Walk This Way - Daybreak Walkability

I love to walk. I walk for exercise, for peace of mind, for a change of scenery, to really "see" my neighborhood, and finally to actually get somewhere. I get to know my neighbors and my community much better if I walk around instead of driving. But is walking easy and convenient in Daybreak? The numerous trails and sidewalks provide miles and miles of walking paths, but to actually be walkable a community must have certain elements that promote and encourage residents to get out of their cars and use their sneakers. For this reason, one of the main features that is essential to a traditionally designed neighborhood is walkability.

I have found that most people carry a subjective opinion as to what they consider walkable. People who live in a highly urbanized city may consider a location walkable only if it is within a few blocks. On the other hand, I have met some athletic individuals who consider a walkable distance to be anything under five miles. Generally defined, walkability is the availability of most necessities (food, gas, school, etc.) within a comfortable walking distance of a home. A neighborhood is considered walkable if about 90% of the homes in the neighborhood are within a five to ten minute walk of the afore mentioned necessities. In terms of distance, most of these necessities should be located within a half mile. This distance requires pedestrians to walk at a speed of 3 miles per hour which is generally considered a comfortable pace for the majority of the population.

With these objective constraints in mind how walkable is Daybreak? Daybreak, for the most part, cannot be considered a walkable community at the moment. Sure you can get to school and the community center, but to get the basic every-day necessities you would have to walk well over a half mile using streets that are not necessarily pedestrian friendly. This measure will predictably change when the new Village Center is in place and functioning. The center will supposedly offer most everyday goods and services consumed by the average resident. Most Daybreak residents live within a half mile of where the center will be built and the streets leading to the center are pedestrian friendly.

The largest piece of the walkability puzzle that is missing is being able to walk to work. In most cases, I doubt that local residents who support themselves and their families will be able to earn a high enough wage working in retail to live in Daybreak. Possibly Kennecott employees, teachers and administrators from the local schools, and maybe a few others will be able to walk to work, but most people will drive. Creating a green field new urban development can be difficult, but the future bodes well for walkability. The future Daybreak Urban Center will be a place that can attract the type of jobs that Daybreak residents are likely to have. Bottom line: walkability is minimal at this point, but will increase substantially in the future.

Daybreak Apartments?

On March 25th, a notice from the City of South Jordan was distributed to Daybreak residents in close proximity to the proposed Daybreak Apartment Venture #1. This has created some controversy as many residents do not remember hearing anything about apartments in any of the literature or meetings that Kennecott Land or the HOA has sponsored. When many people envisioned Daybreak they saw some high-density housing like condos, but not apartments. However, I am sure that Peter Calthorpe, the man behind the design of Daybreak, envisioned apartments being integrated into the town and urban centers of Daybreak. The reason? New urbanism provides housing such that younger and older, singles and families, the poorer and the wealthier can find places to live. As I have mentioned before, affordability has been a problem in almost all new urban communities. One way to solve this problem is to provide small affordable apartments.

While apartments should be a part of any new urban community, they can have a detrimental effect if applied incorrectly. First, the apartments need to be located in town centers close to shops (possibly above them). Secondly, the apartments must be aesthetically pleasing. Numerous new urban communities have accomplished this by successfully integrating the design into the town center without stand-alone complexes that have big parking lots. Finally, dedicated apartments should not be located outside of town centers in large numbers. The occasional rental house or studio above the garage is ok, but if a large amount of rental properties or apartments are located outside of the town center the community suffers as transient families dominate the community. I would be extremely interested to see the plans of these new apartments to see how Kennecott Land wants to incorporate them.