Suburban Nation - Andres Duany [99]
—Do highways approaching the TND either pass to its side or take on low-speed (25 mph maximum) geometries when entering the neighborhood proper?*
—In regional transportation planning, are any decisions to add new highways or new lanes tempered by a full understanding of the phenomenon of induced traffic?*
—Are plans for large sites divided into neighborhoods, each roughly a five-minute walk—a quarter mile—from edge to center? (Centers can be peripherally located in response to a site condition, such as a beach, major thoroughfare, or railroad station.)*
THE NATURAL CONTEXT
—Are wetlands, lakes, streams, and other significant natural amenities retained and celebrated?*
—Are significant natural amenities at least partially fronted by public spaces and thoroughfares rather than privatized behind backyards?*
—Is the site developed in such a way to maximize the preservation of specimen trees and significant groups of trees, locating greens and parks at tree-save areas?*
—Does the plan accommodate itself to the site topography to minimize the amount of grading necessary to achieve a viable street network?
—Are significant hilltops celebrated with public tracts and/or civic buildings, and are mountaintops and major ridge tops kept clear of private development?
—Are any large areas of open space connected into continous natural corridors? Such corridors either shall be located between neighborhoods, or may pass through neighborhoods in the form of thin greenways.*
LAND USE
—Does each neighborhood provide a relatively balanced mix of housing, workplace (home and office), shopping, recreation, and institutional uses?*
—Do commercial activity and housing density increase toward the neighborhood centers?*
—Is each neighborhood center the location of retail space? (A corner store—subsidized if necessary—is required in all neighborhoods containing at least 500 residences and/or jobs.)*
—Is each neighborhood center the location of office space, ideally located in mixed-use buildings?*
—Is there a dry, dignified place to wait for transit at each neighborhood center?*
—Are lots zoned not by use but by compatibility of building type?
—Do most changes in allowable building type occur at mid-block rather than mid-street so that streets are coherent on both sides?
PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND SPACES
—Is there a civic space such as a square, plaza, or green at each neighborhood center?*
—Does each neighborhood reserve at least one prominent, honorific site for a civic building, typically at the neighborhood center?*
—Are elementary schools, day-care centers, and recreational facilities located within one mile of most dwellings, sized accordingly, and easily accessible on foot?*
—Are there small playgrounds distributed evenly through each neighborhood, roughly within one-eighth mile of every dwelling?*
—Do all public tracts within the neighborhood correspond to well-understood open-space types, such as a park, green, square, or plaza?*
THE THOROUGHFARE NETWORK
—Are streets organized in a comprehensible network that manifests the structure of the neighborhood?*
—Are cul-de-sacs avoided where natural conditions do not demand them?*
—Do blocks average less than 600 feet in length and less than 2,000 feet in perimeter
—Are all streets within the neighborhood faced by building fronts or public tracts, rather than serving as collector roads with no purpose other than handling traffic?*
—Are most street vistas terminated by a public tract, a view of a natural feature, a deflection in the street, or a carefully sited building?
—Do most streets that curve maintain roughly the same general cardinal orientation (except where steep grades dictate otherwise)?
STREET DESIGN
—Is there a full range of streets, including most or all of the following: *
—Main street, approximately 34 feet wide, with marked parking on both sides;
—Through avenue (optional), including a 10-to-20-foot treed median separating two one-way lanes, each approximately 18 feet wide, with marked parking on one side;
—Through streets, approximately