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David Sucher’s Three Rules for Walkable Neighborhoods

by Sandy Ikeda
Fri, 25 Apr 2008

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David Sucher thoughtfully addressed in his blog "City Comforts" back on April 17th (Sorry David, I'm a bit slow) the question I raised somewhat tongue-in-cheek in my post on "Jean Nouvel v. Community Board 5," which objected to Mr. Nouvel's proposed extension for MoMA for its lack of fit: "Can aesthetic impact statements be far behind"?

My main point was that community boards should be highly tolerant of new architecture in great cities like New York because 1) the exercise of political power in such matters can backfire, and 2) the concept of neighborhood preservation in a dynamic urban environment is highly problematic. David's response speaks to the issue of whether, through politics or persuasion, there are certain principles that a neighborhood or community can establish beforehand that would guide developers/architects in their plans and thus avoid the need for costly haggling later. In his book City Comforts, he offers the following rules, which have to do not with aesthetics exactly but with design:

1. Build to the sidewalk (i.e., property line).
2. Make the building front "permeable" (i.e., no blank wall).
3. Prohibit parking lots in the front of the building.

I haven't read his book yet so I'm unable to make an informed comment on his approach, but I find them, after skimming his chapter on the three rules, sensible and consistent with the idea of promoting activity on sidewalks and making buildings more attractive – i.e., serving to attract flows of users. (You can read a PDF version of a chapter that details his three rules here.) Like those of Jane Jacobs or Joel Garreau, David Sucher's suggestions apply to both private builders and government planners.

The case of the Nouvel building, however, is not complicated. An empty lot now occupies the footprint of the building, and the frontage is quite narrow compared with other buildings abutting it on three sides. Here are some nice renderings from a Design Magazine blog that give you a good idea of the street front. Notice that while the tower dominates the block vertically, it takes up a relatively little frontage. It's also built to the sidewalk, permeable, and without parking except on the street. Take a look.

The relevant message here for CB 5, I believe, is that rules beat discretion.

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