Environmental, health and safety concerns make it critical for communities to do a better job of land-use planning for all forms of transportation and roadway networks, Los Angeles transportation planning consultant Ryan Snyder said at the May 17 Randall Lewis Seminar Series.

Increasing rates of obesity and other health problems from physical inactivity, higher petroleum costs, global warming and other issues are pointing to the need for smart growth planning, Snyder said. “As a transportation planner, I believe that transportation is simply movement from one land use to another . . . and the way we arrange those land uses incredibly impacts the way we transport ourselves,” Snyder said.

“Community design and land use planning need to return to neo-traditional planning,” Snyder said. “This is the way we always used to make towns . . . our communities were built under the assumption you would walk wherever you went,” he said. Using numerous examples, Snyder discussed how building design, creation of mixed residential/commercial use and smaller and connected street pattern designs can make for inviting, walkable communities.

Snyder also discussed how streets and crosswalks can be designed or re-designed to be safer and more pedestrian-friendly. The use of paseos (a public walkway or boulevard), landscaping, placemaking (the use of art, history, culture or other items that unify or identify a neighborhood as a unique place), gateways and other design features can add other welcoming elements to a community, he said.

Every community also should encourage bicycle use by designing a network of bikeway routes and providing convenient bicycle parking, Snyder said. Trails also are an important feature to get people walking, bicycling and spending time with their families, Snyder said. “When you do surveys of communities and ask people what is a favorite feature . . . it’s the trails…” Snyder said. Locating parking behind buildings rather than in front, and in raised structures rather than large open lots are other features of livable communities, he said.

As gasoline costs continue to rise, it is likely that many people will drastically reduce their number of vehicle trips, Snyder said. But to further cut vehicle use or encourage mass transit or walking, Snyder suggested a number of possible auto trip pricing techniques – including an increase in gasoline taxes or fees based on the number of miles driven or based on when traffic is most congested.

Download Ryan Snyder's slide presentation here (64,911 kb).