Design
How Urban Designers Can Get Smaller Cities Walking
A new study identifies two important street features that draw pedestrians—outside of New York City.
Earlier this week, my colleague Eric Jaffe wrote about the three design traits shared by New York City’s most walkable streets, according to a recent study.
After counting pedestrians on hundreds of blocks (sampled for different densities, districts, and Walk Scores), a group of researchers found that active uses (i.e., well-trafficked buildings or busy parks, schools, and cafes), street furniture or items (from benches to fire hydrants to ATM machines), and first-floor windows (measured by window-to-facade ratio) all had statistically positive relationships to the number of pedestrians.