Victor Dover, Past Chair of the Congress for New Urbanism, and principal-in-harge at Dover, Kohl & Partners, spoke at Rollins College recently and asked the audience – how they would identify a successful streetscape? Answers ranged from width of the street to cleanliness to the number of connections made by the street. But, the answer was simple – do they see people walking? That’s right, it all boiled down to pedestrian activity.
Look no further than the City of Winter Park. Do you remember Park Avenue without bricks? Dover led the streetscape project to brick the street to not only slow down traffic and create a safer space for cars, cyclists and people but also add elegance and authenticity to this area. This is true in the City of Winter Garden as well. The biggest “aha” moment was the comment we should be designing cities for children – making safe, adaptive, intriguing, comfortable streets for interactive and experiential learning.
For those who want to read more, check out Victor Dover’s new book Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns, with co-author John Massengale.
