Mill Avenue in Tempe, Arizona, a community striving to become a “20-minute city”. (Photo credit: Chris Yunker via Flickr)
What does it take to become a “20-minute city”—a community where important destinations are reachable within 20-minute trip on foot, bike, or transit? Cities such as Tempe, Arizona and Portland, Oregon are aiming to find out; they each set goals to become 20-minute cities in an effort to become more efficient, sustainable, and multi-modal.
One major step is defining what a successful 20-minute city should look like. Portland, OR created a citywide plan outlining which social infrastructure should be located within 20 minutes of travel. Their definition of social infrastructure includes primary schools, grocery stores, and public parks. By creating parameters, communities can better plan for the inclusion of these necessities in neighborhoods that are well connected to transit.
Cities like Tempe, AZ are also taking weather conditions into consideration. In a community where temperatures can surpass 100 degrees Fahrenheit during the summers, shade and cooling structures are imperative to promoting walking and transit usage. District and individual building plans for shade trees and sidewalk overhangs are helpful not only in hot climates, but in wet or cold ones as well.
Intentional decision-making about where to place new development is also a key part of the equation. Project for Public Spaces’ Thinking Beyond the Station, available on TODresources.org, offers strategies for transforming areas around transit stations or stops into multi-use destinations. “There must be a critical mass of activities and those activities need to be triangulated. To achieve this critical mass…places must offer many things to do and reasons to be there for many different audiences at many times of day.” Learn more about developing 20-minute cities by visiting TODresources.org.
Recent TOD news
Here are a few things that have been happening this week with TOD projects across the country.
- DC metro worried that teleworking driving ridership down (Washington Post)
- 400-unit Seattle TOD clears design review board (Capitol Hill Times)
- Affordable apartments to use new transit-oriented incentives in Los Angeles (Curbed LA)
- Solar powered town is home to America’s first self-driving shuttle network (Fast Company)