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HIGH DENSITY / MIXED USE
The entire Central Florida region are growing. The population in our region is estimated at over 7 million by the year 2050. High density/mixed use development is an alternative to the rampant urban sprawl development that is spreading across Central Florida. A quality, mixed-use product can assist in creating a sense of place by affording the community a wider range of goods, services and experiences in one location. Well-designed, higher density developments, properly integrated into an established community can become a significant community asset that adds to the quality of life and property values for existing residents
| • | Attached is a document produced
by the Urban Land Institute titled “Higher-Density Development:
Myth and Fact”. ULI partnered with the Sierra Club, the American
Institute of Architects and the National Multi Housing Council to
create an essay that illustrates the importance of high-density/mixed
use developments and tackles the misconceptions associated with the
impacts these types of developments have on the surrounding community. VIEW DOCUMENT (PDF) |
| • | Ten Principles for Reinventing America’s
Suburban Business Districts (ULI – 2002) In June 2001, a task
force sponsored by the Urban Land Institute met and devised ten principles
to guide the planning of suburban business districts. Americans are
experiencing a desire for greater community interaction. This social
trend has opened the door to take a closer look at America’s
existing suburban business districts and focus on how to redevelop
these districts in such a way that encourages social interaction. VIEW DOCUMENT (PDF) |
RESPONSIBLE GROWTH
In the spring of 2005, the University of Pennsylvania conducted a study that was commissioned by the Metropolitan Center for Regional Studies at the University of Central Florida. The study area for the project included the Central Florida Region, which consists of seven counties – Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole and Volusia. The study examines the negative impacts that existing growth trends have on our region and the steps that are needed to curb this sprawling development.
The unifying element behind the articles and studies listed below is “smart growth”. In a region, whose population will double in the next 40 years, it is essential to focus development in the existing urbanized areas of our cities. Allowing low-density growth along the periphery of our cities will eradicate our remaining natural areas where we hunt, fish, and hike and enjoy the natural environment.
| • | PennDesign Central Florida – Our
Region in the Year 2050. This document was produced by the University
of Pennsylvania’s Urban Design Studio under the guidance of Professor
Jonathan Barnett. These graduate students were commissioned by the Metropolitan
Center for Regional Studies at the University of Central Florida to look
at the Central Florida region through the year 2050. The study includes
two models. The first model, the Trend Model, examines the future of
our region if development continues at its existing pace and manner.
The second model, the Alternative Model, looks at the region in terms
of modifying the type and style of development and utilizing smart growth
strategies. VIEW DOCUMENT (PDF) |
| • | Smart Choices or Sprawling Growth – A
50 State Survey of Development. Each year the Sierra Club produces a
report on sprawl. This document is their third annual report. The report
outlines suburban sprawl and the impacts it has to our environment. The
majority of the report consists of an inventory of good and bad development
projects across the country. VIEW DOCUMENT (PDF) |
| • | Sierra Club – Healthy Growth Calculator (www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/) The healthy growth calculator is a tool
that can be found on the Sierra Club website. This tool compares sprawl
development with higher density development (100 units per acre) and
shows the benefits that higher density development can have on the cost
of everyday necessities for the average family. VIEW DOCUMENT (PDF) |
| • | Measuring the Health Effects of Sprawl is a national
report that questions whether the sedentary lifestyle and obesity epidemic
that is rampant throughout America today is associated with the way our
communities are designed. The study, Relationship Between Urban
Sprawl and Physical Activity, Obesity, and Morbidity, concluded that urban form
can be associated with the amount of physical activity and the health
of Americans. The results of this study demonstrated that residents living
in sprawled communities are likely to walk less, weigh more and have
greater health problems than residents that reside in higher density
areas. The report and study can be found at www.smartgrowthamercia.com/healthreport.html VIEW DOCUMENT (PDF) |
PLACE MAKING
Sociologist, Ray Oldenburg in The Great Good Place, describes a “third place”. Third places are community gathering spots, such as cafes, parks, open squares and main streets where members of a community meet when they are not at home (first place) and at work (second place). In order for these third places to function, they must have a strong sense of place.
As residents of College Park, we should demand a better environment and focus on three specific, interconnected elements. We need to improve the physical environment of our main street, we need to encourage a higher-density mixed-use environment that will support a vibrant and economic business district and we need to improve the functional environment of how we move in and around downtown College Park. Together, these elements are about “place making”. A true place attracts people for the experience. Edgewater Drive is a linear business district arranged in such a way that individual businesses within the district are destinations unto themselves. We drive from destination to destination and rarely park our cars to visit multiple stores or businesses. This pattern increases the traffic on our streets, increases the need for parking, and discourages pedestrian traffic.
| • | Place Making: Creating Connected, Cohesive Communities (ULI – November 2000) The Urban Land Institute assembled a panel
of experts to discuss place making. Place making is a relatively new term
that has evolved as a response to the demand of creating more livable places.
This article offers nine qualities of successful places. VIEW DOCUMENT (PDF) |
| • | David Salvesen has produced this essay, The
Making of Place (ULI – July 2002), to describe the importance of
creating a sense of place in the communities where we live and work. He
links the historic demise of suburban neighborhoods with the lack of identity
in those areas. He describes how a sense of place provides individuals
with a responsibility and commitment to their communities. VIEW DOCUMENT (PDF) |
| • | Place Making – Developing Town Centers,
Main Streets, and Urban Villages by Charles C. Bohl is an eight chapter,
300 page book about place making. The book includes case studies on successful
business districts, which have embraced the elements of good place making
and have therefore succeeded. We have included a segment of the book, Chapter
3, page 66 – Streets and Pathways - to emphasize the importance of
the street as a public space and the relationship that the buildings have
to the street. VIEW DOCUMENT (PDF) |
PARKING/TRAFFIC
The vision for downtown College Park includes a functional element. The movement through and around our business district by foot, car, bike or other means of transportation must be comfortable, safe, and efficient. Parking must be adequate, accessible, secured, and discreetly placed within the district. Attention must be given to automobile traffic that flows at an appropriate pace for the environment, transit that can offer exciting connections to regional employment and cultural centers and efficiency of services to the district. Specific attention to the details that create an interconnected, functioning transit environment is critical in the pursuit to create a vibrant and successful business district.
| • | Parking or Urban Place Making? (ULI – Spring
2004) is a short article focusing on the role that the vehicle and parking
play in our environments. There is a drive to create more urban, pedestrian-friendly
districts but the question always remains, where you park the car. In
well-planned urban areas, it is critical that the parking is placed out
of view and in parking garages. VIEW DOCUMENT (PDF) |
| • | Making For Better Neighbors (ULI – Spring
2003). This essay looks at the importance of understanding parking requirements.
Excessive parking can waste land and money and can deter pedestrian and
transit uses. Too little parking can create problems for retailers and
surrounding neighborhoods. Developers and City Planners must work together
to develop proper parking ratios based on proposed land uses. VIEW DOCUMENT (PDF) |
| • | Traffic Calming 101(Projects for Public Spaces – www.pps.org)
is a piece that can be found on the Projects for Public Spaces website.
The piece lists several different traffic calming techniques. Traffic
calming techniques were originally developed in Europe with the idea
that streets should create a sense of place and their purpose is to provide
opportunities for pedestrians and bicyclists. Vehicles on a street are
respected and acknowledged but should never dominate the function of
a street. VIEW DOCUMENT (PDF) |
| • | Principles of Smart Downtown Parking (www.downtowndevelopment.com).
The Downtown Research and Development Center website has a listing of
documents related to downtown redevelopment. This essay, Principles of
Smart Downtown Parking by Kent Robertson, Ph.D., looks at seven principles
titled Smart Downtown Parking. Robertson, states that “parking
should not damage the key hallmarks of a healthy downtown, namely high
density, a pedestrian-friendly environment, and a strong sense of place”.
Parking should be “a tool and subservient to the main function
of a downtown”. VIEW DOCUMENT (PDF) |