The Sidewalk to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions

"Sometimes all the right people seem to be at the table, all singing from similar hymnals, and all seemingly focused on transcending growth-as-usual and yet, still, the results fall flat."

Scott Doyon describes a planning event that says and does all the "right" things, and then gets a result that looks more like business as usual than market-responsive planning. He says “pedestrain-friendly” zoning is getting it wrong, in three acts:

1. Dictating sidewalk entrances while making no provision that those entrances remain unlocked;

2. Regulating a percentage of window glass with no stipulations for transparency; and

3. Encouraging sidewalk proximity while allowing for nature band-aid plantings that separate pedestrians from the businesses they’re expected to patronize. The results are predictable. Also laughable.