I led a Walk Audit in downtown Sebastopol May 13th. The walk was part of the Sebastopol Walks series. Nine people showed up on a Saturday morning. The walk began with a presentation at the library about what makes a good walking environment and what to look for on the
There are many components of our built world that can support or detract from a place’s walkability. Much of the public realm has been designed with a primary focus on automobile travel with pedestrian needs often secondary or even a complete afterthought. A walk audit is a way to analyze
Sebastopol is a great case study in what makes a successful walkable people-oriented place. Sebastopol is a small town with a traditional commercial Main Street. Unfortunately, our Main Street is also a state highway and as such it is designed for the most-efficient throughput of vehicular traffic. For much of
Sebastopol has been fortunate to have had 3 parklets installed during the pandemic to help support downtown businesses and social distancing. Parklets have been discussed around town for probably about 10 years in one form or another. The Core Project participated in several park(ing) days. The Core Project did a
Since November of 2020 Sebastopol has had 3 parklets installed as a response to the pandemic to allow for more outdoor options for the public to congregate downtown. Because all 3 parklets are located on Caltrans right-of-way, an encroachment permit was required from Caltrans. And in order to expedite the
There is a bank in downtown Sebastopol that, given the architecture, was probably built in the 1960s. The bank is on the corner of the main intersection downtown, and is a really horrible downtown building. But that might be a topic for another post. The bank has a parking lot
A project came before the Planning Commission last fall that required a Use Permit and a Variance. The proposed project was for a new carwash facility on a site that already contained a tire shop and and auto repair. So the project is an expansion of an existing auto-oriented use
Just read a great blog post from Mr. Money Mustache. Check it out The Happy City and our $20 Trillion Opportunity. It is a succinct description of the inefficiencies of our current development paradigm in the United States. It relates very directly to work I’ve been doing with Urban Community
Sebastopol, like many other small towns, needs to get a handle on its parking requirements. Current zoning code parking requirements is often at odds with good urbanism. Without a mechanism such as a parking assessment district, or simply reducing on-site parking requirements, our attempts at creating good pedestrian-friendly urban environments
One of the topics at our General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) meeting this week was ‘Community Character.’ It was an interesting conversation and it made me think about the form of the public spaces in Sebastopol and how they may be improved. People often describe Sebastopol as ‘quirky.’ I don’t
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FRITZ ARCHITECTURE-URBANISM
small town urbanism
urban design thoughts through the filter of living in a small town
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