|
Track: Local/State Government, Cadastral, Land Records
Marc Futterman
Marc A. Futterman & Associates
714 W. Olympic Blvd Suite 701
Los Angeles, CA 90015
Telephone: 213-747-6300
Fax: 213-747-7282
E-mail: mafa@earthlink.net
Mayee Salgado, Charles Huyck
GIS Solutions for Livable Communities
I. Introduction Everyone seems to have an idea for creating livable communities - the question is how to get past the pretty pictures and implement them. People know what conditions they want to live, work, and raise their families in. That is what developers want to bring to market. The problem is that livable communities can't just be plopped down and be successful. Livable communities evolve out of a wealth of existing resources - good schools, safe and convenient shopping areas, neighborhood services, health and fitness facilities, and transit services, among others. Unfortunately developers shy away from projects within established communities because of opposition due to traffic and other environmental impacts. II. The Ped-GRiD Solution Through our urban information technology solutions, we have developed a new, quantifiable method to identify the best places for building livable communities. Pedestrians are the key measure of a livable community. When the pedestrian potential of a place is
maximized, development projects become more market viable, potential traffic and environmental impacts are addressed, and each project becomes a community asset. The way we do this is through our Pedestrian Geographic Resources Database, or Ped-GRiD, which digitally compiles, analyzes, and maps information contained in data sets. III. Southern California Model To demonstrate the power of Ped-GRiD, we created a pedestrian framework plan for a three-county area of Southern California: Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties, which represent the most urbanized, economically vibrant, and socially diverse region in the United States. Prepared for the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), this plan meets federal legislation requiring metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) throughout the Unites States to integrate pedestrian and transportation facilities to be eligible for Intermodal Surface Transportation Enhancement Act (ISTEA) funding. A goal of the plan is to identify
geographic areas or pedestrian activity zones with the highest pedestrian potential. All of the maps were constructed by computer entirely through quantifiable, geocoded data. With Ped-GRiD, we inventoried over 70 categories of pedestrian and livability resources for a 25,000 square mile plan area including 1. Community facilities - parks, libraries, schools, civic centers, post offices, and so forth 2. Land uses including retail, office, high density residential, major building, parks, and so forth 3. Transit nodes including park`n ride, rail stations, bus stations, airports, and so forth 4. Vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian routes With Ped-GRiD, we distinguished between places that are pedestrian dependent - where people NEED to walk, and those that are pedestrian generators - where people WANT to walk. We compared demographic indicators, such as employment density, with geographic indicators, such as proximity of pedestrian facilities and land use coverage, to find the areas with the highest pedestrian
potential. Ped-GRiD is a powerful engine for querying through all these specific bits of information to discern the places throughout the region with the greatest potential for becoming a livable community. Zooming in to the parcel and block level, the same methodology can be applied to select the best sites for specific development projects. We can analyze information such as property size and area, land use and density, and property value for any group of blocks or for individual street addresses. The plan recommends implementation through a regional pedestrian enhancement program called SCAG/PEP. It provides subregions and local agencies with opportunities to undertake enhancement projects managed by SCAG's ACCESS program and funded through ISTEA and other sources. SCAG/PEP calls for the development of local pedestrian enhancement plans (Local/PEP) by local agencies and submitted to SCAG for funding through a competitive process. The Local/PEPs will be judged on how well they meet and implement the
goals and objectives established by SCAG/PEP. The Local/PEPs should establish improvement projects in pedestrian enhancement precincts. Local/PEPs should identify the inhibitors of good pedestrian movement and demonstrate how these may be overcome through proposed pedestrian enhancement strategies. Local/PEPs should provide an overall pedestrian enhancement vision established through a community participation process. A range of potential funding sources at federal and state levels are identified and may be allocated to local agencies by SCAG subregions. A SCAG/PEP management program is recommended to utilize the existing SCAG ACCESS program. IV. Conclusion As demonstrated by our Southern California model, Ped-GRiD is one of our urban information technology solutions for making a powerful and positive argument that quantifies livability and thereby demonstrates how individual projects contribute to a community's overall quality of life. This provides the reasons for community members to buy into and
support a development project. Ped-GRiD is a powerful tool for identifying which locations have the least potential for success, therefore giving developers an edge in minimizing their risk. We can create similar urban information technology solutions for a variety of applications by combining and interpreting relevant geographic and demographic data and by applying our unique analytical methods and criteria.
|
|
