[Vision2020] Re: subdivisions (Was "Tribune Uncovers")

[Nils Peterson]

The discussion of the character of new subdivisions, and walkability, is a
good one.

I think Keely's point can be seen in this google map

http://maps.google.com/?ll=46.727683,-116.980019&spn=0.026887,0.055189&om=1

I also live on the edge of one of those new neighborhoods, there is no
"block" we can walk around for an evening stroll, because there are no
blocks.

I grew up in Pullman on Alfred Lane, one of three streets that dead end into
WSU near Regents dorms. Each street ends in a flight of stairs onto campus.
This makes them through streets for pedestrians walking to campus from
further north. Further, the three streets are linked by a narrow public path
(the route of the sewer) located 2/3 of the way from the corner to the dead
end.

The hills explain some of the road alignments in the new developments. The
hills were not as problematic in the old town (hence its location I guess).
If you look at the old grid, where it charges up the hills (6th from main to
the Courthouse), there can be some steep and problematic grades. Pullman has
it worse (consider High or Spring street from Downtown) I don't think Moscow
will accept streets of that steepness anymore. Nor are they so great for
walking, biking, wheelchairs, etc.

Maybe its worth a look at historic cities with hills and their solutions in
days when horses pulled carts. As in Rome, we might build streets as flights
of steps (see Spanins Steps) (Google it, look at images). A street-wide
stair makes a public pedestrian space. I have see a wide stair designed with
a ramp that zig-zaged up across its face, but it doesn't quite work for
wheelchairs because the ramp has no railings to help pull oneself along.