Quote:
Originally Posted by seamusmcduff
Oh of course there will be parts of an urban environment that are necessary, but not exactly pretty. That's accepted, but when those parts are the only connectors in the urban network, then you have a problem. I'm sure on a satellite view Silverberry is just as well connected as the earlier example in Calgary (probably a similar density too), but I can guarantee almost anyone would rather walk through that neighbourhood than Silverberry.
Again, Urban Design is not simply about density and connectivity. It's so much more than that, and without well thought out design the other two don't matter. It's not about if you have the connections and corridors, but about how you make them.
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This.
I think you guys focused too much on my specific example, where due to the TUC, revamping that particular walking trail wouldn't be viable, rather than the overall concept. Most of these suburban walking trails slice right through the heart of these communities, making them very accessible to the majority of a community's denizens. It makes them ripe spaces to be better allocated to a wider breadth of amenities that are accessible to a wider range of transport modes.
As you say, some unattractive but useful environments are necessary. I'm not advocating for every single walking path to be transformed into a complete street (or even a shared street if it were narrow enough) like the hyperbolic comments of other forumers. I don't think that's realistic and if that were done, it'd likely to be overkill.
The point was also less about the walking path specifically. Like I said, it's a useful environment and has its place. I merely did a cursory glance at Silver Berry and noticed how the walking path went right through the community and into other communities north of it and how that central community space could be so much more. But, even if there wasn't a TUC on that path, I realize it wouldn't be realistic to do that unless people in Silver Berry really pushed for it.
The Silver Berry example was merely a critique of an existing, built-out suburban community and looking at ways to improve upon it with future greenfield development. The neighbourhoods south of Ellerslie, or west of the Henday, or out by the Palisades, or in Spruce Grove -- wherever -- new greenfield development can and should incorporate more sustainable design principles into their developments which still make the car very convenient, but allow for other options and greater amenities. One huge way to do this is to build a small, complete high street in the middle of these communities to take the place of community strip malls and in some cases, power centres. They would still have ample parking, but through a narrow, pedestrian friendly environment where buildings have minimal setback for the most part, with bike lanes and direct, rather than looping, bus routes (or LRT), it would start to resemble a more complete community.
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