Charlottesville Tomorrow’s successful Kickstarter campaign results in an impressive 3D rendering of the probably-soon-to-be-built-and-already-obsolete Western Bypass. U.S. 29 Western Bypass, Northern Interchange – 2012 Design from Charlottesville Tomorrow on Vimeo. I’m categorizing this post under…
Posts tagged Transportation
Walkable Neighborhoods Have Happier Residents
Yeah, the info graphic below is for/from California, but the data points are universal.
And, because images aren’t searchable, the three points:
– Lose Weight! The average resident of a walkable neighborhood weighs 6 to 10 pounds less than someone who lives in a car-dependent neighborhood .
– Save Money! Transportation is the second largest expense for American households, costing more than food, clothing, and health care.
– Connect! Studies show that for every 10 minutes a person spends in a daily car commute, time spent in community activities falls by 10%
Dense Neighborhoods Are Good for Single Family House Values
Yet another study demonstrates that dense neighborhoods – close to neighbors and close to stuff (coffee, parks, grocery, library, schools – you know, stuff) is valuable.
They learned that pedestrian aids, such as sidewalks and shorter street blocks, as well as a mix of retail, commercial and residential properties significantly contributed to increases in multifamily rental property values.
The researchers found that not only did the value of single-family residential properties increase with density of surrounding development, but that the quality of neighborhoods, as defined by access to other land uses, including parks, increased with density as well.
In December 2010, a similar story was published, and I wrote about it then – Walkability = Happiness – And why Does this Matter to Charlottesville Real Estate?
A walkable community provides residents with easy access to post offices, town parks and playgrounds, coffee shops, restaurants, barbershops and club meeting venues. The ability to walk to these important locations in one’s home neighborhood has been linked to a higher quality of life.
Social capital, a measure of an individual’s or group’s networks, personal connections, and community involvement, brings benefits such as reduced isolation, career connections, and neighborhood safety. What Rogers and her team’s work suggests is that it is these benefits — facilitated by living in a walkable community — that enhance an individual’s quality of life.
The answer remains the same – home buyers, renters, people – want to be close to stuff.
Warning: slight tangent follows …
Western Bypass Contract Awarded – 29 to Get more Interesting
Western Bypass rendering, courtesy Charlottesville Tomorrow
It seems that the Western Bypass may actually be built.
Charlottesville Tomorrow reports that the contract to build the Western Bypass has been awarded.
Is this the right road? Probably not. It needs to go farther up 29 North rather than dump into the middle of the growth area – you know, to actually bypass the mess – but it won’t, because of our region’s collective inability to do anything with infrastructure efficiency.
So, we’ll get a sort-of-bypass.
Lynchburg has been advocating for the Bypass for decades, but their representative fairly well sums up the state of affairs:
Lynchburg’s representative on the CTB said it was time to move forward with the contract. “This is the plan, this is as good as we got, [and] this is as good as it’s going to get,†said Mark Peake. “This is far from being a road to nowhere. This is a road from North Carolina to Washington, D.C.â€
And so we move. Forward?
For background, see Charlottesville Tomorrow’s incomparable coverage:
– Charlottesville Tomorrow’s Western Bypass section.
Six Questions about Albemarle County’s Neighborhood Model
You can have the most walkable neighborhood in the world, but if the only places you can walk to are your neighbors’, the neighborhood is not truly walkable; this seems to be something lost on Albemarle County, whether intentionally or circumstantially.
Now the County seems to be grasping this disconnect –
Charlottesville Tomorrow reports that the County is debating the Neighborhood Model.
Having islands (neighborhoods) unto themselves does not provide what homebuyers – or home owners – are looking for if they are seeking to live in a walkable community. I could rattle off the number of subdivisions in Albemarle County that are very walkable – but to do anything other than walk to friends’ houses (even that’s not allowed due to today’s fear-centric society!)
The number of neighborhoods in Albemarle County from which residents can get to stuff – stores, coffee shops, schools, work – without having to resort to a car is much smaller. Further, the number of neighborhoods built since 2001 that meet even two thirds of the 12 tenets can likely be counted on one hand.
Six questions:
1 – What does one say to those who buy in a neighborhood who don’t know that interconnectivity is pine of the 12 tenets of the Neighborhood Model? (hint: this is part of the buyer agent’s role – to help educate as best possible that if they don’t own it it’s going to change)
2 – Should developers be required to put in infrastructure from the beginning?
3 – Who should pay for the infrastructure – developers, homebuyers (see previous choice), all property owners (via property taxes)?
4 – How are walkability and access defined?
5 – Has the Neighborhood Model been successfully implemented?
6 – Which are the most “successful” neighborhoods? How is “success defined”?
Commuting and Traffic in Charlottesville
In the years since I wrote that article, traffic hasn’t gotten any more tolerable and the City and County continue to demonstrate an astonishing capability to do nothing – expensively. (see: Places 29)
That said:
One of the most important things to note to those moving to Charlottesville is that the region is becoming more and more segmented – if you live in the 29 North area, there’s usually little reason to leave 29 North except for work – same with Crozet, Pantops, City of Charlottesville, etc. Urban Cores matter.
But – if you live and work in the City of Charlottesville or the urban ring (or really, any part of) Albemarle County, your commute is likely to be not beyond 25 or 30 minutes. The following infographic* shows some useful data points about the value of a short commute.
For now, I’d like to think that the Charlottesville area offers a reasonably high quality of life, and the commuting isn’t that bad.
Five years from now – we’ll see.