Streetscape Topics

Introduction

Streetscape is the appearance and view of the street. Well-designed streetscapes contribute to the visual quality and livability of communities. The streetscape includes all the elements that constitute the physical makeup of the street such as pavements, lighting, street furniture, landscaping, and signage. Designs may include amenities for pedestrians and bicyclists, incorporate public art, and include concepts such as green streets and alleys.

Streetscape Design

Historic Downtown Main Streets: Strategies for Compatible Streetscape Design (), compiled and presented by Rosalind Keeney and Julie Osborne, Oregon Department of Transportation
Sidewalk Area Design (), in Main Street: When a Highway Runs Through It, Oregon State Department of Transportation
Streetscape Improvements: Enhancing Urban Roadway Design, TDM Encyclopedia, Victoria Transport Policy Institute
Reimaging Seattle City Streets: Planting Strips and Street Edge Treatments for Urban Green Infrastructure ( 28 MB), Final Report for Seattle Public Utilities, by Nancy Rottle, Green Futures Research & Design Lab, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Washington, 11/2007 - Prototypical designs for street-edge strategies that included bicycle lanes, reconfiguration of sidewalks and crossings for better safety, and enhancement of parking strips to provide community spaces, stormwater control, water conservation and connected habitat
Understanding Flexibility in Transportation Design, Washington State Department of Transportation, 04/2005
Context Sensitive Design
- FHWA and Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS)
  - What is CSS?, Federal Highway Administration
- Context Sensitive Solutions, CalTrans Division
- ContextSensitiveSolutions.org - A clearinghouse containing built examples of CSS projects, case studies, research, information, and policy documents. It addresses a broad range of issues, including design standards, liability, stakeholder involvement and new techniques in transportation problem-solving; funded by the Federal Highway Administration.
- Context Sensitive Street Design (), prepared by the Urban Design Collaborative, Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), via Sacramento Area Council of Governments

Local Government Examples Outside of Washington

Austin, TX Downtown Great Streets Master Plan
- Introduction to Streetscape Elements and Standards ()
Baltimore, MD Street Scape - Downtown Partnership
- Baltimore Streetscape Guidelines Manual ()
Chicago, IL Streetscape Guidelines for the City of Chicago Streetscape and Urban Design Programs ( 11 MB), Chicago Department of Transportation Bureau of Bridges and Transit, 11/2003
Guelph, ON Downtown Guelph Public Realm Streetscape Manual (), prepared by the Landplan Collaborative, Ltd, 2001
Lancaster, PA Streetscape Design Guidelines for the City of Lancaster Pennsylvania (), prepared by Derck & Edson Associates , 06/07/2004

Washington Local Government Examples

Kirkland Pedestrian Oriented Elements (), in Kirkland Design Guidelines for Pedestrian-Oriented Business Districts, updated 2009
Seattle Streetscape Design Guidelines, Chapter 6: Seattle Right of Ways Improvement Manual, Online Manual Version 2.0
Sumner Streetscape Elements (), in Urban Design Concept Plan and Design Development Guidelines, prepared by Dennis Tate Associates, Kasprisan Pettinari Design, and Sumner Community Development Department, 03/2003
Tacoma Downtown Streetscape Study and Design Concepts (), prepared by MAKERS, 04/2003

Pedestrian Amenities

Create a Thriving Business District: A Guide to City and Neighborhood Business District Resources, produced by the City of Seattle, 5th ed. 2007 - Covers lighting, street furniture, public art, bicycle racks, street trees and other items
Pedestrian and Streetscape Guide (), sponsored by the Georgia Department of Transportation, prepared by Otak, Inc., 2003, via BikeWalk.org
Project for Public Spaces (PPS) - A nonprofit organization dedicated to creating and sustaining public places that build communities
- PPS Image Collection - Includes amenities and elements
- What Makes a Successful Place?

Green Alleys

Activating Alleys for a Lively City ( 15.75 MB), Mary Fialko and Jennifer Hampton in Collaboration with University of Washington Green Futures Lab, Scan Design Foundation, Gehl Architects - Alleys possess compelling potential to produce a vibrant secondary public realm that might also help to repair the ecological performance of our cities.
From Utility to Amenity: Greening the Alleys of Los Angeles, by Nate Berg, Planetizan, 01/22/2009
Green Is Right Up Our Alley, Trust for Public Land, 06/2011
Turning Alleys into Neighborhood Spaces, New Urban News, January-February 2009 (Available through MRSC Library Loan)
Chicago Green Alleys, Chicago Department of Transportation
- Chicago Green Alley Handbook: An Action Guide to Create a Greener, Environmentally Sustainable Chicago ()
Los Angeles - LA Project - USC Center for Sustainable Cities
- How to Lead an Alley Revitalization Project: A Guide (), by Edith Ben-Horin, Rebecca Drayse, Chris Imhoff, the Center for Sustainable Cities and the TreePeople, 11/2008
- Bringing L.A.'s Alleys Out of the Shadows, by Scott Gold, Los Angeles Times, 09/12/2008
- LA's Green Alleys: How Many of the City's 12,300 Byways Can be Rehabbed? (), by Nate Berg, Planning, 06/2009, via USC Dornsife College
- Seattle Alley Art - The Alley Art Project draws on the energy and ideas of Pioneer Square neighbors to diagnose the problems in one forgotten space.

Green Streets

Philadelphia, PA Launching The Green City Strategy, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
Portland, OR Green Streets Program, Portland Bureau of Environmental Services
Seattle - Green Streets began in 1997 by the Seattle Department of Transportation. The Department of Planning and Community Development's CityDesign assumed responsibility for the planning of green streets in 2004.
- Denny Triangle Green Street Guidelines (), Nakano Associates, 11/2001
- Green Streets, Ch. 6, Section 6.2, in Seattle Right-of-Way Improvements Manual, Online Manual Version 2.0
- Green Streets: Design Guidelines and Review Process (), SDOT Director’s Rule 2-07 and DPD Director’s Rule 11-2007, effective 05/15/2007
- Green Streets, Green Cities: A New Vision for the Public Realm (), presentation by GreenWorks, Seattle Department of Transportation, 10/27/2005
Vancouver, BC Green Streets Program
Street Trees, MRSC

Street Furniture

Boston, MA Coordinated Street Furniture Program, Boston Property Management and Construction
Minneapolis, MN Coordinated Street Furniture Program, Minneapolis Public Works
Seattle Sign Kiosks Proposed in Right-of-Way, Department of Transportation
Toronto, ON Coordinated Street Furniture Program
Vancouver, BC Street Furniture in Vancouver, Engineering Services - Streets

Beautification

America in Bloom Program
Beautification Commissions
- Grandview Municipal Code Ch. 2.34 - Beautification Commission
- Mill Creek Arts and Beautification Board
  - Mill Creek Municipal Code Ch. 4.30 - Art/Beautification Advisory Board
- Port Angeles Parks Recreation and Beautification Commission
Columbus, MO Adopt-A-Spot Beautification Program
Edmonds Flower Program
Volunteer Programs (Nonprofits and Citizens)
- Beautify Bonney Lake
- Edmonds in Bloom
- Sultan is Blooming Beautiful, GRIT Website - Citizen volunteer mainstreet project in Sultan, WA
- University Place Patrons of Beautification Plant UP Project Donation Form ()

Public Art and the Streetscape

Jersey City, NJ Central Avenue "Streetscapes" Beautification Art Project
Kansas City, MO Public Art (), in Ch. 4 Streetscape Elements of the Kansas City Downtown Streetscape Master Plan
Portland, OR Bureau of Transportation Community Public Art Project Celebrating Alberta's Creative Presence
Seattle
- Seattle Public Art Streetscape, Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs
- Seattle Department of Transportation Art Plan
Vancouver, BC Public Art Program, Office of Cultural Affairs
- Carrall Street Greenway