Our city was built around cars. That's a pretty self-explanatory statement which really does not need explaining. Our auto-oriented streets also cause unhealthy levels of air pollution and lead to a very understandable spike in traffic deaths. While bike lanes, wider sidewalks, and road diets certainly help, there is still one more alternative, pioneered by Barcelona, which could potentially revolutionize our use of public space: the superblock.
(People gathering in a newly pedestrianized square in Barcelona).
The concept of the superblock is simple enough. In it, vehicle traffic, buses and other motorized transport are pushed to bordering roads, while the interior is reserved for pedestrians, bikes, and (greatly slowed down) resident and delivery vehicles. Parking spaces within the superblock are also eliminated or moved underground. Here's a schematic for reference:
Barcelona's superblocks model is projected to save 700 lives per year from premature deaths, while its car emissions reductions are just as enticing in California, where 40% of our emissions come from cars. The reclaiming of public space also acts as a democratizing force; strengthening community bonds, mutual aid and local organizing. The question is, would this work in a suburban American city like San Jose?
To answer this question, we need to understand some important prerequisites for successful superblocks; prerequisites which dense cities like Barcelona far exceed:
- Mixed-use neighborhoods. People need to have amenities and activities within easy walking and biking distance to promote better usage of the new public space.
- Dense (or moderately dense) housing. This goes hand-in-hand with mixed-use planning. People are the focus here, and these public spaces only work when large amounts of people can access them.
- High-quality transit along the perimeter to reduce car dependency.
Unfortunately, most of San Jose lacks this kind of urbanity. In order to make a superblock system effective in our city, three things need to happen:
- Increased density in the suburbs. With state legislation such as SB 1120 (fingers crossed) , and hopefully with a new Opportunity Housing program by the City, duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes will become increasingly more common in San Jose's suburban areas; bringing much needed density and inclusionary practices into our suburbs. This density, and the increased amount of people on our street, can also serve as a catalyst for urban public spaces.
- Transit improvements. To truly rid ourselves of our car addiction, it is absolutely imperative that transit be a competitive alternative to cars in our cities. For superblocks to work, VTA service levels must increase dramatically, which doesn't seem like it's happening anytime soon, and transit priority on our streets, which you can read about here.
- Mixed use neighborhoods. Nobody's going to use their newly public streets unless they have a reason to walk. You can read about how we can turn our suburbs into mixed-use neighborhoods with small-scale commercial activity here.
Communications Hill
San Jose's newest, and still under development, neighborhood is arguably the perfect candidate for superblock treatment. Housing in the neighborhood is in varying densities, with retail and amenities as well. Restricting non-resident cars to Communications Hill Boulevard and Azores, reducing vehicle speeds within the superblock to 5 miles per hour, and blocking certain intersections to vehicle traffic can radically reimagine public space on the hill. With cars reduced to speeds of 5 mph, pedestrians and cyclists will be able to access and share the full road with cars, instead of being pushed out to the fringes. Communications Hill also has several trails, as well as a shuttle service being planned to ferry residents to VTA light rail stations located close by.
Midtown
This dense, transit-oriented section of mid-town is another ideal location for a superblock. The area is bounded by the high-frequency bus corridor of Stevens Creek Boulevard and VTA Light Rail to the south. Converting the internal roads to right-turn only would limit the intersection to only residential vehicles, while reducing speeds to 5 mph would allow pedestrians and cyclists more freedom on the streets. The newly freed-up road-space in the intersection could then be converted into public squares and gathering places. Transit improvements such as queue jumps and bus boarding islands on Stevens Creek could make transit an even more enticing travel option.
Japantown
While Japantown's housing densities are a little on the low side (here's to hoping for SB 1120), the area is still very capable of superblock conversion. With a light rail station on its southwest corner and high-frequency buses running down Taylor Street, the area is certainly well served by transit, while its busy commercial life leads to significant pedestrian volumes. Like with Midtown, traffic within the superblock would be restricted to right turns at 5 mph, freeing up plenty of space for active transport and leisure on the streets.
Ideally, 4th Street would also be car-free. However, since it is an important vehicle corridor, the Japantown superblock could always be divided into 2 superblocks measuring 2x3 blocks in size.
Little Portugal
Little Portugal is a transit rich neighborhood with a good grid pattern, which make for an effective superblock. The 22 bus runs along Santa Clara Street to the north and King Road to the far east, with BRT along Santa Clara past 34th Street. The intersection of 28th and Santa Clara is also set to become a BART station within the next decade. The only problem is the low density of the neighborhood (should hopefully be fixed with SB 1120), and the lack of amenities and retail in the interior of the superblocks, which necessitates some sort of rezoning to allow for small commercial uses, as outlined earlier and in another blog post. Like the rest of the superblocks, internal roads would be restricted to through traffic, with forced right turns.
Other Potential Areas
While there are a few other areas within our city which can be acceptable for superblocks, I decided just to make an example out of a few. The Rose Garden and Willow Glen near Lincoln Avenue come to mind. In general though, any neighborhood with a 2x3 (or 2 x [any number]) grid pattern, attractions which encourage public life, and moderate housing density make for effective superblocks.
Superblocks for the Rest of Us
The VAST majority of San Jose can't be made into democratic superblocks without serious political will. Too often of us live in isolated neighborhoods, where community involvement in neighborhoods is negligible, and existing political leaders shape neighborhoods without listening to often marginalized residents. Our land-use patterns have effectively killed the vibrant, inclusive public life of so many other great cities. It's hard for people to organize if we rarely even meet each other in public.
So how would superblocks work in these suburban neighborhoods. Well, as I have reiterated countless times, density and commercial activity are key. So is transit, to a lesser extent. How would the design work? Well, our suburbs lack the convenient grid patterns of Barcelona, which means that instead of requiring forced right turns for resident vehicles, a similar traffic pattern must be applied to the one I outlined for Communications Hill. Cars will be significantly limited in speed, enabling multi-modal use of residential streets. A good chunk of street-level parking should also be eliminated, while selective stretches of roads and intersections must be reclaimed for public squares.
Thanks for reading! If you enjoy my content, please share it and follow me on Twitter at @personopolis. Reminder that I recently launched a series where I design alternatives to the San Jose flag. My hope is to one day come up with a consensus flag, and eventually get some of them flying in neighborhoods across the city. But I can't do that without your input, suggestions, and creativity.
My next posts will be about guerrilla urbanism and cutting the fat at SJPD. From there I'll post another flag design.
Signing off,
AG
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