07/23: What's in a neighborhood?
Posted by: James Polk
Have you ever stopped to think what it would be like to live in the "perfect" neighborhood? I mean, have you ever actually had the time between trips to the store, driving your kids from here to there, or commuting in traffic to work and back to stop and think about what's in a neighborhood?
A 2003 study by Arbitron concluded that, on average, people now spend over 15 hours a week on the road. That is the equivalent of about 20 40-hour work weeks per year spent in your car. What if you could reclaim some of that time for family, reading a good book, exercising, or relaxing? You could if you lived in a real neighborhood.
Most new housing developments today are not neighborhoods; they are simply a collection of storage buildings for people. In the typical American routine, you leave the house in the morning, drive miles and miles to work, chauffer kids to far-away schools or daycare then to farther-away recreational activities. In the evening, after spending much of your day in the car, you go back home, click the garage door up, and all the while you never come in contact with your neighbors.
Think of a village when you think of a healthy neighborhood. A neighborhood is a place where you can choose to walk to work or stroll down to the grocery store or library or coffee shop. In a neighborhood, children walk to school and back home, freeing up parents' time and resources while offering the child a sense of independence. Safety is inherently built in because you know your neighbors and there are friendly eyes and ears on the street.
How do you determine if a neighborhood is healthy and complete? I use what I call the "Peg Test." Peg Miller is an artist who lives in Spring Green, Wis. About 80 years ago her father, an ad executive, had the Morton Salt account. He proposed an image of a little girl carrying an umbrella and pouring salt. Young Peg was the original model for that image.
The village of Spring Green has a small but complete downtown surrounded by five to seven blocks of housing all around. A few years back Peg gave up her car and now walks everywhere and she has managed to remain self-sufficient. She walks to the General Store for breakfast and lunch. She walks to the post office and drops off her mail. She shops, visits friends, and lives the same life she led when she had a car. So if it works for Peg, in my book, it qualifies as a neighborhood.
Sidewalks are essential in every neighborhood. It does not matter if services are nearby when there are no sidewalks. Cars and pedestrians should not have to compete for space; cars will always win. Sidewalks are the least expensive and most efficient way to create a real neighborhood.
Neighborhoods foster community. Living in a place where things are in walking distance brings about infinite opportunities for interaction with neighbors. Familiarity and a greater comfort level with those living close to you is the result.
A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates middle-aged Americans are far less healthy than their British counterparts, regardless of income level or education and despite our spending more than twice as much per capita on health care. How could this be? The Brits have not succumbed to the urban sprawl fad. They walk to the market. They walk to school. They walk to a restaurant.
Urban sprawl, the anti-neighborhood, is the strip development on the outskirts of town prevalent in America. Sprawl exists for the expediency and short-term profit of the developer, not for the convenience and health of the people living there.
Yet, neighborhoods are the exception rather than the norm. We are so accustomed to this anti-neighborhood development that most take it for granted. It does not have to be that way.
The solution: let your voice be heard. Write letters to the editor expressing your desire to live in healthy, walkable neighborhoods. Demand that developers work with planners who understand the "healthy neighborhood" concept. Insist your city installs sidewalks in all new and existing developments. Question the boilerplate zoning laws segregating homes from services and schools. Most importantly of all, support your local neighborhood businesses; keep them alive until the rest of the world comes around.
In America, we live in a market-based development environment. If enough of us call for positive, healthy change and put our money where our mouth is, it will happen.
James Ray Polk is an architect and neighborhood designer with offices in Hattiesburg and Spring Green, Wis. He is currently adjunct design faculty at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. He can be reached at jamespolk22@joimail.com.
Originally published June 11, 2006
A 2003 study by Arbitron concluded that, on average, people now spend over 15 hours a week on the road. That is the equivalent of about 20 40-hour work weeks per year spent in your car. What if you could reclaim some of that time for family, reading a good book, exercising, or relaxing? You could if you lived in a real neighborhood.
Most new housing developments today are not neighborhoods; they are simply a collection of storage buildings for people. In the typical American routine, you leave the house in the morning, drive miles and miles to work, chauffer kids to far-away schools or daycare then to farther-away recreational activities. In the evening, after spending much of your day in the car, you go back home, click the garage door up, and all the while you never come in contact with your neighbors.
Think of a village when you think of a healthy neighborhood. A neighborhood is a place where you can choose to walk to work or stroll down to the grocery store or library or coffee shop. In a neighborhood, children walk to school and back home, freeing up parents' time and resources while offering the child a sense of independence. Safety is inherently built in because you know your neighbors and there are friendly eyes and ears on the street.
How do you determine if a neighborhood is healthy and complete? I use what I call the "Peg Test." Peg Miller is an artist who lives in Spring Green, Wis. About 80 years ago her father, an ad executive, had the Morton Salt account. He proposed an image of a little girl carrying an umbrella and pouring salt. Young Peg was the original model for that image.
The village of Spring Green has a small but complete downtown surrounded by five to seven blocks of housing all around. A few years back Peg gave up her car and now walks everywhere and she has managed to remain self-sufficient. She walks to the General Store for breakfast and lunch. She walks to the post office and drops off her mail. She shops, visits friends, and lives the same life she led when she had a car. So if it works for Peg, in my book, it qualifies as a neighborhood.
Sidewalks are essential in every neighborhood. It does not matter if services are nearby when there are no sidewalks. Cars and pedestrians should not have to compete for space; cars will always win. Sidewalks are the least expensive and most efficient way to create a real neighborhood.
Neighborhoods foster community. Living in a place where things are in walking distance brings about infinite opportunities for interaction with neighbors. Familiarity and a greater comfort level with those living close to you is the result.
A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates middle-aged Americans are far less healthy than their British counterparts, regardless of income level or education and despite our spending more than twice as much per capita on health care. How could this be? The Brits have not succumbed to the urban sprawl fad. They walk to the market. They walk to school. They walk to a restaurant.
Urban sprawl, the anti-neighborhood, is the strip development on the outskirts of town prevalent in America. Sprawl exists for the expediency and short-term profit of the developer, not for the convenience and health of the people living there.
Yet, neighborhoods are the exception rather than the norm. We are so accustomed to this anti-neighborhood development that most take it for granted. It does not have to be that way.
The solution: let your voice be heard. Write letters to the editor expressing your desire to live in healthy, walkable neighborhoods. Demand that developers work with planners who understand the "healthy neighborhood" concept. Insist your city installs sidewalks in all new and existing developments. Question the boilerplate zoning laws segregating homes from services and schools. Most importantly of all, support your local neighborhood businesses; keep them alive until the rest of the world comes around.
In America, we live in a market-based development environment. If enough of us call for positive, healthy change and put our money where our mouth is, it will happen.
James Ray Polk is an architect and neighborhood designer with offices in Hattiesburg and Spring Green, Wis. He is currently adjunct design faculty at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. He can be reached at jamespolk22@joimail.com.
Originally published June 11, 2006