Stuck on sidewalk survey

1st Ave and 13th St E.: What would make this feel safer?

Cedar Rapids is surveying its residents about walking, particularly about crossing streets. After a series of questions about walking habits, the survey presented eight types of intersection modifications (see below); for each they asked whether it would make crossing the street very comfortable, comfortable, uncomfortable, or very uncomfortable. The treatments ranged in intensity from minor (well-marked crosswalks) to major (median island). 

I spent way too much time over-thinking this section. I couldn't decide on the meaning of "comfortable," or whether it was absolute or relative, or even whether the comfort was intended to be physical or psychic. Was it time-bound? (Many's the time I've gotten across a busy street and thought, "Twenty years from now, I won't be able to do what I just did.") City staff will surely want to ignore my answers when they compile these results.

In the end, I decided, my pedestrian comfort, and the appropriate design response, depends on context. How wide and busy is the street I am crossing? How many people are likely to be crossing with me? Are the drivers likely to be aware of my presence, or will their views be obstructed by a physical barrier or confusing road design? And maybe most importantly, how much turning traffic is there going to be?

(1 & 2) Median islands, curb extensions

I live about 3/4 mile from my office, and often walk regardless of weather. The biggest challenge is crossing 1st Avenue, the east side's longstanding thoroughfare (pictured above). At 13th Street, across from the college, the street is six lanes wide (indicated by hashtags): two traffic lanes in each direction, and two left-turn lanes. Coe College students frequently cross here, so during the school year we can usually cross in a group. Thanks to curb extensions on each side--see my lovely highlighting on the photo--we're negotiating 60 feet of pavement instead of 80, but it's still fraught. The biggest problem is the number of cars that turn left from 13th onto 1st, which was increased by the closing of 2nd Avenue some years ago. 2013 traffic count on 13th Street was a mere 1840, but they make their presences felt. Some drivers are patient, some are not, and they demonstrate different levels of risk-taking. The dangers of this intersection would be somewhat mitigated by making a median island out of one of the left-turn lanes, which became redundant as soon as Interstate 380 was built in the 1970s.

I can't off hand think of any other intersections in our town where median islands are indicated. This one is unusual because of the width of the street, the amount of turning traffic, and the amount of pedestrian traffic. Maybe 1st Avenue and 12th Street East?

This is also by Coe, although I don't see students using it as much as locals going to and from the clinics. Traffic count on 12th is 3200, with most turning onto 1st across the crosswalks.

(3) Raised crosswalks

This feature not only removes the "step down, step up" feature of crossing, it makes the pedestrians more visible to drivers by raising them. David Sucher (2003: 80) notes, "The extra six inches of height makes the walker more visible to drivers, particularly if one uses a pavement of contrasting texture and color. The change of grade is also a long-wave speed hump, which forces the driver to slow down to avoid an unpleasant bump." This picture of Novak School on busy 29th Avenue was taken in Marion...

...but there are any number of Cedar Rapids schools near which we could do a better job of slowing the cars and facilitating the little pedestrians.

(4 & 5) Beacons (red and yellow hybrid, rectangular rapid flashing)

There are a couple rectangular rapid flashing beacons around town that I know of. This one is on the Cedar River Trail where it crosses Boyson Road...

 

...an arterial carrying 11,500 cars per day. I think I'm OK with this, because Boyson is only two lanes wide and pedestrians and cyclists are quite visible from the road.

On the other hand, this one terrifies me. It's downtown, where the Cedar River Trail crosses 1st Avenue. 

 

It's not just the 13,600-16,600 cars, it's the five lanes I'm crossing, and my relative invisibility when I cross. The crosswalk is well-marked but it isn't helping my comfort, either. Drivers are dealing with each other, the railroad track, and possibly unfamiliar downtown traffic patterns. This crossing needs, to be viable, a stop light. Is that what the red and yellow hybrid beacons amount to? Meanwhile I either go over to 3rd Street, or cower in the shadows and wait for a break in traffic.

(6) Brick intersection

This is more involved (read, more expensive) than painted crosswalks, but might be indicated where there is a lot of vehicular as well as pedestrian traffic, and/or where we want to exhibit some style. Sucher (2003: 84) says, "The change in texture is a visual and visceral signal to both driver and pedestrian of the appropriate boundaries for each at that particular location." A candidate for this treatment was 3rd Avenue and 10th Street SE, an intersection I've had plenty of opportunity to contemplate as it's been my station during three Mayors' Bike Rides. 

View of Immaculate Conception Church before sidewalk treatments

The "after" picture

10th Street gets 3000 cars a day, 3rd Avenue 6000, magnified by both streets being four lanes wide. MedQuarter development might increase auto traffic and maybe pedestrian traffic, too.

Crosswalks (well-marked along a busy street, long well-marked)

These are the lowest intensity treatments, and I don't understand the difference between them. They can be used where crossing treatments are indicated but traffic is moving slowly enough that you don't need any kind of special enhancement. I'd like one where I (and quite a few high school students) cross 19th Street near my home.

Asked for concluding comments, I reflected on my spring semester in Washington, D.C., a densely-populated urban area with a lot of pedestrians and autos and bikes.

Collins Road NE by Lindale Mall

1. Triage: Don't try to fix every intersection. Concentrate our resources where they can do the most good i.e. not Collins Road or Wiley Boulevard.
2.  Stops: Washington, D.C. has a lot of stop signs and stop lights in core areas. They certainly seem to keep auto speeds to a manageable level. I'm glad 3rd Avenue SE will soon be converted to two-way, but its long straightaway still encourages drivers to go faster than they neighborhood should have to tolerate.
3. Parking: Surface parking lots are the enemy of walkability (cf. Sucher 2003: 49-55, or really any author who's thought seriously about cities). Areas adjacent to downtown, and you know who you are, are maximizing parking in ways that will impact both walking and the success of downtown.

Finally the survey asked for three words to describe my hopes for walking in 2040. I said I hoped walking will be (1) common, (2) interesting, and (3) safe.

Cedar Rapids residents can take the Pedestrian Master Plan Survey here through 7/22/2018. There will be a Community Workshop on Sidewalks Wednesday 6/27/2018 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Cedar Rapids Public Library, 450 5th Av SE.

SEE ALSO:
David Sucher, City Comforts: How to Build an Urban Village (City Comforts Inc., revised ed., 2003), ch. 4
Aarian Marshall, "Save Lives With Slower Streets--Not Self-Driving Cars," Wired, 11 May 2018

Rezone CR Open House

Early attendance was light on a stormy evening in Cedar Rapids, as city officials offered a sneak preview of the new zoning plan prior to its official release July 3. Form-based zoning will be applied in a small section of the city (see map above). I was on the Steering Committee for the rezoning, but have had no role in its content.

A few quick reactions:

1. This is the right part of the city on which to try this: older, already-urban areas that have seen considerable redevelopment since the flood. For the most part, the redevelopment has reinforced rather than challenged the traditional pre-Euclidean form of these areas. If form-based zoning works here, perhaps it can be extended to the adjoining core neighborhoods: Mound View (soon to be the object of the College District Action Plan), Wellington Heights, the Taylor Area and the Northwest. Beyond that the city's form is predominantly suburban, and it's hard to imagine much change from that is likely.

2. Outside of downtown (the red area on the map), there seems to be a good balance of mixed use (orange) and purely residential (baby blue). It looks like no one in this part of the city will live more than three blocks from a commercial establishment, albeit may be one that sells auto parts when you need a loaf of bread.

3. The area between 7th and 10th Streets East is designated "Urban Neighborhood General Flex"--essentially, mixed use with taller buildings--which seems appropriate for the area between downtown, the hospitals and the neighborhoods. Whether it actually develops that way depends on the acquiesence of the hospitals and Physicians Clinic of Iowa, which have so far been powerful forces behind anomalously suburban-style development. Another old house came down today, in fact:

Photo by Cindy Hadish, from Save CR Heritage Facebook page

This could, of course, make way for new construction, but the clearances seem intended for another parking lot.

EARLIER POST: "Re-Zoning Cedar Rapids," 4 December 2017

CR Flood 10 Years On

Cedar Rapids celebrated the 10th anniversary of our cataclysmic flood by showing off the progress of the flood control system as well as the remarkable rebirth of flooded areas. Observances included the dedication of memorials in the Time-Check neighborhood...

north side of O Av

south side of O Av; clocks are set to 10:15 when the river crested

...an organizational fair at the Veterans Building...

...a tour of restored historic properties...

The Kurik House (1910s) was moved from 1024 to 1028 2nd St SE

The exterior and interior were painstakingly restored by Todd Sabin;
today it houses Baby Time and an upstairs apartment

...and bus tours of the flood control system, the restored Water Pollution Control Facility, and historic neighborhoods.

The flood control system, funded with a mix of federal, state, local and private contributions, combines a variety of elements: earthen levees, concrete walls, movable walls and pump stations, as well as one detention basin in New Bohemia.

The slab is for receiving snow from plows

In New Bo, half a mile has been constructed of what will eventually be a 7.5-mile levee.

Section of wall seen from across 16th Av at 2nd St

Other levees are or will be in Czech Village...

Construction underway near Bowling and C Sts

...and downtown (the "transformer" aspect of  McGrath Amphitheatre). Engineer Rob Davis, program manager for the flood control system, notes that the barriers are being constructed above "2008 volume," which means the level the river would have attained if it had been constrained by all the flood control--higher than it actually was when it was able to spread.

Sign at McGrath Amphitheatre marking 2008 water level

The city has also raised the height of its wells and communications equipment, and relocated utilities. The 8th Avenue bridge will be replaced in 2023, and elevated to allow people to get over the river, which was problematic in 2008 (and even in a minor flood event in 2016).

The city estimates the total project costs as $550 million up front, $750 million over 20 years, of which about half has been secured: "City leaders continue to develop ideas to determine a funding source for the City's commitment ($110 million) as well as additional funding gaps necessary to construct the entire system." Linn County voters defeated local option sales tax referenda in 2011 and 2012.

Ten years has seen a lot of investment in the flooded areas, both commercial and residential. Assistant City Manager Sandi Fowler cited 364 new units--mostly apartments and condominiums--in Kingston, across the river from downtown, 113 of which are designated "affordable." This represents an investment of $90 million.

New condominiums on the west side

While 1356 flood-damaged properties were purchased and demolished by the city, in many areas away from the river neighborhoods were largely rebuilt, so that by the time you get to J Street SW or 8th Street NW things look very similar to their pre-2008 state.

The National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library is on higher ground, having been moved from its riverfront location in 2011. Mercy Medical Center, one of the city's two hospitals, was affected but figured out solutions for its patients as well as putting itself back together. The city has also seen construction of a new public library, fire station, city market, juvenile detention center and (currently under construction) county public health building. Historic features like the Paramount Theater, Gatto Building, and Roosevelt Hotel were saved and restored, as were smaller buildings like this former sausage shop and adjacent beer warehouse:

Shops in the 1100 block of 2nd St

Investment in New Bohemia has spread to long-neglected buildings like the Ideal Theater building on 16th Av SW. (Note the restored ticket window.)

The 1980 Water Pollution Control Facility southeast of the city had to close for two weeks in 2008, and was not fully operational again until September. In 2014 it was augmented with flood walls and berms as well as re-designed components.

The anniversary was not without its bittersweet moments, as despite the subsequent progress, the flood did bring considerable stress to home and business owners, and several blocks of housing near the river have been turned into green space...

Looking east from Northwest Neigborhood memorial

...with aspirations for recreational development (see 2014 post below).

Local historian Mark Stoffer-Hunter took time on his historic preservation bus tour to note commercial buildings that were lost, either due to the flood itself or--as in the cases of the Smulekoff's Building and Cooper's Mill Hotel--to make way for flood protection. I was pleased to see that the Northwest Neighborhood memorial included a map showing where there had been housing since the flood.

Taylor School, restored after the flood and reopened in 2009, is slated for closing in the next few years as part of the school district's consolidation plan.

It is also clear, from census tract analysis, that the benefits of rebuilding have not reached everyone. Of the six flood-affected tracts in Cedar Rapids where data are comparable across decades, there has not only been the population loss you would expect but in some areas definite increases in poverty.

CENSUS TRACT	APPROX. AREA	POP 2000	POP 2010	POP 2016	POV 1999	POV 2012	POV 2016
12	West side: TimeCheck	3215	1282	1684	8.7	17.9	14.1
22	West side: Kingston	2941	1832	2185	11.6	29.3	26.3
26	West side: Czech Villg	2967	2416	2745	15.4	17.4	19.9
19	East side: Downtown & MedQtr	3359	2891	2921	22.5	37.5	38.8
27	East side: New Boh & OakhillJ	1842	1549	1666	28.2	36.8	41.3
28	East side: so of Mt Vernon Rd	4223	4126	4247	6.9	9.7	8.5

[Sources: American Community Survey, Brookings Institution]

In three cases (19, 22 and 27) the poverty increases have qualified those areas for Opportunity Zone designation by the federal government, which may stimulate further investment. It remains to be seen how widely the benefits from that investment will flow.

Cedar Rapids faces challenges, both of sustaining its post-flood resurgence and of making the benefits of its prosperity more inclusive.

Special thanks to Rob Davis, Sandi Fowler, Roy Heseman, Mike Kuntz and historian extraordinaire Mark Stoffer-Hunter for leading bus tours on June 18, 2018. Much of this information comes from their narration and handouts.

EARLIER POSTS:
"Proposed Cedar Rapids Greenway," 13 June 2014
"CR Flood '5 Years Out,'" 31 May 2013

Special Gazette page 6/10/2018

Opportunity Zones in CR

Construction on 12th Ave in New Bohemia;
does this look under-invested?

Three census tracts in the center of Cedar Rapids have been designated Opportunity Zones by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The program, included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, attempts to improve economic growth in poor areas by making investors in the zones eligible for special treatment of capital gains income. The city chose four out of  13 tracts that met the AAA's criteria; three were submitted by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, among 62 selected statewide (Patane 2018a, Patane 2018b).

The combined area of the three Opportunity Zones--Linn County tracts 1900, 2200 and 2700--includes Kingston Village on the west side of the river, as well as Downtown, the MedQuarter, New Bohemia and Oakhill Jackson on the east side. Parts of Wellington Heights and Mound View are included as well. Coe College, which among other distinctions employs me, is part of tract 1900. The combined area is bounded by 16th Street East, the railroad tracks that cross the river, 11th Street West, and the Cedar River as far as 19th Street SE.

The purpose of the Opportunity Zone program is to revitalize economically-distressed areas. The premise is that low-to-no taxes will shift investors' calculus and make these areas more attractive. Only a few kinds of businesses are excluded, so commercial development, housing construction, new businesses, existing businesses, and infrastructure are all eligible. It's a new name for an old approach, previously incarnated as Enterprise Zones, Empowerment Zones and New Market Tax Credits. Performance under those programs was mixed (Hirasuna and Michael 2005, Busso et al. 2013); the particularly positive effects on employment and wages of the Empowerment Zones  program (which also had a substantial social services component) were mitigated by program costs as well as the degree of regulation which deterred much participation (Looney 2018a).

Tract #1900: Another medical building coming
where there used to be a church and some rooming houses

As a resident of Cedar Rapids, the choice of the our three Opportunity Zones is puzzling; I would have taken note of the rapid redevelopment of Downtown, New Bohemia and Kingston Village since the 2008 flood, whose anniversary we're celebrating this week. I would have liked to use the Opportunity Zone incentives to help connect the new prosperity to residents of the core neighborhoods that border them. But the governments' choices are clarified by looking at the statistical criteria--see the datasets produced by the Brookings Institution and Smart Growth America, cited and linked below--and given the super-fast rollout of the program they didn't have time to do much else. The three census tracts have the highest rates of poverty and child poverty in Linn County. This table compares the three Opportunity Zones with three low-income, bordering tracts. (Of these three, only #2600 was eligible for inclusion; it was included in the city's application but not chosen by the state.)

Census Tract	Rough Description	Poverty Rate 2016	Child Poverty Rate 2016	Brookings Distress Index (scale is 0 to 1)
2700	New Bohemia, Oakhill Jackson	41.3	63.1	.954
1900	Downtown, MedQuarter	38.8	57.2	.805
2200	Kingston Village, Taylor Area	26.3	34.5	.885
2600	Czech Village	19.9	18.4	.864
2300	Johnson Avenue W	18.7	28.6	.749
2500	Linwood Cemetery	18.6	17.2	.861

 [Source:Brookings Institution]

In part, we are constrained by the boundaries of census tracts, which are small but can be diverse. Tract #2700, for example, has experienced massive investment and an ongoing commercial and condo construction boom from the river to about 6th Street. It is also the only one of the three Cedar Rapids Opportunity Zones that has already experienced sufficient housing investment to qualify as gentrifying according to the Brookings measure. Above 6th Street, though, is where the distress remains, and where the poverty has in fact increased since 2012. Tract #1900 similarly includes high- and low-investment chunks. It's experienced more displacement than Oakhill Jackson as the medical facilities and the college have expanded their footprints. Poverty in that zone was stable between 2012 and 2016.

Tract #2700: Will whatever prosperity is brought to Opportunity Zones

 benefit poorer residents?

It will be interesting, then, particularly for those who care about their cities, to see how the Opportunity Zones program plays out. Broadly speaking there are three possibilities:

1. No impact on places or people. In these already-burgeoning areas, investors score generous tax treatment for actions they would have taken anyway. Essentially, they get rewarded for being physically near poor people. Nothing changes on the ground, but the U.S. government takes a significant revenue hit which will eventually be felt most heavily by the most vulnerable people.
2. Positive impact on places, negative impact on people. Tax expenditures spur increased economic development in Opportunity Zones, reflected on the ground in new and expanded businesses and new middle class residents. Poverty drops like a rock, but in part because poor residents can't afford the jonesed-up housing market, and are displaced to less expensive but harder-to-fix locations.
3. Positive impact on places and people. Tax expenditures spur increased economic development that creates jobs and career opportunities for existing residents, as well as attracting new middle class residents. Poverty declines, both within the district and nationwide, because we've addressed the problems rather than just displacing them. Maybe there is even some positive spillover to adjoining tracts.

Is there anything we can do to help outcome #3 happen, given the program's loose structure and capital-based incentives? "[T]he value of the tax subsidy is ultimately dependent on rising property values, rising rents, and higher business profitability," not inclusive housing (Looney 2018a), job creation or locally-based business. Research is inconclusive on cities' attempts to embrace new investment while regulating the negative effects on existing residents ("smart gentrification," cf. Cortright and Mahmoudi 2014, Grabinsky and Butler 2015). But it seems to me that it's up to localities like Cedar Rapids to manage the impact of Opportunity Zones, mainly by supplementing the federal tax expenditure with a more service-based approach aimed at local businesses and lower-income individuals.

SEE ALSO:

Economic Innovation Group page on opportunity zones


Don Hirasuna and Joel Michael, "Enterprise Zones: A Review of the Economic Theory and Empirical Evidence," Minnesota House of Representatives Research Department, January 2005

Adam Looney, "The Early Results of States' Opportunity Zones Are Promising, But There's Still Room for Improvement," Brookings, 18 April 2018

Matthew Patane, "Downtown Cedar Rapids Designated as an 'Opportunity Zone,'" Cedar Rapids Gazette, 21 May 2018 [includes map of OZs in Linn and Johnson Counties]

Smart Growth America's Opportunity Zone navigator: https://smartgrowthamerica.org/program/locus/opportunity-zones/

Smart Growth America webinar "Understanding Your Opportunity Zones", 26 June 2018: https://smartgrowthamerica.org/watch-the-recorded-webinar-on-understanding-your-opportunity-zones/ 

Brett Theodos, Brady Meixell and Carl Hedman, "Did States Maximize their Opportunity Zone Selections?" Urban Institute, 21 May 2018