{"id":6183,"date":"2011-07-08T11:16:53","date_gmt":"2011-07-08T15:16:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingottawa.ca\/?p=6183"},"modified":"2013-01-21T09:28:03","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T14:28:03","slug":"darwin-its-time-to-demand-better-sidewalk-experiences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/07\/08\/darwin-its-time-to-demand-better-sidewalk-experiences\/","title":{"rendered":"DARWIN: it’s time to demand better sidewalk experiences"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Curb appeal: the secret to better public landscaping?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

A lot of civic money is spent installing and maintaining landscaping along some major city roads. This is particularly noticeable in post-1960 areas where arterials usually have significant side boulevards that are grassed or sometimes even treed. The landscaping is designed to be appreciated at 70 kph rather than humans travelling on foot or on bicycle. Even in modern suburbs with planned collector streets, the super-wide side boulevards look like so much unappealing, wasted\u00a0 space (see for example, Spratt Drive in Riverside South, but identical examples are found in all new suburban areas).<\/p>\n

In recent years, our Cities have shown more enthusiasm for greening inner-city streets. Sometimes this takes the form of planting beds adjacent to the sidewalk. These beds get trampled on and abused since sidewalks are usually way too narrow to meet actual walkability requirements.<\/p>\n

The City installed has installed some planter beds with raised curbs to protect them. Preston is the most noticeable example, with curbs protecting most of the planting zones:<\/p>\n

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Below is another example, with a lawn area protected from intrusion:<\/p>\n

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The curb has some architectural merits in its own right. It evokes strength, permanence, solidity. It clearly identifies the linearity of the sidewalk and the separateness of the planting bed. It provides a balance-beam experience for little children.<\/p>\n

I recently came across this variation on a curb, which expands the plant zone by half a foot, while down-playing the curb as a hard feature in a planted landscape:<\/p>\n

If the curb was really that narrow, it wouldn\u2019t have much strength.\u00a0 Look closely at the photo below, to see the top of the curb is sloped back at a steep angle:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Now for a less successful effort:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The planter shown above hasn\u2019t enough dirt in it, nor is there enough plant material (to be fair, it was in front of building just renovated; maybe the gardeners are rushing to fix it right now \u2026).<\/p>\n

Here is another example of a properly filled plant zone:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Fixing our pedestrian urban environments isn\u2019t rocket science. It is more a matter of political will, of deciding that active transportation deserves respect and suitable streetscaping treatments. Making the top of a planter curb slope down isn\u2019t expensive, and doesn\u2019t require new construction skills.<\/p>\n

I have added this concept — narrow visible edge to planter curbs and walls\u2014to my wish list. I will be promoting it at the next streetscaping project opportunity. If we don\u2019t demand better streets and sidewalk experiences, we won\u2019t get them. We need a shopping list of amenities that enhance the walkspace experience.<\/p>\n

top photo by Andy Tinkham<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A lot of civic money is spent installing and maintaining landscaping along some major city roads. This is particularly noticeable in post-1960 areas where arterials usually have significant side boulevards that are grassed or sometimes even treed. The landscaping is designed to be appreciated at 70 kph rather than humans travelling on foot or onContinue reading “DARWIN: it’s time to demand better sidewalk experiences”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7056,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5302],"tags":[2087,3635,3636,673,486],"class_list":["post-6183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-active-transportation","tag-andy-tinkham","tag-collector","tag-preston","tag-walkspace"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDARWIN: it's time to demand better sidewalk experiences - Spacing Ottawa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/07\/08\/darwin-its-time-to-demand-better-sidewalk-experiences\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DARWIN: it's time to demand better sidewalk experiences - Spacing Ottawa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A lot of civic money is spent installing and maintaining landscaping along some major city roads. 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