Bringing Back the Orange - More Walkable Communities

Louise Gorenflo

One of the guiding principles of Recode Knoxville is Building a strong, sustainable, walkable community.  Let’s take a look at building a walkable community.  When most people talk about a walkable community, they refer to a compact urban form in which we can actually walk to work, to shop, or just someplace to hangout.  We can also walk to a bus that will take us to other places to work, shop, or hangout.  Look ma, no car!

Let us recount the benefits of living in a walkable neighborhood:

1) Our Health and Happiness: Studies have found that the average resident of a walkable neighborhood has less at risk for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease than their counterparts in sprawling neighborhoods. In large part, this is because a walkable neighborhood allows the pedestrian to cover more ground in less time and incentivizes foot-travel over the automobile.
Over a prolonged period of time, this extra daily activity can make quite a difference. As an added bonus, a successful walkable neighborhood makes numerous amenities such as grocers, businesses, and entertainment accessible to the pedestrians, who can avoid the frustration that comes with traffic congestion and parking.

2) Our Finances: Next to a home, cars are often the second most expensive purchase that most household make. But even after its purchase, the average American will spend over $9,000 per year on a car, including fuel, insurance, and maintenance. Living in a walkable neighborhood with alternative transport options can significantly reduce this cost, as every mile you don’t drive saves you 60.8 cents.

3) Our Community: As an alternative to zooming around alone in a car, walkable neighborhoods increase the opportunity for daily interactions between neighbors and can strengthen these bonds within the community. In turn, this leads to increased social engagement and community trust.

Demand for walkable neighborhoods is at a record high. The only walkable neighborhood we have in Knoxville is downtown Knoxville.  Lots of people would like to live there, but most of us cannot afford to do that.  

This is where zoning comes in.  A walkable community is a dense community, meaning lots of people live within an area, which also supports public transportation.  To provide for this greater density within the zoning map, KAT has urged Recode / MPC staff to redraw the zoning map to allow by right development of small multifamily housing within a ¼ mile band along all of its bus routes (see map above.)  RN-4 (small multifamily housing) can also serve as a great buffer between single family neighborhoods and the high development on transit corridors and at development nodes. 

At a recent East TN Community Design Center meeting with the Burlington Resident Association, resident talked about ways to revitalize their area.  They want grocery stores, restaurants, bakeries, and other amenities.  What perhaps was not discussed is the all-important density needed to attract these kinds of businesses and investments, something that suburban-form neighborhoods cannot provide.  We know from seven decades of experience, single family home neighborhoods do not transform themselves into walkable communities unless they allow increasing density.  

Even though building walkable communities is a Recode guiding principle, you will have a hard time finding any reference to it within the draft codes or map.  Let’s follow KAT’s advice and bring back the orange along its bus routes, creating the potential and opportunity for more affordable walkable neighborhoods.