Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
Urban Planner, Partner in Speck Dempsey, author of Walkable City, Walkable City Rules, and other stuff I'd like you to read.
Jeff Speck is an American city planner, writer, and lecturer who is the principal at the urban design and consultancy firm, Speck Dempsey. He has authored or co-authored several books on urban planning, including his 2012 book, Walkable City: How Downtown Saves America, One Step at a Time. He is an advocate for New Urbanism and more "walkable" cities and has given TED Talks on the subjects. .. more
Engineering
74%
Environmental science
7%
We are growing a great data set. Anyone else want to weigh in?
ACTUAL RESEARCH: Comparison #1
Please help contribute to this real dataset.
Look at these two slides. Just take a wild guess as to the average home value each street. Reply with two dollar amounts, Street 1 and Street 2.
Your input matters. Thank you!
Please help contribute to this real dataset.
Look at these two slides. Just take a wild guess as to the average home value each street. Reply with two dollar amounts, Street 1 and Street 2.
Your input matters. Thank you!
Anyone else want to weigh in?
Interesting data point in addition. I posted this on X, where I have many more followers than here, and got 1 reply while receiving 8 replies on Blue Sky. I guess all the urbanists ARE here.
ACTUAL RESEARCH: Comparison #1
Please help contribute to this real dataset.
Look at these two slides. Just take a wild guess as to the average home value each street. Reply with two dollar amounts, Street 1 and Street 2.
Your input matters. Thank you!
Please help contribute to this real dataset.
Look at these two slides. Just take a wild guess as to the average home value each street. Reply with two dollar amounts, Street 1 and Street 2.
Your input matters. Thank you!
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Ep 48, Oct 31: Redesigning city streets in downtown Oklahoma City, OK. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
How did Oklahoma City go from being America’s least walkable city in 2009 to an award-winning thriving downtown attracting an influx of jobs, dining, recreation, and young adults? Through the implemen...
gatech.zoom.us
Free talk tomorrow. . . Hope to share with you the amazing story of downtown OKC. Also, I'm giving away my slides at the end. Enticed? gatech.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
No!
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Oct 8
Walkable City 6: The Interesting Walk
Nothing interests people more than other people. Humans will avoid walks that do not provide a sense of human habitation, human effort, and human scale. An interesting walk comes from urban design tha...
courses.planetizen.com
Have you been taking my courses on @planetizen?
Try it, you'll like it!
Walkable City 6, The Interesting Walk just dropped today:
courses.planetizen.com/courses/the-...
Try it, you'll like it!
Walkable City 6, The Interesting Walk just dropped today:
courses.planetizen.com/courses/the-...
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Sep 12
Josh Kraft, son of billionaire Patriots owner, drops out of Boston mayor’s race against Michelle Wu
Son of billionaire Patriots owner Josh Kraft announced Thursday that he is dropping out Boston’s mayoral election, in which he was set to battle incumbent Michelle Wu in November.
apnews.com
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS when you run for mayor on a "pull out the bike lanes" platform in Boston.
Yay @wutrain !
@bostonbikeunion
@MassBike
@WalkMass
apnews.com/article/elec...
Yay @wutrain !
@bostonbikeunion
@MassBike
@WalkMass
apnews.com/article/elec...
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Sep 9
Rule 101: Dream Big
Cities like NYC & Chicago didn’t just fix problems—they dreamed big. Charleston’s mayor, Joseph Riley’s message was "No one recalls a balanced budget—build a park instead.” His parks now host 5M+ visitors yearly.
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Cities like NYC & Chicago didn’t just fix problems—they dreamed big. Charleston’s mayor, Joseph Riley’s message was "No one recalls a balanced budget—build a park instead.” His parks now host 5M+ visitors yearly.
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Sep 8
Yes, UPS gets it right. Thank you for not blocking the bike lane!
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Sep 7
Rule 100: Don't Give Up on Sprawl
Instead of trying to end sprawl, focus on improving it for the people there by reviving town centers, reusing empty malls, & building mixed-use neighborhoods. This is called “Retrofitting Suburbia."
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Instead of trying to end sprawl, focus on improving it for the people there by reviving town centers, reusing empty malls, & building mixed-use neighborhoods. This is called “Retrofitting Suburbia."
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Sep 6
Rule 99: Start Code Reform Now
Form-based codes helps walkability by focusing on how spaces look & feel, not just what they’re used for. Start w/a 1 page zoning overlay to guide better development while planning long-term reforms.
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Form-based codes helps walkability by focusing on how spaces look & feel, not just what they’re used for. Start w/a 1 page zoning overlay to guide better development while planning long-term reforms.
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Sep 6
91: Save Those Buildings
Preservation isn’t only about nostalgia, it also has practical benefits!
- Historic districts thrive in recession & attract small businesses
- It’s greener & less wasteful
- They support diversity & community
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Preservation isn’t only about nostalgia, it also has practical benefits!
- Historic districts thrive in recession & attract small businesses
- It’s greener & less wasteful
- They support diversity & community
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Sep 6
Rule 65: Provide Angle Parking Where Warranted
Angled parking fits more cars without widening streets & calms traffic by requiring careful backing-in. Tucson switched to rear-angle parking & cut crashes from 1/week to 0 over 4 years.
Walkable City Rules: www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Angled parking fits more cars without widening streets & calms traffic by requiring careful backing-in. Tucson switched to rear-angle parking & cut crashes from 1/week to 0 over 4 years.
Walkable City Rules: www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Sep 5
Rule 98: Do Some Tactical Urbanism
Start w/looking for temporary ways to improve your area, & call it a pilot project. Use "Walk [Your City]", which offers tools 4 guerilla wayfinding signs & ask to do tests instead of costly studies.
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Start w/looking for temporary ways to improve your area, & call it a pilot project. Use "Walk [Your City]", which offers tools 4 guerilla wayfinding signs & ask to do tests instead of costly studies.
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Sep 4
Rule 97: Rebuild... or Restripe?
In 2012 Cedar Rapids planned a $3M rebuild for 5 blocks, instead they repainted 30 blocks for the same price.
Results: 78%↓ pedestrian crashes, 57 new businesses, 800 homes, 2k jobs & $282M growth
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
In 2012 Cedar Rapids planned a $3M rebuild for 5 blocks, instead they repainted 30 blocks for the same price.
Results: 78%↓ pedestrian crashes, 57 new businesses, 800 homes, 2k jobs & $282M growth
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Sep 4
Rule 96: A Network of Walkability
Show which streets are best for walking, streets fall into 3 groups:
Priority: Busy but unsafe, fix first
Primary: Decent now, upgrade next
Secondary: Low need now
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Show which streets are best for walking, streets fall into 3 groups:
Priority: Busy but unsafe, fix first
Primary: Decent now, upgrade next
Secondary: Low need now
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Sep 2
Rule 95: Do a Frontage Quality Assessment & Locate Anchors
See where people want to walk & where they need to go.
Frontage Quality: lively streets, where they want to walk
Anchors: where they need to walk (key destinations ex: shops).
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
See where people want to walk & where they need to go.
Frontage Quality: lively streets, where they want to walk
Anchors: where they need to walk (key destinations ex: shops).
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Sep 1
Rule 94: Do a Walkability Study
A walkability study helps communities make areas safer and easier for walking and biking by focusing on 4 types of walks:
- the useful walk
- the safe walk
- the comfortable walk
- the interesting walk
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
A walkability study helps communities make areas safer and easier for walking and biking by focusing on 4 types of walks:
- the useful walk
- the safe walk
- the comfortable walk
- the interesting walk
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Sep 1
Rule 93: Direct Your Public Art budget to Blank Walls
Public art is often wasted on plaza sculptures. Cities should use art budgets for murals on blank walls, which, like trees, make streets more pleasant and welcoming.
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Public art is often wasted on plaza sculptures. Cities should use art budgets for murals on blank walls, which, like trees, make streets more pleasant and welcoming.
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Aug 31
Rule 92: Hide the Parking Structures
Exposed parking decks drain street life & make walking dull. It only takes 20 ft of building to hide 200 ft of parking. Hide parking structures behind buildings; design garages for future reuse.
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Exposed parking decks drain street life & make walking dull. It only takes 20 ft of building to hide 200 ft of parking. Hide parking structures behind buildings; design garages for future reuse.
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Aug 29
Phillips for the win. Still awesome after all these years.
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Aug 28
Rule 90: Break Up Big Buildings
Big buildings can overwhelm a street, but “demise lines” breaks the facade conceptually into smaller units, helping the large buildings look like a collection of smaller structures built independently.
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Big buildings can overwhelm a street, but “demise lines” breaks the facade conceptually into smaller units, helping the large buildings look like a collection of smaller structures built independently.
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Aug 27
Rule 89: Limit Repetition
Big projects feel more human when split into smaller, unique buildings by different architects. Variety boosts walkability, beauty, & real estate value—plus 1 mistake affects 1 building not the whole project.
Walkable City Rules: www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Big projects feel more human when split into smaller, unique buildings by different architects. Variety boosts walkability, beauty, & real estate value—plus 1 mistake affects 1 building not the whole project.
Walkable City Rules: www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Jeff Speck
@jeffspeck.bsky.social
· Aug 26
Rule 88: Make Sticky Edges
Gehl’s Cities for People: “sticky edges”—buildings that make people linger—bring streets alive; blank walls repel. Hence, Melbourne mandates 60% openings for shops, 25% for homes, & a window/door every 10’.
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...
Gehl’s Cities for People: “sticky edges”—buildings that make people linger—bring streets alive; blank walls repel. Hence, Melbourne mandates 60% openings for shops, 25% for homes, & a window/door every 10’.
Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...