Why Street Design Matters

The Great Opportunity

"On average, streets, sidewalks, and alleys occupy between 25-30% of our urban land. As the largest chunk of undeveloped space in cities, streets present an incredible opportunity to address a wide range of urban problems. And since they are publicly-owned, cities do not need to negotiate ownership, maintenance, and regulatory control. Our street spaces are the ultimate untapped urban resource, a public land bank that is waiting to be cashed in.

Why is Good Street Design So Hard to Come By?

There are several reasons why good street design is difficult to achieve. First, streets must fulfill a wide variety of functions for diverse groups at different times. Designing streets to satisfy all users is tough. Second, historically street design has been the role of the traffic engineer whose goal it was to move traffic through streets, rather than to attract people to linger in shared public space. Third, as cities look for new street design methods, a wide variety of engaged parties are eager to have a seat at the negotiation table, including bicycle coalitions, stormwater experts, bus rapid transit advocates, business improvement districts, community gardeners, school districts, utility companies, etc. While participation of these groups allows for more holistic design, achieving consensus among disparate parties is challenging. Fourth, the power to regulate the street space is dispersed in ways that makes communication and collaboration difficult to achieve." - Amy Hawks & Georgia Sheridan