Suburban Nation - Andres Duany [101]
—Are bay windows and balconies between 6 inches and 3 feet deep, stoops between 3 and 6 feet deep, porches between 6 and 12 feet deep, awnings between 6 and 10 feet deep, and arcades between 10 and 20 feet deep?
—Do buildings have relatively flat fronts and simple roofs, with most wings and plan articulations at the rear?
—Are all buildings other than small homes at least 2 stories tall, except in rural areas, where buildings taller than 3 stories are prohibited?
—Does each house on a corner lot have its front door facing the larger street, the exceptions being end-unit row houses, which must always turn the corner, and houses against high-speed roadways?
PARKING
—Do most residential lots smaller than 60 feet wide (and apartment house lots) access their parking via a rear lane (or alley), with front driveways prohibited?*
—Are all garages that are served from the street front set back a minimum of 20 feet from the front of the house, or rotated so that the garage doors do not face adjacent streets?
—Are all parking lots located behind buildings or street walls, such that only their access is visible from adjacent streets?*
—Are all surface parking lots planted with indigenous shade trees, at a minimum ratio of one tree per ten cars?
—Does the transition from rear parking to main-street shopping take place in a pleasant pedestrian passage lined by shop windows?
—Are the on-site parking requirements reduced to account for on-street parking availability, nearby public parking lots, mass transit, and the sharing of spaces due to complementary parking schedule?*
—Are structured parking lots located strategically as “anchors” in order to generate pedestrian activity on sidewalks? (Parking lots should generally not lead directly into the buildings they serve, but instead deposit pedestrians onto sidewalks.)
HOUSING
—Is there a diversity of housing types located within close proximity to each other? Ideally, there should be a 5 percent minimum representation of at least five of the following eight categories:*
—Apartments above commercial space;
—Multifamily apartment buildings;
—Two- and three-family houses;
—Row houses;
—Live/work buildings (row houses or houses with first-floor offices or shops at front);
—Cottages on small lots (30 to 40 feet wide);
—Houses on standard lots (40 to 70 feet wide);
—Houses on large lots (over 70 feet wide).
—Do all commercial buildings have a second story (or more) for housing or offices?
—Is each house lot permitted to contain a small ancillary dwelling unit in the rear yard, such as an apartment over the garage?
—Is subsidized housing stylistically indistinguishable from market-rate housing, and provided in an increment of approximately one subsidized unit per ten market-rate units?*
PRIVACY
—Do all houses served by alleys have a 3-to-6-foot-tall privacy fence, wall, or shrub on the rear property line?*
—Do all row houses have 5-to-7-foot-tall privacy walls or fences on shared side property lines?*
—Are all first-story apartments raised a minimum of 2 feet if located within 10 feet of the sidewalk, with windowsills above the eye level of passing pedestrians?*
—Are window muntins encouraged on residential buildings (for privacy), but discouraged on retail fronts?
ARCHITECTURAL SYNTAX
—Is regional architectural syntax used as a basis for ecologically responsible design?
—Are window proportions, roof pitches, building materials, and colors limited to a harmonious range, as regionally determined?
—Is the ratio of fenestration to wall of building façades kept below 35 percent, except at retail frontages, which are a minimum of 65 percent fenestration?
—Does each building façade display no more than two wall materials, textures, or colors (plus trim)? (If two materials are used, the heavier [looking] material shall be located below the lighter.)
APPENDIX B
THE CONGRESS FOR THE NEW URBANISM
Advocates