Reid Ewing

A comprehensive how-to manual for traffic calming in the United States. Planners and engineers can look to this manual for guidance on the appropriate use, design, and signing and marking of traffic-calming measures. For local officials, developers, and community associations, it is an introduction to the goals and tactics of traffic calming. Based

This handbook introduces community leaders to an understanding oftransportation mobility, offering suggestions to reduce congestion, automobile dependence, and vehicle miles of travel.

The author draws upon case examples of some of today's most acclaimed developments in this book, and recommends best practice guidelines to help developers create vibrant, livable communities-and still make money. For years, Florida's planners and developers have had to deal with some of the most difficult growth management problems. Now

Planning at a metropolitan scale is important for effective management of urban growth, transportation systems, air quality, and watershed and green-spaces. It is fundamental to efforts to promote social justice and equity. Best Practices in Metropolitan Transportation Planning shows how the most innovative metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) in the United States are addressing these issues using their mandates to improve transportation networks while pursuing emerging sustainability goals at the same time.As both a policy analysis and a practical how-to guide, this book presents cutting-edge original research on the role accessibility plays - and should play - in transportation planning, tracks how existing plans have sought to balance competing priorities using scenario planning and other strategies, assesses the results of various efforts to reduce automobile dependence in cities, and explains how to make planning documents more powerful and effective. In highlighting the most innovative practices implemented by MPOs, regional planning councils, city and county planning departments and state departments of transportation, this book aims to influence other planning organizations, as well as influence federal and state policy discussions and legislation.

Planning at a metropolitan scale is important for effective management of urban growth, transportation systems, air quality, and watershed and green-spaces. It is fundamental to efforts to promote social justice and equity. Best Practices in Metropolitan Transportation Planning shows how the most innovative metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) in the United States are addressing these issues using their mandates to improve transportation networks while pursuing emerging sustainability goals at the same time.As both a policy analysis and a practical how-to guide, this book presents cutting-edge original research on the role accessibility plays - and should play - in transportation planning, tracks how existing plans have sought to balance competing priorities using scenario planning and other strategies, assesses the results of various efforts to reduce automobile dependence in cities, and explains how to make planning documents more powerful and effective. In highlighting the most innovative practices implemented by MPOs, regional planning councils, city and county planning departments and state departments of transportation, this book aims to influence other planning organizations, as well as influence federal and state policy discussions and legislation.

Across the nation, the debate over metropolitan sprawl and its impact has become pivotal to urban planning. A decade and a half ago, Smart Growth America and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sought to raise the level of the debate by sponsoring groundbreaking research to quantitatively measure sprawl and its quality-of-life impacts. The resulting measures are widely used in urban research and public health.Costs of Sprawl provides a panoramic guide to urban form in America, measures sprawl for metropolitan areas, urbanized areas, and counties, and studies the relationship between sprawl and quality-of-life outcomes. From this preliminary investigation, it looks like the costs of sprawl are varied and substantial, and the alternative of compact development is far superior.An essential read for researchers, planners, urban designers, policy makers, and smart growth advocates in the U.S. and abroad, this book provides a comprehensive and detailed analysis of one of the most critical issues in planning today.

Across the nation, the debate over metropolitan sprawl and its impact has become pivotal to urban planning. A decade and a half ago, Smart Growth America and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sought to raise the level of the debate by sponsoring groundbreaking research to quantitatively measure sprawl and its quality-of-life impacts. The resulting measures are widely used in urban research and public health.Costs of Sprawl provides a panoramic guide to urban form in America, measures sprawl for metropolitan areas, urbanized areas, and counties, and studies the relationship between sprawl and quality-of-life outcomes. From this preliminary investigation, it looks like the costs of sprawl are varied and substantial, and the alternative of compact development is far superior.An essential read for researchers, planners, urban designers, policy makers, and smart growth advocates in the U.S. and abroad, this book provides a comprehensive and detailed analysis of one of the most critical issues in planning today.

What makes strolling down a particular street enjoyable? The authors of "Measuring Urban Design" argue it's not an idle question. Inviting streets are the centrepiece of thriving, sustainable communities, but it can be difficult to pinpoint the precise design elements that make an area appealing. This accessible guide removes the mystery, providing clear methods to measure urban design. In recent years, many "walking audit instruments" have been developed to measure qualities like building height, street length, and pavement width. But while easily quantifiable, these physical features do not fully capture the experience of walking down a street. In contrast, this book addresses broad perceptions of street environments. It provides operational definitions and measurement protocols of five intangible qualities of urban design, specifically: imageability, visual enclosure, human scale, transparency, and complexity. The result is a reliable field survey instrument grounded in constructs from architecture, urban design, and planning. Readers will also find a case study applying the instrument to 588 streets in New York City, which shows that it can be used effectively to measure the built environment's impact on social, psychological, and physical well-being. Finally, readers will find illustrated, step-by-step instructions to use the instrument and a scoring sheet for easy calculation of urban design quality scores. For the first time, researchers, designers, planners, and lay people have an empirically tested tool to measure those elusive qualities that make us want to take a stroll.

A comprehensive how-to manual for traffic calming in the United States. Planners and engineers can look to this manual for guidance on the appropriate use, design, and signing and marking of traffic-calming measures. For local officials, developers, and community associations, it is an introduction to the goals and tactics of traffic calming. Based in part on the first traffic-calming manual taken through a formal rule-making process and adopted by a state department of transportation as a supplement to its roadway design manual, this book catalogs principles that have been modified by many local jurisdictions to match local priorities and preferences. Standardization is key to the success of traffic-calming initiatives, and this book explains the processes, tools, and design needed to create a standard traffic-calming program. It also shows how municipalities can build needed flexibility into such programs. Signage and markings are also key, and a chapter is devoted to these issues. This is the book that states and municipalities need to create effective traffic-calming programs.

This handbook introduces community leaders to an understanding oftransportation mobility, offering suggestions to reduce congestion, automobile dependence, and vehicle miles of travel.

The author draws upon case examples of some of today's most acclaimed developments in this book, and recommends best practice guidelines to help developers create vibrant, livable communities-and still make money. For years, Florida's planners and developers have had to deal with some of the most difficult growth management problems. Now planners and developers across the nation can benefit from the valuable lessons Florida offers on combating urban sprawl. Ewing first searched the state for the best contemporary developments, then distilled their lessons into guidelines for directing new development and assessing the quality of existing development. The 43 practices outlined in this exciting book cover four areas of development-land use, transportation, the environment, and housing. They apply to a broad range of development projects, including small planned communities, residential subdivisions, and commercial centers. The book's recommendations are based upon the experiences of successful developers and supported by empirical research. The proof lies in the compelling real-world examples Ewing highlights throughout the text. Illustrated with dozens of photographs and written in a lively style, this book is must reading for all those seeking better ways to plan and design communities. Developers will find proven, feasible land development regulations and benchmarks against which to evaluate development proposals.