Agenda - Planning Commission - 02/07/1995

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DECEMBER 1994 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION Planning Ba i. cs for Gateway De s,gn By Michael Barrette When you walk through the ~ront door ufa house, there's no question that you enter into i new place. You don't need a sign that reads, "Welcome to the ~'oyer}" Everything you see and feel tells you that you have entere~ a new place. The same process occurs when you enter a newineighborhood or pass from one suburb to another. There ma{} be signs, but a host of visual cues also prompt the feeling ofen{ering a new place. Gateway planning is all about arrangin~g those cues and making sure a community sends a positive n~essage to everyone who enters. Landmar~ views of downtown are being given a hi~h priori~y in Portland, Maine (above); De~ver's Gateway District O'ight) encourages ~iew, of tae Rocky Mountains. A gateway is an entrance corridor that heralds the approach of a new landscape at)d defines the arrival point as a destination. The goal of g~teway planning is to arrange this landscape so that i{ rewards the viewer with a sense of arrival and a pos,twe ~mage of the place. Gateway plans use the same to41s as other urban design plans. Color, texture, rhythm abd spacing, massing, bulk of the buildings, landscaping, a~d street furniture all contribute to the sense of place~ But a gateway is not just a ~ell-groomed entry. A feeling of anticipation and an a~areness of coming "inside" acc, o, mpani,e,s the. pas,sage through as though a gate and wa~s actually ex~steu. Planners focus on how the sireet details on the inside compare with those of the outsi~e because the arrival is enhanced when the inside has atreadily identifiable character. A pleasing palette of similar use}, building materials, facades ............. uniform heights, and ornamentation makes for a readily perceived sense of place. Planners can also contrast uses and structures to great effect. The trick is finding the right combina- tion so that the arrival point contrasts with the departure point. This issue of Zoning News examines a gateway's basic elements, highlights the primary design requirements, and examines three communities' strategies. Selecting a Corridor The best way to select a gateway is to examine the landscape thoroughly. Pick a destination and approach it from different routes. Although the views will be familiar, try to see them with new eyes. Since a gateway is three-dimensional, think of yom' trip not as linear movement on a plane, but as a sequence of views, like frames on a reel of film. Try to identify those landscape views that provoke responses or provide information, such as landmarks that give you a point of reference or a sense of direction. Some elements are much more subtle. For example, notice the rhythm and spacing of natural and ardhitectural features and how those patterns affect your perception. Imagine driving down a narrow alley. The confined space exaggerates your sense of speed, making 20 miles an hour feel reckless because you cannot see the horizon. Your field of vision is so filled with fences, garages, and telephone poles that you respond physically. The confined space combined with your slSeed presents a danger. In contrast, driving down a two-lane highway through open fields, this speed feels painfully slow. There are fewer details to scan, and approaching objects are visible from far away. Gateways are located on transportation paths, including · .--~_ sidewalks, streets, highways, transit lines, and rivers. Paths ~'.~--k~ dominate the landscape for most people because they do ~-4~ most of our viewing from them. Lasting images of the landscape ~,~'. are often remembered in terms of the point from which they were viewed. Mental maps of the street grid form the pattern upon which other elements of the cityscape are arranged. One reason gateway plans often include streetscape improve- ments is that the a~tv w~c.a- character of the path is funda- mental. If a path lacks identity, the entire image of a place suffers.