The Three Dimensional City

For years, I've wondered about America's apparent obsession with building out instead of up.  I understand, it costs less to build a single-story building than a multi-story building of the same total square footage.  That benefits a developer, or a few developers.  But it has caused a terrible cost on society.

Building up creates a higher density.  Density makes mass transit practical; that reduces our dependency on fossil fuels.  Density brings destinations closer together; that reduces the amount of time we waste driving from place to place.  And it reduces our need to turn our landscapes into vast parking lots to accommodate big-box retailers.  It's no surprise that residents of Manhattan, one of the highest-density markets in the country, use less water and fuel on a per capita basis than the rest of the country.

So I've always wondered why we choose to help out a few developers, who are probably doing all right financially anyway, at such a high cost to the rest of us.

I've only realized lately that a lot of people, much smarter than me, have been thinking the same thing.  I've also noticed that a few more developers are starting to think in three dimensions.

In February, I came across this article in the Baltimore Sun; it talks about a two-story development with a Lowe's Home Center on the first story and a Walmart on the second story.  The entire project will include additional retail space and residential units.

In my recent hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida, a Publix grocery store built the majority of its parking lot underneath the store.  Buy your groceries and take your grocery cart down an escalator to your car.  I'm surprised how many people complain about the escalator.  I've tried it, it's easier than walking across a large parking lot, especially when it's raining.

The photo shows a development in Tampa, my current hometown.  Instead of the usual oversized parking lot, we have a multi-story parking garage.  Next door is a multi-story retail development with Target upstairs and Whole Foods, and other retailers, downstairs.  The overall footprint is smaller than the typical suburban retail development.

These examples indicate change on a small scale.  But they are good examples of building up instead of out.  We live in three dimensions; we should think in three dimensions when we plan our cities.

Simplicity in urban planning

Thanks to the Permission to Suck blog I came across a talk Rhode Island School of Design president John Maeda gave at TED on the subject of simplicity.  (Maeda literally wrote the book on simplicity.)



I really started to appreciate simplicity when I was a student in Professor John Sullivan's fluid mechanics course at Purdue University.  Our first exam did not go well; Professor Sullivan said our class achieved one of the lowest test score averages in his career up to that point.  One particular test problem had most of us scribbling furiously for a page or more; when Professor Sullivan demonstrated the solution, it only required a simple, elegant, three lines.  It was a thing of beauty.  I don't always succeed, but the power of simplicity is a lesson I've tried to return to throughout my life.

Simplicity can be a valuable tool in urban design and city planning.  In his excellent book Green Metropolis, David Owen wrote, "Walking in much of Manhattan...is like walking on a map."  The average New Yorker lives nine months longer than the average American; there are several reasons for this, but one reason is the fact that they walk more.  The city is a walker's dream: plenty of landmarks, sprawling sidewalks, and a beautiful grid street layout.  The city is easy to navigate because of the grid.  Even if you get lost on foot, you'll rarely go more than a block out of your way.

I've lived in St. Petersburg, Florida, since 2004.  We do not come close to New York in terms of walkability.  But we have a street grid system that makes St. Petersburg a breeze to navigate.  Sequentially numbered avenues run east-west and sequentially numbered streets run north-south.  So if I'm looking for 5100 3rd Avenue North, I know I need to go to 51st Street and 3rd Avenue North.  If, from there, I need to go to 71st Street and 38th Avenue North, then I need to travel 35 blocks north and 20 blocks west to reach my destination.  This is perfect for the directionally challenged like myself.

(St. Petersburg, Florida)

I'll be moving to nearby Tampa soon enough.  Not quite as easy to navigate.  Yes, most streets are laid out according to an approximate grid.  But Tampa covers a much wider area than St. Petersburg (more on that in future posts) and, except for a few areas, the convenient numbering system is gone.  I don't know Dale Mabry Road from Hillsborough Avenue from Columbus Drive.  I'm looking forward to being in a new city and learning my way around.  It will just take longer than in St. Petersburg.  I'm also wondering if this has an impact on emergency services.  The street numbering system in St. Petersburg doesn't require much thought (or GPS help) once you're used to it.  It seems finding an address in Tampa, and most cities for that matter, will take precious extra time, even if only a few moments.

(Tampa, Florida)