This past weekend I was reading through one of my favorite urban planning websites and came across an article that presented a new perspective about making a streetscape attractive. For those who are unfamiliar with this term, a streetscape is the look and feel of a street and its elements. Often this includes the basic elements of a street layout, a sidewalk, and various accessory elements such as trees, landscaped islands, or a bench.
Most times when we talk about creating a good streetscape we’ve heard (or at least urban planners have) over and over the three main elements — active uses, a high first-floor window to facade ratio, and the presence of street furniture. Let’s break these down before we talk about a new fourth element.
Active uses refers to active land uses. These are land and building uses that create a highly active and moving atmosphere. These can include colleges or schools, retail stores, restaurants, and hotels. Think of a shopping mall. Malls have done an excellent job of creating a highly active atmosphere.
High first-floor window to facade ratios help contribute to an appealing streetscape by giving pedestrians something to look at. Having the first-floor of a building be mostly transparent brings the active atmosphere into the building while also giving pedestrians a feeling of being safer (somebody always has their eyes on them from a neighboring building and can see what is happening on the street).
The third element is street furniture or accessories. Streetscape accessories can include elements such as trees lining streets, ATM kiosks, benches, public art pieces, bike racks, and cafe tables and chairs. These elements fill up the space and make it more inviting. Think of when you first moved into your home. Yes it provided you with all the basic shelter you needed, but were the empty rooms with white paint inviting and comfortable? My guess is probably not, and the same concept goes for our streets.
The new fourth element that the article mentioned was how Instagramable was the streetscape (referring to the photo social media site Instagram). Was their something unique about the streetscape that encouraged people to take a picture with it? This concept is what has encouraged so many cities around the nation to embrace having public art and statues around their cities. It gives the city something unique.
What changes do we need to make to our downtown and surrounding areas to create attractive and appealing streetscape? How can we make our streetscape Instagramable? Let’s talk about it!
(Jon Hartman is Director of Panning & Economic Development for the City of Elizabethton. He can be contacted at 542-1503 or by email at: jhartman@cityofelizabethton.org)