InsightAlley Ways new Sidewalk

A Billy Blog:

I like to take a walk in the morning. It’s about half an hour going the long way from home to office. It gets my head on straight going to work or returning to the house and I’ve always been interested in how the streets and sidewalks change incrementally with the seasons and over time. Landscape architects are known to dwell on the quotidian: We find interest and significance in the details of the physical world. But what got my attention today was a change in my own behavior.

Here’s the deal: I’ve been walking in the alleys instead of on the sidewalks.

Denver’s Rights of Way (ROW) are typically narrow and often leave the sidewalks undersized. You might think that roadways are for cars and sidewalks are for people but the sidewalks also have to fit  street trees, street lights, pedestrian lights, bus stop shelters, bike racks, benches, trash cans, parking meters and signs. There are other pedestrians, baby strollers, dogs, bikes skateboards, sandwich boards and big pots of annual flowers at business entrances. Zero lot line development can put a wall five stories high right on the back edge of the sidewalk, there are curb cuts for parking garages, the odd transformer, fire hydrants, irrigation backflow prevention valves and controllers and water quality filtration detaining  and treating stormwater in sidewalk planters.

Its testing my love for the little things and with the available ROW behind the curb feeling inadequate and the walk feeling small and crowded I have moved over to the alleys. Much quieter, much more elbow room, the traffic is low volume and low speed. Cool.

I went into the office and announced: “Alleys are the new sidewalks!”

My partner, Heather, didn’t blink. She says, “You just figured that out? That’s been true like, forever.” Later she recited a list of cities:  “ London, Glasgow, Athens, Galaxidi, Santiago, Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou, San Francisco and Philly. All of them had commercial and residential access off of alleys and those are your favorite places.”

Then she rattles off:

• Lawry Lane off the Boulder Mall, Fort Collins off Laurel between College and Mason and the way they use the alleys downtown.
• Austin: thealleyflatinitiative.org
• Denver allows Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU’s) in the alleys see: AlleyFlats.com in Denver
• Green Streets in Chicago use alleys to filter storm water and Denver Public Works, Wastewater’s “Ultra-Urban Green Alley” detail  is picking up on that.

If our desire for increased urban density or need to develop every square foot of every lot won’t allow for setbacks on street frontages then we should also see that there is too much square footage in the alleys to give up to service access only. It feels inevitable and I hope to be a part of it even if it means giving up the solitude I drifted into.