Tools to Reimagine our Streets
What if communities could decide where they want housing and what they want it to look like?
The LCI is a framework and a set of tools that allow neighborhoods to create beautiful streets with beautiful architecture and an abundance of low-cost, high-quality housing – in car-light 15 minute communities.
We work with experts from all over the world to understand what is working and how we can bring it to Los Angeles. LA has a specific built environment, topography, and traffic patterns – can Dutch bike lanes translate (yes), and what would that look like? Can LA have a world-class bus system (yes). Can LA build high-quality, low-cost car-free homes at no cost to taxpayers (yes).
The LCI is a vision for livable, safe, pleasant and convenient car-light/car-free neighborhoods with a very high standard of living at a very low cost.
How do we create 15 minute communities? There are three components: the street, the homes, and the mobility systems.
The Street - Walking down a vibrant Livable Street should feel calm, safe, and enjoyable, with (ideally) beautiful architecture, a vernacular that fits with the neighborhood, a consistent height of the buildings to create a calm sense of being in a living room, a lush tree canopy that creates dappled sunlight and shade, small shops and family owned businesses that deliver unique experiences and meet a multitude of weekly needs, along with parks, playgrounds and plazas on redundant street spaces.
The Homes - Inside the beautiful buildings are homes with high ceilings, cross breezes, ample air and light, high-quality design, and an interior courtyard with trees, green space and a space for community. Sustainable design and systems also lower water bills and eliminate electric and gas bills. LCI is an attainable home ownership model, with the goal of creating high-quality homes that hold their value so families can build equity.
The Mobility Systems - Living car free requires safe, reliable, pleasant, and dignified modes of transportation. The three legs of the stool of mobility are: walking, transit, and bikes (which includes micro-mobility, scooters, trikes, adaptive bikes, golf carts and NEVs) Mobility is a “system,” it either works smoothly or it doesn’t – like the iPhone or the App Store. No one wants a buggy App – you would delete it. So in order for people to opt in, the “systems” have to work. Walkability needs slow cars/no cars, and ample neighborhood serving retail. Bikes need slow cars and high-quality child-safe bike lanes. And transit needs a safe, pleasant and seamless connection to high-quality transit or bus that is both fast and frequent. If it’s slow, infrequent, and unreliable, people will refuse to take it and if they have the option, they will drive instead.
Planning Tools
The Street
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The most important decision the neighborhood has to make is what they want the speed of the cars to be on their street.
Speed:
50 mph— currently most streets – almost no one walks or bikes.
Over 20 mph— the street is dangerous and will limit walkability and bikeability.
Under 10-15 mph— it will feel like Larchmont Boulevard which will increase walkability, vibrancy and business.
Car-free— widespread biking and walking. The street will be safe for children to bike unsupervised. Biking and walking will be relaxing and joyful, and the street will be an amenity for the entire community.
There are two ways to enforce the speed: design and speed cameras.
1.) Design: Very narrow lanes force cars to slow down, especially when there are also metal bollards (drivers worry they will ding their car). The wider the lanes the more we speed up as drivers. 12 ft lanes (the width of a freeway lane) invite drivers to speed up, and 8 and 9 ft lanes (which exist all over the US in older cities) force drivers to slow down.
2.) Speed Cameras: California passed a speed camera pilot bill to allow a limited number of speed cameras in six cities. The tickets do not start until drivers are going at 11 mph over the speed limit and the tickets are low ($50). LCI advocates for an expansion of speed camera bill to cover any neighborhood that wants it, and the ability to set the speed and the speed at which people get ticketed.
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Car-free streets create an ideal urban environment. Quiet, calm, without the danger, noise and pollution of fast cars. It makes it safe and relaxing to bike and lovely to walk. It helps businesses thrive, which gives residents lots of stores to shop in. Can we do it? We close streets across Los Angeles all the time; for events, movie premieres, Farmers Markets or CicLAVia. While it can be costly to close a street for the day, there's not a huge cost to permanently closing a street. One way to build support and test the idea is to close the street for one Saturday or Sunday, expand to once/week, and then expand to both weekend days – and possibly to weekdays.
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The ingredients of a vibrant street are:
1. Location
Start by picking a street with existing local shops and family-owned businesses. A block with lots of small storefronts can serve the daily and weekly needs of the adjacent neighborhood within a few blocks – the list includes grocery store, mail shop, restaurants, coffee shops, a pharmacy, bank, general store, hardware store, and a corner bar for gathering and community. “Fine grain retail” means narrow storefronts (25 ft-50 ft wide) that activate the street, not big box stores – which take up half a block or an entire block, and deaden the street. There's nothing pleasant or vibrant about strolling from a Staples to an Office Depot to a Best Buy to a BevMo (and how often does a person need a new flat screen TV?)
Experts believe it is possible to transform an arterial or stroad big box stores, parking lots and warehouses to a walkable, bikeable, livable street, it is a far bigger endeavor and involves state redevelopment efforts.
2. Speed of Cars
Slow the cars down (or remove them) for safety, noise, and air quality.
3. Street Amenities
Add trees, bike lanes, al fresco, benches – activate the street with lots to do and places to sit and linger.
4. Housing
Add housing above the retail, which means more people and shoppers, and more safety with eyes on the street.
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Los Angeles already has great walkable neighborhoods – particularly our Historic Main Streets and Villages. LA was a city of 400 neighborhoods connected by trolleys and bikes (and later, by cars). They still exist – Westwood Village, Downtown Burbank, Culver Blvd – and they still have small local shops and restaurants – giving the neighborhood a small town feel that draws in pedestrians to stroll, sit and shop. Almost any street with fine grain retail – small shops with storefronts that are under 50’ wide – has the bones for an LCI.
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Examples of people-focused infrastructure are parks, playgrounds, promenades and public squares. Parks create access to green space and diminish noxious sounds from the surrounding city. Playgrounds improve physical activity and development of motor skills and social skills for children, as well as creating a space for parents to connect with one another and develop relationships while feeling safe about their children’s activities. Promenades create a gathering place for passive and active movement and engagement with local vendors. Parks, Playgrounds, promenades and public squares reduce barriers for residents of all income levels in order to build community, increase access to resources and improve health outcomes. These free, openly accessible spaces bolster communities and create opportunities that may otherwise be barred to lower income and non-white demographics.
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Lush tree canopies create shade and prevent the heat island effect where the pavement heats up and makes neighborhoods unpleasant to walk in. Trees also clean the air by absorbing pollution and carbon. The LCI is working with advocates for biodiversity in LA's trees and flora. A biodiversity plan coming soon.
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From Cleveland to Barcelona - cities in the U.S. and around the world are transforming their streets to be more dynamic, safe and beautiful. La Estrella, Colombia reduced one of the city’s most important commercial streets from four lanes to two lanes, expanded sidewalks and limited parking. “Two years later, preliminary assessments showed a substantial decrease in traffic casualties and revitalization of retail activities,” says Juan Sebastián Abad, Mayor of La Estrella. Sweden’s Street Moves project and “makeover kit” is remodeling parking spaces to serve other types of needs such as biking racks, meeting spaces for adults and play spaces for children. East 4th Street in Cleveland, Ohio is now fully pedestrianized with a BRT system that runs just alongside the area. And the infamous “Superblocks” in Barcelona, Spain with reduced speed limits of 10km/hr, added bike lanes, improved landscaping, additional seating and play areas - has led to a thriving community.
We can create communities with a good quality of life and an even exceptional quality of life along a street that is leafy, quiet, calm, inviting and vibrant - where people are strolling, shopping and lingering - what Jane Jacob’s called a “sticky street.”
The Homes
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What if we built the housing we want, not the housing we don't want? There are certain styles that are broadly appealing, and certain styles that really aren't – parking podiums, dead walls, curb cuts, and what some call “Park-itecture” – housing designed to accommodate parking – are styles that are rarely embraced by neighbors.
LA has a rich history of beautiful architecture, and neighborhoods have different styles - Art Deco in Culver City, Italianate in Westwood. LA is lucky to have a Mediterranean climate (only 3% of the globe), so any architecture from the Mediterranean is appropriate to our climate and can be designed to not need AC (because buildings around the Mediterranean were built before AC).
Standard Plans do not limit the architecture. Any developer, builder, property owner, or architect can still build their dream design. Standard Plans simplify the process for everyone else.
LCI advocates for an attainable home ownership [link] model and making it accessible for Low Income Households and first time home buyers. Creating a high quality of life and high-quality homes that will hold their value can increase equity and protect the biggest investment most people will make in their lifetime.
Standardization to bring down costs and create more affordability
The LCI is a new housing typology in LA – high quality attainable home ownership at the lowest possible cost (to both buyers and builders.) Because of the nature of the model – residential housing over small retail – the LCI model can create strategies for standardization to reduce costs and time, improve efficiency, and raise quality.
We do this through standard plans and replication that can produce housing at scale. Standard Plans are architectural drawings tailored to align with the standard dimensions of parcels within a specific block. Every parcel on a commercial block in LA is essentially the same size (and only come is a handful of sizes, such as 50 feet wide by 100 feet deep; 30 feet wide by 90 feet deep, etc.) The Standard Plan concept centers on the idea that having a selection of appealing, ready-made designs that fit every parcel on a street can contribute to a harmonious and cohesive neighborhood aesthetic. Standard Plans may be particularly appealing in neighborhoods where a consistent architectural character or a specific aesthetic is desired by the community.
It also allows for the standardization of production. With pre-fabricated components and repetition, builders estimate that after 3-4 iterations, they can build a 3-5 story building in under 6 months – from breaking ground to move-in day – assuming cities can streamline their systems. By utilizing a land lease approach, more small builders can enter the market. For the property owner, they can participate while remaining a passive investor; they can choose the style of the building, and not worry about constructions, loans, permits, etc.
This combination of Standard Plans, land lease, and repetition can support a Baugruppen model (from Austria) or the Nightingale Model (from Australia) – where an extended family or friends join together to build to their own needs and specifications (size units, roof deck, ADA parking etc), and everyone can own a home at cost, creating even more affordability.
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The LCI model is home ownership of a high-quality home for an affordable price. LCI homes are designed for livability and sustainability (and low water bills and no electricity bills (and no gas hookups)). The LCI program requires apartments to have passive design features like high ceilings, thick walls, windows looking out over a courtyard to create a cross breeze for both sustainability (so homes do not need AC), and livability – apartments are filled with ample air and light. Central courtyards can have trees, picnic tables, a play structure – and create a community space to gather.
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LCI was inspired by a highly-effective model that is broadly supported by stakeholders from all sides of the debate: ADUs. ADUs present a real-time Case Study in what happens when a city eliminates red tape, delays, parking, and excessive fees. Until recently, ADUs were blocked in virtually every city in California. When State law forced cities to legalize ADUs, it unleashed the market for single family homeowners to develop their own property. An estimated 30,000 ADUs have been built in Los Angeles (the number of unpermitted ADUs is unknown). The majority are used for housing and low cost housing. By legalizing, streamlining and facilitating, Los Angeles now has thousands of units on the market at a fraction of the cost of a single-family home in the neighborhood – all at no cost to taxpayers. The LCI wants to replicate the ADU streamlining model for residential housing over small retail along car light / car free streets near transit and jobs.
Mobility Systems
Mobility is a system: it either works or it doesn't. It is fast, frequent, safe, pleasant, reliable and convenient – or it’s unsafe, slow, unpleasant, unreliable and inconvenient. About 90% of LA residents drive, and because our mobility is not working as a system, 90% of our trips are by car. Our car-centric world has created a traffic, air quality and climate crisis, and it is one of the root causes of the housing crisis. But if we had world class mobility, people could live in LA without a car, and housing would not need parking– a game changer for lowering rents and increasing production.
Using case studies from around the world, LCI has created a Guidebook of tools to create world class mobility systems.
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What makes a street walkable? People are drawn to streets where there are lots of trees and shade, lots of shops and lots of people – streets that are safe and vibrant. The ingredients to a walkable street includes Neighborhood Serving Retail – small storefronts (25 ft - 50 ft wide) with local shops that serve daily and weekly uses – restaurants and coffee shops, grocery stores, mail shop, pharmacy, book store, etc.
LA already has hundreds of neighborhoods with fine grain retail and small Mom & Pops and Legacy Family businesses – they are our Historic Main Streets and Historic Villages like Westwood, Leimert Park, Abbot Kinney and Downtown Burbank.
Safety: In order for people to feel relaxed and enjoy walking, they need to feel safe. Slowing the cars, and making sure there are not too many of them, transforms a street overnight. Going from four lanes to two lanes, and slowing the traffic to a safe speed (under 20 mph) calms the street and draws more people to the street.
Built-in customers: A third element that can help bring vibrancy is building residential housing above the retail.
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Why should we care about biking? Biking fills the gap when it’s too far to walk, but inconvenient to drive or take a bus. A 15 minute walk is ¾ mile, and a 15 minute bike ride is 3 miles, and a 15 minute E-bike ride is 7 miles – so someone living at the Beach could E-bike in 15 minutes to job centers in Westwood, Culver City, and Beverly Hills.
How do we create a bikeable neighborhood? Safety determines the quality of the bike lane, and is also correlated with the percentage of people who will use it:
Low Quality and Dangerous - 1% of people will use a dangerous bike lane like a sharrow or a painted lane next to fast-moving cars.
Medium Quality - up to 8% of people will bike in a network of separated bike lanes with good infrastructure but have safety gaps and “pinch points” where you can get hit and killed by a car. New York City and Portland are examples – hundreds of miles of good quality but not perfect bike lanes, and about 8% of people bike (“the fit and the brave”).
High Quality and Child Safe - When bike infrastructure is child-safe and there's virtually no chance of a car hitting a cyclist at a speed that is fatal, then 80% to 90% bike.
It is unknown what level of infrastructure will feel “safe enough.” We know car-free streets like CicLAVia work for 80-90% – and a broad spectrum of abilities. Because we still don’t know how to scale up to 80%, it is an argument for leaders to quickly and urgently install bike lanes to understand what the uptake will be, and what infrastructure designs ensure safety and raise the mode share for biking (with the goal being Vision Zero and no fatalities and serious injuries.)
Will people even bike? Yes! Biking is our happiest form of transportation. Safe biking infrastructure is also inclusive for vulnerable road users and all ages and abilities. For seniors who lose their ability to drive (on average the last 7 to 10 years of life for Americans) and People with Disabilities, Trikes, Adaptive Bikes, and golf carts can give non-drivers mobility and independence. It also helps people stay fit and healthy, and age in place in their own communities near family and friends. Parents love cargo bikes, as do children. And truly safe bike infrastructure, such as car free streets, allows kids starting at the age of 10 to bike to school, bike home, and bike to friends’ homes. This gives children an important form of independence for their mental health and cognitive development. The ability to safely roam and explore and gain independence is correlated to lower rates of anxiety and depression, better cognitive and mental health outcomes, better health, and lower rates of obesity.
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There are two things that transit must have to be high quality and to scale past a low percent of trips (under 10%): it has to be fast and frequent, and reliable. It needs to move across town quickly and not get stuck in traffic (fast), and it needs to come at least every 15 minutes, ideally every 2-5 minutes (frequent). Fast and frequent buses are reliable, which makes using the bus pleasant and convenient. But if a bus gets stuck in traffic, it is not fast, frequent or reliable.
How do you keep buses out of traffic? One strategy is a dedicated bus lane – the city paints a traffic lane orange, and tickets drivers who sneak in to use it. A dedicated bus lane allows a bus to move across town quickly, and removes the unpredictability (and stress). But there is a drawback to orange dedicated bus lanes: since buses only come every 5 to 15 minutes, the bus lane is almost always empty, which is extremely frustrating to drivers sitting in traffic. This can create significant political blowback.
The other major solution is something called “Dynamic Pricing” of roads.
The idea starts with: since everyone has an equal claim to road space (streets are public space), we can create a system where we share it – when demand goes up, we can use a chit or a payment system to divy up the finite road space. Dynamic Pricing is like Uber surge pricing: when there's high demand, the price goes up, nudging drivers to move their trips. Trips come in different categories of importance and time-sensitivity: work and school, versus errands and social visits. Only one-half of trips at peak rush hour are work and school; the other half is errands or social visits. If people moved some of their flexible trips, we would have no traffic – which means the buses would always run on time. Which means buses would scale up in use, and we could ideally see a massive mode shift.
There are Case Studies for Dynamic Pricing from around the world – Texas, Virginia, Stockholm and Singapore all have successful Dynamic Pricing of roads.
But there are huge caveats to both solutions: Dynamic Pricing is politically challenging and feels like a tax*, and dedicated bus lanes make drivers angry. A third option is to combine them: a bus lane that is also an HOV lane, and Dynamically Prices any excess road space. The lane will always be full, it will nudge people to carpool, the buses are always on time – so everyone always has an alternative to traffic or paying.
*100% of the revenue can be rebated back to residents. There can be a wide range of exceptions – from doctors visits to essential workers. Rebates can be limited to the most affected households and the revenue used for other priorities.
