A Complete Community Is All Mixed Up
A complete community includes an optimal mix of people, activities, and transport modes in each neighborhood. Like a chef, planners need the right ingredients. Here is the recipe.
Todd Litman | March 15, 2021, 9am PDT Share
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A city is a place where many people and activities occur close together, which facilitates the exchange of goods and ideas. The secret to success is to mix things together to create complete communities.
Urban planning often focuses on density, the number of people or activities in a given area, but equally important is land use mix, the diversity of people and activities in an area. To use a sports metaphor, density provides strength and power, a necessary foundation, while mix is akin to skill and finesse, which is what makes a community interesting and successful.
Orlando metro area most dangerous in US for pedestrians, report says Share Updated: 4:41 PM EST Mar 10, 2021 Share Updated: 4:41 PM EST Mar 10, 2021
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Show Transcript SUGGESTING TO IMPROVE SAFETY FOR PEDESTRIANS HERE. WE’VE BEEN NUMBER ONE ON THIS LIST BEFORE. DAMON: A LOCAL ADVOCACY GROUP REGULARLY PROMOTES CROSSWALK ENFORCEMENT EVENTS, OFTEN ENDING IN DOZENS OF WARNINGS AND TICKETS FOR DRIVERS, BUT IN A REPORT FROM SMART GROWTH AMERICA, THE METRO HAD 740 PEDESTRIAN DEATHS FROM 2010-2019. WE NEED MORE SIDEWALKS. WE NEED MORE DEDICATED INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PEDESTRIANS. DAMON: NEW CROSSWALKS WERE ADDED TO AN HISTORICALLY BAD STRETCH OF OBT. THE SIGNAL CROSSWALKS TELL DRIVERS TO STOP WHEN ACTIVATED. WE ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK. WE ARE MAKING NEW IMPROVEMENTS TO PEDESTRIAN SAFETY. AS THE DRIVER OF THE VEHICLE, IF YOU SEE A PEDESTRIAN, THE FIRST THING THAT SHOULD HAPPEN IS YOUR FOOT SHOULD COME OFF THE GAS PEDAL. TROOPERS SAY IN SEM
During the briefing two women shared stories of how pedestrian deaths directly affected them.
Latanya Byrd, of Philadelphia, lost her niece and three nephews eight years ago while they were attempting to cross a 12-lane road. Two vehicles were racing down the boulevard leaving them dead.
Kailey Kiss, a University of Florida student, lost a sorority sister and witnessed another classmate be struck and killed by a vehicle when waiting to cross University Avenue, a state road that borders Gainesville university.
Since then, Kiss founded Not One More, an organization dedicated to improving street safety on college campuses.
The improvements to the avenue is a slow process and there has been short-term changes, but it needs to be redesigned, Kiss said.