Creating Quality Places - 20 Principles


The Creating Quality Places principles are grouped into four categories: Homes and Neighborhoods, Commercial Areas, Transportation and Public Places, and Environmental Quality.

Homes and Neighborhoods Principles
	Choice and Diversity Quality neighborhoods offer a choice of well designed and maintained housing types and sizes. This variety of housing choices within a community meets the needs of residents of different economic levels and age groups.
	Linkages Quality neighborhoods are linked to surrounding areas, and when possible, share commercial spaces and open space resources.
	Reinvestment Quality neighborhoods encourage actions to preserve, restore and reuse historic sites or structures; to conserve and restore environmental resources; to foster appropriate infill development; and to redevelop "brownfields."
	Identity Quality neighborhoods have a distinct identity that helps define their boundaries and fosters pride and belonging among residents. The distinct features of a neighborhood include public spaces such as a square, a green or an important street intersection, and public buildings such as a school, post office, library, community center or transit stop.
	Pedestrian/Cyclist Friendly The streets of a quality neighborhood are pedestrian-friendly. They are laid out in an interconnected network and attractively landscaped to encourage walking. Streets give residents, particularly youth and the elderly, choice and control in their mobility and easy access to important destinations from their residences.
	Green Space A variety of public green spaces are within easy access of residents in a quality neighborhood. Green spaces range from small playgrounds within easy walking distance from homes, to neighborhood parks, to community parks that can be shared by several neighborhoods.
	Live/Work Quality neighborhoods offer the opportunity for residents to work and live within the neighborhood when the scale, character and function of business settings are compatible with homes.
Commercial Development Principles
	Mixed Use Quality places include a variety of uses (e.g. retail stores, residences, civic buildings and offices) that create multipurpose activity centers in neighborhoods, small towns, suburbs and cities.
	Scale The scale, character and function of a quality development are compatible and integrated with that of its surroundings while remaining flexible to accommodate the densities, mix of uses and infrastructure that the market demands.
	Durability Quality places are built to last with quality materials, are designed to allow for changing uses over time, and provide for shifting markets and consumer needs.
	Walkability Quality shopping areas, small or large, are designed to make the pedestrian feel comfortable and safe by providing wide sidewalks, storefronts that open to the street, shade and shelter and a sense of spatial enclosure. They are designed to facilitate employee and customer access on sidewalks, bicycle trails, transit service and roads.
	Parking Quality shopping areas provide a variety of convenient parking choices consistent with the scale of the development, the location and the type of stores. Parking is divided into smaller components to the rear or side of the buildings, and landscaping and sidewalks provide for easy and safe pedestrian movements. A quality place allows flexible parking arrangements such as on-street parking and shared parking to minimize an over supply of parking.
Transportation and Public Places Principles
	Multimodal A quality transportation system accommodates automobiles, public transit, public safety vehicles, freight, pedestrians and bicycles in a balanced way to maximize access and mobility and to minimize congestion throughout the community.
	Local Streets Quality local streets are an integral part of a larger network of routes designed to provide access to homes, shops and businesses, and to keep local traffic off major arterials and high-speed, through-traffic off local roads.
	Bike/Pedestrian Access The design of a quality local street encourages pedestrian and bicycle use through such features as continuous sidewalks, curbside tree planting, narrow street width and small turning radii at corners to slow down cars, landscaped medians that reduce apparent street width and street parking that protects pedestrians from moving traffic.
	Transit Supportive Development A system of quality local streets complements the planning and development of a regional public transit network. Easy pedestrian access and a mix of uses are encouraged at existing and proposed transit stops to allow transit to become a viable alternative to the automobile. Private development and public places are designed to maximize opportunities for a regional transit network.
	Public Spaces Quality public spaces are provided in urban and suburban areas to encourage social interaction and to foster a distinct sense of place. These quality public places are memorable and reinforce the character of the community. They include amenities that provide comfort and relaxation in all seasons.
Environmental Quality Principles
	Water and Air Quality The design of quality places incorporates features and amenities that minimize environmental impacts on water quality caused by storm water runoff and erosion, and on air quality caused by motor vehicle traffic.
	Resource Efficiency The design of buildings and properties maximizes the efficient use of environmental and economic resources by minimizing energy, water and material use.
	Natural Elements A quality place preserves major natural features in a neighborhood or a community (streams, slopes and natural habitats) as open space, and links those resources to public places by pedestrian and bike paths.