cityplanner.ca
Discussing big picture urban/city planning and design issues.
Jun 10, 2010
Planners and engineers often tend to think in terms of blocks and squares and 90 degree angles, but it doesn’t always have to be this way...
Grid streets certainly have their advantages, of course, including redevelopability, navigability, and opportunities for detours. However, I had the thought this past weekend that a transportation system which incorporates triangles could also make for a very interesting city.
Over the weekend, we drove from our home past the University of Alberta, which has a forested and architecturally interesting campus. The university campus is linked to Edmonton’s main commercial strip, Whyte Avenue, which we followed to get to our restaurant of choice. Eventually, from there, we continued east toward the end of the strip, and then drove home via a different route.
Graphically, we could display the journey as follows:
Alternately, we could generalize it like this:
The destinations of choice would vary based on a person’s tastes in tourist attractions or business requirements, but they would include top landmarks, educational institutions, chambers of commerce, shopping districts, and more. Ideally each of a city’s top destinations would be connected to rapid public transit, and the routes taken by that transit would be very scenic and aesthetically pleasing.
Washington DC capitalizes on Pierre L’Enfant’s historic angled street design overlaid on a grid system to create a large number of possibilities for walking around. Although I'm told by locals that streetlights between angled and grid streets can bog down drivers, the ability to take many different routes along triangular streets to and from destinations makes for a very interesting journey on foot.
In Canada, Winnipeg’s layout would allow you to take a bus from your hotel to the legislature, for example, then take a boat to the Forks, then walk back to your hotel along different streets.
If you are visiting Vancouver, a combination of walking, buses, the SkyTrain, ferries, the SeaBus, and horse-drawn carriages (in Stanley Park) enable tourists to sample a large variety of destinations in triangles.
There are plenty of quotes out there (such as those at ThinkExist.com) highlighting the importance of the journey over the destination, but thinking in terms of the linkages between destinations can allow us to appropriately enhance the pathways between them.
Ultimately, allowing people to take different routes each way with major landmarks and transit stops as destination markers can allow them to see more of the city, potentially shop more or see more attractions while visiting, and also have a more interesting, less monotonous experience.
Grid streets certainly have their advantages, of course, including redevelopability, navigability, and opportunities for detours. However, I had the thought this past weekend that a transportation system which incorporates triangles could also make for a very interesting city.
Over the weekend, we drove from our home past the University of Alberta, which has a forested and architecturally interesting campus. The university campus is linked to Edmonton’s main commercial strip, Whyte Avenue, which we followed to get to our restaurant of choice. Eventually, from there, we continued east toward the end of the strip, and then drove home via a different route.
Graphically, we could display the journey as follows:
Alternately, we could generalize it like this:
The destinations of choice would vary based on a person’s tastes in tourist attractions or business requirements, but they would include top landmarks, educational institutions, chambers of commerce, shopping districts, and more. Ideally each of a city’s top destinations would be connected to rapid public transit, and the routes taken by that transit would be very scenic and aesthetically pleasing.
Washington DC capitalizes on Pierre L’Enfant’s historic angled street design overlaid on a grid system to create a large number of possibilities for walking around. Although I'm told by locals that streetlights between angled and grid streets can bog down drivers, the ability to take many different routes along triangular streets to and from destinations makes for a very interesting journey on foot.
In Canada, Winnipeg’s layout would allow you to take a bus from your hotel to the legislature, for example, then take a boat to the Forks, then walk back to your hotel along different streets.
If you are visiting Vancouver, a combination of walking, buses, the SkyTrain, ferries, the SeaBus, and horse-drawn carriages (in Stanley Park) enable tourists to sample a large variety of destinations in triangles.
There are plenty of quotes out there (such as those at ThinkExist.com) highlighting the importance of the journey over the destination, but thinking in terms of the linkages between destinations can allow us to appropriately enhance the pathways between them.
Ultimately, allowing people to take different routes each way with major landmarks and transit stops as destination markers can allow them to see more of the city, potentially shop more or see more attractions while visiting, and also have a more interesting, less monotonous experience.
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Contact Myron Belej, MCIP, AICP at myron@cityplanner.ca to:
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Learn more about 'How to Hire Myron'.
Contact Myron Belej, MCIP, AICP at myron@cityplanner.ca to:
- invite Myron to speak at a conference or event
- feature a version of this article in another publication
- inquire about Myron's consulting or coaching services
- request more information
Learn more about 'How to Hire Myron'.