logically be America's most
walkable region, but isn't.
This month, more of us were talking the walk, after a major
report linked unwalkable suburbs to the obesity epidemic.
But obesity isn't the only way to die. The nation's most dangerous
metro areas tend to be newer, low-density developments with
wide, high-speed arterial streets and fewer sidewalks or crosswalks,
according to the nonprofit Surface Transportation Policy Project's
2002 Mean Streets report.
The report ranked San Diego 28th out of 49 large metro regions
nationally in its pedestrian danger index (a measure of the
per capita number of pedestrian fatalities adjusted by the
number of walkers). The good news, of sorts, is that San Diego
improved by one position from its 1997/98 rank of 29th. The
bad news is that, over the past decade, the number of San
Diego County commuters who walked to work fell by 24.5 percent,
compared to a statewide reduction of 14.7 percent.
Forget the fatalistic myth that car-loving Americans just
aren't interested in a more pedestrian lifestyle.
In April, the results of a national survey conducted by the
Washington, D.C.-based Surface Transportation Policy Project,
showed that, if given a choice between walking more and driving
more, 55 percent of adults would choose walking more; 68 percent
favor putting more federal dollars toward improving walkability;
and an overwhelming 74 percent favored using state transportation
dollars to make walking routes to school safer from traffic
dangers.
We're all dressed up, with no place to walk. That could change.
"Some developers have tried to create new, walkable,
mixed-use communities," says Andy Hamilton, a San Diego
Air Pollution Control District employee who serves as vice
president of WalkSanDiego (www.walksandiego.org),
an organization formed in 1998 to address pedestrian needs.
While such developments as 4S Ranch and Black Mountain Ranch
"won't be able to mimic the success of our more dense
older communities, they should be better than the Rancho Bernardos
and Poways."
WalkSanDiego played an important role in getting the
city's street design manual rewritten; SANDAG, the regional
planning agency, followed suit by issuing design guidelines
for more walkable and bikeable communities. For example, narrower
streets are both easier to cross and encourage slower vehicle
speeds. "A pedestrian hit by a car going 40 mph has about
a 15 percent chance of surviving. At 20 mph they increase
to 85 percent," explains Stephan Vance, senior regional
planner for SANDAG.
Streets that discourage high vehicle speeds can be created
by adding medians, which also make them easier to cross on
foot, and by narrowing the travel lanes and, where appropriate,
adding speed bumps. These are relatively easy design challenges
with considerable public support.
But the most critical missing element from suburbs is the
lack of destinations, says Hamilton. "Without sufficient
density, neighborhoods can't support the retail stores that
serve as destinations for walkers and bicyclists," he
says. "It doesn't matter how many beautifully landscaped
paths you create if there's no where to walk to."
Exactly. Australia's cities are similar to Southern California's
sprawling suburbs, and Aussies share our SUV predilection.
Nonetheless, Australians generate only 68 percent of the vehicle
trips that Americans do, because their zoning has never segregated
land uses. In Australia, "there's usually a corner store
within walking distance of most homes," says Hamilton.
"With our extremely restrictive zoning, parking requirements
and artificially low suburban densities, it takes a lot of
tricks and imagination to create a truly walkable community.
Most developers and their lenders don't want to take a chance."
Local urban designer Howard M. Blackson III takes the discussion
a step further. "We need to raise our standards for creating
public space," he says. "Talking of walkable communities
seems to define our communities by our mode of transit rather
than our mode of being. Personally, I'd like more than just
walkable. I'd like most stayable, hangable, lingerable' standable
and sittable. People don't always want to be going somewhere.
They want to be somewhere."
Indeed, walkable (and sittable) community design is more
politically and economically practical than most people believe.
A growing body of research shows that people shopping for
homes look first for neighborhood quality, including walkability;
also, new walkable communities have a 20 percent higher return
on investment than conventional suburban development. "The
public health behemoth has gotten into the game and is shifting
the quality of life paradigm from 'ooh look, a remote control
microwave' to 'ooh look, we can walk to the store, park, and
school,'" Hamilton points out.
Oregon now encourages insurers to offer coverage that rewards
consumers for driving fewer miles. Indianapolis, home of the
Speedway, is considering an elaborate network of pathways
that would link neighborhoods and the downtown area for walkers
and bikers. As California's budget crumbles, such innovation
is hard to imagine here.
San Diego's average yearly spending of federal funds on bicycle
and pedestrian projects is only 38 cents per person (or 34th
out of 49 metro regions). The national average expenditure
is 87 cents per person - not all that impressive, when compared
to the annual average spent per person on roads and bridges,
which is more than $50, according to the Mean Streets report.
Still, think what could happen if, on some distant day, San
Diego turns its attention from ballparks to sidewalks - to
redeveloping the older suburbs.
Could San Diego become the most walkable suburban-style metro
region in the nation? Yes. We've got the weather, now we need
the will.
RICHARD LOUV
|
