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May 16, 2013 | 12:01 am

Ways to Fail at Form-Based Codes 04: Don’t Capture the Character

The other day, I was riding my bike from a deeply walkable, bikeable neighbourhood to a more auto-dominated environment, and I was struck again by the tactile response when you’re walking or biking through this change. In the walkable neighbourhood, fellow cyclists were in the streets or in bike lanes, mixing safely with the traffic-calmed cars and frequent pedestrians. But as I moved into the autocentric roads, otherwise law-abiding cyclists take to the sidewalks out of sheer terror at the fast moving cars that often fail to see them.

And pedestrians? They become scarce to nonexistent.

Category Back of the Envelope, Community Development, Development, Economic Development, Planning and Design, Theory and Practice4 CommentsTags bikeable, biking, complete streets, FBC Ways to Fail Series, form-based code, Hazel Borys, smartcode, suburban, synoptic survey, walkable, walking

January 3, 2013 | 12:01 am

Seven Placemaking Wishes for 2013

With the dawning of 2013, the interwebs are awash in lists detailing exactly what to watch out for in the coming year and, in a way, this is one more of those. But not exactly. Though firmly rooted in placemaking trends that have gained notable traction over the past year, this list contains not so much what we’re going to see as it does what we’re hoping to see.

As far as we’re concerned, the communities we love will be better served in 2013 with:

Category Back of the Envelope, Community Development, Development, Economic Development, Financing, Planning and Design, Public Policy7 CommentsTags Charles Marohn, complete streets, Euclidean zoning, form-based code, GDP, incremental growth, Joe Minicozzi, Peter Katz, smart growth, Tactical Urbanism

June 7, 2012 | 12:01 am

The Strip Mall vs. the Multi-Way Boulevard: In consideration of subtle differences

Having worked in communities big and small across the continent, we’ve had ample opportunity to test ideas and find approaches that work best. Urban design details. Outreach tactics. Implementation tricks. Many of these lessons are transferable, which is why we’ve created “Back of the Envelope,” a weekly feature where we jot ’em down for your consideration.

Like its larger cousin the mall, the strip mall has become a symbol for our dysfunctional car-focused suburban environments. Ask any born-again urbanite why, and they’ll tell you that the strip mall’s most damning offense is putting all that parking in front of the store, creating a horrible car-focused environment. But… is it so simple? Take that same urbanite to some of the celebrated boulevards of Paris, Barcelona, or even Chico, California and see those offenses forgiven.