@KarenM, I definitely agree with you about the importance of mixed use--i.e., of allowing commercial uses in residential areas and vice versa. The San Francisco Bakery and the Briggs' new commercial area are really good improvements to those neighborhoods. Mixed use is essential for improving our quality of life and reducing drive time. But mixed use in low density areas (like Briggs and the San Francisco Bakery area) will not achieve the overall goal of making walkable communities. The reason, as this article states, is lack of density: "For neighborhood centers to have viable markets, our density should increase by a fair amount. We are not even achieving our minimum density." Unfortunately, the "Actions Recommended" section of the article omits the most important step that needs to be taken: lifting height restrictions in the urban core. To increase density to the extent needed to support the commercial uses, we need to build up, not out. Focus new housing in the densest areas first, only building out when we've finished building the urban core up. Don't dilute the urban core by building new urban villages in low-density neighborhoods. We're just building more low-density neighborhoods when we build urban villages. It's spinning our wheels. The only way a grocery store will have the customer base needed to be sustainable economically is either by having high housing density there (so people can walk to the store) or by catering to cars. If we don't want the cars, we need to create high housing density there. Restricting building heights is a major roadblock to achieving that. Restricting heights is a longstanding tradition because after one tall building is built, people say it's ugly (e.g., the Mistake on the Lake). Stopping tall buildings from being built is a habit we must break if we're to attain our goal of walkability. (Of course, tall buildings for housing need to be built where there is already an existing urban core or cluster of urban development, because building a tall building for housing far away from the urban core means putting a lot of people far from needed services). Hopefully Olympia's Land Use and Environment Committee will work on reforming zoning ordinances to lift height limits in urban areas. And hopefully in the future, city planning staff can include that among its recommended actions.
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