Steve Mouzon finds fault with the uniform application of the 1/4 mile walkability radius, regardless of context. And, in the first in a series of articles, he introduces a new tool for understanding and building walkable places.
Mouzon takes aim at the quarter-mile radius (or 5-minute walk), "which has been held up for a
century as the distance Americans will walk before driving," calling it "a myth." In its place he proposes the use of a new tool - "Walk Appeal" - to describe walkability, which in this article he aligns with the transect. As the transect become less dense and more suburban, the comfortable walking radius actually shrinks - all the way to 25 feet along a sidewalk which runs between an arterial thoroughfare and a surface parking lot.
Future posts will look at the metrics that
determine which Walk Appeal setting a particular streetscape achieves, how Walk Appeal can predict the
viability of walkable neighborhood businesses, and the differences that Walk Appeal streetscape repairs can make in order
to cast a broader net for walking customers, writes Mouzon.
FULL STORY: Walk Appeal
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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.
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Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
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