Round up: State of the Cities 2018, classic American main street, free legal services, gender-free retail, steakhouse local

Scott Landfried is Operations Manager at Larisa Ortiz Associates

National League of Cities: State of the Cities 2018

Based on content analysis of 160 mayoral speeches between January and April 2018, this report breaks down the top ten major topics and discusses five subtopics of each major topic.

What a steakhouse can teach us about walkable neighborhoods

The concept: restaurants, and the like, built into mixed use residential environments become an extension of the resident's house and guarantees a reliable customer base. It is just another demonstrated point in the walkable/human-scale oriented versus auto-oriented debate.

Quantifying the death of the classic American main street

Main street is struggling under the pressure of chain stores and shifting economic forces. Among helpful tips to counterbalance this trend, the story discusses eight core characteristics of the classic main street.

NYC to offer free legal services to small business owners

Giving mom-and-pop stores some much needed help against the many forces against them with much deeper pockets, NYC Department of Small Business Services is offering up to 40 hours free legal services to small businesses with issues regarding their leases.

NYC retailer offers gender-free experience

Possibly a first - a retailer offers gender non-binary shopping experience. The retail space also includes a juice/coffee bar and community space - an experiential space of sorts.

Pedestrian Malls - Getting it Right

Nur Asri is an Associate at Larisa Ortiz Associates

Main Mall, Charlottesville VA

It’s been almost sixty years since the first pedestrian mall in the US opened in downtown Kalamazoo, MI. Designed by Victor Gruen, the father of the suburban shopping malls of America, the Kalamazoo mall has since been opened to one lane of traffic after forty years of being completely pedestrianized. The fate of the Kalamazoo mall is unlike that of hundreds of other counterparts across the nation. In fact, according to one study, pedestrian malls in the United States have an 89% rate of failure.

Pedestrian malls are often characterized as being public streets designated for pedestrian-only use and closed to vehicular traffic. The predominantly downtown feature rose between the 1960s and 1980s as an attempt to attract shoppers back to downtown cores following the flight to suburbia. Since its heyday, over 170 pedestrian malls across the country have been completely removed, combined with transit, or continue to struggle.

The Problem with Pedestrian Malls

Since its inception, pedestrian malls have posed several issues for downtowns including crime and safety, low retail visibility, and lack of customer convenience. Collectively, these issues have resulted in a less attractive shopping environment, lowering foot traffic and customer dwell times. When these patterns emerge, the retail mix also starts to shift away from comparison and destination goods and services, and vacancies become a common sight.

In Poughkeepsie NY, for example, the Main Mall which was in existence from 1973 until 2001, failed to stop the decline of the downtown due to growth of immediate suburbs and shopping malls, and also  the rise of vagrancy problems on the mall. Following the opening of the Dutchess County Department of Social Services nearby and the lack of assistance and programming on the mall in the 1980s, Poughkeepsie began to attract loiterers and transients on the Main Mall and was no longer a preferred shopping destination amongst County residents.

Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica CA

Too often the design of pedestrian malls often neglects heightening visibility of stores to various types of customers. Since malls are closed off from the rest of downtown, enhanced store signage and increased wayfinding is needed to direct customers towards businesses on the mall. Blade signs, A-Frame signs, large fonts, and clear logos were often left out of consideration. Placement of signs at every entrance to the mall was often disregarded and ended up leaving those customers driving in cars around downtown out of the picture.

Finally, the lack of convenient parking spaces and well-maintained pedestrian pathways to parking structures or transit stops on the periphery of downtown drove customers away from pedestrian malls (no pun intended). Even business owners operating on the malls found their operations disrupted as they often no longer had a dedicated, convenient spot to load/ unload goods. Accessibility of the downtowns became disrupted as a result of pedestrian malls.

Getting the pedestrian mall right

Despite these potential problems, some pedestrian malls have managed to survive and continue to be attractive environments for shopping downtown. And as we’ve found, there are a myriad of factors that enable these malls to be successful.

• Co-locate the mall near large anchor institutions and attractions

16th St Mall, Denver CO

Having institutions and anchors such as universities, hospitals, museums, convention centers, and stadiums/arenas, ensures that there is a constantly high flow of pedestrian traffic year-round in the downtown that is likely to spill onto the pedestrian mall. The City of Denver’s 16^th Street Mall, for example, sees large numbers of pedestrians annually thanks to its close proximity to the Pepsi Center (home to national hockey team Colorado Avalanche), University of Colorado, Denver Performing Arts Complex, Colorado Convention Center, and Coors Field, home of the major league baseball team Colorado Rockies. Last year alone, the Colorado Rockies saw close to 3 million attendees to their games for the season.

• Build a captive downtown audience

Upper floor housing on 2nd St, Santa Monica CA

The visitors to attractions and destinations are still quite temporary – there are ebbs and flows in their movements. However, residents and workers have a more consistent daily pattern of movement and they’re likely to pass through the pedestrian mall at least once a month, if not a week. In a survey conducted in downtown Santa Monica, 82% of residents were found to visit the Third Street Promenade at least once a month.  Furthermore, making dense downtown housing available not only creates captive shoppers for businesses, it also ensures that residents have their eyes on the mall at night, creating a safer environment for shoppers.

In the 1950s, Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade mall failed because most stores closed by 5pm when no one lived in the immediate area and there were no late-night entertainment options and few restaurants. Today, there are mixed-use residential buildings on adjacent streets, numerous hotels and office buildings in the area, creating a strong day-to-night captive audience for the pedestrian mall.

• Ensure active ground floor uses

AMC Theater Third St Promenade, Santa Monica CA

To ensure the pedestrian malls are active and safe 18 hours of the day, ground floor uses should be zoned for active uses that cater to a wide range of audience. Operating hours of retailers and services on the ground floor should be long and late-night hours should be maintained for a sizable portion of ground floor uses. This is easy to get at when there are restaurants, bars and entertainment venues along the pedestrian mall – just like Pearl Street Mall in Boulder CO. Santa Monica also successfully achieved this with a 21-screen cinema on Third Street (and zoning out cinemas from other nearby areas – an extreme solution).

• Keep length of mall short

Of the 11% of pedestrian malls that have survived since the 1960s and continue to thrive, a hundred percent measure between one and four blocks in length – and no more. The short blocks allow ‘minimal disruption to traffic circulation and permit cross-traffic to pass through the mall’, solving for issues that may arise around convenience and accessibility for shoppers and businesses.

• Mitigate traffic diversions and design the pedestrian experience from afar

If a mall is to be located on a street that already experiences high levels of vehicular traffic, some traffic diversion will inevitably occur and this may potentially result in the loss of customers who are driving to the area and who are seeking convenient parking.  Measures must be taken to mitigate such impacts and may include clear signage to guide drivers to the nearest available parking lots and to guide visitors between the mall and parking areas, well-lit and well-maintained pathways and alleys connecting the mall, distinctive entrances to the mall, and large and varying store signs.

In addition, two-way roads should encircle pedestrian malls (instead of one-way roads) to make adjacent roads safer for pedestrians and easier for driving customers to turn around on.

• Maintain and program

Busking on Bourke St Mall, Melbourne (Australia)

Finally, pedestrian malls that have continued to thrive have been consistently clean and well-maintained. This ensures that visitors are welcomed by an inviting public realm. Programs and events such as busking and festivals have also been carried out throughout the year at successful pedestrian malls in order to build experiences for shoppers who are seeking more than just physical products.

Having a centralized, coordinated management group for the pedestrian mall enable smooth operations and program delivery and can really contribute to the overall success of a mall.

Just a Word of Caution

Although the above factors laid out here may help you implement a robust and integrated pedestrian mall, the mall does take a lot of stakeholder engagement, rallying support, and A LOT of capital before it can succeed. Remember – of the approximately 200 pedestrian malls built in the 60s and 80s, only 11% have been successful and even then many had to re-invest and re-strategize their malls over the years.

Pedestrian malls aren’t for the faint of heart.

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.

How to encourage walking within your commercial district

Nur Asri is an associate at Larisa Ortiz Associates

Pedestrians in downtown NY. Photo: Kars Alfrink via Flickr

In a recent study by Robert J Schneider, of the Department of Urban Planning at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, two distinct design features were identified to significantly impact shoppers’ choice to walk along a main commercial street rather than drive.

Sure, we’ve all heard that curb extensions, street trees and transparent ground floor facades all play an important role in creating walkable environments but no research study has associated urban design features with the choice to walk rather than drive. Therefore, in order to understand the relationship between urban design and the choice between walking and driving, Schneider tested roadway variables such as the convenience of parking, sidewalk and buffer widths, corner curb radius, number of lanes, traffic volume and speeds. 

After controlling for personal travel and socio-economic characteristics, the study by Schneider identifies two significant design features that are associated with shoppers choosing to walk versus drive between activities in a commercial district. Most importantly, given that survey respondents included in the study all drove to the district, the findings serve to reinforce the ‘park once’ downtown strategy.

1. Fewer driveway crossings

Schneider’s study found that respondents were significantly less likely to choose to walk when the main commercial drag had more driveway crossings. These crossings were perceived as barriers to walking as they added to walking travel time. In fact, every 10 additional driveway crossings was perceived as adding another minute to walking travel time. 

Case Study: Morganton, North Carolina

Earlier this year, we worked in Morganton, North Carolina. A beautiful, small downtown with a commercial core with about 1,300 linear feet of ground floor retail and office space. We found, anecdotally, that customers in the district could easily cross shop at the retail core because there were few barriers to walking, including only two driveway crossings, as shown below.

In addition, one of these driveway entrances is slightly elevated, requiring vehicles to slow down before making the turn into the driveway, increasing safety for pedestrian shoppers who are already walking and browsing up and down the commercial drag.

What was also interesting was the moderate correlation between driveway crossings and annual average daily traffic volumes. This begs the question of average daily traffic as a critical retail site selection criteria. Sure, more cars passing through the street increases visibility of the retailer but if this means fewer shoppers on the street willing to walk over to your business (i.e. sidewalk foot traffic), then what’s the point?

2. Lower speed limits

Next, Schneider also found that the posted speed limit had a significantly negative association to walking within the shopping district. The lower the posted speed limit, the more respondents walked within the shopping districts.  In fact, every 5-mile per hour higher speed limit was found to be equivalent to between a minute and 75 seconds of additional walking time – again, increasing walking time for pedestrians.  

In many downtown districts, the 25mph speed limit has become a common traffic calming action to take to increase comfort levels for pedestrian shoppers. Here in Brooklyn, on Atlantic Avenue, the slow zone has a posted speed limit of 25 mph (in addition to retimed traffic signals to a 25mph progression) to help check motorists’ speed.

Of course, Schneider recommends that other complementary changes be made in order to increase walking within shopping districts. Past studies have alluded to compact and diverse developments leading to increased walking. According to many studies, in compact and dense areas, walking distances between different buildings and stores are short and these short distances are a main reason why walking is a more common mode of transportation in traditional urban shopping districts than in newer suburban retail areas where buildings are farther apart.

In support of this, Schneider’s study also found that when travel times for either walking or driving are the same, for short distances, walking is still preferred over driving. However, when travel distances increase and walking times become much longer than driving times, driving has an advantage over walking.

Finally, mixed uses, mixed jobs and mixed population within an area are all things that enhance walkability, and oft-repeated, that can now be further complemented by the proven design features of fewer driveway crossings and lower posted speed limits.  

Read: Schneider, R. J. (2015). Walk or Drive between Stores? Designing Neighbourhood Shopping Districts for Pedestrian Activity. Journal of Urban Design, 20(2), 212-229.

IDA Atlanta: A Few Takeways

We came back from IDA Atlanta inspired with the exciting panels we had the opportunity to attend. For those who missed the conference (and the fun!) here are some key takeaways:

The rise of mid-tier cities – millennials are moving back to mid-tier cities attracted by real estate affordability and quality of life.  Some lessons learned:

•       Yes, millennials are moving back but they want to see positive change if they are to stay. They not only want to see those cities improving, but they want to be part of the change. Cities willing to attract (and especially retain) this population need to provide avenues for active civic engagement (and not just events).
•       Walkability and the availability of multiple transportation options are the main factors attracting residents and businesses downtown.
•       Availability of retail (eating establishments as well as stores) within walking distance of work is an amenity increasingly valued by employees and employers alike. Thus, investing in downtown commercial corridors, making them walkable and vibrant, is a necessary economic development strategy for those cities willing to attract the young skilled labor force (of the not so distant future).

Vibrancy is an economic development engine, but in districts with an active nighttime activity it is fundamental to balance the needs of customers and nearby residents. Some lessons learned:

•       After complaints from residents, Edmonton installed urinals and found that over 500 people used them every night. With that information in hand, local commercial district practitioners were able to successfully advocate for the installation of public restrooms. 
•        Night transportation is a problem.  In many cities public transit stops service before restaurants and bars close, forcing people to rely on automobiles. In many nighttime areas, traffic becomes a problem, with all the taxis, ubers and lyfts parking around to pick up customers. To address this problem, Austin created designated places for taxis and car service companies with strong enforcement.
•       The creation of a local Hospitality Business Association (or Committee) is a first step towards establishing better interactions between businesses and local communities. Having open meetings between the association and community members allows for constant communication and having issues addressed before they become a problem. 
•       A successful example includes the creation of local Community Court programs that allow people who commit low-level misdemeanors to avoid a criminal record if they complete community service and pay a smaller fine. The service typically ranges from clean up to graffiti removal events. The Beach Area Community Court in Pacific Beach has had an acceptance rate of 88% (of offenders accepting to participate in the program) and reports a recidivism rate of less than 5%.

      Civic engagement is no longer an option -  it is a must in creating more authentic and inclusive revitalization initiatives. Some of the main challenges include avoiding narrow interests to hijack the public dialogue, including the voices of the typically missing groups (minorities), and maintaining public trust in the process and the players. Some ideas and tools to address these challenges include:

•       One way to generate meaningful participation includes the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) approach by focusing (and valuing) on what is working in the district, analyzing why it is working and fostering more of it. The basic tenet of AI is that a district(or organization) will grow in whichever directions the people in the district focus their attention.
•      One way to reach people that are typically absent from the discussion is to bring the questions (the process) where they are and at the times that they are there (i.e. engage local students and have them interview their elders; bring the project to a local coffee shop, or the farmers market, and ask only one or two questions to make sure more people participate).

Some interesting engagement tools include:

Liberating Structures is an engagement model that facilitates relational coordination and trust. It consists of microstructures that foster lively participation in groups of any size, making it possible to truly include and unleash everyone. The website has a menu with 34 structures on how groups can organize interactions and work together in multiple ways.  

Neighborland is a platform that allows civic leaders to collaborate with local communities in an accessible and participatory way. It does that by integrating on-site and online community feedback within the project website and allowing for continual feedback and online discussions.

MetroQuest is a community engagement software designed to educate communities and collect informed input in a short period of time. Participants can see the impact of their choices in real time and learn alternatives and tradeoffs based on their own priorities.

Round Up: "Innovation Districts," The Housing Trilemma, Philly Revamps Corridors, Walkable Urbanism Ranked, Chicago Rakes in Another Corp HQ

Newest Fad in Urban Development: Innovation Districts

You can call something a duck but does that make it a duck? Despite the use of farm animals to draw out this point, does calling a district an "Innovation District" guarantee its future as such. A new trend in urban development is encasing areas with this name. 

Only Three US Cities Have Good Jobs, Affordable Housing, and High Quality of Life

In the wake of housing affordability rising across the nation but the desire to live in both a city with a strong economy and high quality of life, Josh Lehner at the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis explored the “housing tri-lemma” and discovered three US cities that achieve all three.

City Aims to Re-energize Struggling Retail Districts

In Philadelphia, new energy, direction, and leadership abounds for their commercial corridors that have been neglected over time. Philadelphia has multiple district initiatives such as the Storefront Improvement Program, The Business Security Camera Program, and The Instore Forgivable Loan. Find out more...

Walkable Cities Gaining Ground Against Suburbs, Says Report

The article claims that walkable urban places command a rent premium, increase equity—and are poised for more growth. The story presents data and charts displaying levels of Walkable Urbanism.

McDonald’s Corp Among Others Relocating to Chicago - Defies City’s Financial Troubles

The companies are following the labor force which wants to be where the action is. McDonald’s is moving its HQ from sprawling leafy suburban Oak Brook to an area close to the city’s most violent neighborhoods - "joining a parade of companies creating an island of prosperity amid urban dysfunction."

What comes after streetscape improvements? One Caribbean island tries to figure out what's next for its centuries old historic district.

Last week I had the opportunity to tour the Ciudad Colonial, or the "colonial city" of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. The tour was led by the Inter American Development Bank (IDB), one of the leading funders of downtown revitalization throughout Latin America. I was thrilled to be back in my element. Almost twenty years ago I spent a year traveling around the world as a Watson Fellow (quite honestly the best gig I have ever had!). I puddle jumped my way through thirteen countries to study downtown revitalization as it was being practiced in Spain and former Spanish colonies. Yet despite all of my travels, this was my first visit to Santo Domingo.

The downtown is of modest size - 9,000 residents - and is about 5 km square. As one of the first Spanish colonial outposts in the New World, the city follows the Law of the Indies. These were the planning ordinances that the Spanish Crown set for its colonies. These laws were themselves modeled on Roman planning practices that were developed during the expansion of the Roman Empire in Europe.

I was thrilled to see the effort to revitalize the City Center taking shape. The effort has received significant support from the IDB and according to my guides, almost $30 million dollars has been invested in streetscape improvements intended to both beautify and make the very narrow colonial streets safer for pedestrians. The improvements were quite impressive and certainly have made an impact on the street.

But challenges remain. As the IDB team and local stakeholders look to graduate their efforts from capital and physical improvements, the road ahead can be rocky. Capital funding is generally easier to secure than the resources - both human and financial - that are often critical to keeping up the momentum.  Now that the streets are in great shape, the work of getting people there, and ensuring that the offerings of housing, hospitality, culture, retail and entertainment keep them there as either visitors, businesses or residents, is the next step. 

In thinking this through, I am reminded of the "Retail Ready" Hierarchy that we speak about at LOA quite frequently. 

"Retail Ready" Hierarchy

The first step involves "who" is going to get things done. The individuals, organizations and institutions who lead and execute the effort. The second phase involves focusing on the fundamentals, making sure the physical environment is comfortable, clean, accessible and safe. While you never really move on from Phase II - maintaining improvements over time is as important as getting them constructed int he first place - you need some of the basics in place before moving on to the advanced stages of revitalization. Phase III is about building the customer base through a variety of methods. For some communities, it can mean increasing the number of residents who form the basis of stable market demand. In a district like the Ciudad Colonial, with a 70% upper vacancy rate, repopulating the downtown is one potential strategy. These residents subsequently become a stable source of demand that support local businesses through the ups and downs of tourism. In communities whose economies are driven by tourism, there is the additional need to ensure that visitors have enough to see and do, from retail offerings, to events and activities, to make a stay worthwhile. These offerings need to be simultaneously marketed through thoughtful promotion and innovative partnerships that help attract visitors to the district - and ensure they stay as long as possible.   

Nearly 18 years ago I wrote about this strategy in Habitat Debate, a United Nations publication, in a piece entitled "Rehabilitating Historic Districts through Public-Private Partnerships" (which amazing can still be found on-line!). The premise of those findings still hold. In both Santiago, Chile and Quito, Ecuador, non-profit or public-private partnerships were first formed to improve the physical environment, attract investment and development new housing - i.e. grow the customer base - for downtown goods and services. Both efforts have had great success and have been lauded as models for other Latin American countries. These lessons have clearly made it to Santo Domingo and it will be exciting to see what happens next!

Here are a few pics from my visit...enjoy!

Thank you to my wonderful hosts! And to my son for being rather patient as him mom takes him on urban planning tours. 

A quaint residential block in the historic district

Tourists can rent bicycles for an easy ride around town. 

Paseo Conde is the main pedestrian corridor. 

Directional Signage/Maps for tourists dot the Paseo El Conde

The IDB is funding some development projects that promise to bring more people to the district.
The building clad in black scaffolding is one such project. 

Five Design Principles that Every Facade Improvement Program Should Incorporate

By Patricia Voltolini, Associate, LOA

What is the first thing you notice when you visit a commercial district? Storefronts and buildings probably make that list. Great storefronts are critical to a vibrant street environment. They engage passersby and contribute to active street life. Not surprisingly, façade improvement programs have become a common and effective tool in many commercial district revitalization efforts.

Yet many facade programs go wrong quite quickly. Without design guidance, the "after" might not look much better than the "before", and resources spent will have less impact than you might like. Unfortunately, overcoming this issue can be a challenge. Many BIDS, BIAs or CDCs working to revitalize low-income or distressed corridors do not have the budget to engage a retail designer to help prepare and review façade improvement applications. Even when they do, this person is often not a retail design expert.

With that in mind, we thought it would be helpful to share some of our own insights as they relate to the key takeaways from a wonderful new publication entitled, Laying the Groundwork:Design Guidelines for Retail and Other Ground-Floor Uses in Mixed-UseAffordable Housing Developments, prepared by the Design Trust for Public Space in partnership with the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. The publication is the result of extensive research and collaboration from a broad range of design and retail experts - including our own Principal, Larisa Ortiz - who served on the advisory panel. It is available for purchase on the Design Trust website.

While the report outlines best practices and provides practical guidance for those building new retail space in mixed-use buildings, we think it also provides excellent insight for those looking to develop facade improvement programs. A good facade improvement program not only impacts the overall look and feel of the district, but if done with certain principles in mind, can help businesses achieve higher sales. Incorporating these concepts into your facade program design will help ensure that the program meets the objectives of your district stakeholders as well as the businesses themselves.

So keep in mind the following key principles as you design your facade improvement program....

1. Maintain Transparency

There is growing recognition of the importance and value of transparency in driving retail sales. A transparent storefront invites customers inside with products and services on display. It also discourages crime by providing what urban theorist Jane Jacobs called “eyes on the street”. Making the facade as transparent as possible allows for a full visual exchange between indoors and outdoors. Customers and shopkeepers inside the store see what is happening on the street and pedestrians outside see the activity and offerings in the store. This interdependent relationship benefits both customers and retailers. 

The same storefront with different window treatments create a very different corridor environment. The previous merchant (also a pharmacy) completely covered the windows and failed to create any visual connection to the interior of the store. The new pharmacy made the windows completely transparent, and uses them to showcase products while allowing enough visual exchange between indoors and outdoors.

In order to maximize transparency, the design guidelines recommend having 70% of the façade surface completely transparent between 2’ and 10’above sidewalk-level, with measures in place for attractive privacy solutions when needed.

In many urban districts, retailers (even after a façade improvement program) cover their windows with sales posters and signs. Store-owners want to attract customers with these signs but in doing so they block visual connection between inside and outside and often create an uninviting storefront. A customer who can't see inside a business is highly unlikely to walk inside.

One way to keep the façade transparent and place signs  at the lower (or upper) section of the storefront, immediate below (or above) eye-level.

The same facade before and after renovations. The image above (before) shows all windows entirely covered with signs, a typical feature of many supermarkets and delis in urban districts. The image below shows the same supermarket after a facade renovation. Despite significantly covering the windows with sales posters, the owner  made an effort to keep some level-of transparency by placing signs below and above pedestrian eye-level.

This dollar store has large windows (over 70% of its facade is glass) but the store owner has covered it almost completely with products, blocking any visual connection to the interior of the store.

Another common occurrence is having non-retail stores (salons, professional offices, etc.) with minimal transparency. These businesses should also be regarded with the same design standards as other retail businesses as they are also key components of the streetscape and as responsible for creating vibrancy in the corridor as retail stores are. In fact, the design guidelines presented in Laying the Groundwork  target not only retailers but also banks, laundromats, and even community uses like cultural space, healthcare and childcare facilities.

This facade provides an excellent example of what non-retail stores should look like (or not). The space on the left has a highly transparent and engaging storefront while still providing some level of privacy to its users. The space on the right, however, has windows but they're completely covered with shades and gates and impede any visual connection between inside and out.

In order to guarantee full transparency, facade improvement programs should add a clause requiring windows to be kept free (or with minimal) signage and that product display should not block vision to the store's interior. In fact, the  minimum of 70% transparency recommendation does not refer only to the substantial presence of store windows, but that these windows be kept fully transparent.

Exterior illumination provides light on the sidewalk and highlights the facade at night. Exterior lighting can also be used to accent trees and planting. An active, well-illuminated street frontage improves safety for retailers, residents, and the district. It also reduces the need for security gates by creating a safer street front.

One important consideration is the relationship between lighting and store signage. Both should be coordinated and the new façade design should minimize lighting presence above the sign, especially if the units above are residential.

2. Maintain  Connections between the Storefront and the Street by Minimizing Barriers

An active, well-illuminated street frontage improves safety for retailers, residents, and the district. It also reduces the need for security gates by creating a safer street front. Ideally, security gates should not be allowed in retail spaces under lease agreements. There are many other ways to provide security, including security systems with video, sensors, alarms, etc.

Unfortunately, in many urban communities, transparency is often trumped by safety concerns. For example, many retailers elect to put up solid security gates as a anti-theft measure. However these gates only serve to accentuate concerns about safety. Your facade program should discourage, or require, less obtrusive forms of security. If roll down gates are required, share alternatives to exterior rolls down gates. (See our previous post "Are there viable alternatives to roll down gates?")

Air conditioning units can also be barriers and jeopardize a facade design's  potential to creating vibrant streets. Avoid whenever possible the installation of air-conditioning units over doorways or having them protrude through the façade. Instead, plan the placement of louvers to enhance the facade and the quality of the retail storefront. Provide a clear zone for louvers on the exterior storefront. Finish louvers to match the color of the surrounding storefront elements so that they are an integral part of the facade design.

A store's visibility has significant impact on retail sales - this is why businesses pay more for corner locations ("end caps" in retail parlance) where the store is visible to customers from a variety of angles. Effective signage can also play a role in improving visibility. In pedestrian environments, signage that projects from the building (i.e. blade signs) offer pedestrians strong visual cues that there are businesses in the vicinity. In one community where we worked, the installation of blade signs increased pedestrian traffic down a previously quiet street by 30%. (See our post "Pittsburgh Neighborhood Unveils Strategies Aimed at Drawing Tourists")

3. Keep the Street Wall Continuous and Avoid Gaps

The conditions of street-level retail are intimately connected to the quality of the customers’ experience in your district. The benefits of well-designed storefronts extend far beyond district attractiveness. From fostering community pride to serving as catalyst for further economic investment, they create positive changes to the social, economic and environmental health of the commercial district and surrounding communities. Although this recommendation is not technically about facade improvements, it does suggest that by clustering facade improvements and/or creating a continuous street-wall of improved storefronts, the program can have greater impact. Consider using the the facade program in a targeted way along a single block front for a limited amount of time. Or design the program as an incentive to fill vacancies - perhaps by increasing the allowable grant contributions when used for a vacant space. 

4. Maintain Flexibility for a Variety of Potential Tenants

Effective retail spaces are flexible. In many districts, the needs of tenants vary widely. Offering flexibility means greater potential to fit the needs of a larger set of prospective tenants. One suggestion is to design the façade program so that it has the potential to accommodate multiple entries. Another is to require improvements that result in on-grade pedestrian entries to ensure ease of access. Consider a retailer whose customers are young families with children - a set of steps will cause immediate concern. How might a parent with a stroller make it up the steps? Or a senior citizen - or anyone with mobility challenges? 

5. Remain Distinctive so that Shoppers Can Easily Find the Retailer

Retail entrances that are clearly marked and distinct from other street-level uses (residential or office entrances) facilitate wayfinding and help catch a shoppers eye. While the guide suggests a minimum of 15 feet between any retail entrance and other uses, we think that clear visual delineations are more important than actual physical distance. Awning and other design elements, like signs, can be deployed in a way that ensures a retailer has a clearly defined entrance.  

Roundup: Surgeon General rare push for exercise, placemaking projects, transportation trends translating out of urban core, big box parking lot solutions for peds

Surgeon general pushes people to start walking, communities to step up

The surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, on September 9th encouraged Americans to take a walk, to combat sedentary America, but he asked communities to also step up to make neighborhoods easier and safer for foot traffic.

Photo: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

4 Cities Get $3 Million Each for Placemaking Projects

ArtPlace America granted funding to see art and culture intertwined not at the end of the project but throughout, in an effort to make art and culture the focus of community projects. "The winners include Cook Inlet Housing Authority in Anchorage, Fairmount Park Conservancy in Philadelphia, Jackson Medical Mall Foundation in Jackson, Mississippi, and Little Tokyo Service Center in Los Angeles."    More coverage here.

Will Big City Transportation Trends Translate to Small Town USA?

With the rise of transportation options in urban core America - Uber, TaskRabbit, Lyft, Seamless, etc - to deliver people, food, and services, those in the periphery are at the cusp of figuring out how to make it useful for them as well but finding few options.

Photo: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

How to Make Big Box Stores Less Terrible for Walking: 8 Expert Tips

Big Box stores are not going anywhere, especially in America, and the vast majority are not designed for the pedestrian but for the personal automobile making them a dangerous destination by foot.  This article gives guidance to the big boxes to help get their non-auto patrons safely to the door.

Photo: @fineplanner/Twitter