Introduction
The Urban Utopia, a city with green belts, areas to roam free, a transit stop at every 2,000-foot radius, a mixture of high density housing, multifamily homes, and suburban residences that incorporate and accommodate Section VIII housing. These concepts along with many others are what lay the bedrock for Transit Oriented Development (TOD). TOD began as a counter-movement to urban sprawl and it’s economic, social, and environmental impacts by moving more towards the garden city movement of the 19th century by designating areas for specific land use, while also, employing the design of multiuse buildings. By looking at the greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area there is a clear need to set forth a community and regional master plan that …show more content…
Why? Because instead of people being confined to their pods, and cars, they are able to move about, share ideas, and socialize. However, due to the current landscape of the suburban city the social aspect is often missing. Applying TOD to a city limits the traffic on the streets allowing for more community involvement. This concept is known as street dieting. These diets allow for streets to become less populated while also increasing the flow of pedestrian traffic(Rosales) While sometimes making vehicular traffic worse, this often fits with the TOD model. This worsening of traffic is uncommon due to engineering codes about pedestrian traffic and the theory of triple convergence. Triple convergence is the theory that the more highway and traffic infrastructure created the worse traffic will become. TOD emphasizes the walkable city and public transit. Both of which have proven to increase social interaction. Along with sprawl, strip malls are also a main staple of suburban communities. In the city of Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix, it takes most citizen up most of an hour to walk to the nearest grocery store, but less than 10 minutes to drive there. This is a clear example of suburbs failing to accommodate the pedestrian. While the same individual who attends school in New York City, can walk to a grocery store within 20 minutes. This is in …show more content…
The greenhouse gases emitted from cars during rush hour, alone, has become a leading contributor to the depletion of the ozone. Designing a city with a TOD mindset would allow for cities to use more sustainable options. These would include high speed rail and bicycle programs. High speed train technology has advanced to the point of being able to run with little to no emissions. Bike-share programs have begun to pop up everywhere from France to Manhattan, KS (Demaio, 54) Unlike increasing stretches of highway, many of these bikes sharing programs pay for themselves or are funded by private companies. Velov Bikes in Lyon, France is a bike share program that is paid for in full by a private company. For an advertising company to gain full rights to advertisement space in the city, they pay for and maintain this program around the city. Working incredibly similarly to the Green Apple Bikes in Manhattan, Kansas; the only difference being that Green Apple Bikes is paid for through grants. An increase of public transportation assists in reducing individual automobiles in the city. Taking more cars off the road will reduce heat, emissions, and the use of fossil fuels. This in turn will reduce the footprint, and of course the UHI. Town squares are often restricted to pedestrian and bicyclist traffic in TODs. This assists in increasing the safety of individuals
The Urban Utopia, a city with green belts, areas to roam free, a transit stop at every 2,000-foot radius, a mixture of high density housing, multifamily homes, and suburban residences that incorporate and accommodate Section VIII housing. These concepts along with many others are what lay the bedrock for Transit Oriented Development (TOD). TOD began as a counter-movement to urban sprawl and it’s economic, social, and environmental impacts by moving more towards the garden city movement of the 19th century by designating areas for specific land use, while also, employing the design of multiuse buildings. By looking at the greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area there is a clear need to set forth a community and regional master plan that …show more content…
Why? Because instead of people being confined to their pods, and cars, they are able to move about, share ideas, and socialize. However, due to the current landscape of the suburban city the social aspect is often missing. Applying TOD to a city limits the traffic on the streets allowing for more community involvement. This concept is known as street dieting. These diets allow for streets to become less populated while also increasing the flow of pedestrian traffic(Rosales) While sometimes making vehicular traffic worse, this often fits with the TOD model. This worsening of traffic is uncommon due to engineering codes about pedestrian traffic and the theory of triple convergence. Triple convergence is the theory that the more highway and traffic infrastructure created the worse traffic will become. TOD emphasizes the walkable city and public transit. Both of which have proven to increase social interaction. Along with sprawl, strip malls are also a main staple of suburban communities. In the city of Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix, it takes most citizen up most of an hour to walk to the nearest grocery store, but less than 10 minutes to drive there. This is a clear example of suburbs failing to accommodate the pedestrian. While the same individual who attends school in New York City, can walk to a grocery store within 20 minutes. This is in …show more content…
The greenhouse gases emitted from cars during rush hour, alone, has become a leading contributor to the depletion of the ozone. Designing a city with a TOD mindset would allow for cities to use more sustainable options. These would include high speed rail and bicycle programs. High speed train technology has advanced to the point of being able to run with little to no emissions. Bike-share programs have begun to pop up everywhere from France to Manhattan, KS (Demaio, 54) Unlike increasing stretches of highway, many of these bikes sharing programs pay for themselves or are funded by private companies. Velov Bikes in Lyon, France is a bike share program that is paid for in full by a private company. For an advertising company to gain full rights to advertisement space in the city, they pay for and maintain this program around the city. Working incredibly similarly to the Green Apple Bikes in Manhattan, Kansas; the only difference being that Green Apple Bikes is paid for through grants. An increase of public transportation assists in reducing individual automobiles in the city. Taking more cars off the road will reduce heat, emissions, and the use of fossil fuels. This in turn will reduce the footprint, and of course the UHI. Town squares are often restricted to pedestrian and bicyclist traffic in TODs. This assists in increasing the safety of individuals