Comments on: Density, Carbon Emissions, and the Built Environment http://www.orphanroad.com/blog/2009/09/density-carbon-emissions-and-built-environment Puget Sound Transportation and Land Use Issues Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:55:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Matt the Engineer http://www.orphanroad.com/blog/2009/09/density-carbon-emissions-and-built-environment/comment-page-1#comment-1373 Matt the Engineer Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://wp.orphanroad.com/?p=1854#comment-1373 I love alleys. I live on a quiet street on Queen Anne where only one car can drive down in each direction, taking turns waiting between parked cars. This makes the street amazingly safe and walkable. The houses are all at 30' lot lines, making even SFH's dense. What makes this possible and the streets even more pedestrian friendly are the alleys. There are no driveways interrupting sidewalks, no garbage cans, and few power lines. All of these less pretty functions are banned to the alleys, which double as a block-long play area. I love alleys. I live on a quiet street on Queen Anne where only one car can drive down in each direction, taking turns waiting between parked cars. This makes the street amazingly safe and walkable. The houses are all at 30′ lot lines, making even SFH’s dense. What makes this possible and the streets even more pedestrian friendly are the alleys. There are no driveways interrupting sidewalks, no garbage cans, and few power lines. All of these less pretty functions are banned to the alleys, which double as a block-long play area.

]]> By: joshuadf http://www.orphanroad.com/blog/2009/09/density-carbon-emissions-and-built-environment/comment-page-1#comment-1374 joshuadf Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://wp.orphanroad.com/?p=1854#comment-1374 I agree completely, in fact just yesterday did a post challenging some Ravenna residents (who are considering forming a neighborhood organization) to come up ways to leverage the historic land use patterns and business districts: http://www.ravennanation.com/2009/09/29/ravenna-land-use-and-transportation I agree completely, in fact just yesterday did a post challenging some Ravenna residents (who are considering forming a neighborhood organization) to come up ways to leverage the historic land use patterns and business districts:

http://www.ravennanation.com/2009/09/29/ravenna-land-use-and-transportation

]]> By: serial catowner http://www.orphanroad.com/blog/2009/09/density-carbon-emissions-and-built-environment/comment-page-1#comment-1375 serial catowner Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://wp.orphanroad.com/?p=1854#comment-1375 One thing that strikes me about this post is that, 20 years ago, the neighborhood described was, in a sense, impoverished. A lot of new construction here is described. OTOH, the neighborhood had many (decayed) wonderful wood homes, which have been removed. In a sense, Seattle is hugely filled with Western Balloon style wood homes, and formerly, quite a few wood apartment houses and commercial buildings. In fact, aside from style and detail work, much of the modern construction is about the same as the old. If I had to guess which land-use policy had the most effect, I would probably choose redlining, which created vast swathes of decayed housing, ready to be torn down and redeveloped. Presumably the recent bubble has pretty much filled that land with new buildings, and the development of the future will respond to other patterns. One thing that strikes me about this post is that, 20 years ago, the neighborhood described was, in a sense, impoverished. A lot of new construction here is described. OTOH, the neighborhood had many (decayed) wonderful wood homes, which have been removed.

In a sense, Seattle is hugely filled with Western Balloon style wood homes, and formerly, quite a few wood apartment houses and commercial buildings. In fact, aside from style and detail work, much of the modern construction is about the same as the old.

If I had to guess which land-use policy had the most effect, I would probably choose redlining, which created vast swathes of decayed housing, ready to be torn down and redeveloped. Presumably the recent bubble has pretty much filled that land with new buildings, and the development of the future will respond to other patterns.

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