Cars and bikes can coexist in vibrant cities
04. October 2009
The American neighborhood since World War II has been built on the back of the automobile. In some parts of the country, it's impossible even to run out for a gallon of milk without a car.
by Daniel Parolek, Sunday Insight
The growing threat of climate change and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
means we can't continue building like it's 1949. But the ubiquity of cars in our
lives and our urban environments makes it unlikely that the automobile will disappear
any time soon.
One solution to this dilemma can be found in a number of great American neighborhoods,
including Shaker Heights in Ohio and the Rockridge neighborhood in Oakland. These
places have room for cars. But they're not structured around them. By striking
a delicate balance in their street design and overall layout, these places accommodate
cars within attractive, walkable and bikable environments. The key point is coexistence.
What can we do to create and reinforce environments that allow cars, bikes and
pedestrians to coexist?
We can figure out ways to safely mix them. There already are a number of useful
models for safely accommodating bikes, pedestrians and cars in one system - some
of them in the Bay Area. For instance, Berkeley's Bike Boulevard network incorporates
uninterrupted routes that encourage bikes to use the whole road, giving them the
same road rights as cars. It's safe enough that I use it to take my daughter to
school.
Many European cities take transport integration to a higher level. In the Netherlands,
a popular street design known as the woonerf dramatically reduces speed limits
for motor vehicles and opens up the entire street to pedestrians and cyclists,
creating a friendly and interactive environment. The boulevards of Paris are another
classic example of successful integration. Because there are access lanes at the
side of the road in which cars move more slowly, and bikes and pedestrians have
equal right of use, it's not uncommon to see a 6-year-old on a scooter on the
same roadway that carries tens of thousands of cars and buses daily.
The commonality in all these systems is that they accommodate cars without becoming
defined by their presence. Unfortunately, a combination of car-centric parking
requirements and one-way circulation in a number of U.S. cities has created unattractive,
dysfunctional places that are intimidating for pedestrians and cyclists to navigate.
In order to correct this imbalance, we need to start thinking of streets as the
roots of communities, not just conduits for vehicles. Every city and town needs
to rethink its street standards, its parking requirements and its goals and policies.
It's not a small task.
It's very possible for cars, bicycles and pedestrians to coexist in a vibrant
urban environment. What's more, it makes economic sense: More and more people
across the United States are expressing a desire to live in walkable communities.
For the good of our cities, our environment and our quality of life, it's important
that regulatory barriers to the creation of these places be removed. We need to
redefine streets as important public spaces, give bicycles and pedestrians equal
priority and prevent cars from driving the character of the places where we live
and work.
Daniel Parolek is the founder of Opticos Design Inc., an architecture and urban
design firm committed to creating and reinforcing walkable, sustainable places.
He is the co-author of "Form-Based Codes: A Guide for Planners, Urban Designers,
Municipalities, and Developers." Contact them at
forum@sfchronicle.com.