Form-Based Codes in the Pearl

[dsjeffries]

A nice little article featuring form-based codes and the Pearl District...

quote:A Movement Afoot
By MICHAEL OVERALL World Staff Writer
3/7/2008

OKC, Tulsa rank low on a "walkable" list, but a local project aims for feet on the street.

Every time he goes back to England to visit relatives, Jamie Jamieson comes home to Tulsa about six pounds lighter.

"Over there, you walk everywhere you go," Jamieson explained. "A friend once said something like, 'If walking was a pill, everybody would be queuing up at the pharmacy for it.' Such are the health benefits."

Over here, people are lining up at stoplights.

Oklahoma City ranked dead last this week in a study of how "walkable" American communities are, according to a study released by Prevention magazine and the American Podiatric Medical Association.

Tulsa ranked higher, but that's not saying much. The city came in at No. 409 out of 500 places studied.

Benefiting from the campus itself and the pedestrian- friendly neighborhoods around Oklahoma State University, Stillwater qualified as the most walkable town in Oklahoma. But it still fell in the bottom half nationwide.

Instead of looking at walking as just a form of exercise, the study considered how convenient it would be for residents to walk in day-to-day life, with little or no driving.

Walkable
communities tend to be older ones, built before strip malls and turn lanes took priority over sidewalks and storefronts.

"The modern American city is designed for the benefit of the automobile, not for the benefit of the human being," said Jamieson, a developer.

"It's no coincidence that we rank near the bottom for walkability and also near the bottom for health and fitness."

Suburban sprawl might seem like the inevitable consequence of technology and economics, but Jamieson and other "new urbanists" are proving that small-scale, mixed-use neighborhoods are still viable.

At The Village at Central Park, near Sixth Street and Peoria Avenue, Jamieson is building traditional town houses within an easy walk of both downtown and Cherry Street.

But a place like The Village would be impossible without loopholes and variances in local zoning ordinances, he said.

"A truly walkable community — with shopping and housing and office space all within an easy walk of each other — is literally against the law in most places," he said.

Zoning laws typically designate separate areas for residential and commercial development, forcing people to drive several miles for daily errands.

Jamieson and other new urbanists favor form-based coding — regulating how a development fits into the broader neighborhood.

"The emphasis is on the pedestrian and not on the driver," explained Christine Booth, president of the Pearl District Association.

A one-square-mile neighborhood that includes The Village at Central Park, the Pearl District recently gained permission from the Mayor's Office to become a pilot project for form-based coding in Tulsa.

The area is now waiting for the Indian Nations Council of Governments to implement the coding.

With parking tucked behind buildings and storefronts hugging the sidewalks, formbased coding will make the area more attractive and healthy for residents, Booth said. But, perhaps more importantly, it will make the Pearl economically sustainable in the age of high-priced gasoline.

"In the long term," Booth said, "walkability is going to be a vital part of making a city livable."



Michael Overall 581-8383
michael.overall@tulsaworld.com



The 10 most "walkable" cities in America


1. Cambridge, Mass.
2. New York
3. Ann Arbor, Mich.
4. Chicago
5.Washington
6. San Francisco
7. Honolulu
8.Trenton, N.J.
9. Boston
10. Cincinnati

The 10 least "walkable" cities in America


500. Oklahoma City
499. North Las Vegas, Nev.
498. Gadsden, Ala.
497. Davenport, Iowa
496. Mount Pleasant, S.C.
495. Enid
494. Laredo, Texas
493. Springdale, Ariz.
492. Clarksville,Tenn.
491. Lafayette, La.

Source: Prevention magazine and the American Podiatric Medical Association

[spoonbill]

I assume you are referring to some form of transect code?  Would be nice, but it would mean the loss of jobs for city bureaucrats, and many attorneys who rely on complex zoning systems to cry foul.

It is nearly impossible to stop a complex system from becoming more complex.  You almost have to level part of the city first and start with a clean slate.

Things like form based codes, fair tax, and other simple working systems threaten the livelihood of too many leeches, and when the leeches scream, it's a terrible sound!

[TheArtist]

I think they will get approval from INCOG this year for the Form Based Codes, pilot area in the Pearl.

[Gaspar]

quote:Originally posted by TheArtist

I think they will get approval from INCOG this year for the Form Based Codes, pilot area in the Pearl.

Hope so.  I heard a speaker Jeff Speck, AICP LEED cover this form of code writing this week in the conference held at the Tulsa Garden Center.  It seems like it solves nearly every problem our current code system fails to address or makes worse.  I posted a link to the manual behind this ideology earlier this week.  It's worth a read for everyone!


Here it is again for download

[hoodlum]

my only hang up with form based codes revolves around whether or not all new architectural design would have to look like the existing built environment. If this is the case and steps are not taken to prevent stagnation in architectural design because everything that is built has to look or be based on the aesthetics of existing structures in town then I would have to say no. Maybe this isn't so but this is a question i have. Because if this is the case Tulsa would have never had that architecture, art deco , etc. which makes it special because we would have never progressed past a neo classical aesthetic.

[Gaspar]

That's a good point.  The discussion at the conference this week regarded the form based code system only as it affects engineering and planning.  

I don't think anyone could get away with a system that puts unreasonable limits on architectural creativity, nor do I think anyone would want to.  At least I hope not!

[hoodlum]

If the tulsa version of form based codes include any type of Architectural Standards regulating external architectural materials, detailing and facade designs, I would not in good faith be able to support it.

I agree in principle to the ideas of scale and site placement but not in the attempt to create a homogenous streetscape and built environment that lacks in architectural progressiveness.(sp?)

[Chicken Little]

It is kinda about architectural standards, but in a macro way, not the minutia:

 

quote: A method of regulating development to achieve a specific urban form. Form-based codes create a predictable public realm primarily by controlling physical form, with a lesser focus on land use, through city or county regulations.

Form-based codes address the relationship between building facades and the public realm, the form and mass of buildings in relation to one another, and the scale and types of streets and blocks.  

So, can you support a code that says, "Since every other building on this block is adjacent to the sidewalk, yours should be, too."?

To me, that seems like a common sense.  A developer could wreck the continuity of a "main street" type street by throwing strip-mall type building (parking in front, building in back) onto that street.

But, there are a lot of developers who don't understand, or don't care, about these kinds of details.  And the zoning code places emphasis on the wrong things, IMO.  Why should I care if you are cooking chickens or selling hot-rod parts inside that building?  If the building looks decent and adds to the continuity of the neighborhood...that's what counts to me.

[hoodlum]

yes

typically Architectural Standards define materials, aesthetics etc. this block is all neo-tuscan so your building has to be neo-tuscan as well.

yes i can support scale and sighting of the buildings just not aesthetic and material mandates.

[hoodlum]

the term form is what worries me

if form refers to scale coupled with setbacks etc. sure

but if form refers to the actual shape, volumes, intersections, transparencies, openings, entries, materials, colors, styles etc. which can all be independent of scale and setbacks it worries me.

[TheArtist]

I think there can be quite a variety within a given form. That is what much of art and creativity is all about.

One example of how a basic floor height, setbacks, wall planes, roofline "form" can still result in very unique and creative designs is to check out the Uptown area in Dallas. There is block after block of 4 and 5 story buildings. Some mixed use, some not. You can basically do any style you can imagine from contemporary to classical within the designated "form".


Uptown Dallas








Mixed use parking garage


You can overlay or add to the Form Based Codes, stylistic requirements to make an area context sensitive. Say in a bricktown area designate a certain amount of brickwork on the building. Or an area that is historic, whether it be colonial or craftsman. It wouldnt matter if the building were a garage, an apartment, a factory, a grocery store, mixed use, single use, it could be anything as long as it fit into the designated context.  

The main thing is the Form not the function of the building and on top of that you can add "looks" if you want.

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by hoodlum

the term form is what worries me

if form refers to scale coupled with setbacks etc. sure

but if form refers to the actual shape, volumes, intersections, transparencies, openings, entries, materials, colors, styles etc. which can all be independent of scale and setbacks it worries me.

I find your comments very interesting hoodlum, because I know where you live and we live in the same neighborhood.  Would your opinions be the same if the "tear down" phenomonon invaded our neighborhood?  Thank god it has not so far.

Personally, I welcome form-based codes and I hope Tulsa adopts such codes city-wide.  I bought my house 22 years ago because of the 1950's modern architecture, and I don't want to see that destroyed by current taste or fashion.

[Chicken Little]

quote:Originally posted by hoodlum

yes

typically Architectural Standards define materials, aesthetics etc. this block is all neo-tuscan so your building has to be neo-tuscan as well.

yes i can support scale and sighting of the buildings just not aesthetic and material mandates.

I'm following you, and I agree.  And that's not what form based codes is.  It's not about regulating taste.  It's about avoiding urban design catastrophes and preserving (and creating from scratch), places that are compatibly designed.  

Architectural Standards is a "sometimes" thing, but I don't think it's very important.  A broader definition that covers the "configuration, features, and functions" is fine.  To me, that certainly has design implications, e.g., massing, building placement, fenestration, street rhythm, but that's not the same as dictating styles.  

I mean, you can stick rafter tails and divided light windows on an ordinary suburban snout-house and it will still stick out like a sore thumb in a bungalow neighborhood.

However, I don't believe the opposite is true.  If an infill building preserves the setback and rhythm of the street, and if it preserves other functional features found on bungalows, e.g. a large front porch and a rear yard garage, then it's likely to "fit in" whether the architectural details are craftsman, Spanish eclectic, post-modern, or French provincial.

[TheArtist]

quote:Originally posted by Chicken Little

quote:Originally posted by hoodlum

yes

typically Architectural Standards define materials, aesthetics etc. this block is all neo-tuscan so your building has to be neo-tuscan as well.

yes i can support scale and sighting of the buildings just not aesthetic and material mandates.

I'm following you, and I agree.  And that's not what form based codes is.  It's not about regulating taste.  It's about avoiding urban design catastrophes and preserving (and creating from scratch), places that are compatibly designed.  

Architectural Standards is a "sometimes" thing, but I don't think it's very important.  A broader definition that covers the "configuration, features, and functions" is fine.  To me, that certainly has design implications, e.g., massing, building placement, fenestration, street rhythm, but that's not the same as dictating styles.  

I mean, you can stick rafter tails and divided light windows on an ordinary suburban snout-house and it will still stick out like a sore thumb in a bungalow neighborhood.

However, I don't believe the opposite is true.  If an infill building preserves the setback and rhythm of the street, and if it preserves other functional features found on bungalows, e.g. a large front porch and a rear yard garage, then it's likely to "fit in" whether the architectural details are craftsman, Spanish eclectic, post-modern, or French provincial.

Well put. Even some of the old neighborhoods in Historic Mid-Town show how this works. On the one hand people often say, "Well how can you dictate or say there is a certain style for the area when even the original old houses ranged from Tuscan, Spanish, Colonial, Gothic, French, etc.?"  Each street genrally followed similar rules of set-backs, garage placements, wall plane and window proportions and massing.

Look at those photos of the apartments in that Dallas neighborhood. The general amount of window and wall space is the same regardless of the style. You dont have huge swaths of boring, blank walls. Also note how regardless of style, the wall planes and masses are broken up with either setbacks or material and color changes.

Here are some examples of wall plane height and massing and articulation of walls and windows.  Add to it set backs and placements of garages or parking and you pretty much have form based codes. It doesnt matter what the building is used for, or what style. However you can add context sensitive and unique style overlays when you want.

[hoodlum]

don't get me wrong

I know what the purpose of form based codes are and i applaud them i just think that before these are implemented there needs to be some clear defintion as to what these will and will not effect. Form based codes "can" dictate Architectural Standards such as materials and styles. I agree with the generalized idea of form based codes i just want to make sure that they don't begin dictating styles, materials etc.

Steve

i think that form based codes would work well in our neighborhood, but i also believe that another layer of protection is necessary in our neighborhood. In my research into conservation districts something like that would be good in our neighborhood...however... here is the thing about Lortondale, we have a completely intact architecturally significant neighborhood and i have been told those involved with the city and the formation of the conservation districts that we would be better served through an HP designation as opposed to a conservation district.