TRANSIT CORRIDOR Design Brief Transit Corridor Development Pattern Workshop November 26,27,28, 2007
CONTENTS Introduction 1 Background 2 Workshop Instructions 4 Workshop Inputs & Outputs 5 Transit Corridor Working Material 7 Transit Corridor Description 8 Transit Corridor Key Questions 10 Transit Corridor Strategies & Best Practices 11 Development Pattern Case Book 13 Workshop Checklist back cover
INTRODUCTION The objective of the Development Pattern Workshops is to test and refine six of the over fifty* development patterns used to date in the plan it calgary project: Major Transit Oriented Development (TOD) (Infill) Neighbourhood Transit Oriented Development (TOD) (Greenfield) Medium Density Infill Industrial Infill Transit Corridor Greenfill The project team has identified these six development patterns as key to informing an integrated land use and transportation plan that achieves the sustainability principles approved by Council - the ultimate goal of the plan it calgary project. Through these workshops, the project team and invited stakeholders will truth the patterns within the Calgary physical context, testing jobs and population assumptions, and creating a visual representation of each pattern on the ground. We will accomplish this task by exploring the implications of applying each pattern to a representative site abstracted from an existing physical location within Calgary. Workshop outcomes are not intended to be sitespecific solutions for the source locations. Workshop outcomes will be six physical development patterns with more rigorous jobs and population assumptions that can be applied to similar sites throughout Calgary. Development patterns provide the data that supports the other project components. The amount of data provided increases as the project evolves. Through these workshops we will explore, test, and refine the development patterns. The refined patterns will be inputs into the next stages of the project. The resultant more robust, Calgary-specific development patterns will be inputs into the next stages of the project. They will also help inform future development proposals and policy by assisting City Staff to set expectations for new and infill developments similar to the development patterns explored. * This number includes variations in some of the patterns that were specifically developed for the different scenarios. The full set of development patterns is not intended to be applied at once; only selected groups of patterns were applied to the scenarios.
BACKGROUND What is plan it calgary? plan it calgary is a project undertaken by the City of Calgary to develop a long-term Integrated Land Use and Mobility Plan. As part of the project terms of reference, Council adopted a set of Sustainability Principles for land use and transportation that are drawn from imaginecalgary, SMART growth, and current City policy. What are the Sustainability Principles that drive plan it calgary? The Sustainability Principles approved by Council on January 2007 to guide the generation of a Calgary Land Use and Mobility Plan are: 1. Create a range of housing opportunities and choices 2. Create walkable environments 3. Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place 4. Provide a variety of transportation options 5. Preserve open space, agricultural land, natural beauty, and critical environmental areas 6. Mix land uses 7. Strategically direct and manage redevelopment opportunities within existing areas 8. Support compact development 9. Connect people, goods and services locally, regionally, and globally 10. Provide transportation services in a safe, effective, affordable, and efficient manner that ensures reasonable accessibility to all areas of the city for all citizens 11. Utilize green infrastructure and buildings What are the project components in plan it calgary? plan it calgary consists of multiple components. To date, the project team - together with the * - has focussed on generating Scenarios to explore the possible implications of spatially applying the Sustainability Principles to the City. Other project components support this work, including targeted research; sustainability performance indicators, benchmarks, and targets; and, development patterns. Outputs from all components, including the Development Pattern Workshops and future tasks (Case Study Charrettes and Big Map) will inform the generation of a Calgary long-term Integrated Land Use and Mobility Plan. The plan it calgary project consists of multiple components that support one another. In the Development Pattern workshops we will refine the project toolkit for the next stages of the project. The outputs of plan it calgary together with the outputs from previous sustainability-related City initiatives will inform a Recommended Direction for an Integrated Land Use and Mobility Plan for Calgary. * The (DCS) is located in the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of British Columbia. It is an academic leader in applying sustainability concepts to the development of land, cities, and community.
BACKGROUND What are development patterns? Development patterns are assemblies of urban elements - parcel and building types, local streets, and open space - that can be replicated throughout a city. The urban elements that make up development patterns are arranged according to recurring mixes and proportions of land uses. Development patterns are theoretical in the sense that they are not site specific, but hold essential attributes that can be associated to similar areas across the city. For instance, recent single family neighbourhoods in Calgary often share similar characteristics, and could be considered an existing development pattern. Why are we using development patterns? Many different development patterns combine to create a city s urban fabric. The array and level of data embedded within development patterns is greater than in conventional land use planning, making development patterns a useful short and long-term planning tool. This data ranges from jobs and population figures to physical information about land use mix, housing mix, densities and FARs. It is used to help inform future policy, in the form of pattern-specific design rules that can easily integrate into policy documents. Development patterns are assemblies of urban elements - parcel and building types, local streets, and open space - that can be replicated throughout a city. Many different development patterns combine to create a city s urban fabric. They provide detailed data about population, jobs, land uses, transportation, and urban form. This makes development patterns a useful tool for developing an Integrated Land Use and Mobility Plan that achieves the Sustainability Principles approved by Council in January 2007. What role do development patterns play in plan it calgary? Development patterns provide the data that supports the other plan it calgary project components. Throughout the evolution of the project the amount of data provided by the patterns has increased as the number of patterns has been delimited. In the early stages of plan it calgary there were a greater number of patterns with limited associated data. The patterns were allocated across the city to create Scenarios representing potential development futures for Calgary. The performance of these was measured against performance indicators. The Case Study charrettes will use the refined version of the patterns resulting from these workshops and will apply them to specific sites and neighbourhoods in Calgary. Development patterns will inform the Recommended Direction. Only after Council approves the Recommended Direction, the patterns will be again introduced as an input to Big Map - when the time comes to apply the refined patterns at a city-wide scale. Development patterns are therefore embedded in the outputs of plan it calgary. These outputs will inform the generation of an Integrated Land Use and Mobility Plan for Calgary. 3
WORKSHOP INSTRUCTIONS The objective of this workshop is to test the feasibility of the land use and case mix, and resulting jobs and population assumptions underlying a single development pattern. The challenge is to collectively come up with a spatial allocation of land uses and cases (parcel and building types) that satisfy jobs and population targets for a Calgary specific version of this development pattern. These targets conform to transit threshold requirements for the city as a whole. The workshop team will apply cases to a base map derived from a representative physical location within Calgary to achieve the desired population and jobs performance for this pattern. Cases include parcel and building types and, to a lesser extent, street types. The Case Book (included in the Working Material section) describes the available cases. Workshop materials include additional information on existing land use locations and quantities to provide context where necessary for decision making. The workshop team must collectively produce a plan and physical massing (i.e. perspectives, 3D model) of the refined development pattern, plus additional diagrams and sketches that describe the massing and functioning of the refined development pattern. The workshop team must describe any proposed additional cases, and answer specific questions posed within the design brief on the revised population, jobs, and land use quantities, phasing, resiliency, replicability, and green infrastructure of the pattern. The workshop will be a collaborative multi-stakeholder process. The workshop team will take the inputs provided by the plan it calgary team to collectively explore, test, and refine this particular development pattern. 4
WORKSHOP INPUTS base map current land uses The following are the inputs you will be provided in this workshop: Base map derived from a representative physical location within Calgary Base information on current and proposed land uses List of Cases for the development patterns (compiled in the Case Book, included in the Working Material section) Desired Performance of population and jobs for this development pattern that conforms with transit threshold requirements WORKSHOP OUTPUTS proposed land uses The workshop inputs consist of a base map of this pattern, base information on current and proposed land uses, a list of cases (compiled in the Case Book), and a desired performance of population and jobs for this particular development pattern. cases desired performance of population & jobs The workshop will result in a set of design rules and guidelines for the refined development pattern. The deliverables include: Plan of the development pattern Physical design principles for applying the development pattern in Calgary List of cases used in the development pattern Description of any new cases or added case information 3D visualization of how the development pattern would look (sketches and perspectives of relevant areas) Description of the phasing required for this development pattern Revised quantities for this development pattern Answers to the development pattern key questions (Report Back Worksheet) 5
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TRANSIT CORRIDOR WORKING MATERIAL 7
TRANSIT CORRIDOR DESCRIPTION What is a Transit Corridor development pattern? The Transit Corridor development pattern transforms the areas adjacent to current major corridors into transit oriented urban boulevards. This intensification of existing corridors with a population and jobs supportive of high capacity transit, so that these primarily single mode roads can become multi modal urban boulevards. Employment Density and Population Density of Existing Development Patterns The proposed Transit Corridor development pattern assumes a housing and employment capacity that differentiates it from other patterns and that is higher than the city s current corridors. While the pattern does not currently exist in Calgary, SE 17th Avenue is an example of a potential Transit Corridor development pattern in Calgary. What is the desired performance for a Transit Corridor development pattern in terms of population and employment capacity? A Transit Corridor development pattern ideally accommodates a population of around 200 people per hectare and 120 jobs per hectare. Employment Density and Population Density of Proposed Development Patterns What is the desired performance for a Transit Corridor development pattern in terms of transit capacity and viability? A minimum density of 100 to 150 people and jobs per hectare is necessary in order to support high capacity transit (streetcars, busways, light rail transit, commuter rail) which typically operate in semi-exclusive or exclusive rights-of-way, at a maximum frequency of 10 minutes. The desired Transit Corridor development pattern is within this threshold for both population and jobs independently. What is the desired performance for a Transit Corridor development pattern in terms of movement of goods and people? The transformation of Calgary s current corridors into multi modal urban boulevards supportive of high capacity transit improves the overall movement of goods and people in the city. The pattern hence supports Sustainability Principle 4: Provide a variety of transportation options; 9: Connect people, goods and services locally, regionally, and globally; and, 10: Provide transportation services in a safe, effective, affordable, and efficient manner that ensures reasonable accessibility to all areas of the city for all citizens. 8 Each of the existing and proposed development patterns has particular population and employment densities. The dashed red lines represent the thresholds to support different types of transit: minimum 35 people/jobs per hectare for basic bus service and minimum 100-150 people/jobs per hectare for high capacity transit service (streetcars, busways, light rail transit, commuter rail).
TRANSIT CORRIDOR DESCRIPTION What are the land uses and cases that make up the proposed Transit Corridor development pattern? The proposed Transit Corridor development pattern consists of four main land uses: 37% residential, 24% mixed-use, 12% commercial, and 27% local streets. The proposed pattern includes a variety of building and parcel types, such as low rise multi-family residential, low rise mixed use, medium density commercial, and high density commercial. Base map In the exploration of the Transit Corridor development pattern the team may choose to introduce new cases, and/or modify the proposed case and land use mix. The Case Book includes alternate case options, and the team may also generate new cases. For the latter, the team must provide a description and housing and employment data. Major arterials and transit rights-of-way are not part of the development pattern in terms of population and employment numbers. Nevertheless, they are essential to making decisions about the pattern s land use mix and built form. The team may also explore further into the transformation of major arterials into multi modal urban boulevards. DESIRED PERFORMANCE FOR PROPOSED TRANSIT CORRIDOR: PATTERN AREA: 35.7 ha POPULATION: 7,200 (200 people/ha) Base information quantities for proposed Transit Corridor EMPLOYMENT: 4,200 (120 jobs/ha) A series of cases (parcel and building types) make up the land uses. Each development pattern represents a particular allocation of land uses. Together, land use and case allocation determine the jobs and population performance of a pattern. This workshop will review and refine these allocation and performance assumptions. This may involve adding new cases and/or modifying the proposed case and land use mix. 9
TRANSIT CORRIDOR KEY QUESTIONS How many jobs and dwelling units can a Transit Corridor hold? What is the appropriate land use mix for a Transit Corridor? > What types of uses and activities along a Transit Corridor will assist Calgary to attract and capitalize on future job opportunities? > What are the commercial, recreational, and other services required along a Transit Corridor to meet the needs of adjacent communities and what is the mix and interface between these like? What is the physical appearance of a Transit Corridor? > What policies and key urban design strategies will help achieve a multi modal Transit Corridor that: has a strong cohesive built environment along it; provides employment opportunities; and, increases the housing choice and accessibility to goods and services to surrounding communities? > What design strategies can be applied to maintain the existing corridor as a functional transportation corridor (traffic flows), while ensuring access and use of alternative modes of travel (transit, biking, and walking)? > What design strategies can be introduced to manage traffic volumes along a Transit Corridor to mitigate impacts on local neighbourhoods? > What is the appropriate spacing between transit stops, what do the areas immediate to these look like, and how can these be capitalized on to make a more pedestrian friendly neighbourhood? What is the green infrastructure within a Transit Corridor? > What design strategies for green infrastructure and low-impact development practices can contribute to the health, maintenance, and function of a Transit Corridor?? jobs & people? land use mix? physical form? compatible land uses? resiliency? phasing? green infrastructure? replicability What are other compatible land uses within a Transit Corridor? What is the phasing for a Transit Corridor? > What are the challenges and key focus needs for policy development and implementation strategies? What is the replicability of a Transit Corridor? It is up to the workshop team to explore and test the previous assumptions related to population and jobs in the Transit Corridor development pattern and at the same time come up with new data about its land use mix, urban form, phasing, resiliency, replicability, and green infrastructure. What is the resiliency of a Transit Corridor? 10
TRANSIT CORRIDOR DESIGN STRATEGIES & BEST PRACTICES photo credit: Community, Design + Architecture photo credit: photo credit: Community, Design + Architecture Design Strategies Provide a mix of transit supportive uses (e.g. medium to high density residential, intensive office and retail, high schools and colleges) to generate activity in both peak and off-peak hours. Create a multi modal transportation corridor for transit, pedestrians, and cyclists as well as cars. Locate higher density, street-fronting development along the corridor, with new public spaces, and develop denser urban centres (e.g. around transit stops) to attract and concentrate office uses. Create redevelopment opportunities to intensify the mix of uses and density along the corridor and at the same time help retain some of the existing auto related commerce. Design public open spaces for shared activity and, when close to a transit station, to emphasize the station as a public place. Ensure a consistent higher intensity urban quality along the corridor and develop a unique character and identity for key neighbourhood segments. Create a green street network featuring trees and planted boulevards for shade, transit stops, street crossings and public gathering spaces; stormwater treatment for the corridor, local streets, public spaces; and, integrate green roofs and greywater recycling into new buildings, as part of a comprehensive green infrastructure network. Above are different design strategies for the transformation of current major corridors into transit oriented urban boulevards: (clockwise from top, left) consider height to width ratios between 1:2 and 1:3 for people to feel comfortable and to encourage walking (Institute of Transportation Engineers, ITE, 2006); provide curb extensions at intersections to improve pedestrian visibility and reduce crossing distance (ITE, 2006); and, design a multiway boulevard to be a pedestrian-scale, bicycle-friendly, rapid-transit, and major transportation corridor (Nodes on 200th Street Charrette, Township of Langley, BC). In December 2004 Calgary s City Council approved the Transit Oriented Development Policy Guidelines by which the development or redevelopment of properties within a Transit Station area must achieve the following six planning objectives: Ensure transit-supportive land uses; Increase density; Create pedestrian-oriented design; Make each station area a place ; Manage parking, bus and vehicular traffic; and, Plan in context with local communities. 11
TRANSIT CORRIDOR DESIGN STRATEGIES & BEST PRACTICES Kingsway Corridor Charrette, Burnaby, BC The charrette took the Kingsway corridor, a historic major transportation route surrounded by low density commercial and light industrial uses, and explored the question of turning it into a walkable and attractive main street for the community. The resulting key strategies included: taming Kingsway without unduly diminishing its capacity for through traffic (with on-street parking and narrowed intersections to a maximum of +/- 17m); redeveloping the corridor as an urban avenue, with more housing and jobs; retaining and reconfiguring auto service commercial to be compatible with a mixed use pedestrian environment; preserving an existing industrial district; and, rebuilding the degraded watersheds with low impact development and street retrofitting (grey streets into green streets). Palm Canyon Drive, Cathedral City, CA The project s purpose was to stimulate investment in the heart of the city and create a new City Centre through the transformation of the central segment of the city s most visible thoroughfare. Prior to redevelopment, the existing corridor was a pedestrian-unfriendly strip with narrow sidewalks and no curb-side parking. The new streetscape, completed in 1998, features a multi modal boulevard with selective side street closures, traffic management measures, and two travel lanes in each direction. It hosts palm-lined medians, a landmark bell tower, an IMAX cinema, town square, multiplex cinema, and new shops and restaurants. The reorganized lane and intersection configuration also relieved a traffic bottleneck, met regional and Caltrans standards for enhanced operations, and provided a plan for incremental regional commitment to transit operations. Capers Block, Vancouver, BC Capers Block in Vancouver s Kitsilano neighbourhood is an example of mixed-use densification on one of the city s transit corridors (4th Avenue), and at the same time a neighbourhood retail street. It is a low-rise mixeduse building that accommodates 78 dwelling units together with retail and office space for the neighbourhood. The building enhances the street life through a continuous retail street-front and a semi public courtyard. With a net density of 2.5 FAR and 156 uph, Capers Block increases the density of the area, yet integrates well within the surrounding lower density residential neighbourhood. 12 photo credit: photo credit: Freedman, Tung & Bottomley (Top, left and right): The Kingsway Corridor charrette explored the transformation of a major transportation route into an urban boulevard. It proposed innovative solutions to retain and reconfigure auto service commercial activity to be compatible with a mixed use pedestrian environment. (Bottom, left): The transformation of the visual character of the central segment of Palm Canyon Drive in Cathedral City, CA, catalyzed the creation of a new City Centre, made the area pedestrian-friendly, and relieved a traffic bottleneck. (Bottom, right): Capers Block, in Vancouver s 4th Avenue, is a mixed-use building that enhances the street life through street-front retail and a semi public courtyard. photo credit: photo credit:
DEVELOPMENT PATTERN CASE BOOK Case name Low-rise, 3 storey mixed use Parcel Building 65 uph Density (FAR) # of dwelling units Density (uph) Total # of storeys # of commercial storeys # of people # of jobs 13
DEVELOPMENT PATTERN CASE BOOK TYPE NET DENSITY FORM UNITS PEOPLE JOBS DESCRIPTION GROUND-ORIENTED RESIDENTIAL 14
DEVELOPMENT PATTERN CASE BOOK TYPE NET DENSITY FORM UNITS PEOPLE JOBS DESCRIPTION STACKED RESIDENTIAL GROUND-ORIENTED RESIDENTIAL 15
DEVELOPMENT PATTERN CASE BOOK TYPE NET DENSITY FORM UNITS PEOPLE JOBS DESCRIPTION STACKED RESIDENTIAL 16
DEVELOPMENT PATTERN CASE BOOK TYPE NET DENSITY FORM UNITS PEOPLE JOBS DESCRIPTION MIXED USE STACKED RESIDENTIAL 17
DEVELOPMENT PATTERN CASE BOOK TYPE NET DENSITY FORM JOBS DESCRIPTION COMMERCIAL 18
DEVELOPMENT PATTERN CASE BOOK TYPE NET DENSITY FORM JOBS DESCRIPTION COMMERCIAL 19
DEVELOPMENT PATTERN CASE BOOK TYPE NET DENSITY FORM JOBS DESCRIPTION INDUSTRIAL 20
DEVELOPMENT PATTERN CASE BOOK TYPE RIGHT-OF-WAY FORM LANES SPEED DAILY TRAFFIC DESCRIPTION ROAD TYPES: HIGH LEVEL ROADS 21
DEVELOPMENT PATTERN CASE BOOK ROAD FEATURES 22
WORKSHOP CHECKLIST In order to effectively test and refine the development pattern explored in this workshop, the following deliverables must be completed: Plan of the development pattern Physical design principles for applying the development pattern in Calgary List of cases used in the development pattern Description of any new cases or added case information 3D visualization of how the development pattern would look (sketches and perspectives of relevant areas) Description of the phasing required for this development pattern Revised quantities for this development pattern Answers to the development pattern key questions (Report Back Worksheet) TRANSIT CORRIDOR KEY QUESTIONS (to be answered in Report Back Worksheet) How many jobs and dwelling units can a Transit Corridor hold? What is the appropriate land use mix for a Transit Corridor? > What types of uses and activities along a Transit Corridor will assist Calgary to attract and capitalize on future job opportunities? > What are the commercial, recreational, and other services required along a Transit Corridor to meet the needs of adjacent communities and what is the mix and interface between these like? What is the physical appearance of a Transit Corridor? > What policies and key urban design strategies will help achieve a multi modal Transit Corridor that: has a strong cohesive built environment along it; provides employment opportunities; and, increases the housing choice and accessibility to goods and services to surrounding communities? > What design strategies can be applied to maintain the existing corridor as a functional transportation corridor (traffic flows), while ensuring access and use of alternative modes of travel (transit, biking, and walking)? > What design strategies can be introduced to manage traffic volumes along a Transit Corridor to mitigate impacts on local neighbourhoods? > What is the appropriate spacing between transit stops, what do the areas immediate to these look like, and how can these be capitalized on to make a more pedestrian friendly neighbourhood? What is the green infrastructure within a Transit Corridor? > What design strategies for green infrastructure and low-impact development practices can contribute to the health, maintenance, and function of a Transit Corridor? What are other compatible land uses within a Transit Corridor? What is the phasing for a Transit Corridor? > What are the challenges and key focus needs for policy development and implementation strategies? What is the replicability of a Transit Corridor? What is the resiliency of a Transit Corridor?