Visiting a friend, obtaining goods and services, seeing a play or hearing a concert, checking up on a child s educational progress, enjoying recreational opportunities, and getting a checkup should be accessible by foot or transit. Such diverse activities tent to be available in communities with good design. Good design requires streets and sidewalks that are seamless, safe, and comfortable for people of all ages. People should be able to find there way around the neighborhood to gain access to all of its resources. A community needs to have a wide range of homes for people of all social backgrounds and income levels.
Housing directly shapes the character of the neighborhood.
Not all neighborhoods can offer all kinds of housing, but they should offer housing for as many different kinds of people as possible. By addressing which groups need which kinds of housing, the City can develop a coherent long-term strategy to address the problem of access and affordability in all neighborhoods. While housing is fundamentally a matter of providing shelter for resident, it is also an integral part of community-building. Therefore, the design of housing should strengthen the urban character of the community. Suburban styles of housing should be avoided, particularly in neighborhoods with longstanding urban qualities such as density, mixed use development, multifamily dwellings, and access to public transit.