Elements of a city code for CoolTowns: Residential, office uses

In relation to the previous blog on retail and civic uses, today’s will illustrate why CoolTowns are walkable and suburbia/rural neighborhoods aren’t – by law.

Understanding that higher densities and mixed-uses are key elements in walkable neighborhoods, notice in the CoolTown-friendly zones (T4-T6) (see transect), every single house type is allowed except the estate house (mansion with extensive greens) and manufactured housing, which is only allowed in T3, suburbia. In the most walkable T5 and T6 zones, detached (T5) then attached (T6) houses are not present (think of what would happen to Manhattan or city downtowns). Also notice that apartments, row houses and duplexes aren’t permitted in typical suburban subdivisions, unless isolated in a special district (SD), not only creating such a low density that it’s too far to walk anywhere, but resulting in a place that can’t be any more homogenous.

Finally, offices aren’t allowed in suburbia unless they’re in separated away in a special district, thereby rendering them unwalkable, but welcome anywhere in the CoolTown zones. Notice the theme?

Image from the SmartCode (6.5 mb pdf). Black dots are ‘by right’, clear dots are ‘by exception’.

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