Retail Value in Walkability

Nur is an Associate at Larisa Ortiz Associates

Franklin Street/ NY -14 (Watkins Glen, NY). Photo: LOA

On a recent site visit to various towns in upstate New York, we experienced main commercial streets that, like many others around the country, also function as state highways. In one downtown we visited located directly on the NY-14 highway, or Franklin Street, sees an average of 11,000-13,000 vehicles passing thru daily. Although the moderate traffic count might appear to be a positive trait for retailers by increasing its visibility to potential driver customers, local business owners we spoke with expressed a very different opinion.

According to local merchants, without mid-block crossings and flashing pedestrian crossing lights, the street can be very hazardous to cross (once customers get out of their cars of course). Worse still, we found out from an anchor merchant that the state thoroughfare was also used as a shortcut for large vehicles and delivery trucks getting from downstate to upstate cities like Rochester.

Watkins Glen State Park visitors walking on NY-14. Photo: LOA

Unfortunately for downtown retailers, this unfriendly and uncomfortable pedestrian environment reduces customer dwell time and the chances of repeat visitors. Aside from residents living in upper story apartments on Main Street or in neighborhoods immediately adjacent to Main Street (i.e. captive customer base), it is less likely that a visitor who has experienced the hostile environment of walking up and down your commercial street will return for another visit. This is only compounded by the fact that the retail offerings are essentially halved when customers are unable to cross the street to get to other stores easily.

A poor pedestrian environment negatively impacts cross-shopping opportunities. A shopper walking on the eastern side of the street will find it difficult to cross west given the hostile street, even if he or she can see an interesting sign or merchandise in the display across the way. Without mandatory stop points and strong law enforcement, large vehicles passing thru frequently during the day are unlikely to make time for pedestrians crossing. In fact, on our site visit in Watkins Glen, we observed first-hand several pedestrians waiting longer than five minutes to cross near Franklin Street because vehicles turning were not yielding to pedestrians. The same goes for Main Street in Mount Morris, NY.

Although commercial districts and Main Streets located on state thoroughfares rely quite heavily on vehicle traffic to convert into paying customers, these shoppers who eventually get out of their vehicles to peruse storefronts become pedestrians themselves. Therefore, creating a friendly and comfortable walkable environment on Main Street is paramount to increasing dwell times of customers and store sales downtown.

The retail value of creating a more walkable downtown

Source: Bent & Shiga 2008

A survey conducted in San Francisco, an incredibly walkable city, found that those who walked to downtown San Francisco were spending more in a month than those driving downtown. Sure, walkers spent less per visit compared to those arriving by private vehicle (I mean, think about how much weight you can reasonably carry on your own versus in a car!). However, when accounting for the number of times per month they visited downtown, walkers came out to be the bigger spenders overall in a month. For retailers, this means making your downtown walkable and comfortable for more pedestrians will likely improve foot traffic and sales. In fact, a Brookings Institute study and a State of Place study conducted in metropolitan Washington and Houston respectively further support this, having found that each increase in level of ‘walkability’ translates to an 80% increase in retail sales.

How to create a pedestrian and bike-friendly environment downtown

NY-408 in Nunda, NY. Photo: LOA

Of course, transforming state or federal highways that your commercial districts may be located on is no easy feat. Often, state and federal objectives of moving vehicular traffic quickly and efficiently are at odds with the community vision for a walkable and vibrant downtown environment. In order to create the desired environment, close coordination with state and federal department of transportation representatives will be critical from start to finish.  Starting with smaller streetscape improvements (i.e. benches, sidewalk lights, and re-painting crosswalks) will be key to exploring bigger options such as building road medians at key intersections, bulb outs, and installing new crosswalk lights (perhaps, with leading pedestrian intervals).

Finally, be aware that one of the greatest battles to be fought with state or federal DOTs will be adjusting posted speed limits. In many downtowns and main streets, the 25mph speed limit has become a common traffic calming action to take to increase comfort levels for pedestrian shoppers. Lowering posted speed limits may prove to be a worthy battle to fight as a 2015 survey of shoppers by Schneider found that posted speed limits had a significantly negative association to walking within a shopping district. The lower the posted speed limit, the more survey respondents walked within the shopping districts, leading to longer dwell times.

Planning for Boomers: Here is why it matters and what to do about it

This post is the first a series that will attempt to illuminate how major demographic shifts will drive downtown retail and urban planning design decisions for decades to come.

Sidewalk benches provide respite for older shoppers. Photo Credit: LOA

Today we talk about the Baby Boomers – those who at the time of this writing are 53 or older. While Millennials grab most of the attention these days, the truth is that when it comes to disposable income, Boomers still have more purchasing clout. Younger Boomers are also still in their peak earning years and continue to lead active lifestyles. But change is coming. In ten years, these younger Boomers will be 63. While still active, many will begin to seek environments that accommodate their changing lifestyles – kids out of the house, retirement looming and more leisure time.

The good news is that Boomers, unlike Millennials, still prefer in-store shopping. According to Chain Store Age, a 2016 study found that 84% of Boomers still prefer to shop in-store. While we know on-line shopping habits are changing quickly, this demographic still retains loyalty to brick and mortar experiences. So ensuring downtown remains a viable and attractive location for Boomers to shop and spend their leisure time should be a no-brainer.

Simple things like awnings help shelter
older customers from the elements. Photo Credit: LOA

Yet as retail futurist and author of The Retail Revival, Doug Stephens states so plainly, “physical constraints are an inevitable part of aging.” He also makes clear that the old ways of doing business will need to adapt to the changing needs of this powerful demographic group. Unfortunately, many communities are willfully ignoring this trend. In one community we recently surveyed, a business owner dismissed the “busloads of older visitors to town” who “do nothing to help the local economy.” According to the business owner, these visitors walk around without spending money. His comment was in response to a suggestion that the town explore accommodating and transporting the more than 3,000 annual river cruise passengers up from the waterfront to downtown - an uphill walk unlikely to appeal to many passengers. Yet these are passengers who pay on average $400 - $500 per person, per night for their cruise experience. Downtown retailers can ill afford to so readily dismiss a group of individuals with significant discretionary resources.

Another planning theorist, Gil Penalosa has expressed this concern in a different way. His “8 to 80” concept offers up the idea that cities should be designed to accommodate people of all ages, from the ages of well, 8 to 80. In general the principles behind these design accommodations for older adults will ultimately make the downtown shopping experience more pleasurable for people of all ages. So this is not about designing something “special” for a small subset of the shopper base. As George Branyan at the District of Columbia’s Department of Transportation states, "If we can design for the most vulnerable street users and those with the most specific needs, then we’ve made streets safe for them and everything in between.”

This looks like a "do", but the small size,
hard to read font and high-placement
make it hard for drivers to see. Photo credit: LOA 

It comes down to this, downtown stands to grow its customer base if it addresses the needs of aging Boomers. One opportunity involves helping Boomers find environments that allow them to both downsize AND live in environments where they can be less car dependent without losing independence. Walkable downtown environments offer this opportunity – while also ensuring an ability to maintain an active lifestyle and take advantage of essential needs - even when things like driving at night become more and more of a challenge.

Moving forward, downtown planners will have to address the basics – things like the size and visibility of signs and the fonts that are used, places to sit, and traffic lights timed for faster walkers. This will mean providing more time to cross wide streets and making sure curbs are not too steep between the sidewalk and street. A number of cities are pursuing what they call “Safe Senior” initiatives, including Portland and New York. These kinds of efforts will provide the foundation for the growing senior communities fueled by the Boomers.

The co-location of businesses helps older
customers who are unlikely to walk long distances. Photo Credit: LOA 

Below are some practical strategies for simple, targeted safety improvements that downtowns should consider as they plan major capital improvements last will last the next 10-20 years.

Ease of Access

• Make downtown offerings more compact. Downtown stores should be co-located and allow for ease of shopping from one business to another.
• Ease of navigation. Work to strengthen the proximity of offerings and reduce the “friction” between stores. This means making a street easier to cross (i.e. mid-block crossings). Older adults may be resistant to walking down a long street in order to cross safely at the corner – particularly when the weather is inclement.
• Wayfinding signage that is easy to spot and read is critical to helping both visitors and older adults find their way around downtown. This is particularly true when downtown parking lots are located behind the stores. The only people who know the parking is back there are regulars.

Accessibility

• More downtown housing. As fewer and fewer baby boomers drive, downtown housing is a natural fit. It offers a mix of smaller units and density that allows them to take care of shopping needs without driving – which will become another reality as they age.



This walkway to rear downtown
parking receives star treatment
through murals that enliven the space. Photo credit: LOA 

• Support for ridesharing options to help them get to and/from downtown. This is particularly important as downtown becomes a place to eat and dine. Older adults often have limited visibility at night, so safe rides, particularly after drinking, are important safety concern for all.

Comfort

• Benches for respite. Preferably facing the sidenot, or placed against a storefront
• Trees that provide relief from hotter temperatures
• Awnings to protect slow walkers from the elements

Visibility

• Lighting that allows older people to see where they are going – especially at night. Many downtown streets lack appropriate pedestrian lightings. Moreover, windows are either covered with grates or the display lights for windows are shut off in the evening.
• Signs with larger font sizes. Also, these signs should not be placed too high. Seniors (and children!) have lower gazes.
• Pedestrian signs (blade/banner signs in particular) to allow customers to see stores from a distance (and make decisions about whether they should walk further).

  

  Trees help provide shade and cool down a sidewalk,
  making for more comfortable walking environment. Photo Credit: LOA

Pedestrian Safety

• 

  This walkway is the only connection between a parking area and
  the Main Street. Pedestrians are forced to
  walk on the street in conflict with car entering the lot. Photo Credit: LOA 

  Walkways to parking areas. In many traditional and historic downtowns, parking can be found behind the buildings. The walkways to those parking areas need to be well maintained and feel safe for pedestrians. Older shoppers in particular will likely have concerns over uneven asphalt or lack of a sidewalk for safe walking to/from their cars. 
• Respite islands in the middle of the street to account for slower walking pace. Even if walking signals are timed to allow for a slower gait, some seniors may not be able to cross in time.
• Maintenance of flat sidewalks – no bricks – to prevent falls. Maintenance of cracks to prevent falls.
• Improved shoveling and ice removal to prevent falls
• Opportunities and activities that encourage socialization – it’s not always about shopping. In fact, a visit downtown will rarely ever meet the majority of a family’s shopping needs.

The Do's and Don'ts of Outdoor Displays

A furniture store in Sanford, FL
curates a seating patio outside its store.

Nur Asri is an associate at Larisa Ortiz Associates

The public realm is extremely important in commercial districts. While plazas and parks offer areas for visitors to rest and enjoy a meal, sidewalks make up a larger percentage of the public realm and are often optimized by businesses to attract customers. As a result, many store owners have taken to displaying merchandise on sidewalks as ‘teasers’ to what else is in store for potential customers.

However, business owners need to be aware that every city has its own regulations around sidewalk merchandise displays. Here in NYC, although stores are permitted to have outdoor displays of merchandise with no required licenses (for the most part.. Note: ‘Zero Sidewalk Display’ streets and streets in historically designated areas), these displays are restricted by types of goods and by size and structure.

The City requires that items displayed outdoors consist only of goods that are available for sale inside the store and that all sales must still occur inside the premise. Structures used to display the merchandise outside the store must also be temporary in nature and may extend no more than 3 feet into the sidewalk from the building line, and no higher than 5 feet. If a business owner were to break any of these regulations, a fine between $250 and $300 may be issued by the City.

In Cambridge, MA, where we recently completed work on a citywide retail strategy, the outdoor display of merchandise is even harder to do because a sidewalk obstruction permit is required by the City of Cambridge and costs $75 to submit.

Regardless of municipality, businesses must recognize that the regulations around sidewalk merchandise display are often well-intentioned and aim to meet the following three key principles:

1. Maintaining standards of cleanliness and hygiene
2. Enhancing pedestrian comfort and safety
3. Ensuring collective business viability

More than 8' width pedestrian zone outside
this fresh food market in Mt Vernon, NY.

Through our work in different downtowns and commercial corridors across the state and country, we’ve seen a number of best practices in outdoor merchandise display but we have also seen some that have done more harm than good to the overall business environment. Here are some quick tips to ensure you use outdoor merchandise displays to your business’ and your corridor’s benefit.

Do’s:

Leave sufficient sidewalk space for pedestrians to walk. On busy downtown commercial streets, for example, the City of Boston recommends a minimum of 8’-12’ width dedicated as the ‘pedestrian zone’ to ensure easy flow of pedestrian traffic on sidewalks. The clear path will ensure the sidewalk remains accessible to multiple users, including those in wheelchairs or pushing strollers, and will also maximize the foot traffic for businesses.

(NYC sure was right in limiting the depth of outdoor display structures to no more than 3 feet from the building line!)

Shoes on display outside this men's clothing store
maintains a clear path to the doorway.

Keep the path to the store’s entrance clear from any physical barriers. The fewer the barriers to entry, the more likely the customer will walk beyond the entryway. Having seen a teaser of products outdoors, businesses will want customers to continue browsing merchandise indoors and extend their dwell times so ensure that outdoor merchandise displays do not block the entryway nor reduce the visibility of the store’s entrance.

Maintain a neat, organized and relevant display rack. The success of your business and the success of your overall commercial district are interrelated. If your district’s sidewalks were spilled over with messy and unmaintained outdoor merchandise displays with expired or irrelevant products, the overall image of the district would be spoiled and customers would perceived a neglected commercial street and take their shopping elsewhere.

Switch out and rotate the merchandise you put on display outside every other day (in the case of fresh flowers, fruits and vegetables) or every few months (in the case of seasonal gifts and clothing) and ensure the display racks are kept tidy. Maintain a good image for the corridor and your business will only reap the benefits.

Curate and get creative with your outdoor merchandise display. A well-curated outdoor display can attract both visitor and resident customers. Take the time to select and curate pieces that market your business best. Furniture and antique stores, flower shops, and even bike shops are increasingly using outdoor merchandise displays to their advantages and luring customers with unique and colorful outdoor product displays.

Don’ts:

Florist on Montague Street, Brooklyn NY

Clutter products in the allowable outdoor display areas. If displays appear cluttered and messy, customers are more likely to be confused by the products offered by the store and will quickly move on to neighboring businesses. After all, “less is more” is the common rule for merchandising. According to retail experts, high product density results in visual chaos that overwhelms the shopper. There isn’t enough time for the shopper to sort through the clutter and determine if the merchandise is of enough interest to stop and shop. 

Stack products high in front of store windows. Often, business owners get overexcited about being able to promote merchandise outside and forget the importance of maintaining transparency of storefronts. Sure customers are now able to see products on display outdoors, however, storefront transparency also serve to discourage crime with ‘more eyes on the street’ and reduce energy consumption by letting natural light into the store. Remember that many storefront guidelines recommend having 70% of the façade surface completely transparent between 2’ and 10’ height above the sidewalk.

Display products that are hard to reach by customers. When businesses pack as many products as possible outside, it becomes “physically impossible for a consumer to shop comfortably”. As a result of stacks and stacks of products, shoppers are often unable to reach most of the products on display and are therefore unable to examine the merchandise more closely, resulting in them losing interest and walking away.

While outdoor merchandise display can do wonders in advertising and promoting goods on offer in stores, it is important to note that some products lend themselves better to outdoor display than others. For example, lighter-weight articles can easily be blown over by wind outdoors, and food and drinks may become spoiled from long exposure to sunlight and humidity. We’ve also seen long articles of clothing getting dirtied by outdoor dust and particles, ruining the overall appearance of the sidewalk display.

If you’re thinking of enhancing the vibrancy of the sidewalks in your commercial district, first make sure you abide by the regulations set by your municipality and, secondly, ensure that the displays don’t result in dirt or mess on the sidewalks, and don’t create tripping hazards, fire hazards or nuisances for your customers. After all, your customers’ experience is central to the success of this effort.

The Case Against Brick Sidewalks

In New York City, the City long ago stopped funding the construction of brick sidewalks.

Why? Simply put. Lawsuits.

If maintenance needs are neglected, a brick sidewalk can quickly become a liability for a few reasons: tree roots cause sidewalks to bulge, bricks come loose and uneven surfaces cause pedestrians to trip and fall. Another issue is that the bumps and uneven services hamper mobility for people with disabilities. In fact, the situation has become so dire that some communities are replacing brick pavers with concrete, which is what Downtown Brooklyn did in 2008 when they replaced brick pavers with concrete.

And then there is cost. In Portland, ME the City estimates that brick costs $130 per square yard, compared to $100 per square yard for concrete.

In Georgetown, Washington DC, a community whose image is nearly synonymous with brick sidewalks states in its 2028 Plan that "Red brick sidewalks are a prominent element of Georgetown's streetscape. But these sidewalks are often a source of frustration and inconvenience to pedestrians as...uncovered tree boxes make for tricky footing, and bricks that need replacing go untended." Understandably, the report glosses over the trip and fall hazards (who wants to admit liability and encourage lawsuits?) that have resulted in lawsuits for other BIDs, but the suggestion that the bricks cause a hazard is there nonetheless.

Over the years, many have written about the challenges with brick sidewalks, yet I must say that I continue to attend conferences where architects and planners eagerly display renderings with perfectly laid brick. Sigh.

This piece by blogger Rob Goodspeed, "Where the (Brick) Sidewalk Ends"  goes so far as to suggest that "there is an uncertain ethical calculus for brick." What do you think?

Gentrification, two-way streets, empty nesters and sidewalks...Commercial District News Round Up, July 3, 2015

Another Take on Gentrification
Not what you typically see when reading about gentrification - this article sheds positive light on a viewed strength of gentrification, the creation of diversity.  Formerly segregated communities of black and Latino populations are said to become more diverse with the advent of gentrification in their neighborhoods according to this New York Times article by Hector Tobar.

Credit: Eddie Ruvalcaba for the New York Times

The Case for Two-Way Streets
This is a continued piece regarding the case for two-way streets and their associative value to commercial districts and neighborhoods.  Planetizen authored this story and conducted the research. They claim that traffic accidents, crime, and abandonment fell while housing prices climbed on two-way converted streets. In addition, local business enterprises had increased business revenue and customer traffic.

Image source: Planetizen

License to Thrill
Street Performers. Whether you approve or disapprove, street performers are a likely scene in many vibrant cities and within public areas in shopping districts.  This short news article points to the potential problem of too much regulation for performers that more often add to the character and vitality of an area than detract.  New licensing requirements and guidelines are on the horizon in Saratoga Springs, NY despite opposition.

Image source: getintothis.co.uk

Best Practices for Sidewalks
This article by Sustainable Cities Collective gives eight best practice principles to creating the "perfect" sidewalk in commercial and downtown districts.  For example, proper sizing and quality surfaces make the list, read on to see why.

Photo credit: Luísa Schardong | Source: Sustainable Cities Collective

Urban Empty Nesters 
A growing trend for both downtown districts and real estate agents is the Baby Boomer population moving to urban downtown's as they become empty nesters.  One element that makes this segment of Baby Boomers more interested in relocating closer to downtown is that they are working well into retirement.  Is this, however, a strong enough demographic shift to change retail mix?