IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE SIDEWALK

 A CONNECTOR FOR PEOPLE (AND ROBOTS?)

Amin Gharebaghi, co-founder and CEO of GeoMate, is preparing sidewalks for an increase in traffic. 

His firm works with multiple cities across North America to analyze key features impacting urban accessibility like curb ramps, slope, width, and surface quality.

"Sidewalks act as a main connector in municipalities, bringing residents closer to their communities and local economies," he says. 

And it's a critical time to ensure that those connections work at the human level first.

"As cities become increasingly dense and new mobility technologies [like delivery robots] begin to operate on sidewalks, enhancing sidewalk safety and accessibility is becoming more important now than ever," he explains.

IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE SIDEWALK

A TOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

                                                            (Clematis Street West Palm Beach, FLA -- by Dover Kohl Partners)

The founder and president of nonprofit Strong Towns, which focuses on pedestrian-friendly development, believes sidewalks and streets play an important role in environmental justice.

"Sidewalks are often treated as afterthoughts in urban transportation projects," says Charles Marohn, P.E. 

"This is backwards. The function of an urban street is to serve as a platform for building wealth. 

On a street, we're attempting to grow the complex ecosystem that produces community wealth."

One big way that can be accomplished is through proper maintenance. 

Marohn advocates for city plowing of sidewalks, instead of making snow and ice clearance the responsibility of thousands of individual property owners. 

He says it's equally or even more important than street plowing — which often creates impediments to pedestrians.

"In most of our poorest neighborhoods, the public sector is neglecting their maintenance responsibilities, and this contributes to a vicious cycle of decline," says Marohn, author of Confessions of a Recovering Engineer.

"When the streets have more potholes, the parks have more weeds, and the sidewalks have more cracks and gaps than the ones in our affluent neighborhoods, the signal being sent is that decline is going to continue, regardless of what the property owners do."

Mobility for All Ages & Abilities

Very enthused about the premiere of my Active Towns podcast with John Simmerman this Wednesday June 1 at 2 p.m. EST.

We'll chat about #UniversalDesign and #Planning for #PeopleWithDisabilities This extends my teaching at the University of Miami School of Architecture.

It expands on my presentations at #IMCL2022 + #NPC22

#ADA #PWDs #Equity

IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE SIDEWALK

 MORE SPACE FOR PEOPLE PLACES

"Often, the pedestrian realm is undersized and relegated to the leftover space within the right-of-way after the traffic engineers have taken all the space they need for vehicular lanes," says Michael Huston, AIA, LEED-AP, owner of Urban Arts, Inc. and partner of Civic Plan Studio.

To support a healthy, active "pedestrian realm" that people of all ages and physical abilities can enjoy, he says our sidewalks need to be much wider.

"To accommodate the necessary sidewalk clear zone and streetscape furnishings needed to create a comfortable pedestrian environment, a minimum of 15 feet is recommended between the street curb and the building," Huston adds. 

"It is not unusual to have a pedestrian realm that is 20 to 30 feet wide on streets that have intensive pedestrian and outdoor dining use."

 

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

UNIVERSAL DESIGN AND PETER SLATIN OF THE SLATIN GROUP

Peter Slatin is the founder and president of Slatin Group LLC, which provides education and training to the hospitality and tourism industry on service to consumers with disabilities.

As a longtime advocate for disability rights and accessibility, he has spoken internationally on Universal Design and access issues.

We were pleased to have him as a guest lecturer, via Zoom, to our groundbreaking Universal Design course.

We co-created and teach-teach the first-of-its-kind class at the University of Miami School of Architecture

Slatin is a graduate of the Colorado Center for the Blind, an acclaimed educational organization affiliated with the National Federation of the Blind.

We look forward to future collaborations with Peter.

IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE SIDEWALK

ELIMINATE GENDER DISPARITIES

According to Leslie Kern, PhD, associate professor of geography and environment and director of women's and gender studies at Mount Allison University, research shows that women take more pedestrian trips daily as part of their commutes and household-serving errands. 

That means effective sidewalks are of heightened importance to their daily lives.

"Barrier-free, wide, and well-maintained sidewalks are particularly important for women, who still do a higher share of caregiving work," says Leslie Kern, author of Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World. 

"Navigating sidewalks with strollers and small children is difficult if there is not enough space, if there are barriers at curbs or a lack of curb cuts, or if the sidewalk must be shared with cyclists."

Plus, there's the obvious safety component, she adds. In neighborhoods without sidewalks, people are forced to walk in the street, providing no protection from speeding vehicles — or the people operating them.

"Women and people of marginalized genders regularly experience harassment from car drivers," she says.

"If sidewalks can create more distance between pedestrians and drivers, this might either cut down on this form of 'drive-by harassment' or reduce the fear it causes in walkers."

IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE SIDEWALK

GREAT BANG FOR OUR BUCK

As producer of Perils for Pedestrians Television, a safe walkability public affairs series that airs in 150 cities across the U.S., John Wetmore says sidewalks provide "clear economic benefits."

"When people walk more, they are healthier, and society will save on health care costs.

When people drive less, they spend less on gas and maintenance.

If living in a walkable neighborhood lets a family get by with one less car, the savings can be several thousand dollars a year," he says. 

"However, the biggest benefits from walkable neighborhoods have to do with the quality of life. 

Walking can play a big role in one's independence, which is fundamental to one's quality of life."

Wetmore cites initiatives like Safe Routes to School, which the new infrastructure law is expanding, as proof that a broad base of consumers supports safer, well-connected sidewalks. 

"The city needs to invest in the sidewalks, crosswalks, and other basic infrastructure that will make it not just possible to walk, but desirable to walk," he says.