Showing posts with label pedestrians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pedestrians. Show all posts

Thursday, July 8, 2021

Downtown Daydream: What now for N San Pedro St?

It has been over a year since the pandemic first impacted our day-to-day lives. Among the struggles that swept across the world, one silver lining has been the increased emphasis on outdoor dining and placemaking. Faced with the challenge to keep business and restaurants alive while keeping their people safe, cities across the world took a hard look at how they were utilizing their existing spaces. In many instances, this meant creating new outdoor gathering locations. 

San Jose was no exception. We saw the expansion of existing parklet programs, seating in some pedestrian areas, and in some cases, complete street closures (dubbed the "Al Fresco" program). As COVID-19 infections start to decline, and vaccination programs pick up speed, it's time to consider what we've learned from these projects. More importantly, we have an opportunity to make our spaces better than pre-pandemic.

N San Pedro St (credit Silicon Valley Lofts)


In this blog we'll focus on the street closure program. Specifically, the N San Pedro St implementation of Al Fresco. We have examples that will likely be temporary (e.g. Santana Row), and examples that have gone above and beyond (e.g. Post Street). The San Pedro experiment stands out because while it served its purpose, it also showed how much potential there is for permanent improvement in the area. 

There's support from neighboring businesses, but we shouldn't accept the status quo as the final state of a pedestrian-friendly San Pedro St. We need to think bigger without being unrealistic.

The progress


A few things have already happened over the past couple years (even before the pandemic) to boost activity, to varying results.
  1. Moment San Jose finally created retail on the street for patrons to check out before/after their meals. This has created some success stories, and some former tenants even ended up expanding to their own brick & mortar locations. There's a mix of fashion, art, and essentials (e.g. The Source Zero).
  2. There have been various pop up events that already closed off the street. The longest lasting example was the downtown farmer's market on Fridays. Other examples included Superbowl 50 promotional events and a placemaking experiment with ping pong and corn hole.
  3. Nearby construction brings more of a complete retail experience (or at least the potential for it). Modera San Pedro created a new lively alleyway. 188 W St James should, in theory, bring a new block of retail and/or restaurants, including a two story building dedicated to a restaurant. Centerra has finally started filling in its retail spots. In other words, folks will be walking further and further from central San Pedro Square.

The challenges


There have been rumors for years that the core blocks of N San Pedro St would become a pedestrian-only zone. We saw some hints of it during downtown farmer's markets. But there are a few reasons why it's been a little controversial.
  1. One side of the street is the parking structure, with one of the main entrances on San Pedro St.
  2. The parking structure exit is on the north side, and flows out into either Market St or San Pedro St. This means there's a bit of a pinch--the San Pedro St entrance and exits will always mark the end of the pedestrian zone unless they are relocated or shut down.
  3. There isn't a lot of pedestrian traffic at all times of day. San Pedro Square tends to attract an employee lunch crowd and a social dinner crowd. 
  4. The street itself is not built for pedestrians. The walking experience feels incomplete.
These are some reasons to keep the street open to cars, but they are not insurmountable issues. The area just needs some adjustment and planning to unlock its full potential.

The potential


I'm not saying the following changes are necessarily easy or cheap. But they are details that are required to take San Pedro Square to the next level.

Level the entire street


The first thing I notice when I walk through the area is that there are a lot of attempts to work around the inherently pedestrian-hostile features of a street. The ground is dirty and unpleasant to walk on. It's easy to trip over the curb, which also means most parts are not accessible to the disabled. There's a constant nagging feeling that you should probably walk on the sidewalk as you've been conditioned to do. 

Some restaurants have found workarounds for the 
pedestrian-hostile features of the street

The most important change is to make sure there's no leveling transition from the "sidewalk" to the "street". In fact, get rid of the two concepts altogether so patrons don't have to think twice about walking to the middle of the street. I understand there maybe some requirements for purposes of drainage, but I think this can be done strategically with as little obstruction to the general walking experience as possible.

Make the street more welcoming with brick (or anything but asphalt)


A level street also means an opportunity to improve the material used for the flooring. Personally, I find brick to be versatile, friendly, and theoretically easy to keep clean. We don't have to look too far for examples of this. For example, the following stretch of Redwood City is easy to navigate on foot.

Downtown Redwood City (credit: Alison Fujimoto)

Not only is it more comfortable to walk on brick, seating options also feel less temporary and more deliberate.

Expand the Moment San Jose program


There are currently four storefronts that occupy Moment San Jose. This was a great start, but the program should expand to help plug in the gaps in street activation. Ideally the entire street-facing side of the parking structure should be some sort of art or retail.

Not only should more parking spaces be converted into retail, the program should experiment with more spaces of different sizes and functions. If this is indeed a way for small business owners to blossom and graduate into other storefronts, the city needs to invest in it. 

One of the biggest gaps that can benefit from this program is the N San Pedro St garage entrance. Which leads me to my next point...

Update the N San Pedro St. entrance and exit plan


First off, the parking structure does not require an entrance on both sides. For the benefits of the N San Pedro St pedestrian plan, the only entrance should be through Market St. This allow the current entrance area to be repurposed into something worthy of its premium location (e.g. some form of the Moment program).

Second, the parking structure exits are very awkward today. The parking structure exit faces north, but the actual street exits are on the east and west. Both exits interrupt pedestrian traffic: the west exit prevents full street closure to cars on N San Pedro St, while the east exit does not make it clear to pedestrians in the corner if they have right of way or not. 

Here's a crude marking of the two exits in red (camera facing southeast):

San Pedro Square parking structure, looking SE

I'm not an expert in traffic design, but at least one option seems to be to exit all traffic (multi lane if needed) on the north side (blue arrows), which gives the east and west more flexibility to optimize for pedestrians.

Just to clearly illustrate why the eastern exit is confusing, here's another angle:


A car approaching this exit may very well think they can exit at the corner or that they have right of way to exit to their right. A pedestrian may very well assume the continued sidewalk means they have right of way (and they might). There are some guiding cones, but they're flimsy and offer no protection.

If the exits were at the north side, then some of these corners can be used for other purposes.

Add some density

For now, the street is dominated by outdoor seating from existing restaurants that cannot (or prefer not yet to) use their regular indoor capacity. When eventually indoor dining is fully accepted again, there's no good reason for these restaurants to be the primary occupants of the street. I'm not opposed to expanding their existing patios, but I also think there is room for more to see and do on the street.

There's no singular idea on what should be there instead, but here are some ideas.

Bulletins

If you've heard locals ask "what's there to do this weekend?", then you've seen first hand that it's difficult to learn about events around the city. A bulletin can give locals a way to advertise.



They can also be designed in such a way that they showcase artwork instead. Either way, it is something that passersby can spend some time absorbing, admiring, considering. 

Kiosks

In other countries and cities I've seen this concept executed well. Kiosks can be an open storefront for retail or food. They can be fully enclosed. They can even be primarily used for information/advocacy. 

Open concept

Enclosed concept (source: Sidewalking Victoria)


Regardless of the format, they are a great way to liven up a pedestrian area and make it feel like a street for people, not cars.

A small stage

N San Pedro St. is actually strangely quiet a lot of times. It's worth considering adding a small stage for small shows throughout the week.



Depending on the design this might be best fit for the ends of the street (and provide a natural way to close off the street) or it can be toward the middle.

The conclusion


I'm not a designer, but I consider most of the suggestions in this post to be incremental, realistic, and feasible. I've seen other cities do a much better job of livening up key blocks for pedestrians, and the city should really focus on making sure this is a no-brainer area to visit. I think any one of these improvements would be great, but a comprehensive set of changes can truly unlock the true potential. Let's hope that the success of the Al Fresco program will lead to more sophisticated concepts!


Monday, June 26, 2017

Wishlist: An Urban Linear Park

When traveling, one thing I can count on is that local parks are probably the best way to get to know a city. For some cities, it's due to a signature park or tourist attraction within the park. For the rest, I find it most satisfying to explore a city through a linear park.

Wikipedia defines an urban park as a "park in an urban or suburban setting that is substantially longer than it is wide". This usually means there are two ends to the park, and it is designed to encourage pedestrian traffic between the end points (i.e. a trail). A properly designed, public, pedestrian- and bike-friendly pathway can allow visitors to see more of the city while simultaneously activating otherwise deserted spaces.

Urban Linear Parks in Other Cities

The High Line, New York City

Some of this activation comes from re-purposing paths that are no longer in use. The High Line in New York used to be a stretch of railroad elevated railroad. Now visitors on The High Line can walk parallel to 10th Ave, but with a lot more green and some escape from the rush of the streets below.

Other examples include waterfront walks. While waterfronts are generally already pedestrian destinations, these parks naturally draw visitors to walk along side them. One example not far from home is the Embarcadero in San Francisco. The walk stretches from AT&T Park on the southern end to Fisherman's Wharf in the north. Along the way there is public art, a nice view of the Bay Bridge, restaurants, and of course, piers.

The Embarcadero, San Francisco
My favorite example of a linear park is actually from a recent trip to Panama City (in Panama, not Florida). The Cinta Costera is also a park along the waterfront, but is on a different level when it comes to pedestrian involvement. I walked along most of it, which took approximately an hour.

Playground at Cinta Costera, Panama City
Street vendors at Cinta Costera, Panama City
Here's what it had to offer:
  • Outdoor exercise areas
  • Playgrounds
  • Food carts
  • Toy vendors and DIY carnival games
  • Basketball and futsal courts
  • Sculptures
  • Music
  • People in Disney costumes (for photos)
  • Plenty of seating, and plenty of people seated
This park was the place to be for kids and adults, tourists and locals alike. The eyes, foot traffic, and lighting provided a sense of safety. The entire stretch of the park felt lively and festive. Wouldn't it be nice to have something similar in San Jose?

Guadalupe River Trail & Park

San Jose doesn't have much of a waterfront to flaunt, and it doesn't (yet) have large stretches of unused rail or road to convert into a park. Until Alviso is a more appropriate destination for visitors, the park with the most potential to become an urban linear park to showcase the city is probably Guadalupe River Park and Trail. A large section of it already intersects with the most urban part of San Jose (and the South Bay). It is somewhat connected to various pedestrian walkways, and isn't fully contained within a large, isolated park. 

Interestingly we caught glimpses of what the park could become during the Pokemon Go craze. Just the equivalent of a couple of highway exits down from the park, masses of people gathered between the SAP Center and Little Italy near the Guadalupe River trail. At night there started to be music, hot dog carts started to show up, and people eventually seemed to go to the park just to hang out. The natural benefits of a successful public space were in full display, albeit a result of the mobile game.

Guadalupe River Trail during the Pokemon Go craze

Over time, the crowds started to dwindle until the park was empty once again. However, I couldn't help but wonder how great it would be if we had people enjoying our parks this much on a daily basis.

Safety is #1

From what I see, hear and read, the biggest obstacle preventing many people from visiting parks around San Jose is the fear for their safety. In my observations about Cinta Costera, I mentioned that it felt safe. That's what prompted me to take the one hour walk rather than call a taxi: the park both intrigued and welcomed me. It was easy to call for help with so many pedestrians nearby. The open layout meant I could see what was coming from a great distance. It was next to an expressway, so not many cars were parked on the side of the road. There wasn't a single poorly lit stretch of the path.

On the contrary, the Guadalupe River Trail is mostly isolated rather than integrated with the city. The miscellaneous trees and bushes mean it's hard to know what's ahead or around the corner. While San Jose is still one of the safest large cities in the US, its reputation within the Bay Area has suffered in recent years due to the growing homeless population (and related news). With most people afraid or uncomfortable walking through the parks, and refusing to visit, the opposite of the Pokemon Go impact occurs. The quieter the park, the more people are worried that something bad may happen in the next corner, or behind the next bush, and no one would be around to help them. It's a cruel cycle.

What's Next?

There did appear to be an effort to re-imagine Guadalupe Trail Park from 2009. As far as I could tell, this was nothing more than a brain exercise for the planning group. The presentation certainly looks interesting, but is also clearly outdated. For example, with movement on the St. James Park redesign (which includes a stage), does it make sense for Guadalupe River Park to also have a major entertainment venue?

Ken Kay Associates' vision of Guadalupe River Park
I do like many of the ideas outlined in this plan (an efficiently run fountain would be a great contrast to the mostly dry river), but it's missing a critical consideration. The park is connected to the trail. As the downtown, Diridon, and Japantown areas become more pedestrian friendly, the trail will be the best way for many locals to arrive at the park. Revamping with park itself without turning the stretches of Guadalupe Park Trail into a safe, welcoming walkway could mean that the park remains barren and inactive during most of the week.

As the urban core of San Jose develops, it'll be increasingly important that there's an all-ages, all-genders public space for us to gather as a community. Focusing on making Guadalupe River Park and Trail the best they can be would help us achieve that goal. A comprehensive plan must include turning the urban stretch of the trail into our own take of the urban linear park concept. It has the potential to not only become a unique attraction to the area, but also become a crucial pedestrian pathway between neighborhoods.

- Lawrence Lui