Raleigh, North Carolina didn't take getting placed sixth most dangerous metro area in the country lightly back in 2009, and recently drafted a Comprehensive Pedestrian Plan in response.
“In 2009, the think tank Transportation for America released a report called "Dangerous by Design" [PDF], ranking the least pedestrian-friendly metro areas in the country” reports Eric Jaffe, adding, “Raleigh, North Carolina, placed sixth—as in sixth most dangerous.” According to Fleming El-Amin, one of the city's transportation planners, “That was a bit of an eye opener." Following a lengthy public commentary period, Raleigh is now set to release its response to their public pedestrian shaming - a final version of the draft Comprehensive Pedestrian Plan released last October.
The plan includes physical and psychological elements for making the city more walkable. They physical component includes the creation of up to 212 miles of new sidewalks, which utilizes "a new GIS-based prioritization system that ranks sidewalk projects on both 'need' and 'demand.'" The psychological approach is focused on getting drivers to change their behavior and “to be more observant, and tolerant, of pedestrians.” It also includes the possibility of expanding the city's popular guerrilla wayfinding effort, Walk Raleigh, which helps pedestrians better calculate walking times through signage.
Though the city does not have specific success targets yet, it has already improved to 13th worst pedestrian city in a more recent 2011 report [PDF]. And, El-Amin asserts that this is not just a local issue, but a much larger one for the country, “I think when we really make a shift, either statewide or nationally, to think about every street as a complete street, it'll be more at the forefront to look at pedestrian mobility and connectivity more holistically and comprehensively."
FULL STORY: Raleigh's Pedestrian Rebound
Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary
Cities have a one-time chance to acquire new land for development in a bid to increase housing supply and affordability.
Where Urban Design Is Headed in 2024
A forecast of likely trends in urban design and architecture.
Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts
From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.
Orlando Pledges to Improve Walkability
A city report highlights successes and failures in building safer transportation infrastructure and reducing VMT in 2023.
New York Transit Agency Launches Performance Dashboard
The tool increases transparency about the agency’s performance on a variety of metrics.
Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding
The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.
City of Rochester
Boston Harbor Now
City of Bellevue
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.