According to the American Planning Association s Best Development Practices , the best neighborhoods for walking are developed in small clusters, with well-defined centers and edges, and compact commercial centers. Schools should also be placed so children can walk and bicycle without having to cross high-speed streets. The new guidance calls for re-writing highway design manuals so they reflect this new, more balanced approach. The manual covers street design, signing and marking, and other planning and engineering issues. In a typical suburban strip mall, the streets are wide, encouraging cars to travel at high speeds.
Sidewalks end abruptly or lack pedestrian amenities such as trees.
Pedestrians have no safe place to cross the street, and few close destinations. A computer-enhanced image show how curb bulbouts, crosswalks, trees and more compact development can make this are more pleasant and walkable. Photo provided by Calthorpe Associates and Urban Advantage. This is part of a wider movement toward designing highways in context, to make sure they respect the cultural, environmental, and scenic assets in a community. A number of states are revamping the process they use for designing roads, but only one state has completely rewritten its standards.