 I'm Lucinda Statler, the Planning Administrator for the City of Columbia, and today I'll be talking about how and why urban design works. Think about some of the cities you've been where you've enjoyed walking around. Maybe Charleston or Savannah comes to mind close to home. Maybe the largest walkable city in the U.S., New York. Maybe Boston. Each city that comes to mind is probably very different. Different scales, different architectural styles, and different infrastructure. And while the local character varies from place to place, there are likely a number of things they have in common. Tangible, measurable things that contribute to walkability, as well as some more intangible, magical things that add up to placemaking, which is creating spaces for people where people feel safe, comfortable, and where they want to be. Great cities are great because of their public spaces, and since streets make up 80% of the public space and cities, walkability and placemaking are basically inseparable. And why is this important? It isn't just warm and fuzzy feel-good stuff. Walkability is directly related to commercial real estate value. A 2016 study by Real Capital Analytics showed that properties located in walkable CBDs had increased in value 125% over the previous decade, whereas comparable properties in car dependent areas had increased only around 20% during the same time period. A report by the Urban Land Institute highlights the economic value of walkable communities. It points out that compact walkable communities provide economic benefit to developers through higher property values, enhanced marketability, and quicker sales and leasing, and that they are more likely to hold value during economic downturns. Today I'm going to focus on the design of the street as public space and the four qualities that are essential to a street's walkability. Those are that it have defined edges, that it is safe and comfortable, it encourages activity and participation, and it is interesting or memorable. But before we dive into the nuts and bolts, I want to touch on the larger framework that is essential to the success of well-designed streets. While the public realm can be evaluated by looking at the design elements of a street, it can't be considered in a vacuum. There are other planning principles that are essential to the success of the public realm that provide important context. Having a mix of uses within close proximity, as well as enough residential density to support those nearby services, are critical components that set up the framework for the design to actually function. From a regulatory standpoint, we set the table for these conditions by having zoning districts which allow for a mix of uses, allow for unlimited density, and have zero required parking. The market determines the rest. This is a map of the six mixed-use districts in and around downtown. They all have narrow setbacks, unlimited density, and no parking minimums. This graphic is from the GEL Public Space Public Life Study, done in 2016 that shows how much surface parking we have in downtown. Having a convenient parking space for each person to park in at every destination they may visit cannot coexist with a dense mixed-use pedestrian realm. Cars can be accommodated in a successful city, but they cannot be the factor that drives planning and design decisions, or the public realm will fail. When the area of those lots is aggregated into a total square footage to scale, this is how much of our city center is dedicated to surface parking. Another critical component is the transportation network. Providing continuous sidewalks and safe bicycle facilities that connect housing, jobs, and services is of course essential, as is providing high visibility crosswalks and efficient signal timing for pedestrians to cross busy streets. Every impediment to a safe and easy pedestrian trip increases the chance that the person will choose instead to drive. And this is what we end up with when we let cars drive design decisions. The Urban Land Institute illustrates how indistinguishable auto-oriented corridors are throughout the country. Now that we've touched on the larger framework within which the public realm functions, let's get back to those four qualities that are essential to making a street walkable, that it have defined edges, that it is safe and comfortable, it encourages activity, and it is memorable. The first thing is to define the space. It is a fact that people feel safer and more comfortable in a defined space that has a sense of enclosure. There are two structural elements that can provide a sense of enclosure, buildings and trees. A basic urban design principle states that the most comfortable space for people to inhabit is scaled to the proportion of one to one. And you can see this ratio in Charleston on King Street, but it can be scaled up with a variety of street widths and building heights, as you can see on the left. Denser cities may have taller buildings where the pedestrian realm can feel canyon-like and imposing, and mitigating the height might be necessary. This can be done by stepping back the upper floors, as seen here in New York on the left, and is recommended in the Innovista Master Plan, where the zoning allows for unlimited height, but stepping back the upper floors can effectively reduce that ratio. Another way to mitigate height is by having a tree canopy that provides that more intimate pedestrian scale. Street trees can help tremendously to provide a sense of enclosure and comfort for pedestrians on streets that have very tall buildings or on streets that have gaps between buildings or where there aren't any buildings at all. Ratios wider than one to one can be successful, but after a certain point, when the road is more than five times wider than the buildings are tall, that sense of enclosure is lost. And you're in no man's land. And we see this condition more commonly in Columbia. And this is an example of two streets with the same traffic volumes, three lanes in each direction, with a planted median. And you can see the dramatic difference in how the trees transform the space to provide traffic calming measures, a more comfortable pedestrian realm, and by all accounts, a more attractive environment. Now that we've talked about defining the space, let's focus on designing the space. This is a diagram from our engineering standards, which illustrates the four zones of the sidewalk corridor or the public realm. The parking lane or enhancement zone is becoming increasingly as important as we see the increase in the demand for curb space. It is where you will see on street parking, loading zones, taxi and shared ride pickup zones, bike corrals, or even parklets for additional outdoor dining space. Having this space at street level and adjacent to the curb provides a great deal of flexibility to adjust the uses as the street changes over time. It can be metered parking and loading, or it might become a parklet for outdoor dining, depending on the adjacent development and what is needed. In Birmingham, Alabama, they actually have an area painted and labeled as flex, which allows for the space to be used for a multitude of purposes, depending on the current demand. The furnishing zone is the area between the curb and the pedestrian through zone. This zone is the most important for pedestrian safety and comfort as it provides a buffer between the pedestrian and the roadway. It is the area that accommodates street trees, signage, parking meters, lighting, and other street furnishings. Pedestrian comfort, particularly in South Carolina, is largely dependent on shade, provided by street trees in this zone. The pedestrian through zone is where people actually walk, and while providing a minimum width for ADA clearance might be enough in certain areas, on a downtown street with pedestrian activity, the minimum clear zone should be six feet, and in many cases it should be up to 12 feet where there's lots of activity. Finally, the frontage zone includes the design of the building that faces the public sidewalk. This is where entrances should be, storefront windows and commercial buildings, signage, outdoor dining tables, residential stoops, window boxes, planters, etc. It is the building's public face and should be engaging regardless of the building's use. The frontage zone is where the interface between private and public come together to engage the pedestrian. Whether the use is a retail storefront with goods on display to draw in customers passing by, or a restaurant with outdoor seating, here are a couple of local examples, outdoor dining not only enlivens the street provide safety by putting more eyes on the public realm, a residential street with stoops. This is what makes one want to walk down the street. Remember Sesame Street? Part of the joy of urban living is interaction between neighbors and having the street is a shared public space that serves as more than a traffic artery or parking lot. Streets provide a place for community interaction. Interesting and memorable, placemaking is all about creating a memorable setting. Richness of a street with historic buildings, or seeing activity inside a shop or restaurant. Jane Jacobs said, streets in their sidewalks, the main public spaces of a city, or its misvital organs. Think of a city and what comes to mind its streets. If they look interesting, the city looks interesting. If they look dull, the city looks dull. The Gale study pointed out that the human brain needs stimulation every four seconds. So not being bored is a determining factor in whether someone will walk down the street or not. Every detail or lack thereof along a street front has an impact on this phenomenon. From small unique details like these hanging baskets, basket lights in Columbus, Ohio, to these textured walls in various locations. Murals to help mitigate a more mundane alley or the sides of buildings. Even transportation infrastructure provides room for creativity. Green walls and potted plants add softness and vitality to a street. The tiniest bits of unexpected whimsy contribute to this uniqueness of placemaking. And while these little engaging details aren't something we can require or regulate, we set up a framework that provides guidance to ensure that the principles of walkability are met. Design guidelines are nuanced rather than codified, not because they are optional or unimportant, but to provide flexibility that allows for creativity and place making. These are the details that make a city interesting and memorable. It has been 25 years since the City Center Master Plan and guidelines were adopted, and almost 15 since the Inovista process was completed. Soon we will move forward with a process to select a consultant to help craft an updated set of urban design guidelines to address these design elements in the current context of a post-pandemic world with new ways of living, working, and using public space. Input from the public in the development community is a critical component in this process, so please stay tuned for upcoming information about how to participate. The QR code on the screen will give you the opportunity to get on an email distribution list for folks who want to get information directly about the process as it becomes available. Thank you.