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Old Posted Jan 9, 2021, 9:00 PM
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College Campuses Are Designed at Human-Scale. Our Cities Can Be Too.

College Campuses Are Designed at Human-Scale. Our Cities Can Be Too.


January 6, 2021

By Collin Slowey

Read More: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/...urban-planning

Quote:
.....

There are many reasons why the college environment facilitates relationships and personal connections. Everyone there is at a similar age and stage in life. Classes and majors tend to group students by interests and personality traits. There is also a relative freedom from responsibility. One factor often overlooked, though, is the structure of colleges themselves. Because of their scale and walkability, college campuses meet human social needs in a way that is impossible for many of our nation’s towns and cities.

- Cars are an important part of people’s lives, and they are not going away. Nevertheless, no amount of mechanized transportation can replace the innate desire for human-scale environments. Low levels of social capital in car-centric neighborhoods make this clear. — College campuses, in contrast, are designed for humans. At my own school, Baylor University, students who live in dormitories are able to work, eat and worship all within walking distance of their homes. Off-campus residents have it a little harder, but often even they require no more than a bicycle or scooter on a day-by-day basis. Apartment dwellers actually have an advantage in that they are free to host guests, and when one’s friends live only a block or two away, entertaining becomes a frequent occurrence. Finally, there are a plethora of amenities, from restaurants and gyms to libraries and green spaces, contained within campus borders.

- All this is the norm among older universities, not the exception. The long and short of it is that colleges are built to facilitate face-to-face human interaction and an integrated lifestyle. In essence, they are 15-minute neighborhoods owned by a single entity. Meanwhile, most American cities are built to facilitate efficient commercial exchanges and a compartmentalized lifestyle. The latter might be more convenient, but the former make for greater happiness in the long run. — Fortunately, things do not have to be this way. The suburban experiment is not ordained by natural law. It is just that an experiment and it is subject to revision. Before the 20th century, Americans thought of their towns and cities in much the same way that we continue to think of our college campuses. They were built to be integrated communities, constructed to be navigable by foot, and most importantly made to serve human beings, with all their diverse social and physiological needs. By committing to the traditional development pattern, we can resurrect this vision of civic life.

- Of course, our urban centers are unlikely to become as idyllic as Oxford, Harvard or even Baylor. Large endowments and world-class architects are not to be found in the average city planner’s toolkit. However, by taking many small, practical steps to improve our surroundings, we can transform our neighborhoods into something more closely resembling a college campus. We can make sure that they are navigable by foot, that they are filled with more amenities and that those amenities are within walking distance of people’s homes. This will ultimately increase residents’ social capital and quality of life. — If Americans continue to look back at their college years with nothing more than resigned nostalgia, then my student friend’s lament will remain a truism. But if, instead, citizens turn to college campuses as a model for urban planning, they will find a great deal that can be learned and applied to their broader communities.

.....



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  #2  
Old Posted Jan 9, 2021, 10:52 PM
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The university I went to is feeling increasingly urban as it's growing denser. It used to have a lot of empty spaces and buildings separated from walkways by lawns, but now there's several attractive squares and walkways.
ex:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.47143...7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.47193...7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.47252...7i13312!8i6656

Also the suburban area next to campus is redeveloping into an urban neighbourhood. It used to be mostly 1950s-1960s ranch houses and split levels rented out to students and not there's midrise apartments with ground floor retail even on the side streets (in fact, maybe even more commonly on side streets than on the arterials).
https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.47581...7i16384!8i8192
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  #3  
Old Posted Jan 12, 2021, 5:45 AM
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Old Posted Jan 12, 2021, 12:39 PM
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Colleges are certainly much better at being pedestrian-friendly than typical U.S. development, but they're not entirely ideal because the idyllic "campus" built form that the U.S. loves doesn't quite work well when blown up to larger scale.

Basically the issue with campuses is that once a school gets large enough, they just are a little too expansive to be walkable. A nice central quad is a good communal amenity - I think all schools should have this. But buildings are also set back far from sidewalks with lots of landscaping basically everywhere - with most of this landscaping being passive space of about as little use as that in an office park. Lots of people hang out in it/walk through it because they have no choice. But it's ultimately designed to look pastoral and "nice" - not to be functional.

Another example is the common separation of uses on a college campus, which tends to try and recreate the 1950s idea of "city rings" in miniature. Typically you will see a central ring of academic buildings, with dorms placed on the outer fringes of the campus. On a smaller campus this is fine, but on a large campus this can lead to uncomfortably long "walking commutes." When I was a student there were times when I had to walk 30+ minutes to get to a single classroom. I did it - and it was great for getting in shape. But it was a pain logistically - particularly when I had like a 90-miniute gap between classes and realized it just wasn't worthwhile to walk back to my dorm and leave again. There's no reason why we couldn't intersperse academic and residential buildings - or even have purpose-designed mixed-use buildings with lower floors for classroms and upper floors for residence.
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  #5  
Old Posted Jan 12, 2021, 1:36 PM
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The Bloomsbury district in London is one of the few areas planned and with straight roads, -designed round a series of squares where the many major institutions are based, such as the University
of London and the British Museum. It could have been what most of London would have turned out like after the Great Fire, had the people not ignored the grand plan and rebuilt on their old plots.

It can work (looks lovely from above), but it's also one of the quietest areas of the capital, for good or bad. Businesses such as shops and restaurants don't exactly thrive like elsewhere.


https://mappinglondon.co.uk

Jason Hawkes, http://d3e1m60ptf1oym.cloudfront.net...88_xgaplus.jpg

http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-ge...ing-London.jpg

http://d3e1m60ptf1oym.cloudfront.net...45339_uxga.jpg




foreground -you'll see the formality of the plan change as it abutts the medieval winding streets of the rest of the city, much denser and busier:





Footfall -residents like it for its quietude, but everyone else finds no real reason to visit. Despite drawing thousands of students, it has no major nightlife.
I will say though the businesses are almost all independent, though what would normally be a draw for everyone jaded of the high street chains, isn't. The quality of produce
isn't great, with low end restaurants and corner shops (though of course with hidden gems) that have degraded due to the low footfall. They're now universally suffering this past
year and a lot have closed.


https://mr2.homeflow-assets.co.uk

The nearest it gets to busy is the Brunswick Centre, a local modernist icon of mixed housing and classy shopping/ eating/ sipping that occupies one 'campus' square.


https://i.pinimg.com/originals/03/9e...1ad25125d7.jpg


www.architecture.com

Last edited by muppet; Jan 12, 2021 at 5:04 PM.
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  #6  
Old Posted Jan 12, 2021, 1:54 PM
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In short a campus format looks very nice (and walkable), but a leetle too quiet imo -it's just not as permeable. Too much orderly space, long one-sided streets and greenery misses out on the enjoyable chaos a city can offer, and makes for longer walks to access shops. -Which in turn starts a vicious circle as it means less shops, and even longer walks etc.

Last edited by muppet; Jan 12, 2021 at 5:09 PM.
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  #7  
Old Posted Jan 12, 2021, 2:41 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton View Post
- or even have purpose-designed mixed-use buildings with lower floors for classroms and upper floors for residence.
The most extreme example of that in Chicago is Roosevelt University's "vertical campus". It's 469' tall and the lower 14 floors contain classrooms, labs, offices, and other academic spaces, and the upper 18 floors contain a 600-bed dorm with drop-dead gorgeous lakefront views overlooking grant park.


Source: https://www.archdaily.com/74188/roos...voa-associates


From what I've heard and read, the expense of building this edifice has put the school in some pretty challenging financial straits. Apparently they decided to build it and then ask for donations after the fact. Looks like someone skipped the lesson on the proper ordering of horses and carts.
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Old Posted Jan 12, 2021, 6:47 PM
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Unless it's an urban campus, they tend not to be really built to human scale. There's just no cars. The buildings are far apart and it's a pretty long walk from one to the other but the squirrels LOVE them.

@ muppet. Bloomsbury is such a cool area. If I lived in London, that's where I'd live. Stayed in a hotel next door to the Brunswick Centre. First time I was there, it was rather dystopian and later, they cleaned it up and added a Sainsbury's.

Last edited by JManc; Jan 12, 2021 at 7:31 PM.
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  #9  
Old Posted Jan 12, 2021, 6:54 PM
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They should add people movers like the one in JAX.
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  #10  
Old Posted Jan 12, 2021, 9:41 PM
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People always ignore scalability in these kinds of arguments. College campuses can be entirely pedestrian oriented because they are tiny, relatively speaking. You can't just scale it up and get a functioning modern city out of it.
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  #11  
Old Posted Jan 12, 2021, 10:33 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by badrunner View Post
People always ignore scalability in these kinds of arguments. College campuses can be entirely pedestrian oriented because they are tiny, relatively speaking. You can't just scale it up and get a functioning modern city out of it.
I agree

But other places which tend to exist in a campus format, like medical centers, corporate offices, and the like tend to be less human scaled. These do have much different needs of course.
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  #12  
Old Posted Jan 13, 2021, 6:47 AM
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This is a nice thread.
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  #13  
Old Posted Jan 15, 2021, 6:27 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton View Post
Colleges are certainly much better at being pedestrian-friendly than typical U.S. development, but they're not entirely ideal because the idyllic "campus" built form that the U.S. loves doesn't quite work well when blown up to larger scale.

Basically the issue with campuses is that once a school gets large enough, they just are a little too expansive to be walkable. A nice central quad is a good communal amenity - I think all schools should have this. But buildings are also set back far from sidewalks with lots of landscaping basically everywhere - with most of this landscaping being passive space of about as little use as that in an office park. Lots of people hang out in it/walk through it because they have no choice. But it's ultimately designed to look pastoral and "nice" - not to be functional.

Another example is the common separation of uses on a college campus, which tends to try and recreate the 1950s idea of "city rings" in miniature. Typically you will see a central ring of academic buildings, with dorms placed on the outer fringes of the campus. On a smaller campus this is fine, but on a large campus this can lead to uncomfortably long "walking commutes." When I was a student there were times when I had to walk 30+ minutes to get to a single classroom. I did it - and it was great for getting in shape. But it was a pain logistically - particularly when I had like a 90-miniute gap between classes and realized it just wasn't worthwhile to walk back to my dorm and leave again. There's no reason why we couldn't intersperse academic and residential buildings - or even have purpose-designed mixed-use buildings with lower floors for classroms and upper floors for residence.
30+ minutes really? My alma mater was built in the 1960s and all of the campus housing was 20min max. My first year residence was a 5-15 min walk from all my classes. My sister who attended the same university but lived in a different residence also had a 10 min walk. Even the off campus housing is mostly <25 min walking distance. And this is a university with over 30,000 undergrads. If it takes over 30 minutes to walk from the residence to the closest classroom that makes it seem like its more of a density issue than a mixing of uses issue.

I think it makes sense to have the teaching facilities clustered together, so that you can walk from one class to another within 10 minutes.

That's why my university has been expanding mainly by infilling those "residual green spaces" (and parking lots). In the 1960s initial development phase, the teaching facilities quickly sprawled across an area that's about a 10 min walking radius, and has been infilling ever since.
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Old Posted Jan 15, 2021, 7:33 AM
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A city like an urban campus would be like those mixed use developments were you’ve got retail and residential but it’s all one modern development. SoDo SoPa.
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Old Posted Jan 16, 2021, 2:02 PM
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Quote:
College Campuses Are Designed at Human-Scale.
Someone had never been to OSU.
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Old Posted Jan 16, 2021, 2:36 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by memph View Post
30+ minutes really? My alma mater was built in the 1960s and all of the campus housing was 20min max. My first year residence was a 5-15 min walk from all my classes. My sister who attended the same university but lived in a different residence also had a 10 min walk. Even the off campus housing is mostly <25 min walking distance. And this is a university with over 30,000 undergrads. If it takes over 30 minutes to walk from the residence to the closest classroom that makes it seem like its more of a density issue than a mixing of uses issue.
So I went on Google and checked. My dorm freshman year was at the extreme northeastern edge of campus, and I occasionally had classes at the extreme southwestern side of campus. Google says the walking distance is 24 minutes, though I lived in a tower so the "dorm room to classroom" walk was probably around 30 minutes.
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Old Posted Dec 7, 2021, 1:32 PM
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College campuses are generally built at human scale because they were built before WW2, if not before the 20th century. I’m sure there are plenty of auto sprawl exurban campuses of newer, lower tier schools.
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Old Posted Dec 7, 2021, 4:44 PM
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I was expecting to see UC San Diego on your list!

UC San Diego isn't designed for people. One problem is that the steep hills and canyons break up any sort of cohesion on campus. Then you have the 5 freeway separating the main campus from other parts of campus and student housing. The best improvement for mobility was the fully elevated Trolley extension that connects both sides.
https://goo.gl/maps/xtgSZGBifoMaVdHh8

This is a 44 minute walk to get from on campus student housing on the east side to on campus housing on the west side.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Nuev...32.8881011!3e2

Keep in mind, most students live off campus in market rate apartments in this area:
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.8673.../data=!3m1!1e3

1 hour 8 minute walk from here:
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/The+...32.8633428!3e2

There are Super Loop bus routes that are typically jam packed full of students to commute from market rate apartments to campus. Often the bus pulls up and it's at capacity, leaving students behind at the stop.

Packed Super Loop Bus:
https://goo.gl/maps/2Y42hhgjMHeUtZ6f6
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  #19  
Old Posted Dec 7, 2021, 4:50 PM
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College campuses are generally built at human scale because they were built before WW2, if not before the 20th century. I’m sure there are plenty of auto sprawl exurban campuses of newer, lower tier schools.
Like FAU. Every building with its own big parking lot:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Fl...!4d-80.1010633

or Florida Gulf Coast University:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Fl...!4d-81.7752618
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  #20  
Old Posted Dec 7, 2021, 5:20 PM
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Outside of backwards places, a college campus will be designed for students without cars as well as those with them. This is a current ethic and typical requirement, not a historic remnant.

Those SD images are interesting. This seems like a once-small campus that got stuck as it grew. Land is used sorta efficiently but topography and protections get in the way. It would be nice to respond to that by building some much higher density closer in vs. holding tight to an outdated campus vision.
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