Two-Ways to Fix Our Downtown

Neighborhoods

John Gilderbloom, PhD –Professor of Urban Planning, University of Louisville

William Riggs, Ph.D, AICP, LEED, AP—California Polytchnic State University

With Zaria Murrell, MD—Pediatric Surgeon, U of Louisville School of Medicine

Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah, University of Louisville

Nick York – Hendrix College

Samantha Alexis Smith – University of Louisville

Brad Cronin – Louisville, KY

Thomas Duffy III – Louisville, KY

Winston Mitchell Scott—University of Louisville

Wesley Meares, PhD – Georgia Regents University

Chad Frederick, MUEP – University of Louisville

One Strategy to Regenerate

Neighborhoods

▫ Conversation of one to two-way What are the impacts?

▫ If they can improve neighborhoods they could be a potential regeneration strategy for a myriad of mid-size cities: Nashville Charleston Indianapolis Denver San Antonio Louisville

COMPLETE STREET POLICY • Streets for EVERYONE, regardless of age or

ability!

▫ Pedestrians

▫ Bicyclists

▫ Motorists

▫ Transit riders

▫ Baby carriages

▫ Skaters

▫ Scooters

COMPLETE STREET POLICY • Streets are the life-blood of cities, simply put it is

where life occurs.

• It is where citizens interact with each other and the policies of the locality every day.

• The streets of a city are a significant determinate of whether the neighborhood is hostile towards pedestrians or is a home for multiple modes of transportation.

COMPLETE STREET POLICY

Difference Between One and Two Way

One Way

Tracts

(N=22)

Two-Way

Tracts

(N=168)

Differenc

e

Tract Area (acres) 0.5 2.3 -1.8

Population 2606.1 3927.4 -1321.3

HS Educated 76.5 83.8 -7.3

Minority Population 1986.0 1011.2 974.8

Percent Minority 74.9 24.9 50.0

Percent Below Poverty

Level 42.8 14.0 28.8

Median Household

Income 20554.7 49170.7 -28616.0

Median Family Income 27310.6 65183.0 -37872.4

Average Life Expect 65.2 74.5 -9.3

Percent Employed 45.2 58.2 -13.0

Percent Unemployed 11.5 5.9 5.6

Number in HH 1108.7 1589.3 -480.6

Number of Non-

Hispanics 620.1 2916.2 -2296.1

Total Housing 1413.3 1744.9 -331.6

Median Housing Age 68.3 42.0 26.3

Owned 370.7 1068.1 -697.4

Rented 738.0 521.3 216.7

Percent Vacant 20.9 8.6 12.3

Average SQFT 19.3 7.6 11.7

Median Assessed

Housing 64681.7 152629.2 -87947.5

Walkscore 56.4 34.4 22.0

Average House Size 2.3 2.3 0.0

Median Age 34.1 37.0 -2.9

Distance to CBD 2.5 8.5 -6.0

Total Crime 536.5 296.6 239.9

Total 1-year Collisions 367.0 241.0 126.0

Injuries 62.2 25.8 36.4

Table 1: Means Comparison of Tracts with One-way vs. Other Segments Source: 2010 Census, Louisville PVA, Walkscore, Kentucky State Police

Impact of One-ways on Collisions:

Regression

Standardized

Coefficients

t Sig.

Beta

(Constant) 2.614 ***

Total Collisions 16.029 3.079 ***

Auto Collisions -13.598 -2.651 ***

Fatalities -.056 -.676 ---

Injuries .323 2.234 *** a. Statistical Significance: *** (p<0.05) ** (0.05<p<0.10 * (0.10<p<0.20)

b. Dependent Variable: One Way Segments

c. R2 = .176

Impact of One-ways on Housing and

Crime: Regression

Standardized

Coefficients

t Sig. Beta

(Constant) -2.541 ***

Average Square Feet of the

Neighborhood Housing 1.221 8.523 ***

Mean Assessed Value (MAV) in 2006

(in dollars) -1.218 -6.706 ***

Nominal % change in MAV, 06-08

(ratio*100) -.178 -2.632 ***

Foreclosure Rate -.050 -.716 ---

Crime Rate (per 100,000) -.083 -1.004 ---

Walkscore .149 1.923 **

Family Poverty 2000 -.111 -1.197 ---

Average Household Size .124 1.591 *

Percent Minority .305 3.435 ***

A Tale of Two

Streets

Louisville, KY

• Brook and First Streets ▫ One way multi-lane

parallel streets since the 1950’s

▫ Converted to a two way, single lane street with a bike lane in Summer 2011

• So what happened?

One way Brook Street: July 2007

Two-way Brook Street August 2011

A Tale of Two City-Streets

Louisville, KY

•First & Brook now two-way streets 2011-2013

• Decreased

• Collisions:

• 36% on Brook

• 60% on First

• Crime 23%

• Increased

• Traffic Volumes

• Calmer traffic

• Pedestrian & bike traffic

• Business revenues

• Property Improvements: 2x

• Property Values:

• 39% on Brook

• Taxes

Do one vs. two-way streets matter?

• Methods:

▫ Traffic / Accidents

▫ Housing valuation / Property Taxes

▫ Crime

▫ Photographs & Qualitative

Traffic / Accidents

Significant decrease in accidents despite slight increase in volumes

Do one vs. two-way streets matter?

• Methods:

▫ Traffic / Accidents

▫ Housing valuation / Property Taxes

▫ Crime

▫ Photographs & Qualitative

Breckingridge Results Here on one-way

/ two-way • Property values on two-way blocks seem to be

generally higher when compared to their one way counterparts. Average value per building is $97,178 for one-ways versus an average value per building of $146,994 for two ways. The average value per building on the one way blocks ranges from $47,879-$412,370, and the average value for two way blocks ranges from $99,635-$173,600.

Housing Valuation / Property Taxes

Block One-Way or Two-Way Total Value of Buildings Total Property Tax

on Buildings

200 One-Way $ 632,050

$ 8369

300 One-Way $ 1,231,940

$ 16312

1400 One-Way $ 824,180

$ 10913

500 One-Way $ 912,120

$ 12077

600 One-Way $ 836,520

$ 11076

700 One-Way $ 1,340,620

$ 17751

900 One-Way $ 824,740

$ 10920

1000 One-Way $ 2,768,890

$ 36663

1100 One-Way $ 1,976,780

$ 26175

1200 One-Way $ 2,159,930

$ 28600

1300 Two-Way $ 1,693,810

$ 22428

1400 Two-Way $ 4,860,800

$ 64362

1500 Two-Way $ 3,147,050

$ 41670

TABLE 2. Property Taxes Paid by Block Breckinridge

Oak Street

• Property values on two-way blocks seem to be generally higher when compared to their one way counterparts. Average value per building is $74,083 for one-ways versus an average value per building of $134,302 for two ways. The average value per building on the one way blocks ranges from $55,500-$96,430; the average value for two way blocks ranges from $54,400 to $242,885.

Block No. of

Buildings

Property Value One-way OR

Two-Way Total Value Average Value per Building

400E 18 $1,024,170 $55,500 One-way

500E 34 $1,722,210 $66,045 One-way

600E 32 $2,382,150 $68,900 One-way

700E 24 $1,729,260 $88,460 One-way

900E 39 $2,742,490 $70,250 One-way

1000E 63 $3,403,580 $73,000 One-way

300E 13 $385,690 $96,430 One-way

500W 14 $1,558,710 $114,100 Two-way

400W 7 $1,534,500 $239,260 Two-way

200W 2 $102,000 $102,000 Two-way

100W 8 $847,050 $151,560 Two-way

100E 11 $2,169,960 $106,000 Two-way

200E 18 $2,308,670 $110,000 Two-way

1100E 7 $388,100 $54,400 Two-way

1200E 7 $2,127,260 $242,885 Two-way

1300E 21 $2,480,690 $117,720.00 Two-way

1400E 34 $4,360,070 $132,965.00 Two-way

1500E 10 $1,171,500 $101,035.00 Two-way

1600E 3 $431,150 $139,710.00 Two-way

Property Valuation by Block – Oak Street

Property Taxes Cont.

• Average for one-way streets is: $17,886

• Average for two-way streets is: $42,820

▫ Increased property taxes could pay for conversion.

▫ >$250,000 lost taxes

▫ West Louisville: multi-lane one-way streets lose ~$2 million in taxes

Do one vs. two-way streets matter?

• Methods:

▫ Traffic / Accidents

▫ Housing valuation / Property Taxes

▫ Crime

▫ Photographs & Qualitative

Crime

Significant decrease in crime despite slight increase in citywide and in an adjacent neighborhood

Do one vs. two-way streets matter?

• Methods:

▫ Traffic / Accidents

▫ Housing valuation / Property Taxes

▫ Crime

▫ Photographs & Qualitative

Qualitative Coding

Photos tell a story of speeds up to 50-60 mph during the am peak on one-way segments (limit is 35 mph)

And slower streets with well maintained sidewalks on two-way segments

Photos tell the story of thriving business on two-way

Abandoned business/vacant structure on one-way segments

Many Individuals Expressed Socio-

Economic and Health Concerns Before

Traffic Safety

• More businesses / jobs

• Cleaner air / environment / less health problems

• Less crime / drugs / prostitution

• More community / “we-ness”

Across America there is a movement

for Two way Streets!

Summary

• Two way streets are great for ▫ Traffic Safety ▫ Home values (especially for low and moderate

income) ▫ People & children / health ▫ Local businesses ▫ Reduce crime ▫ Less foreclosure

• Calm streets helps to regenerate neighborhoods.

Paul Goodman in 1959

• “A man has only one life and if during it he has no great environment, no community, he has been irreparably robbed of a human right.”

Looking for a Great Planning School?

• Both CalPoly and Louisville have nationally ranked planning schools

• We lead the nation in doing cutting edge sustainability research and have funding available

http://sun.louisville.edu http://www.planning.calpoly.edu

Block One-way OR Two-Way Number of Trees

400E One-way 6

500E One-way 8

600E One-way 16

700E One-way 13

900E One-way 4

1000E One-way 5

300E One-way 0

500W Two-way 29

400W Two-way 19

200W Two-way 12

100W Two-way 19

100E Two-way 14

200E Two-way 27

1100E Two-way 2

1200E Two-way 0

1300E Two-way 4

1400E Two-way 0

1500E Two-way 0

1600E Two-way 0

Table 7. Presence of Street Trees by Block on Oak Street