Housing Intensification along Arterial Corridors

Location: DC_NMiller/Projects/DCAUL corridor housing/MCHI Products/MCHI Posters/MCHI _corr_dsgn_issues_poster/MCHI_corr_hsg_issue_poster.p65

Noise Outdoor Space

When designing places for people to live, certain issues consistently arise: privacy, noise,
automobile impacts, and the character of the neighborhood are all important to creating a
satisfying living environment.

In housing along arterial corridors, these issues become more pressing. Noise levels can

Issues
be higher, privacy can be more difficult, outdoor spaces can be smaller, and traffic levels
Issues can be greater. Careful design is needed to handle each of these issues.

External Noise Sources Internal Noise Sources This poster highlights issues to consider when designing housing on arterial corridors. Each Access and Boundaries Variety
issue affects both new and longtime residents. For new residents, the focus is on designing Definition of public and private space Accommodation of age groups
Traffic Mechanical for the best possible living environment. For current residents, the focus is on how new
Safety and Surveillance
Speed Heating, ventilation & air conditioning housing can protect and enhance the quality of life in the neighborhood. Both kinds of
issues are included on the poster. Relationship between indoor and outdoor
Large vehicles Plumbing
space
Acceleration Elevators
Relationship between outdoor space and
Parking surrounding neighborhood
Structure
Nearby Uses Slamming doors
Small arterial Activities
Offices & retail (deliveries & traffic) Footsteps on stairs and floors parcel
Entertainment venues (music, loud patrons,
late-night hours) Airborne Noise
Televisions
Strategies
Neighboring residences
Stereos Whole block Access and Boundaries
Airports, train tracks, highways • Provide private outdoor spaces such as balconies, porches, or
Loud voices Site off the fenced yards
Rehabilitation
Sidewalk Activity Parties and other late-night activities of an existing arterial
• Provide shared outdoor spaces such as courtyards, playgrounds,
building and community gardens
• When possible, make links to existing local outdoor amenities,
such as paths and public parks

Strategies Block end

or partial
block
• Define boundaries of private, semi-private, and public outdoor
space with vegetation, attractive fences, changes in landscaping or
Good Site Layout materials, such as paving
• Use vegetation and landscaping to buffer sound • Locate outdoor space within view of residences, to provide informal
• Mask sound with fountains / water surveillance of activities
• Create buffers with setbacks (can be challenging along
corridors) or elevation
Activities
• For all residents, provide a variety of types of outdoor spaces and
• Design internal site streets and sidewalks to buffer activity and activities
noise
• For very small children (3-5) provide formal play areas adjacent to

Site and Context

and highly visible from residences
Good Building Layout & Design
• Locate quiet rooms, such as bedrooms, away from noise • For children (5-11) provide areas for social play and exploration
sources within viewing distance of residences
• Locate windows away from noise sources • For adolescents (12-16) provide less formal places for social
The size, location, and configuration of the site The surroundings of the site present many issues to gathering, and access to local recreation areas
• Insulate loud rooms and /or locate away from quiet rooms
affect the options for housing: be handled:
• Uses hallways and closets as noise buffers • On a larger site, buildings and grounds can be • Are there nearby destinations, such as parks, stores
arranged to create quiet courtyards, mixes of or transit stops, which suggest where entries or
Effective Construction Detailing building types, and underground parking. sidewalks should go?
• Use sound-rated walls and floors
• On a smaller site, units can be tucked into • What is the character of the surrounding
• Use insulated windows existing areas, but creative design might be neighborhood? Should new housing
• Use sound-absorbing materials on building exterior needed to make it fit in.
• How heavy is traffic on nearby roads?
• In an existing structure, careful attention to
Behavioral Changes details is needed to protect privacy, to allow
• What is across the street? Can housing help make a
• Decorate with rugs and soft materials / surfaces cohesive corridor?
individual identity, and to weave parking into the
• Make quiet, neighborly behavior a part of the culture of the existing place. • On large parcels, are there adjacent streets,
residence sidewalks or bike paths that should extend through
• In a single home
the site to improve connections?
• Are there any special conditions

Traffic & Parking Neighborhood Character Privacy

Issues Issues Issues
Traffic Volume Patterns of driving on local streets and on site Site Building Definition of Private Spaces
What are existing and future traffic volumes? Location of site entrances and exits Street and block patterns Building masses, setbacks, and orientation
Types of local traffic Pedestrian access around and through site Parcel sizes, site layout, and building locations Architectural styles, character, and details
First-floor Units
Patterns and times of heaviest traffic flow Automobile access and parking patterns Building materials and colors
Parking Vegetation types and planting patterns Visual variety or uniformity
Circulation Number of spaces needed
Sidewalks, paths, and bicycle networks
Appearance of parking lots and structures
Environmental impact

Strategies Strategies
Strategies Site
• Use new housing to replace or revitalize under-utilized or
Definition of Private Spaces
• Mark property edges with vegetation, material changes,
Traffic-calming Measures unsightly property
attractive fencing, or changes in elevation
• Timing of lights • Use new housing to add missing types, varieties, and costs of
• Use buildings, vegetation, and small structures to form
• Limiting turns during rush hours housing in neighborhood
gateways into semi-private and private spaces
• Limiting types of traffic on street • To fit in with detached housing, use low-rise, high-density design
• Use on-street parking and street-front activities to visually
for multifamily housing First-floor Units
narrow corridor and slow drivers • Place changes in physical forms / housing types in the middle of • Set residences back from property lines
blocks • Place first-floor window sills high up from ground, so
Circulation • Place parking in less visible locations; buffer from neighborhood passersby cannot see in
• Design circulation for maximum efficiency, minimum driving with vegetation and attractive fences • Use vegetation or attractive fencing to screen views into
• Create and mark clear pedestrian routes around and through first-floor residences
site Building • Use porches and stoops as intermediary, transitional
• Use new construction techniques and building types to add
zones between public and private space
Parking visibility, increase surrounding property values, and create real
• Place private rooms, such as bedrooms, away from the
• Divide lots into smaller groupings estate market momentum
street-fronts of residences
• Screen parking from street and residences with vegetation, • Step down building masses away from corridors
• Build commercial or shared community spaces on the
attractive fences • Use materials and design elements that complement
first floor to create a transition between public and private
• Consider porous paving to limit storm water run-off surrounding housing
space
• Build structured parking
• Employ shared parking strategies in mixed-use areas
• Locate parking off-site, in nearby lot or on street

Design Issues for Housing on Corridors

Prepared for: The Minneapolis Corridor Housing Initiative
College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture l University of Minnesota
1 Ralph Rapson Hall, 89 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455