TEN PRINCIPLES FOR REINVENTING SUBURBAN STRIPS

1. TEN PRINCIPLES FORREINVENTINGSUBURBAN STRIPS SMART GROWTH SPEAKER SERIES MARCH 11, 2002

2. Principles to Reinvent Suburban Strips • Ignite Leadership/Nurture Partnership • Anticipate Evolution • Know The Market • Prune Back Retail-Zoned Land • Establish Pulse Nodes of Development • Tame the Traffic • Create the Place • Diversify the Character • Eradicate the Ugliness • Put Your Money (and Regulations) Where Your Policy Is

4. I. Ignite Leadership/Nurture Partnership • Have a plan and strategy • Build partnerships for implementation • Create a management entity that: • Markets and promotes • Coordinates information • Improves security • Manages traffic and parking • Coordinates public agency efforts • Acquires, assembles and parcels out land to permit new forms of infill • Participates in development and infrastructure financing.

5. II. Anticipate Evolution • Retail competition is intensifying (new formats, non-store shopping) • The markets for retail real estate are changing (elderly, singles, two income, single parents, immigrants)

6. The retail products are changing in response (town centers, streetfront, lifestyle, entertainment, MXD) Suburban residents are looking for a sense of community (public gathering places, more livable environment, more convenience in daily life) Communities can integrate public services, entertainment and culture, parks and recreation

7. III. Know The Market • Identify the strip’s trade area: regional or not? • Revitalization and development plans should be guided by an understanding of where the strip fits into the overall regional marketplace • A strip is composed of many neighborhoods which should lead to different commercial districts along the way • The complex interplay among land values, densities, demographics, access, and competition determine what is a realistic future for the strip.

8. IV. Prune Back Retail-Zoned Land • Not every major arterial should be lined with retail

9. Surplus of retail-zoned land makes it too easy to abandon old centers and keep extending the strip • Scale the amount of retail-zoned land commensurate with the size of the market • Limit extension of infrastructure • Structure zoning to encourage other forms of development • Maintain some low-density, auto-oriented areas

10. V. Pulse the Development • Use key intersections (and/or major transit stops) to create walkable cores • Plan and zone higher densities to facilitate vertical mixed use (3 stories and above) and to achieve pedestrian concentrations that create an active street

11. Direct public investments in these zones to make higher-value private investments feasible • Use special development and public implementation tools (TDRs, BIDs, eminent domain, tax abatement, accelerated processing) to achieve the “pulse points” of new live-work, high-value community development

12. VI. Tame the Traffic • Is the arterial a "Seam" or an "Edge“? • Less than 8 lanes and speeds less than 30 to 35 MPH means it may be a “Seam” • Accommodate the needs of through & destination traffic • Above 20,000 to 30,000 cars/day requires a look at alternatives

13. Wide medians and innovative turns • Consolidate entrances/limit curb cuts

14. Separate through- and destination-traffic

15. Provide new parking configurations

16. Design alternate means of access • Provide secondary road network

17. VII. Create the Place • The presence of people in public places creates a more livable community and maximizes retail sales, rents, and capital value. • A well-conceptualized development integrated with other developments has more value than a stand-alone building surrounded by a parking lot. This is the “Design Dividend”

18. Create attractive pedestrian environments • Plan active sidewalks so people feel safe and comfortable Continuous retail frontages, sidewalk dining, interactive displays, varied designs, facades, and landscaping,

19. Introduce “townscape” elements like narrow, secondary streets, landscaping, street furniture, and signage • Design access routes that make getting to and from the place enjoyable and efficient • Sleeve big boxes and decked car parks with active retail or service users

20. VIII. Diversify the Character • Mixed-use development is a response to escalating land costs and congestion • Increased density is a response to sprawl • Use new mixed-use nodes to reinforce the edge of the major artery

21. Arrange development in a more convenient urban configuration and create a destination • Concentrate mixed use along the major arteries to preserve single-family neighborhoods • Mixed-use projects create pedestrian usage and reduce vehicular trips • Provide new forms of housing • Integrate recreation, culture, and entertainment

22. IX. Eradicate the Ugliness • Provide a place that people enjoy being

23. Create pleasant pedestrian itineraries

24. Put utilities underground • Plant mature trees and shrubs • Provide appropriate lighting (no sodium vapor!) • Organize attractive signage

25. Be creative with parking and landscape it heavily

26. Plan for retail and restaurant facilities close to and parallel to the arterial road with parking behind, above and beside

27. Pay attention to architectural excellence • Encourage buildings that enclose intersections in order to define and identify the strip • Create enforceable design guidelines for each street

28. X. Put Your Money Where Your Policy Is • If you want the private sector to invest, the public sector must invest too • Implementation strategies must be funded • Make capital improvements that achieve multiple purposes (e.g. traffic flow, aesthetic and environmental improvements) • Abate nuisances • Integrate public services and actions by multiple agencies

29. Zoning regulations must be linked to the public’s implementation strategy: effective by-right development standards, and TDRs in mature strips, ten-acre minimum lot sizes • Provide regulatory mechanisms for parceling and land assembly: eliminate setbacks? Streetfront or midblock development on multiple sites? Combine separately owned sites? • Create sophisticated design and development standards

30. Principles to Reinvent Suburban Strips • Ignite Leadership/Nurture Partnership • Anticipate Evolution • Know The Market • Prune Back Retail-Zoned Land • Establish Pulse Nodes of Development • Tame the Traffic • Create the Place • Diversify the Character • Eradicate the Ugliness • Put Your Money (and Regulations) Where Your Policy Is