Past generations have ridden, driven and flown into the future – but according to Jeff Speck, a city planner and architectural designer, cities that want to matter in 30 years need to focus on walking.
Speck, who has been featured on NPR and given a TED talk, will host a lecture titled “Why Walkability” at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center on Monday at 6:30 p.m. The talk is a part of a community event organized in part by PlanFirst, a University course that introduces city planning to students who are not majoring in the field.
“I will present evidence that only those cities with truly walkable downtowns are poised to thrive over the next 30 years,” Speck said. “People will be moving from suburbs to cities, particularly people with creative talent and disposable income, but they will only be moving to those cities that offer the walkable lifestyle.”
Madalyn Vaughn, director of PlanFirst, said the class has been studying Speck’s recent book “Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time” as part of their focus on Tuscaloosa’s own downtown.
Vaughn calls walkability a “state of mind” and said Tuscaloosa has made strides in improving downtown walkability, though there is room for growth. She said the lecture is an opportunity for students to understand the forces and factors that shape their home.
“It’s important to know what makes the city work,” she said. “I think a lot of students have noticed the change downtown and they like it, but they can’t really pinpoint why they like it.”
Speck, who has previously worked on popular communities like Seaside, Fla., and Rosemary Beach, Fla., said the millennial generation was just one of the generations that would increasingly consider walkability.
“Millennials are raised to yearn after the urban environments that they grew up watching on Seinfeld, Friends and, eventually, Sex and the City,” he said. “Boomers, the ones who are thinking about it, want to downsize to a place where they will still be viable citizens after they lose the capacity to drive.”
The centrality of walkability, Vaughn said, increases as residents relocate downtown.
“You have to think of what they’re going to need in their general vicinity,” she said. “Thinking about walkability, I think, is a great way to start that conversation.”
Students in particular might be interested to hear how the principles of the “New Urbanism” movement, of which Speck is an advocate, might apply to The University of Alabama.
Marlan Golden, a senior majoring in history and Spanish, is currently enrolled in PlanFirst. Golden said city planning exerts influence over many parts of a student’s daily routine.
“Walkability affects how you choose to get to class, where you eat, how you get downtown at night and any number of other seemingly basic personal decisions that we all make subconsciously every day,” Golden said. “Speck’s book includes key points that are relevant to the planning of all spaces, not just a city’s downtown. Anyone who has witnessed the growth of our University can attest to the importance of smart planning to accompany that growth.”
Speck will also be hosting a workshop on Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 9:30 a.m. that is specifically tailored to Tuscaloosa.
Hayden Gunter, a senior majoring in civil engineering and a PlanFirst student, said the principles outlined in “Walkable City” are applicable at a neighborhood, community and national scale.
“The ‘walkability’ of a city has major influences on the lifestyles of its people no matter the type of city,” Gunter said. “Whether it’s New York, Chicago or Tuscaloosa, Ala., Mr. Speck outlines in ‘Walkable City’ the importance of walkability and its impact on a city’s economy, culture and quality of life. Planning can influence that decision and many others by creating viable options of transportation and lifestyles so everyone isn’t competing for the same two parking spots in front of Chuck’s or DePalma’s.”
Vaughn said the course is a city-university partnership, so the event will be open to the community.
For his part, Speck said it can be hard to judge a city’s walkability and functionality from a distance. Still, he noted a cycling network that is “inadequate and dangerous,” as well as the presence of large parking lots – a walkability red flag.
“It is hard for me to judge from the air, but the proof is in the pudding,” Speck said. “How many students own cars? If it’s a significant percentage, then there has been either a design error, a policy error, or both. There is absolutely no reason a college student should have to own a car.”
