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Walkable Neighborhoods -- How to Make More


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Here is a new very walkable neighborhood along a possible future transit line in yes Cornelius. Antiquity was built on the site of an old textile mill but the building did not have much historical significance. They have a great mix of apartments, senior apartments, for sale townhomes, and for sale single family homes all connected to the town center anchored by Harris Teeter. All of this is across from the real small town downtown of Cornelius. I took this photos last week. This community is right next to the proposed light rail line to Mooresville. And adjacent Davidson is probably the best example of a walkable and biking friendly town in the entire area. 

Here is a link to their website http://antiquitytowncenter.com/ 

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  • 1 year later...

22 hours ago, JacksonH said:

Doesn't University Place fall into this category?  Waaaay post-WWII, and initially another suburban mess.  But that seems to be changing.  https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/-a-year-of-transformation-university-city-officials-expect-major-developments-in-2019/896982886

Yes they are tearing down or will be several vacant big box stores along the lake and building apartments, a new library and some retail space.  University Place has always been a mixed use development but not high density. There are some condos along the lake there and many more in the area nearby..  It will become more of a town center type development.  Here is the plan from the rezoning petition

http://ww.charmeck.org/Planning/Rezoning/2018/137-152/2018-151 community report.pdf

this is the detailed proposal at the community meeting.  Hahn Co. out of San Diego originally did the plan.  

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2 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Yes they are tearing down or will be several vacant big box stores along the lake and building apartments, a new library and some retail space.  University Place has always been a mixed use development but not high density. There are some condos along the lake there and many more in the area nearby..  It will become more of a town center type development.  Here is the plan from the rezoning petition

http://ww.charmeck.org/Planning/Rezoning/2018/137-152/2018-151 community report.pdf

this is the detailed proposal at the community meeting.  Hahn Co. out of San Diego originally did the plan.  

I don't know how you find this stuff.  This is great!  Thanks.

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These "new urbanist" suburbs are nice and all, but I hope that we'll eventually start seeing some that are actually formatted for other developers to "hook onto" the street and sidewalk grids. Most of them are still inward-facing and connected to an arterial. That might look nice with smaller setbacks and narrower lots (it does look nice, in fact), but the urban fabric is what really makes a neighborhood walkable, in my opinion. I think the city could require that and get reasonable results.

Another thing is that we need smaller grocery stores. We have very few "convenience stores" that aren't attached to gas stations. I think a lot of these neighborhoods could actually support one in the middle of the neighborhood. It's bizarre to have all the commercial along the outside edge; the innermost houses could be a half mile from the "walkable" commercial strip!

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On 2/25/2019 at 7:59 AM, asthasr said:

These "new urbanist" suburbs are nice and all, but I hope that we'll eventually start seeing some that are actually formatted for other developers to "hook onto" the street and sidewalk grids. Most of them are still inward-facing and connected to an arterial. That might look nice with smaller setbacks and narrower lots (it does look nice, in fact), but the urban fabric is what really makes a neighborhood walkable, in my opinion. I think the city could require that and get reasonable results.

Another thing is that we need smaller grocery stores. We have very few "convenience stores" that aren't attached to gas stations. I think a lot of these neighborhoods could actually support one in the middle of the neighborhood. It's bizarre to have all the commercial along the outside edge; the innermost houses could be a half mile from the "walkable" commercial strip!

This is something I would like to see everywhere. But then I encounter two push-back questions:

1) Will people patronize somewhere with a very limited selection

2) Can these places be supported sufficiently based on the expectations of our modern consumer?

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23 hours ago, SgtCampsalot said:

1) Will people patronize somewhere with a very limited selection

2) Can these places be supported sufficiently based on the expectations of our modern consumer?

I believe so (to both). Convenience is underrated/misunderstood in our current scheme of centralized distribution; the difference between a "convenient" trip to a large grocery store (which typically takes 45 minutes to an hour) and a five minute walk to and from a neighborhood convenience store is huge. Stock basic necessities (bread, milk, cereal, juice, beer) and some prepared foods in the style of an Asian 7-11, in a neighborhood setting, and I think that store would be very popular. Furthermore, even if it's not profitable on its own merits, it might be worth a developer's or property manager's while to subsidize it simply because of its status as an amenity for the building or neighborhood.

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People in neighborhoods like Elizabeth and Cherry have been losing their minds about buildings having some height. Just imagine how much people will freak out if the house they bought suddenly had a convenience store built next to it away from the main commercial strip.

Freak out would ensue over crime, bright lights, operating hours, quality of the neighborhood, parking, etc.... especially if it was from a franchise like 7-11 or Circle K.  

I think people would over exaggerate the problem of a convenience store (especially safety), but I think a good amount of people in many neighborhoods would be strongly opposed. 

Edited by CLT2014
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11 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

I think people would over exaggerate the problem of a convenience store (especially safety), but I think a good amount of people in many neighborhoods would be strongly opposed. 

You're right, many NIMBYs are never going to accept anything new. So, what, do we just hang it up and say that 1950s-2000s urbanism is the best it's going to get? I think that's silly. Plan the thing as an amenity in a new neighborhoods and advertise it as such. Close it at a reasonable hour. Limit exterior lighting. Don't build parking, so people outside the neighborhood don't drive to it.

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13 minutes ago, asthasr said:

You're right, many NIMBYs are never going to accept anything new. So, what, do we just hang it up and say that 1950s-2000s urbanism is the best it's going to get? I think that's silly. Plan the thing as an amenity in a new neighborhoods and advertise it as such. Close it at a reasonable hour. Limit exterior lighting. Don't build parking, so people outside the neighborhood don't drive to it.

I agree. I also think if they are independent stores it will go a lot better than being affiliated with a brand associated with gas stations like Circle K. I think neighborhoods would be open to an Earl's Grocery type of place that also serves as a hang out. 

Edited by CLT2014
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I see what you mean now. I agree that it would be awesome to see more of our grocery retailers adopt that format. You could likely offer a good amount of higher margin items like prepared foods, ready foods, etc...

Does Kroger operate any stores like this in other US cities?  

Edited by CLT2014
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On 2/27/2019 at 2:52 PM, CLT2014 said:

Does Kroger operate any stores like this in other US cities?  

I haven't seen any big US chains operate stores like this. It feels like our chains prefer to squeeze bigger stores into urban basement spaces (e.g. Uptown Wholefoods and Teeter). The closest I have seen is bodegas in NY along with slightly larger local stores (like the Reids that was at 7th street station) offering a grocery mix that skews towards high-margin stuff (lots of wine and fancy deli) in this format in places like San Francisco and DC.

36th street station would be an ideal location for this format of store.

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11 minutes ago, asthasr said:

Fair comments. I am familiar with the "Asian style" "convenience store," which doesn't have any of those negative connotations attached to them. They focus on prepared foods, fresh necessities, and so on. Here's a representative video.

Very different than your average US 7-Eleven, that's for sure!

The small format concept might be a space Amazon fulfills in the USA. I haven't checked it out yet in SF, but their Amazon Go concept looks like it would fulfill this small format: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeDcJgwHc6Q

 

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5 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

their Amazon Go concept looks like it would fulfill this small format

Agreed. I am really skeptical of their ability to control loss with this though. NFC on a phone is really janky right now, and it's hard to see how this will be able to work at scale without serious improvements in the technology.

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Two days in a row now I have nearly been hit by a car that had a left turn signal at the light while I have the right-of-way to cross the intersection as a pedestrian. Both times, I have given a 'what gives?' shrug to the driver, and both times they have reacted angrily.

Both of these were in Uptown no less. If I didn't stop walking in both cases there is a 100% chance they would have run me over. Makes it frustrating as a regular pedestrian that even our 'pedestrian-friendly' neighborhoods are that threatening on foot.

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  • 3 months later...

I know this is quite a long shot, but is there any possible chance that Woodlawn will get the East Blvd traffic calming treatment? I am talking 4 lanes to 2 + turning lane/medians and a useable bike lane. I know this road handles a ton of daily traffic and it is unlikely. I would just like to be able to walk down it without feeling like I am walking on 77. 

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1 hour ago, hambone931 said:

I know this is quite a long shot, but is there any possible chance that Woodlawn will get the East Blvd traffic calming treatment? I am talking 4 lanes to 2 + turning lane/medians and a useable bike lane. I know this road handles a ton of daily traffic and it is unlikely. I would just like to be able to walk down it without feeling like I am walking on 77. 

It’s so bad that even driving on it feels like slot-crash-cars. 

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On 6/30/2019 at 11:35 AM, Desert Power said:

Glad to see I'm not the only one that does this foolish thing...

We need more beotch pedestrians in this town asserting their rights to share the roads.

I would love to see CMPD start enforcing pedestrian protection laws more aggressively. I would also like to see CDOT installing more pedestrian controlled intersections. I remain infinitely flummoxed that many crossings at traffic lights across South Boulevard and roads perpendicular to South  Boulevard remain demand rather than automatic for pedestrian crossing signals. I am surprised (but shouldn't be) at the indifference Charlotte motorists have toward people walking in crosswalks.

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14 minutes ago, davidclt said:

We need more beotch pedestrians in this town asserting their rights to share the roads.

I would love to see CMPD start enforcing pedestrian protection laws more aggressively. I would also like to see CDOT installing more pedestrian controlled intersections. I remain infinitely flummoxed that many crossings at traffic lights across South Boulevard and roads perpendicular to South  Boulevard remain demand rather than automatic for pedestrian crossing signals. I am surprised (but shouldn't be) at the indifference Charlotte motorists have toward people walking in crosswalks.

I have heard that using packing tape to press a fist-size rock against the beg button works. If you see this rig at Tremont and South in the future think of me. (But I am not sure it works, I think its a capacitance switch)

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Quote

Real estate in walkable areas enjoys a huge premium. On average, rents in Charlotte’s walkable urban areas are 77 percent higher than elsewhere in the city, according to the study. And between 2010 and 2018, that premium increased 16 percent.

Can you say ‘value capture?”

https://ui.uncc.edu/story/walkable-urban-development-charlotte-nc-growth-pedestrian-friendly

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