Walking Actually Easier than Driving in Nashville? Imagine!

On a day where walking in Nashville is actually easier than driving, the chronically underfunded Strategic Sidewalk Plan for Sidewalks has been on my mind.  

The Strategic Plan was created in 2003 after the city of Nashville was sued for being out of compliance with The Americans with Disability Act.  Due to our loss in regards to the case, plans were created to right our poor quality walkability/accessibility.  In 2008, the plan was updated after laying fallow.

As Nashvillians know, we have talked a lot about building new sidewalks over the years but we have never truly funded them making these plans an act of exercise.  We have funded large projects:  Music City Convention Center, the baseball stadium, etc but no significant money has been put into sidewalks.

Yet again, the Strategic Sidewalk Plan for Sidewalks is again being considered for an update.  Things haven't changes so much - we still have a very poor walkability, high level of pedestrian deaths, and a culture of driving.  In the Strategic Plan, in Appendix H, there is are lists of response to select questions.  It highlights how little has changed!  In this regard, I am highly suspicious of updating the plan if we are not going to also mandate the funding.  

Public comments collected from 2002 (note:  it is 14 years later!!!) during the creation of the original Strategic Plan:

What do you see as obstacles to pedestrian travel within Metro?

• Lack of motorist education
• Sidewalks that do not connect
• Obstructions on sidewalks
• Sidewalks that are not accessible
• Sidewalks that are not maintained and that are in poor condition
• Lack of regulation and lack of enforcement of existing regulations
• Lack of animal control
• Lack of street crossing facilities
• Motorists who turn right on red
• Parking lots that are too close to roadways and block the sidewalk
• Unsafe sidewalk facilities (crime)
• Lack of a buffer between sidewalks and roadways
• Stormwater drainage
• Ditches
• Traffic
• Incomplete/missing sidewalks
• Lack of design standards for mailboxes

Sound familiar?  

Letter to the Mayor of Nashville...Add your thoughts?

Letter to the Mayor of Nashville

We have sent a letter to the mayor  & to Mark Sturtevant, the new infrastructure czar in Nashville, to address concerns about our current sidewalk infrastructure in city.

Nashville Needs Sidewalks & Shade Parade's main points are:
- uniformity
- safety
- completion date

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Uniformity.

In regards to uniformity, I would strongly advocate that The Nashville-Davidson County Strategic Plan for Sidewalks and Bikeways has already delineated the proper width and buffer for new sidewalks.  We do not need to recreate the wheel here...we just need to actually do it.  

Appendix B, Figure 4
Local Streets:  4' buffer, 5-6' sidewalk
Collector Streets: 5' buffer, 6' sidewalk
Arterial Streets: 6' buffer, 8' sidewalk

I hope you can see and feel the difference between the 2 images below.  Currently, we are still allowing sidewalks of varying dimensions to be put in & it leads to this crazy quilt infrastructure that lacks uniformity.  As someone who advocates for sidewalks, I can tell you this is sorely disappointing.  Sidewalks are very expensive and hard to get so when one goes in that is sub-par it is heartbreaking (and essentially permanent)

Sidewalk directly next to road, no buffer.
No buffer = No shade
No buffer = Less safe

Green buffer protects walkers from direct traffic and provides some shade and a sense of safety

Safety.  

Did you know that there is no law currently in Nashville that says you have to give walkers any clearance on the road?  Bikes get 3'.  Pedestrians - nothing!  And, yet we do not have an sidewalk network!  

Most residential areas with speed limits of 30mph - pretty uncomfortable if you are out walking without a sidewalk.  Not a speed that you would feel good letting your toddler be near or your elderly grandparent.  

While waiting for sidewalks to be built, I advocate for a law that gives pedestrians 3' clearance, a reduction in speed limits in residential areas to 25mph, and a public awareness campaign to educate drivers to yield to pedestrians.  

I recognize that I am arguing for culture change:  to change Nashville into the 1st and best walking city in the South!

Completion date.

Funding for sidewalks is allocated each year through council.  That means that it is hard to make a long term plan.  I would really like to see a change here - establish long term funding so that we can have our arterial and collector streets sidewalked in proper fashion.

I am also asking the developers chip in.  As we move into a much more dense city, we need the infrastructure of sidewalks to allow people to walk rather than drive.  It is only fair that if a developer tears down one house to put up two or more, that he/she puts in the sidewalk that is needed.    

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These are my thoughts.  I'd love to hear yours!

In Nashville, The Utility Poles Are Winning in Green Hills, Too!

The Utility Poles Are Winning in Green Hills, Too!

For too long, pedestrianism has been an afterthought, at best, in Nashville.  Walking has not been a large  part of Nashville's culture but the way we have built has not fostered any incentives to do so either.  

All over the city, walkers are faced with the 4 'Ds' as described in the unique article by Tony Gonzalez below.  Unfortunately, walking in Nashville, our 'it' city, is mostly dangerous, dirty, disconnected, and often very dismal.  It inspires no love.  

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As reported by the excellent TONY GONZALEZ • JAN 19, 2016, NPR

‘The Utility Poles Are Winning’ — Nashville Street Delivers Lessons On What Not To Do On Main Roads


In some respects, Nashville’s Charlotte Avenue is a prime example of what not to do to create a walkable, vibrant corridor. That’s the message delivered in a year long study by researchers with the Urban Land Institute. The group has ideas to guide the street’s growth and rapid transformation, perhaps as a template to use citywide.

Like in many cities, a main drag like Charlotte can develop a rough reputation. Sustainable development guru Bob Taunton, of Boise, Idaho, calls this the “4Ds” of major roadways.

“They’re dangerous, they’re dirty, they’re disconnected, and often very dismal,” he said. “All communities across the country have these.”

His research team, which studied the four miles between the state capitol and White Bridge Road, worries Charlotte acts as a major divider between neighborhoods.

And his colleague, Mike Higbee, of Design Concepts Inc., in Indianapolis, says it’s dangerously car-centric — making crossing the road a “bloodsport.”

“What’s out there now is hostile,” he said. “You don’t know if the sidewalks were built for the utility poles or for the people, but it looks like the utility poles are winning that battle.”

The experts — who completed four similar case studies nationwide this year — also see huge potential to revitalize Charlotte in a smart way.

“You have a corridor that has some just unbelievable future to it, just like the rest of Nashville,” Higbee said. “This corridor is changing before your eyes and it really is an issue of: Is it going to change and deliver a great outcome for Nashville, or is it just going to be another corridor?”

The panel suggests that Nashville create a group with a full-time leader to organize Charlotte-area residents and businesses amid all the change. A half-dozen big apartments are rising in a two-mile stretch that’s arguably the city’s fastest-changing corridor.

But it was ideas to improve parks, and spur new businesses, that intrigued Hank Delvin. He grew up on Charlotte and now runs a farmers’ market there.

“You know, Charlotte’s always been this way,” he said, “and so it’s really exciting to see some direction and some change and some discussion of how it can improve.”

It will be up to locals to run with the ideas, and possibly to use them as a model across the city.

Link:
http://nashvillepublicradio.org/post/utility-poles-are-winning-nashville-street-delivers-lessons-what-not-do-main-roads

Green Hills Mall Makes a Big Mistake

I ask you to consider this juncture...

Brand new parking structure installed in 2015 at Green Hills Mall in Nashville.  Old parking structure with sidewalk - not the best in design as it abuts the road but functional.  Note: no crosswalk.  

But gaze across to the new structure...where are the pedestrians to cross?  Weirdly, it is like we allowed the developers to take a step backwards in regards to walkability!

As you can see, people are walking even without proper infrastructure...dangerous.

The cow path tells the tale of lots of walkers choosing to cross here where it does feel a little safer.

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In 2016, why is the city of Nashville still allowing developers to build without consideration to pedestrians?   How was this approved?

If we really want less traffic, we need to build safe routes for walkers.

This is not a new or modern concept. There are plenty of cities in the US who have put pedestrians first in their designing and building. Nashville had more pedestrian and bicyclist deaths in 2015 than any other year since the mid-1990s - a tragedy. Our way of building is certainly contributing to the death toll. 

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According to recent data, 2015 was the deadliest in Tennessee for walkers and bikers.  

http://nashvillepublicradio.org/post/tennessee-pedestrian-and-bicyclist-deaths-surpass-20-year-high#stream/0

A lot has been done for bicyclists in Nashville.  Bike lanes are cheap.  But, bicyclist are a fairly limited crowd.  Not everyone will or wants to get on a bike.  

On the flip side, everyone is a pedestrian!  I don't feel the same attention has been paid to walkers - downtown has made some strides but certainly not out in the neighborhoods.  And the 110 pedestrian deaths reflects this.

















http://nashvillepublicradio.org/post/tennessee-pedestrian-and-bicyclist-deaths-surpass-20-year-high#stream/0

New Sidewalks Coming to Nashville - a step in the right direction

Mayor Megan Barry announced that she is committed to building sidewalks last week - new sidewalks in all 35 districts over the next few years (http://www.newschannel5.com/news/local-news/mayor-announces-new-sidwalks-are-slated-for-each-council-district-in-davidson-county).  Our district is getting a 500' piece on Charlotte Av near White Bridge Rd - needed indeed but pretty small in scope.   Not exactly what our neighborhood was hoping for (completion of Bowling Av, followed by better access to Green Hills and Hillsboro Village such as on Woodmont, Woodlawn and Sharondale) but happy to have any movement on sidewalks at all.  

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As always, I strongly question why Nashville has not put in strong laws and better infrastructure to put our pedestrians first...

On a sad note, below is another report of a pedestrian death here in our city.  In November & December, there were 6 people killed while walking in Nashville.  Overall, there were 12- pedestrians and bicyclist killed during the year of 2015 - worst numbers since mid-1990s.  

http://nashvillepublicradio.org/post/tennessee-pedestrian-and-bicyclist-deaths-surpass-20-year-high#stream/0

Combining New Year's Resolutions with Walking Perks

Part of the fun in walking is the sense of serendipity when you run into an old friend, see something interesting in a store window, or find a little treasure on the ground.  This is one reason I really like the idea of Little Libraries.

Little Library

As my New Year's resolution for 2016 is to practice decluttering ala The Konmari Method (http://www.amazon.com/The-Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering/dp/1607747308), I am in the process of going through my books with a plan to leave them at the various Little Libraries I know around West Nashville.  

In addition to sharing your old books, consider purchasing and leaving copies of your favorite book in public places for others to find - think of the delight you will create in another when they find it!  

Note, the only way to find these books will be on foot - zipping by in a car will not allow for chance encounters like this!

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Did you know that the city of Nashville allows for an In-Lieu Fee for development which permits opting out of building sidewalks?  As it stands, when developers increase density on a property (take down one house and put up 2+) they are required to put in a sidewalk OR opt out by paying a drastically reduced fee of 8% of the total cost of installing a sidewalk.  

We literally are allowing our city to be developed without sidewalks.

Want a sidewalk in your neighborhood?  Would you consider putting in your own piece or contributing to a fund to sidewalk a needed area?  

I am currently looking for a home owner on Bowling or Woodmont who would be willing to pay for and implement a sidewalk on their property to get the ball rolling.

Maybe you want to organize a similar demonstration project in your neighborhood...

IMPORTANT COMMUNITY MEETING in Need of Sidewalk Advocates!

Have you noticed how light traffic has been over the holidays?  It is estimated that there is a 27% increase in traffic in Nashville while school is in due to parents driving their children.  Frankly, with our current infrastructure, most parents do not feel safe letting their children walk to school. 

What if the local public school had excellent walkability and parents actually felt happy to allow their children to WALK TO SCHOOL?  Walking advocates of Nashville who ask, "what can I do to help?' - this is YOUR chance to advocate for the best design and walkability in Green Hills at Hillsboro High.  I strongly encourage you to come to the meeting below, listen and look at the proposals and help the city make the best decision possible.

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT COMMUNITY MEETING!

Thursday, January 7, 2016, 6:00pm

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hillsboro-high-school-community-meeting-tickets-19938414334



Over the fall semester, MNPS hosted several charrette-style meetings to envision the Hillsboro campus as a renovated or newly constructed school. During these meetings, the community provided great input into preliminary designs for the school, and the project is ready for next steps. The School Board’s Capital Needs Committee met on Tuesday, December 15, to hear from the MNPS design team regarding the financial considerations for this project and the community feedback from the charrette meetings.

On Thursday, January 7, 2016, MNPS and the design team will host a community meeting to present two designs to the community—one for a complete renovation and one for a rebuild. If you are receiving this communication, it is vitally important that you, our stakeholders, attend this meeting. As parents, teachers, staff, and students at HHS, you understand the challenges of learning in an aging, inefficient building. As community members, you know what a redesigned campus could mean to Green Hills. We need your feedback!

The meeting will start in the auditorium with an overview of both options. We will then move to the cafeteria, where stations will be set up with members of the design team to see the plans in detail. You will have the opportunity to ask questions and leave comments on boards next to each option. Then we will head back to the auditorium for an open Q&A session. This will be a very interactive meeting, and its success depends on your involvement.

We know it's a busy time of year for everyone, but please make plans to join us at this meeting to learn about the designs, ask questions, and make your voice heard on this vital issue for our community! RSVP at the link above so we know how many to expect. Also, please pass this message along to your neighbors and feeder school friends!

A view of the current pedestrian infrastructure in front of Hillsboro High.
Note that Hillsboro High has a huge presence in Green Hills with many students who are bus riders and, yet, there is no proper sidewalk.