After years of observing neighborhoods and small communities and recently working through Seattle's Neighborhood Planning Program, I believe this simple definition comes closest to my working understanding of the "good" neighborhood.
This paper presents my observations regarding successful neighborhoods, as places and communities, from my recent work in Seattle, Washington as a participant in Seattle's Neighborhood Planning Program. These notes have been prepared for the Proceedings of the 1997 American Planning Association National Conference and accompany a session on neighborhood collaborative planning entitled Neighborhood Planning in the `90s. My observations have grown from a long-standing interest in neighborhoods and small communities, their dynamics and governance, and the quality of life in these places. My involvement in Seattle neighborhoods has included roles as both a professional planner and as a "community activist," and I have tried to integrate these sometimes differing points of view in my observations to the extent possible.
As planners and as a society many of us seem to be wanting for a "town" whose attributes are vaguely perceived and which most everyone seems to believe has been lost. The desire and verve by which we seek to recreate some ideal small town or community on the edge of the city is illustrative. Clearly, many people feel a loss of place and a loss of community in the American landscape. The planning literature has been replete over the last five years or more with "how to" treatise on recreating the essence of "small town America."
What is overlooked, however, is that many long-established urban neighborhoods already provide both the physical character and the "community" that planners seek to create. That the urban "neighborhood" is buried within the, perhaps, over-burdened context of the city and difficult to resurrect is not surprising, having had so little attention over the last thirty years. That many of America's urban neighborhoods suffer from neglect and disinvestment is not news. But there are also "successful" neighborhoods in our cities, and these communities provide many, if not all of the qualities American's have sought throughout the 20th Century and what neotraditional planning seeks to now recreate on the edge of town.
If we take a closer look and take an inventory of our cities, we will find many desirable urban neighborhoods that have been fully-functioning since before people moved to the suburbs. Some neighborhoods are more "successful" than others, and, I believe, this is due in large measure to the attributes I am describing, here. The observations which follow are an attempt to identify what defines a neighborhood and what may make it a worthwhile place in which to invest our lives. This list of observations is by no means exhaustive. It is intended to provide a starting point for the discussion of urban neighborhoods and our participation in them.
city in its entirety, but less often in terms of the smaller territories constituting our neighborhoods. The distinction and importance of these communities can be overlooked, especially because they have little or no governing authority. Neighborhood activists don't share this point of view, however, and many urbanites identify strongly with their own community.
The "neighborhood" has a physical expression which is often identifiable in the character of its central commercial district. Seattle's Fremont neighborhood is a good example. Few residents or merchants would have a difficult time pointing out the center of the neighborhood to a newcomer. "Arty," "eccentric," or "funky" - these are all apt descriptions of Fremont's neighborhood business district at the Lake Washington Ship Canal. A sign reads "Welcome to the Center of the Universe" as you cross into Fremont via its ornate drawbridge. The crossroad of Fremont Avenue at West 36th Street (Leary Way) is truly the "center of Fremont." There is nowhere else in Seattle or America quite like this place, and tourists may come for a brief peek. From this intersection the Fremont neighborhood fans out north, east, and west along the Ship Canal. The people who live and work here possess a strong affection for this district with such clear territorial distinction.
Neighborhood boundaries may be defined in many ways. They can be influenced by natural or man-made physical barriers - topography, geography, the effects of land use codes, or freeways and arterials for example. They can also be delineated by social, economic, and cultural characteristics, as well. The confluence of these physical and social qualities creates the flavor of our neighborhoods. It is all of these qualities that we seek when we chose to live or work in one community instead of another.
History plays a role in the self-definition of the neighborhood, as it evolves through time. The physical environment and culture can interact to create unique urban locales. The Magnolia neighborhood in Seattle provides an example. Magnolia is an urban neighborhood, close to downtown Seattle. As a peninsula, however, it is isolated from the rest of the city due to topography and the Puget Sound. As a result, it was first settled during the 19th and early 20th Century as a rural community and remained relatively undeveloped while other early Seattle neighborhoods on the "mainland" grew up around it. Today, the community has more than 20,000 residents, but it retains a "small town" feel and mindset, based largely on its isolation and historical rural roots. Isolation has influenced Magnolia's people and the neighborhood culture. The community maintains a strong belief in self-sufficiency and self-determination. Local history is important, here, because many residents and merchants are second or third generation Magnolians.
Fremont, as "Center of the Universe," is one example. The Magnolia neighborhood provides another. The "Village" is a thirteen square-block commercial district which provides a compact shopping district and gathering place for the community as well as a regional resource for specialty goods. The Village offers most of the immediate goods and services desired by local residents, and includes such amenities as a drug store, restaurants, gas station, liquor store, coffee houses, bakery, dry cleaners, travel agency, banks, garden nursery, and supermarket. Local institutions include the post office, community recreation center, fire station, and several churches. Professional services are also available. The location of these services in the neighborhood reduces the need to travel outside the community and reinforces the neighborhood's sense of self-sufficiency. The Village also provides a place where people can meet one another and socialize. This is the "heart of Magnolia," and it possesses a "small town" character and function that is rare in many cities.
The Queen Anne hilltop commercial district in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood is another "heart of the neighborhood" example. Queen Anne Avenue is a bustling commercial district which serves the local neighborhood and attracts a regional clientele to its sophisticated shops, restaurants, pubs, and coffee houses. A community center and recreation facility, sports fields, and a public swimming pool are also located nearby. This is undeniably the "heart of Queen Anne," and it provides a focus for and an entry into the community. This successful small town environment has not gone unnoticed. Recently, developers and local businesses as well as corporate chains have discovered Queen Anne hill and are rushing to make of the most of adaptive reuse and new development to add new, up scale commercial and mixed-use projects in the district.
In Fremont, Magnolia, and Queen Anne, local market districts or mixed-use cores provide many of the small-town characteristics and amenities that people in Seattle and elsewhere consistently identify as important to creating community. These areas provide local residents with essential goods and services as well as opportunities to socialize. They reduce vehicular trip lengths and increase the time available for other activities. The manner in which they provide these benefits, in part, establishes the neighborhood's essential identity.
The neighborhood's identification of its essential character or identity can be an important first step in creating a successful Vision Statement or "Vision" at the beginning of a neighborhood planning process. Identifying the neighborhood's perception of itself can be a useful way to start the visioning process (and an education for planners, as well) because it helps give a face to the community in the eyes of participants. Most communities can summarize their current or historical view of themselves. The Vision can then be built upon this view to identify an ideal vision of their future.
The Vision Statements of both Queen Anne and Magnolia start with an "identity statement" that provides critical information about each community. Queen Anne is a diverse and thriving neighborhood which is actually comprised of two communities: Upper Queen Anne - one of Seattle's oldest and most established residential areas; and Lower Queen Anne - located at the crossroads of central Seattle and home of the Seattle Center complex, the cultural "heart of the city." The Queen Anne neighborhood has had a difficult time reconciling these two different identities, but their Vision Statement starts off with the qualities they share in common:
"Queen Anne, a varied and exciting community in the heart of the city, is embarking on a planning process to achieve a future with: A unique community character, both physical and social, which expresses its history, extraordinary assets and talented people."
While these statements appear a little vague, planning participants have identified some essential common neighborhood qualities. Queen Anne is, indeed, varied, exciting, and located in the "heart of the city." This area is also known for its historical architecture and development as well as its talented professional people.
Magnolia's Vision starts with a strongly-articulated identity statement, based upon a common identity and continues defining that image in its Vision:
"Magnolia is a well-established community close to downtown Seattle, but with its own special character shaped by beautiful natural surroundings and separated from other neighborhoods by Puget Sound and other natural and man-made features. People who live and work in Magnolia see their future community as a place which has: A friendly, small-town atmosphere with a strong sense of community and a predominantly single-family character."
The role of geography in defining the neighborhood is made explicit, here. The participants clearly identify with their physical environment and subsequent relative isolation from urban Seattle, consistent with their historical development. The neighborhood's "friendly, small town atmosphere" was noted recurrently in community surveys as the neighborhood's most desirable trait.
Some neighborhoods may wish to radically change their "Identity." Such has been the case with Seattle's Cascade Neighborhood. Cascade is a small, urban neighborhood near the southeast side of Lake Union near downtown Seattle. The neighborhood is a grid of mostly industrial streets, bounded to the east by Interstate 5. By its own admission, the neighborhood is an eclectic collection of buildings of various heights which serve residential, commercial, and light industrial uses. About 1/3 of the land area is presently surfaced and used for parking. There are only 400 residents in Cascade, but the area employs about 3,000 people. The City of Seattle plans to triple these numbers over the next 20 years through urban infill development. The Cascade Neighborhood Council (CNC) began their own planning process in 1994 before the City started its formal Neighborhood Planning Program, and they have made extensive use of the planning and landscape architecture resources of the University of Washington.
One of the most interesting ideas to come out of the planning process is Cascade's Waterflow Vision which would create a new identity for this urban neighborhood. The Waterflow Vision proposes to remake the community into a functional surface water landscape and ecosystem. With the Waterflow Vision Cascade has identified a strong physical character that, if implemented, would serve to make the community truly distinctive. The maps and guidelines articulate this desired new "identity," which is summarized in a description of the Waterflow Vision Map:
"Water has a visible presence in this vision. Stormwater falling on the neighborhood once detained below ground, and then pumped through a labyrinth of pipes, is brought to the surface. Its flow through the neighborhood, is slowed as it is allowed to pool in retention ponds and parking lot wetlands before flowing through the chartered watercourse. The concrete has been removed from paved planting strips and building setbacks and replaced with soil to increase the amount of permeable surfaces and landscaping. Water cycles within the neighborhood as it is absorbed by the plants and transpired to the atmosphere. Constructed wetlands in the remaining surface parking lots clean automobile pollutants from the storm runoff before the water enters the watercourse. A Living Machine is sited in the northwest corner of the neighborhood. This facility is able to separate sewage from water, using plants, animals, and bacteria. The process is odor-free and doesn't have sludge as a byproduct. Instead, the end products include ornamental plants, bait fish, and tertiary treated water."
The Waterflow Vision continues with specific guidelines that elaborate on watershed function, water use reduction, water quality, water reuse, and an "experience of water." The overall Cascade Waterflow Vision seeks to create a new neighborhood identity based on the relationship between the Cascade neighborhood and its watershed. This Vision seeks to replace the present environment of urban hardscape and freeway noise with a natural and replenishing water environment.
These examples illustrate the central role that neighborhood "identity" plays in the establishment of a distinct sense of "place" for the community. While the identity statements in each of these examples differs from one another, each serves to articulate the unique qualities around which communities can grow.
Neighborhood businesses are the places we love to patronize. These can be locally-owned shops or neighborhood-oriented franchise businesses. What is important for neighborhoods is that the owners or managers of these businesses understand the place these establishments have in the community and the important role they play in fostering neighborhood identity. Orientation toward and responsiveness to local conditions are desirable attributes from a community point-of-view.
Businesses illustrate their local involvement in myriad ways: the products they sell, the hours they keep, the services they provide, and their sponsorship of neighborhood events. Local businesses play a role in defining the neighborhood's self-image through their actions, and local residents know and patronize businesses that give back to the community.
An example from the Magnolia neighborhood is illustrative. Caffe Appassionato is a franchise coffee roaster with stores/coffee houses throughout the Puget Sound region. The business was started by two Magnolia executives who decided to start their own local business. Their first shop and roaster was located in a small storefront in Magnolia Village. From the start, the owners of Caffe Appassionato were involved with the community, providing free coffee at community meetings, sponsoring neighborhood events, serving coffee and scones at Saturday youth soccer, hiring local teens, and participating with the local chamber of commerce. The cafe were a hit and so was the coffee, which soon became "Magnoilia's coffee." When they opened a larger store and roaster at another nearby location they included a small conference room that immediately became popular with the neighborhood planning committee and other groups looking for a place to meet. From this conference room the committee members now watch in amazement as tourists, eager to experience a taste of the Seattle coffee phenomenon, are hustled through the facility by tour companies.
The owners of Caffe Appassionato are both local Magnolia residents, and they understand the importance of establishing a local relationship with their neighbors. The image they communicate is one of high quality, generosity, and community connectedness that reflects back on the Magnolia community. Magnolian's like Caffe Appassionato and the manner in which they do business, and they take pride in having spawned such a successful business.
Both of these responses have implications for urban neighborhoods. Schools are among the most important attributes families seek in choosing a neighborhood in which to live. The loss of more affluent and mobile members of the neighborhood from the community sphere, either through the abandonment of community education or outright relocation, can significantly weaken the neighborhood in terms of diversity, civic community, and financial resources.
The importance that schools play in neighborhoods should not be underestimated. Schools will often be a central organizing social institution within a neighborhood and hundreds or thousands of families may be influenced by their operation. School site councils and PTAs can be important and influential neighborhood organizations, if they are integrated into the decision-making of the larger community. Many are not, however, and they operate autonomously without a voice in the neighborhood. Schools, themselves, may downplay their role. Principals are often not familiar with the local neighborhood and local issues and do not participate in events, outside the school. In addition, the use of facilities, such as auditoria, may be off-limits to the community or offered only at a substantial fee.
Lawton Elementary School in the Magnolia neighborhood is an example of a public school that has gone the other way, prioritizing academics and greater integration of school and community. The results have benefited the neighborhood and have helped earn Lawton praise from parents. A visionary principal at Lawton undertook to make enhancement of "community" an implicit part of the school's mission. As a result, Lawton staff and parents have become involved in their neighborhood and have provided additional outreach to Lawton parents in distant neighborhoods, as well. Parents started an ambitious "community school" education project which provided continuing education opportunities throughout the neighborhood, and created a "family resource library" on site for community use. Other efforts have spawned public art, a children's garden, and participation in Magnolia community meetings. These efforts have made the neighborhood a better place to live and have provided benefits for the school, as well. Student performance has improved and Lawton is now considered the most desirable elementary school to attend in the Seattle School District.
Many neighborhoods have councils which are community-wide organizations and which seek the participation of stakeholders, whether these are residents, business owners, employees, or property owners. Their mission is often explicitly or implicitly to watch out for the interests of the neighborhood and intervene on its behalf. Specific missions may vary and include community education of issues, intervention, communication, advocacy, or other functions. Community council organizational structures vary, but most rely on some form of executive council or board for decision-making and direction.
The Queen Anne neighborhood has such a council, the Queen Anne Community Council (QACC). The QACC is a community-based not-for-profit corporation founded in 1968. It recognizes all of Queen Anne as its service area. Under the terms of its bylaws, the QACC includes anyone over the age of 18 who resides within the Queen Anne community or is a designated representative of any public agency or private business located within the community as a member. The QACC is governed by a 23-member Board of Trustees elected at large. The QACC serves the community through its committees and has sponsored many community-oriented projects. One of its most important and best-known committees is the Land Use and Review Committee (LURC) which reviews important development affecting Queen Anne. The committee invites presentations from development proponents and makes recommendations on proposed projects. The City of Seattle looks to the committee for local guidance for project approval, and this group has had a significant impact on the character of development in the neighborhood. LURC is often cited as a good Seattle example of the value of a community-based review committee.
The QACC is not without its share of trials, however. The organization charges no dues and has no ongoing funding source, which severely limits its activities. It has also been plagued recently by personality disputes among board members, and its relationship with the local chamber of commerce has been strained. These and other problems have led other Seattle neighborhoods to take a close look at the structure and function of their own community organizations.
The Queen Anne Community Council, despite its limitations, fulfills a need, by providing an avenue for local civic participation, and an influence on the character of the neighborhood. Civic participants in Queen Anne are not satisfied with this limited role, however, and the structure and operation of the QACC will surely evolve as Queen Anne proceeds with its neighborhood planning process. In the future, the QACC may seek greater influence over decisions which affect the neighborhood rather than less.
Diversity in the choice of housing is needed to address the needs and desires of a diverse and changing population. Housing needs evolve with age and life style: young people need affordable housing while in college or at the start of their careers; families need larger homes; seniors need affordable retirement housing. People desire a diversity in the character of their housing from small, low maintenance flats to garden estates. There is a need for affordable housing, estates, and everything in-between. Ideally, a neighborhood will possess a wide variety of housing options. Often as not, however, one type of housing on lots of one size predominates. Suburban neighborhoods are notorious for this characteristic, but many urban neighborhoods possess the same monotonous quality.
There is a demand for diverse goods and services in our neighborhoods, and residents want them filled locally. Neighborhood surveys in Seattle indicate that many residents prefer to patronize neighborhood businesses, but they want a variety of goods and services as well as convenient hours. One recent neighborhood survey found that a majority of respondents purchased their groceries (86 percent), drugstore items (84 percent), dry cleaning (76 percent), banking services (72 percent). and video rentals (68 percent) locally. They also purchased a large portion of their beauty/barber shop services, hardware, and plants and garden supplies in the neighborhood. When asked what other goods and services they wanted in the neighborhood, their suggestions included more choices for clothing and shoes, specialty gift stores, housewares, sports equipment, a variety store, auto repair, sewing/crafts, wine/gourmet foods, and a natural/bulk foods grocery. While it is clear that local businesses cannot supply all the needs of a community, it appears that there is a tremendous demand for a variety of local goods and services that is currently going unmet.
A diversity of neighborhood employment options is a plus, if locals are to find opportunities to work in their own community. Neighborhood businesses are often small-scale and employment opportunities may be limited. Local employment opportunities and diversity should be encouraged, if the goal is allow people to work where they live. Encouragement of professional services locating within the neighborhood may be appropriate, as well, since these businesses are relatively low impact and changes in communications no longer dictates that they be located downtown.
Cultural and recreational needs may also be met locally. Community recreation centers, swimming pools, libraries, theaters, and other local amenities are important. The availability of natural recreation amenities and access to nature and open space often rates highly as amenities in neighborhoods where these are found. All age groups need opportunities to recreate, but recreational opportunities for youth are particularly important. Recreation centers may fill many of the needs, but special events, weekend youth sports leagues, and after school activities are also important, and these can provide a means to enhancing the neighborhood's image of itself. Annual community festivals, lectures, theater at the local school. parades, Halloween night in the neighborhood, winter holiday celebrations, and other activities provide opportunities for people who live and work in the neighborhood to get together and experience their community.
Community education programs and community improvement projects are two successful community-building activities which also provide recreational and cultural benefits. A "community school" program which offers courses on everything from face painting to landscaping to a new language educates, entertains, and builds community. Locals may be encouraged to teach courses and seminars in the area of their expertise. Often, local schools may be willing to provide facilities, and local PTAs and community councils will pass the word. Community projects are always popular. Tree planting projects, park clean-up, and other service projects build community while also enhancing the environment. These are often coordinated through community associations or service groups. Various groups in addition to city staff are willing to help neighborhoods set up these projects and oversee implementation.
Neighborhood economic development is a complex and political process. We known that the economic health of the neighborhood and the quality of community life are intimately intertwined. The success of local businesses depends upon the economic resources within the community, which in turn often depend upon circumstances outside the neighborhood. Today, most residents work outside their own neighborhood and the economic health of our community is linked to that of the region.
While regional (of global) economics plays a role in our communities, local neighborhood economic development remains important. The neighborhood market place must prosper, and communities can help promote the growth of their own economies. This may be as simple as encouraging residents to shop locally and businesses to hire local teens or seniors. A more ambitious agenda might include promoting local economic development or entrepreneurial projects that will ultimately produce a benefit to the entire community.
Ultimately, however, the employment and income status of residents will shape the overall economics of the community. Unemployment and poverty destroys neighborhoods. Job creation, good wages, and the means for local people to secure these should be the first order of business of any neighborhood planner or proponent.
Neighborhood participation and planning must be collaborative, if it is to be successful. Collaborative community involvement requires a shift in approach, a commitment to democracy, and patience. The approach respects people and their experience of the community. There may be hundreds or thousands of opinions and points of view, and these must be understood, respected, and distilled into action. Our role as planners requires that we seek solutions that meet stakeholder needs. Patience is a virtue in neighborhood planning, where agreements between participants can take months of meetings. Volunteer committees and democratic decision-making moves slowly. The effort is worth making.