Lesson 11: Creating Community - A Function of Design

Lesson 11: Creating Community – A Function of Design

Objectives:

Students will:

Be able to discuss the physical and human impacts of community design
Identify traditional neighborhood design elements and evaluate them with features of conventional suburban development.

Core Learning Goals:

Social Studies: Goal 3 - Geography: The student will demonstrate an understanding of geographic concepts and processes to examine the role of culture, technology, and the environment in the location and distribution of human activities throughout history.

US History Expectation 3.1: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the relationship of geographic factors on the development of culture and technology in the United States.

US History Indicator 3.1.4: The student will evaluate the importance of different types of transportation and communication networks as factors contributing to the development of the United States.

Materials/Resources:

County Maps (multiple copies)

Markers

String

Ruler

Smart Neighborhoods slide show

Chapter 2 of "New Community Design", pages 15-32

Student Handout: Taking It Outside, A Walkability Checklist

Background:

This lesson will evaluate how the design of a community impacts quality of life. Recent studies have found that elements found in traditional designs can foster a greater sense of community than conventional suburban development. Conventional suburban developments made popular during the freeway era, have become increasingly isolated from Maryland’s traditional town centers. Often, residents live in one jurisdiction and work in another, resulting in time spent commuting to and from work, and running errands. Additional responsibilities often include caring for children and tending to homes and lawns. This leaves little

time to attend community meetings or volunteer with civic organizations. Interaction with neighbors in any case is limited to a wave through the windshield before disappearing behind an automatically closed garage door. Common spaces, such as parks and squares, and even sidewalks, are all but non-existent.

Activity 1: Commuter’s Breakdown

Begin by discussing the Commuter’s Breakdown graphic found in Picture Maryland (p.2). Have students use a county map to answer the questions below to develop their own Commuter’s Breakdown. Using a string and ruler to measure distance, have your students calculate the amount of time they spend traveling for their weekly activities. (Note: With your class, using first-hand experience of traffic congestion and driving patterns, develop driving time/mile factors to assign to the different driving zones within the community.) If students have internet access, they can use MapQuest ( http://www.mapquest.com ) to determine distance and driving time.

Have your students identify on the map and calculate the number of weekly trips, and the time spent on traveling from one location to another.

Where they live

Where they go to school

Where they visit friends and relatives

Where they usually buy gas

Where they shop for food

Where they recreate (ball fields, exercise, parks, etc.)

Where they go out for dinner, lunch or breakfast

Where they go to the movies

Where they shop for clothes

Where they go for other frequent activities (e.g. church, music lessons, etc)

Have your students create their own "Commuter’s Breakdown" graphic based on the information gathered above.

Activity 2: What Design Can Do for a Community

Using the "Smart Neighborhoods" slide show on the website and Picture Maryland have students compare and contrast design and function of traditional neighborhoods with conventional suburban development.

Elements of Traditional Neighborhoods:

Shops, restaurants, offices, and homes all within walking distance of each other or even in the same building.
Residents walking for their daily activities.
Proximity of homes to each other; mixing housing types in blocks and neighborhoods.
Similar design elements, like front porches, sidewalks and tree lined streets.
Roads connected in grid like patterns.
Parking along the sides of the street rather than in long driveways and large parking lots.
Local public spaces and parks within walking distance.
Mass transit -- light-rail, buses and subways within walking distance to town center (this may not apply to small towns in rural areas.)
A town center and an edge, usually only taking a few minutes to walk from center to edge.

Discussion Questions:

What can traditional design elements do for a community in terms of traffic flow, housing options, transportation options, and sense of community?

Traffic Flow: The traditional neighborhood is patterned on a grid that provides many routes to each destination. Due to a choice of routes and mixed land uses, traffic congestion does not become as intense on these roads as on larger arterial roads that connect subdivisions to commercial centers. Streets can be narrower because traffic has more alternatives. The narrower streets are lined with trees and allow parking. This provides a buffer between the pedestrian and the automobile and makes the street more pedestrian friendly.

Housing Options: Utilizing different lot sizes provides for housing that meets the needs of a wider number of residents. By building single-family residents, town homes and condominiums a socioeconomic mix is achieved in the community. Residents of different ages and incomes become connected as neighbors.

Transportation Options: Mixed use and compact development makes public transportation feasible. With transportation options, residents have the option to invest less money into automobile costs.

Sense of Community: Traditional neighborhoods create a greater opportunity to live, work, and recreate in the community. Neighborhoods that are oriented to the pedestrian promote social interaction and safety. Children can walk to schools and parks.

How can traditional neighborhoods benefit the Chesapeake Bay in relation to :

Air quality

Impervious surfaces

Habitat

Water quality

Sediment

Traditional neighborhoods allow residents to walk or bicycle to more destinations. The reduction in automobile trips decreases air pollution and slows the demand for new roads. They can also reduce paved areas on a regional scale, resulting in less impervious surface and storm water runoff. The preservation of open spaces as parks and greenways, provides vital habitat and landscape function.

Activity 3: Communities that Work

Choose a traditional downtown development that is familiar to you and your students. Examples in Maryland include Annapolis, Ellicott City, Easton, Chestertown, Frostburg, and many Baltimore neighborhoods. Based on firsthand experience plus what they’ve have seen in popular media, have your students list some of the features found in these communities.

Extending the Lesson – Commuter’s Breakdown, Then and Now

Ask students to interview one of their grandparents, an older neighbor, or any individual over the age of 60. Have them draw a picture of that person’s typical week when they were 16 years old, in the same format as "Commuter’s Breakdown." Be sure to include what year it was on their drawings. Have students be as creative as possible. They may certainly add pictures of sporting equipment, agricultural tools, etc. in their pictures. Hang these pictures on the wall in a long hallway. Take a class walk to look at everyone’s pictures. What changes in Maryland are evident from the different activities of youth over the last 50 years?

Taking Action:

Have students read the "Student Handout: Taking it Outside" and "Is SPRAWL bad for our health" on page 7 of Picture Maryland.

Using the "Taking it Outside" Checklist, have your students take a walkability survey of their community.
Ask your students to prepare a persuasive letter to a local elected official (e.g. Mayor, County Executive, County Council) highlighting the existing obstacles to walking and demonstrating what it would take to make their community into an Active Community Environment
Use a transportation survey (see Lesson 12) to analyze commuting patterns to school.
Present your survey findings to the principal, and identify at least one action that could be taken to create more transportation options at school (e.g. organize a carpool / walk to school day).

Sources of information and technical assistance on community design and the protection of the Chesapeake Bay:

Redman/Johnston Associate, Ltd.1997. Beyond Sprawl, Land Management Techniques to Protect the Chesapeake Bay.

Goldberg, David, RTNDF, Ltd. 1999. Rethinking the American Dream.

Center for Disease Control, Active Community Environments, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Contents | Creating Community – A Function of Design | Smart Neighborhoods slide show
New Community Design, Chapter 2 | Student Handout: Taking it Outside
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