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From page 1...
... ACKNOWLEDGMENT This work was sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) , in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, and was conducted in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP)
From page 2...
... The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters.
From page 3...
... Handbook Contents Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas i Executive Summary .............................................................................. 1 Introduction .............................................................................................
From page 4...
... Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas ii List of Figures Figure 1. Counties entirely or partially outside Transportation Management Areas .....................................................................................................
From page 5...
... Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas iii List of Figures (continued) Figure 49.
From page 6...
... Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas iv List of Figures (continued) Figure 109.
From page 7...
... Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas v Author Acknowledgements Brian J Morton of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH)
From page 8...
... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 1 Many people in small communities and rural areas in the United States spend a considerable amount of time in their cars, crossing county lines daily as they drive back and forth between their homes and work, shopping, school, appointments, and more. New growth in such areas can add to an already high load of daily driving if land use decisions are not made with careful consideration and a regional perspective.
From page 9...
... Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 2 While the results differ somewhat among the places, in general, daily driving per person decreases a little or does not increase much in either of these scenarios:  New jobs and households are sited in a small area that already has a high amount of existing development, good access to the region's commercial developments, and a mix of jobs and households compared to other areas in the multi-county region.  New jobs and households are spread out among several of the larger towns in the region, attempting to balance the new jobs and new households in each town.
From page 10...
... INTRODUCTION Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 3 The purpose of this handbook is to share insights about the relationship between patterns of regional economic development and the average resident's car usage in small communities and rural areas. The insights were generated by computer models that were developed specifically for multi-county regions consisting of small communities and rural areas.
From page 11...
... PROJECT OVERVIEW: STUDY AREAS Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 4 This section explains how the nation's small communities and rural areas were characterized, and how the three study areas were chosen. In addition, there is more information in the Appendix about the process, including a gallery of maps and the sources of data used.
From page 12...
... PROJECT OVERVIEW: STUDY AREAS Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 5 Figure 1. Counties entirely or partially outside Transportation Management Areas.
From page 13...
... PROJECT OVERVIEW: STUDY AREAS Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 6 Figure 2. Small-community/rural-area commuting zones in the continental United States.
From page 14...
... PROJECT OVERVIEW: STUDY AREAS Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 7 Figure 3. Small-community/rural-area commuting zones, by family.
From page 15...
... PROJECT OVERVIEW: STUDY AREAS Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 8 In the next step, all counties in the continental United States were overlaid with the commuting zones. The commuting zones that contained the large-community/urban-area counties were deleted.
From page 16...
... PROJECT OVERVIEW: STUDY AREAS Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 9 A virtual flyover at an altitude of 10,000 meters gives the following subjective impression of the three families of commuting zones:  Low population density commuting zones feature isolated settlements in open space (land that is unlikely to be developed because of the presence of protected areas such as parks and wilderness areas)
From page 17...
... PROJECT OVERVIEW: STUDY AREAS Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 10 Figure 4. ArcGIS explorer map of small communities and rural areas.
From page 18...
... PROJECT OVERVIEW: COMPUTER MODELS Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 11 The results presented in this handbook were generated by three computer models, one for each study area. The models are designed to illuminate ways in which different land use patterns affect travel in each study area in response to hypothetical, but realistic, economic growth.
From page 19...
... PROJECT OVERVIEW: STUDY AREAS Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 12 TRANUS based models go beyond the typical integrated land use-transport model because not only do they link land use and travel to each other, they also link travel to a study area's economy. Work commuting trips reflect businesses' demand for the labor provided by the study area's households.
From page 20...
... PROJECT OVERVIEW: STUDY AREAS Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 13 Typically in the context of metropolitan areas, the planners and researchers interested in these effects describe the built environment as having five specific characteristics, often termed the "five D's," which are listed in Table 3. The computer models used in this project do not address design because the databases do not include data about sidewalks, shade, attractiveness of homes, etc., and furthermore, design features can vary quite a bit within a census block group or census tract.
From page 21...
... PROJECT OVERVIEW: STUDY AREAS Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 14 influence on business owners' choices of the census tract or census block group in which to operate -- they are attracted to areas where households (customers) will have good access to them.
From page 22...
... PROJECT OVERVIEW: STUDY AREAS Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 15 VMT In this guidebook, VMT means average vehicle miles traveled per person per weekday in private vehicles such as cars, vans, trucks, and motorcycles. Background on Scenarios For all scenarios in all three study areas, the number of manufacturing jobs were increased by 500.
From page 23...
... PROJECT OVERVIEW: STUDY AREAS Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 16 Two Different Types of Scenarios: Single Zone and Largest Towns In general terms, two different kinds of scenarios were simulated: the Single Zone scenario and the Largest Towns scenario. In a Single Zone scenario, only one analysis zone in the study area is targeted for growth in jobs and in household population.
From page 24...
... KEY RESULTS Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 17 Travel behavior in a region may be meaningfully summarized by daily vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per person.
From page 25...
... KEY RESULTS Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 18 Ohio Study Area: Medium Population Density (Family 2) When balanced growth of jobs and households is targeted for a single analysis zone in the study area, daily VMT stays essentially the same -- increasing or decreasing only slightly.
From page 26...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 19 Study Area Overview The North Carolina-Tennessee (NC-TN) study area is a fivecounty commuting zone in the southern Appalachian Mountains, in the extreme northwestern corner of North Carolina and the extreme northeastern corner of Tennessee (Figure 5)
From page 27...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 20 Data from 2000 census:  Households: 66,960  Persons: 157,420  Total number of civilian jobs: 70,935 (including 5,270 workers whose residence was located in a 50-mile buffer drawn around the five counties) o Agricultural and natural resource jobs: 2,421 o Commercial jobs (retail, professional services, social services, public administration, etc.)
From page 28...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 21 Diversity of land use in an analysis zone targeted for growth has essentially no impact on the predicted change in VMT. In one Single Zone scenario, daily VMT increases 42% (18 miles per person)
From page 29...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 22 Two scenarios illustrate the extremes in the impact of growth on travel: SZ-4006, in which daily VMT increases by 1.69 miles per person, and SZ-4009, in which daily VMT increases by 18.11 miles per person. In both scenarios, the analysis zone in which population growth occurs is a magnet for commercial jobs growth in multiple census tracts nearby.
From page 30...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 23 Figure 8. NC-TN study area, scenario SZ-4006 (low VMT)
From page 31...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 24 Figure 9. NC-TN study area, scenario SZ-4009 (high VMT)
From page 32...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 25 Scenario SZ-4009's land use pattern leads to a separation of homes and commercial establishments (represented by commercial jobs) that is substantially greater than that of SZ4006.
From page 33...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 26 before growth: fewer jobs, fewer total households, lower access to the study area's commercial establishments, and lower access to the region's households (Table 5)
From page 34...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 27 Largest Towns Scenario What happens to VMT when growth occurs in multiple locations -- specifically when jobs growth and household growth occur together in each county's largest town? This is the intention underlying the Largest Towns (LT)
From page 35...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 28 Table 6 reports each census tract's growth in total jobs and in total households. Figure 13 (below)
From page 36...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 29 Figure 13. NC-TN study area, LT scenario: total jobs and households after simulated growth (left)
From page 37...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 30  Consult the interactive map of small communities and rural areas to determine which family your commuting zone belongs to: http://go.ncsu.edu/scara-commuting-zones-map. If Family 1, use this checklist.
From page 38...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 31 Streetscape Visualizations: North Carolina-Tennessee Study Area In the Largest Towns scenario, the growth in jobs and households is spread out among five towns -- the largest town in each of the five counties. These towns are Boone, Jefferson, North Wilkesboro, and Banner Elk in North Carolina, and Mountain City in Tennessee.
From page 39...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 32 Boone, North Carolina Context Boone is the home of Appalachian State University, the largest employer in the town. The town and the college each have 17,000 people.
From page 40...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 33 Figure 16 (above)
From page 41...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 34 Figure 18 (above)
From page 42...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 35 Jefferson, North Carolina Context Jefferson, population 1,600, is located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. It encompasses just 50 acres.
From page 43...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 36 Figure 22 (above)
From page 44...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 37 North Wilkesboro, North Carolina Context North Wilkesboro, population just over 4,000, is the county seat of Wilkes County in northwest North Carolina. The Lowe's home improvement store chain began in North Wilkesboro.
From page 45...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 38 Figure 26 (above)
From page 46...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 39 Banner Elk, North Carolina Context Located in the Appalachian Mountains, Banner Elk, founded in 1848, has a population of just over 1,000. Banner Elk strives to preserve its small town history and atmosphere, which attracts many tourists, visitors, and part-time residents.
From page 47...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 40 Figure 30 (above)
From page 48...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 41 Mountain City, Tennessee Context Mountain City is located at the northeastern corner of Tennessee and is only minutes away from the North Carolina border. The county's only high school and Career and Technical School are both located in Mountain City.
From page 49...
... NC-TN STUDY AREA: LOW POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 42 Figure 34 (above)
From page 50...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 43 Study Area Overview The Ohio study area is a six-county commuting zone in the south-central region of the state, south of Columbus and extending to the Ohio River (Figure 36)
From page 51...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 44 In this study area, both census tracts and census block groups were used as the analysis zones; there are 53 census tracts in Jackson, Pike, Ross, Scioto, and Vincent Counties, and 33 census block groups in Pickaway County. Data from 2000 census:  Households: 103,561  Persons: 261,996  Total number of civilian jobs: 97,424 (including 11,610 workers whose residence was located in a 80-mile buffer drawn around the six counties)
From page 52...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 45 In the year 2000, the study area's civilian household population and inbound commuters (who did not live in the study area) had a VMT of almost 77 miles per person per day.
From page 53...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 46 Figure 38. Ohio study area: growth target zones of nine Single Zone (SZ)
From page 54...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 47 Largest Towns Scenario What happens to VMT when growth occurs in multiple locations, and jobs growth and household growth occur together in each county's largest town? This is the intention underlying the Largest Towns (LT)
From page 55...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 48 (Note: Figures 41 and 42 show jobs in all civilian industries, but because all new manufacturing jobs are in the six growth target zones, changes in jobs in other zones effectively represent changes only in commercial jobs.) The Largest Towns scenario increases daily VMT by only 0.05 miles per person.
From page 56...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 49 Figure 41. Ohio study area: total jobs and households in the Largest Towns (LT)
From page 57...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 50 Figure 42. Ohio study area: changes in jobs and households in the LT scenario, compared to the year 2000.
From page 58...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 51  Consult the interactive map of small communities and rural areas to determine which family your commuting zone belongs to: http://go.ncsu.edu/scara-commuting-zones-map. If Family 2, use this checklist.
From page 59...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 52 Streetscape Visualizations: Ohio Study Area In the Largest Towns scenario, the growth in jobs and households is spread out among a group of six towns consisting of the largest town from each of the six counties. The towns are Jackson, Portsmouth, Waverly, McArthur, Circleville, and Chillicothe.
From page 60...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 53 Jackson, Ohio Context Jackson is connected to larger population centers, such as Chillicothe and Athens, by Highway 35 and Highway 124. These highways bypass downtown Jackson, centered on Main and Broadway Street.
From page 61...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 54 Figure 46 (above)
From page 62...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 55 Figure 48 (above)
From page 63...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 56 Portsmouth, Ohio Context Portsmouth is located in southern Ohio on the banks of the Ohio and Scioto Rivers. It is within two hours of both Cincinnati and Columbus.
From page 64...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 57 The first streetscape visualization (Figures 52 and 53) shows the addition of four buildings of five- to six-stories to increase the density in the downtown district.
From page 65...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 58 The second visualization (Figures 54 and 55) shows increased residential density at the eastern end of the downtown, which is also parallel to the flood wall.
From page 66...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 59 Figures 56 and 57 show additional dwellings (for residents and students) and commercial buildings around the local college campus in eastern Portsmouth.
From page 67...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 60 Waverly, Ohio Context Waverly is the county seat of Pike County. The construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal brought people to this area around 1829 where they established the village of Waverly.
From page 68...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 61 Figure 60 (above)
From page 69...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 62 McArthur, Ohio Context McArthur was founded in 1815 and has a population just barely over 1,700. It is approximately 40 miles east of Chillicothe and 76 miles southeast of Columbus.
From page 70...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 63 Figure 64 (above)
From page 71...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 64 In addition, Figures 66 and 67 show additional residential communities surrounding the middle and high schools. Figure 66 (top)
From page 72...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 65 Circleville, Ohio Context Circleville, population more than 13,000, was initially organized in a radial grid system. Today the town has been reshaped as a conventional grid with the only hint of the town's radial past being a circular building (a bank)
From page 73...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 66 Figure 71 shows the existing conditions looking down East Main Street, and Figure 72 shows the medium density proposal for this location. Figure 71 (top)
From page 74...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 67 Figure 73 shows the current conditions in another downtown location. The higher density proposal shown in Figure 74 suggests placing larger scale buildings behind the existing ones.
From page 75...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 68 Chillicothe, Ohio Context Situated between Cincinnati and Columbus, Chillicothe was the first capital of Ohio and, much earlier, a center of the Native American Hopewell culture. Located on the Scioto River between two ridges, Chillicothe's main entrances on Highway 50 (E.
From page 76...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 69 Figure 77 shows the current conditions in the downtown area along Hickory Street. Figure 78 shows what the street would look with the addition of several four- to six-story buildings.
From page 77...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 70 Figure 80 shows the existing conditions in another downtown location in Chillicothe. Figure 81 shows commercial spaces filling in the blocks between and around Paint Street and Walnut Street.
From page 78...
... OHIO STUDY AREA: MEDIUM POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 71 Figure 82 (above)
From page 79...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 72 Study Area Overview The Washington study area is a three-county commuting zone adjacent to the southern portion of Puget Sound. It includes Olympia, the state capitol (Figure 84)
From page 80...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 73 In this study area, both census tracts and census block groups were used as the analysis zones; there are 14 census tracts in Mason County, and 195 census block groups in Lewis and Thurston Counties. Data from 2000 census:  Households: 114,438  Persons: 318,612  Total number of civilian jobs: 129,383 (including 11,345 workers whose residence was located in a 35-mile buffer drawn around the six counties)
From page 81...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 74 Figure 85. Washington study area: total civilian jobs (resident jobs)
From page 82...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 75 Single Zone Scenarios Table 9 identifies the zones targeted for growth in eight scenarios, and provides each scenario's predicted change in daily VMT. In each Single Zone (SZ)
From page 83...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 76 Figure 88. Washington study area: relationships between four land use attributes of the analysis zones, as measured pre-growth, and change in VMT after simulated growth for the eight Single Zone (SZ)
From page 84...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 77 Largest Towns Scenario What happens to VMT when growth occurs in multiple locations, and jobs growth and household growth occur together in each county's largest town? This is the intention underlying the Largest Towns (LT)
From page 85...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 78 Figure 89. Washington case study: growth target zones in the Largest Towns (LT)
From page 86...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 79 Figure 90. Washington study area: total jobs (left)
From page 87...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 80 Figure 91. Washington study area: changes in total jobs (left)
From page 88...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 81  Consult the interactive map of small communities and rural areas to determine which family your commuting zone belongs to: http://go.ncsu.edu/scara-commuting-zones-map. If Family 3, use this checklist.
From page 89...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 82 Streetscape Visualizations: Washington Study Area In the Largest Towns scenario, the growth in jobs and households is spread out among three towns -- the largest town from each of the three counties in the study area. These towns are Shelton, Olympia, and Centralia.
From page 90...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 83 Shelton, Washington Context Shelton, population about 10,000, is located on Puget Sound. The town spreads out from the downtown area near the water.
From page 91...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 84 Figure 94 (above)
From page 92...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 85 Figure 96 (above)
From page 93...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 86 Figure 98 (above)
From page 94...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 87 Olympia, Washington Context Olympia has a population of over 46,000 people and is the state capital. State government buildings are located in the downtown area, but the majority of the city is low to medium density commercial and residential buildings.
From page 95...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 88 Figure 102 (above)
From page 96...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 89 Figure 105 (below)
From page 97...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 90 Figure 106 (above)
From page 98...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 91 Centralia, Washington Context Centralia, population 16,000, is home to a two-year community college, Centralia College. Strategy Centralia could accommodate increased housing and commercial density downtown as well as around Centralia College.
From page 99...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 92 Figure 110 (above)
From page 100...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 93 Figure 112 (above)
From page 101...
... WASHINGTON STUDY AREA: HIGH POPULATION DENSITY Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas 94 Figure 114 (above)
From page 102...
... APPENDIX Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas A1 Using the "Five D's" to Characterize Small Communities and Rural Areas Research has identified five main factors that influence how far people travel on a typical day, the routes they take, and whether they walk, bike, drive, or take public transit. Those factors are the "five D's": density, destination accessibility, diversity, design, and distance to transit.8 By extension, the five D's influence the amount of fuel consumed for transportation and emissions produced by transportation.
From page 103...
... APPENDIX Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas A2 Density: population density Population density is essential because of the obvious influence of the number of residents on trip generation and because population density is one measure of the overall intensity of settlement. Population density is measured here by dividing the number of people by the square miles of developed or developable land (i.e., excluding water and protected areas)
From page 104...
... APPENDIX Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas A3 Density: variation in population density Variation in population density distinguishes commuting zones in two ways: 1) the commuting zones where most residents are located in relatively small areas of concentrated population density and 2)
From page 105...
... APPENDIX Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas A4 Diversity of land use: index of population near retail and services Here, diversity refers to the variety of land uses according to categories such as population in housing units; jobs in retail establishments; jobs in establishments providing educational, health, and social services; etc. The land use diversity index captures the extent to which residents are near (in the same census tract with)
From page 106...
... APPENDIX Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas A5 Gallery of Maps of the Three Families of Small Communities and Rural Areas The maps in this section of the handbook illustrate the characteristics of the three families of small communities and rural areas. Maps show several essential characteristics of an actual commuting zone from each of the three families.
From page 107...
... APPENDIX Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas A6 Figure A-2. Central Pennsylvania (State College area)
From page 108...
... APPENDIX Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas A7 Figure A-4. Central Pennsylvania (State College area)
From page 109...
... APPENDIX Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas A8 Figure A-6. Central-Pennsylvania/State-College Commuting Zone (Family 1)
From page 110...
... APPENDIX Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas A9 Figure A-7. South Central Ohio commuting zone (Family 2)
From page 111...
... APPENDIX Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas A10 Figure A-9. South Central Ohio commuting zone (Family 2)
From page 112...
... APPENDIX Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas A11 Figure A-11. South Central Ohio commuting zone (Family 2)
From page 113...
... APPENDIX Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas A12 Figure A-12. North Central Ohio commuting zone (Family 3)
From page 114...
... APPENDIX Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas A13 Figure A-14. North Central Ohio commuting zone (Family 3)
From page 115...
... APPENDIX Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas A14 Figure A-16. North Central Ohio commuting zone (Family 3)
From page 116...
... APPENDIX Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas A15 More Information about Accessibility Measures This section explains more fully how "access to commercial establishments" and "access to households" were measured, which was reviewed briefly in the earlier section, Project Overview: The Computer Models. Quantifying commercial establishments Census data do not include direct information about the number, size, or hours of operation of commercial establishments, so the number of commercial jobs was used as an indicator of the availability of commercial establishments.
From page 117...
... APPENDIX Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas A16 Calculating the accessibility index Although the calculation of accessibility indices is complex, the basic idea may be conveyed by comparing two zones on the basis of access to commercial jobs (which was used to indicate the size, number, and availability of commercial establishments)

Key Terms



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