Many Separated Islands

Here’s a topic for a water cooler conversation: Jeremy Dommu over at The Merriweather Post is encouraging folks to take part in a Columbia walkability study. It’s called the Downtown Columbia Walk Audit. Here’s the link to the survey itself, if you want to take a look. 

https://tooledesign.github.io/Downtown_Columbia/

As always, Dommu exudes a kind of hopeful enthusiasm that somehow makes me feel old and jaded. 

Is there a pedestrian or cycling infrastructure improvement that you would like to see made in Downtown Columbia ? 

…I did the survey and added 6 suggestions of my own!  Note that there is a map where you can add a pin to an area where you have an idea/suggestion.  It's easier to do this on computer rather than a phone.

Okay, here comes my water-cooler pitch: there is no walkability in Columbia. It’s the anti-walkability capital of suburbia. If anything, Columbia contains small islands of walkability, which are accessible only by car. The Lakefront is an island of walkability. Village Centers, too. The new residences and business that ring the Mall have infused greater walkability but it’s still ruled by the automobile in many ways. Clearly the new Merriweather District aims to be walkable.

From what I understand of the concept, merely being able to take relaxing walks on picturesque pathways does not constitute true walkability. 

Walkability is a term for planning concepts best understood by the mixed-use of amenities in high-density neighborhoods where people can access said amenities by foot.It is based on the idea that urban spaces should be more than just transport corridors designed for maximum vehicle throughput. Instead, it should be relatively complete livable spaces that serve a variety of uses, users, and transportation modes and reduce the need for cars for travel. (Wikipedia)

In my opinion, if what you want is true, functional walkability, Columbia was just built wrong from the start.* In the most basic terms, what makes an area walkable is that the places you want to go are close together. And that goes by a word that makes people squirm: density. There's something about that word that causes seemingly sane people to become agitated and envisioning squalid tenements of old New York.

Part of what originally made Columbia so attractive to people was how beautifully it was laid out in the natural environment. They liked the greenness, and the way that things were spread out. There was breathing space. There were new places to explore. More than once I’ve heard people say, “If I wanted to live in Baltimore, I’d be living in Baltimore.”

So I’m having trouble imagining Columbia as a walkable city as a whole. But I’m sure that the islands of walkability could be improved. Or perhaps there are possibilities (as yet unexplored) for more islands of walkability. And how does one move between islands of walkability?

Public Transit. But that’s another story altogether. Let’s stick to pedestrian and cycling inprovements. Any ideas?

True confession: I have never participated in a water-cooler conversation. This is as close as I get. Join me. 

Village Green/Town² comments.

*If I am wrong here, please correct me.