Even though I live in a small town, I’m definitely an urbanist at heart. And I have to say that I’m extremely grateful that even though I do live in a small town, I am able to live an urban lifestyle. Which is the point of this blog. Small towns
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
I’m going a bit beyond the smalltownurbanism.com typical focus on small towns with this post and travelling south to San Diego. My daughter is a senior at UC San Diego. She’s had a great experience, even during the pandemic, and I’m happy for her education. The campus is in La
If you haven’t heard the name before, beg buttons are the push-buttons you have to activate in order to get a walk signal allowing a pedestrian to cross the street. There has been much written about them and how they really are one more instance of our circulation systems prioritizing
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
Today is Park(ing) Day! Started in San Francisco in 2005, Park(ing) Day has turned into a global phenomenon to highlight the need for more people space in our communities by repurposing a parking space and turning it into a parklet for the day. These have become very popular during Covid
Downtown Sebastopol is bisected by two Caltrans controlled state highways. Highway 12 heads east from downtown toward Santa Rosa on Sebastopol Avenue. Highway 116 is north-south and uses two one-way roads, Main Street and Petaluma Avenue. Caltrans has recently made some ‘improvements’ to downtown intersections and some driveway curb cuts
This post in in the response to the following comment from the Press Democrat Close to Home published by advocates of the Charter School. Paul, I read your opinions as being very much centered on your own neightborhood. Not very many people live in walking distance of the current campus.
I am often troubled by the complete disregard many drivers have for pedestrians. A situation I encounter on a regular basis is vehicles parking on the sidewalk. On my route between home and work, I walk by The Grateful Bagle, a bagel shop on Main Street. Given the form of
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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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