Please note: I love downtown San Carlos. I grew up in San Carlos, and more important, I enjoy its quaint feel. The article is meant as a study in urban design, and it’s not meant as a critique of San Carlos downtown. Many people like it the way it is - the “slow growth” folks.
Access to Destination Points
Lets start with what I call “destination points”. A destination point is a place that has significant attraction to outside people. In Palo Alto, it may be a restaurant (St. Michael’s Alley), a café (Coupa Café), or a theater (Stanford Theater). In San Carlos, it is mainly the restaurants on the 700 block of Laurel Street (Town Restaurant). My thought is simple: a mature downtown provides easy walking access from major transit, which in our area is Caltrain. Thinking about “easy walking access” since yesterday, I’ve come up with three advantages that Palo Alto offers over San Carlos: protection, distance and variation. Let’s look at them briefly.
Protection
First, the walk from Palo Alto train station into downtown follows a protected path. It starts with a walk down a flight of stairs to an elevated walkway (with railing), then through a short crosswalk (at a lightly trafficked stop sign), and soon after you’re in downtown. The following photo shows the protected walkway and crosswalk:
On the other hand, consider the walk from Caltrain to the 700 block of Laurel Street in San Carlos. It starts with an unattractive walk across El Camino, a five-lane boulevard (six counting the turn lane). The light takes awhile, there is only one crosswalk, and traffic moves fast. The walk down San Carlos Avenue is less than pleasing. Albeit less trafficked than El Camino Real, the street accommodates two lanes each way of cars that move quickly (four lanes total). The following photo shows what in my opinion, on a subtle level, is a less than appealing walk into downtown:
Distance
Second, consider distance. In Palo Alto, destination points start within 500 feet of Caltrain (Junnoon, Palo Alto Bicycles, Lavanda). On the other hand, the walk from Caltrain to the 700 block of Laurel Street is 1500 feet. The difference may not seem like much, however when you convert the distances into miles (0.09 and 0.28 miles respectively), you see the difference. Think of a running track in your mind. Between walking one straightaway versus a full lap, which would you prefer?
Variation in Walking Paths
Finally, Palo Alto’s distribution of nearby destination points and grid of avenues-alleys-streets (University Ave, Hamilton Ave, Lytton Ave run east to west; High St, Emerson St, Ramona St, Bryant St, Waverly St, Cowper St, Webster St run north to south) give the pedestrian a myriad of choices when choosing walking paths to major destinations. In the drawing below, black squares represent destination points. How many paths do you count?
I counted around 15. Compare that with San Carlos. Most pedestrians (if they have a choice) prefer streets with as little car traffic as possible. Also, I took the train to Bellarmine College Prep for four years and walked down San Carlos Avenue nearly every day. And I drive the street everyday too. In my experience, I’d say 99% of the people I see walk San Carlos Avenue into town (and less than 1% walk along El Camino). That leaves one path to the 700 block of Laurel Street. See below.
Final Thoughts
I don’t consider myself the end-all-be-all authority on urban design. Hardly. However I do think about these things on a regular basis. Seriously, its just the way that I’m wired. I just notice these things while driving, walking, whatever. I can’t help myself. So in the coming weeks, expect more writings about local urban design. Why? Because I enjoy writing about it. If you like these articles, please comment (any feedback would be great). More than anything, I hope you, faithful reader, begin noticing the subtleties of the spaces we live in - both private (homes) and public (towns).
