Environmental Issues > Sustainable Communities Main Page > All Sustainable Communities Documents
Environmental Characteristics of Smart Growth Neighborhoods
An Exploratory Case Study
Chapter 3
EVALUATION OF BUILT ENVIRONMENTS
To accomplish the built environment measurements, Criterion applied its INDEX software to the three sites using data provided by the City of Sacramento and Sacramento County. INDEX is a GIS-based model that measures the physical or spatial characteristics of urban form, housing and employment activities, and transportation systems. Tables 2 and 3 list the results for indicators that were measurable using available data, and Table 4 summarizes these results. Figure 2 (pdf, 152k), Figure 3 (pdf, 209k), and Figure 4 (pdf, 190k) show the location of vicinity features measured with INDEX.
|
Table 2: Built Environment Indicators - Metro Square vs. North Natomas |
|
Table 3: Built Environment Indicators - Metro Square vs. Antelope |
| TABLE 4 Summary of Built Environments Comparison |
|||
| Element | Indicator | Metro Square as % of Natomas |
Metro Square as % of Antelope |
| Land-Use and Urban Form |
Total land consumption | 22 | 26 |
| Per capita land consumption | 29 | 33 | |
| Block size | 45 | 28 | |
| Vicinity use mix | 232 | 425 | |
| Neighborhood completeness | 144 | 144 | |
| Housing | Parcel size | 23 | 29 |
| Density | 333 | 286 | |
| Distance to convenience grocery | 5 | 17 | |
| Distance to supermarket | 13 | 39 | |
| Distance to school | 11 | 63 | |
| Distance to transit | 6 | ¥ | |
| Jobs within one mile | ¥ | 836 | |
| Parks and Recreation |
Park space availability | 108 | ¥ |
| Distance to park | 49 | 11 | |
| Travel | Internal street connectivity | 134 | 128 |
| Distance between external streets | 6 | 82 | |
| Transit service density | ¥ | ¥ | |
| Pedestrian network coverage | 100 | 100 | |
| Pedestrian capacity | 150 | 200 | |
| Pedestrian crossing distance | 81 | 81 | |
| Pedestrian safety at intersections | 1250 | 333 | |
| Pedestrian route directness | 94 | 90 | |
| Bicycle network coverage | 310 | ¥ | |
| Traffic calming | ¥ | ¥ | |
| Residential off-street parking supply | 60 | 68 | |
| Other Environment |
Open space | 500 | ¥ |
| Street trees | ¥ | ¥ | |
| Imperviousness | 82 | 89 | |
Back to contents page | Next page
Sign up for NRDC's online newsletter
Kaid Benfield's Blog
Kaid Benfield writes about development, community and the environment on Switchboard.
Kaid's Recent Posts
- Is it time for "smarter smart growth"?
- posted by Kaid Benfield, 5/1/13
- The case for building on a city's historic assets
- posted by Kaid Benfield, 4/29/13
- An amazing, entertaining vision for greening Rio's working port
- posted by Kaid Benfield, 4/26/13
NRDC Gets Top Ratings from the Charity Watchdogs
- Charity Navigator awards NRDC its 4-star top rating.
- Worth magazine named NRDC one of America's 100 best charities.
- NRDC meets the highest standards of the Wise Giving Alliance of the Better Business Bureau.
