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Last time I wrote about the importance of mixing uses to the creation of livable communities.聽 Of course, there are still some uses – primarily traditional industries – which need to be separate from where people live for health and safety reasons.聽 And let me be clear that when I say 鈥渕ixed use鈥� I don鈥檛 mean that every building, or every block, needs to have a mix of uses.聽 聽Rather, the key feature is that every neighborhood, even if comprised of mostly single family housing, has easy walking access to basic services and facilities, like a grocery store, personal services like hair salons and dry cleaners, a park or school, and the like. 鈥淲alkability鈥� is the basic building block for creating great communities.

But of course there鈥檚 a lot more to it than that.聽 Another key element is providing enough people within easy walking distance to support those services and facilities.聽 For those that are private enterprises, that means they need to be commercially viable.聽 For those amenities provided by public dollars, they need to be justifiable on a cost/benefit basis.聽 The basic idea is that an increasing array of services and facilities can be supported with an increasing number of people living within their walking service areas.聽聽 So, higher density areas naturally will have a larger selection of services within close walking distances (think Manhattan), while lower density areas will have more limited services (think Portland inner southeast neighborhoods).聽聽 Of course, many places even in Portland are without those 鈥渨alkability鈥� features (think eastern and southwestern neighborhoods), and the job of planners is to find ways to make that happen.

There are other factors that can make mixed use areas more or less attractive, and more or less able to accommodate the needs of everyday life.聽 Close access to nature, and a healthy mix of office uses that help provide more employment opportunities are examples.

Next time I鈥檒l talk about how to avoid the stigma of density.