DESIGN FIRST: DESIGN-BASED PLANNING FOR COMMUNITIES
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founding in 1959, the RTP has acted as a magnetic
force for brainpower and innovation in biotechnology,
communications, and related research. The entire
region has benefited from substantial investments in
land and buildings inside and outside the Park by a
wide range of companies and their support services.
Firms that moved to RTP in the early days found
easy access (by car and plane) to a beautiful, park-like
campus setting within a region with a highly edu-
cated work force.
Yet this success, combined with insufficient
collaborative planning in the region as a whole, has
spawned the unforeseen current problems of conges-
tion and pollution. In the 1970s and 1980s it was
simply assumed that building more and bigger roads
would solve future problems. But now, with extensive
freeways in place and congestion getting worse, it has
dawned on all parties that the achievements of the
past could soon become a liability as the quality of
life in the region declines. It has become clear that
yesterday’s models of development cannot answer all
of today’s and tomorrow’s needs; a more sustainable
model is needed.
However, it’s not as easy as simply allowing
residential development in the RTP. This wouldn’t
necessarily improve overall sustainability. Even if
housing were permitted in the research office area
(which it isn’t at present, kept at bay by restrictive
covenants and concerns about security), the long
distances and gated entrances from public streets to
many of the research buildings are barriers to pedes-
trian activity. In order for housing to pass the sus-
tainability test, it must be sited in neighborhoods
that promote walking and alternative transportation
choices as means of reducing automobile use. Funda-
mental changes in the design of many sites and build-
ings in the RTP would be needed.
At the time of the study, there were minimal trans-
portation alternatives in the project area. A regional rail
system was in the final engineering stages and some
bus services were provided, but planners have found it
difficult to serve the sprawling, disconnected suburban
office campuses and low-density residential develop-
ment with public transit. This is because of the dis-
tances employees must walk from bus stops at the
street to the front doors of offices sometimes located
hundreds of yards away. There are sidewalks and multi-
use paths within many research and office campuses,
but few extend beyond the employment centers to res-
idential developments and retail services.
The market and locations for housing in the area
are also constrained by a number of factors including
airport noise contours, freeway rights-of-way and
incompatible zoning. In addressing this housing
challenge, we recognized it was important to focus
not just on the amount of housing, but its diversity as
well, providing affordable homes for the wide range
of people who work in the CORE area.
Additionally, the current design of most develop-
ment outside the RTP discourages pedestrians. Even
the nearby hotels, retail centers and the higher den-
sity residential developments that do exist have been
developed with minimal sidewalks, substantial build-
ing setbacks covered by expansive parking lots, and
long distances between buildings. Taken together,
these factors make it unpleasant, dangerous or
impossible to walk to many potential destinations.
This means that cars are used for every trip for every
purpose, often burdening the interstate system with
local traffic that exacerbates congestion. On a
positive note, however, the beginnings of a regional
greenway system are evident along stream corridors
and other public open spaces. The team recognized it
would be important to connect these corridors to
employment centers, retail services, community facil-
ities and housing so they could be used for conve-
nient access to a variety of places and not just for
recreational activities.
Over and above physical improvements and new
plans, the region needs a better collaborative structure
to address common planning concerns and develop-
ment impacts in the CORE area. This is a common
challenge throughout the United States, but here the
confluence of six political jurisdictions, two trans-
portation planning organizations, one regional public
transit authority (the TTA), two quasi-public organi-
zations with substantial decision-making authority
(the RTP and the Airport), together with one advisory
planning body for the overall area (the Triangle J
Council of Governments – the commissioning body
of the CORE study) makes addressing this challenge
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