Design
Getting the details right is important both in the architecture of buildings and in the overall pattern of a neighborhood. You've certainly experienced what it's like to walk on a road with few pedestrians, nothing to look at and forbidding concrete walls or opaque windows in all directions. Design also influences the ways people choose to get around. Too often, our communities are built in ways that make driving the only safe option. Regardless of the size or location of a community, some basic principles can ensure people have travel options and enjoyable places to live, work and play. There are five key elements of design -
- Good Architecture.
- Meaningful Destinations.
- Safe Streets.
- Good Connections to Nearby Communities.
- Community Involvement
Good Architecture:
Carefully designed buildings make for appealing places where people are drawn to to live, work and shop.Architecture should be attractive and welcoming. Front porches on homes and transparent, well-lit retail spaces on the ground floor of buildings help create this effect. Other tools like echoing historic facades, limiting the number of driveways and using high-quality materials all enhance the way places feel.
Meaningful Destinations:
Think of the places you want to be able to reach easily and regularly. The park, coffeeshop, school, your favorite pizza place? Many localities are making sure new neighborhoods include a mix of the kind of places most of us stop by daily. Residents and visitors in places from Clarendon to Rockville Town Center can walk down the street for an ice cream cone after dinner, buy a morning paper, go to the library, a play or their place of work.
Safe Streets:
Only when there are safe and welcoming streets will people really want to get out of their cars and walk to the store, the movies or visit with friends. Research has shown what kind of design features make streets safer and more inviting. These can easily be added to existing streets - as well as planned into new development. A few examples include:
- Wider sidewalks
- Bike lanes
- Shade trees
- Benches
- Buildings with transparent fronts to put "eyes on the street"
- Public spaces for concerts or street theater
Good Connections:
Neighborhoods need to provide several convenient options for people to connect to jobs and services in other parts of the region.
Community Involvement:
Those affected by new development should have accessible and clear ways of participating in its design. There are many exciting tools that help communities get involved, imagine alternative designs and implement the community vision.
