Streetscapes of Southern California

by Stephen K. Smith

Withers, Sandgren & Smith, Ltd.

Many American cities are evaluating ways in which they can bring life back to their central business districts. While the allure of suburban malls and strip commercial development seems to be fading in more savvy communities, small and large towns are pondering how they can effectively get the biggest bang for their streetscape redevelopment dollar. Streetscape development is the process of reinvigorating and sometimes reinventing a CBD's external image. For towns with creative and enterprising city councils and support staffs, this process can be greatly rewarding. Much depends on the approach and realities associated with the project.

For towns blessed with an ample supply of historic structures, architecturally distinctive storefronts and intimate pedestrian scale, such efforts can come easily. Towns with a 1960's or 1970's legacy of land use and traffic planning often find themselves disjointed, spread out and unprepared to create the intimate and viable pedestrian spaces they desire. Roadways and shopping areas designed primarily for vehicular convenience and immediate accessibility do not lend themselves to a New Urbanism-styled village or town center. It takes bold and sometimes unpopular positions to achieve the greater good.

Cypress, California (photographs on pages 54-58): Designs for Lincoln Avenue's wallseats, bus shelters and clock tower were installed with horizontal brick banding and 'Renaissance' patterned pavers from Higgins Brick, precast stone urns from Sierra Stone, molded wall caps from Quick Crete, 'Reading' steel benches from Custom Structures, 'Chinook' iron tree grates from Urban Accessories and 'Pacific" art deco street lanterns from King Luminaire Lighting.

The hard decision to spend financial resources and endure extended construction inconvenience for a new streetscape is usually a difficult proposition for most communities. It often is motivated first by long term economic goals, and secondly by aesthetic objectives. If cities want to lure customers back to their central business districts through revenue generating activities that increase tax dollars and property values, the physical setting needs to be attractive and inviting. While expanding economic opportunities by redevelopment, a community may also look to enhance its image by creating a sense of place on a street that is deteriorating or nondescript. Experienced cities know that viable and successful draws like movie theaters, restaurants or premier shopping venues are fundamental to creating a viable commercial destination. Streetscape amenities help to embellish the environment, but do not by themselves draw people in or keep them. It takes a combination of in-depth homework, critical analysis and a dose of reality to successfully implement a viable streetscape and commercial redevelopment. To succeed in creating an appropriate streetscape, seven preliminary steps should be followed:

•Identify realistic goals and potential for redevelopment.

•Scale development to fit budget constraints and community expectations.

•Select an experienced design consultant who understands urban design and evolution of commercial streets. An imaginative and experienced Landscape Architect can be a good lead person with a team of engineers and planners.

•Gain commitment of the public and private sectors.

•Learn from previous mistakes (don't repeat weakly designed and pedestrian unfriendly commercial developments).

•Commit to durable and high quality design and construction. Avoid trendy and "faddish" architecture and street furniture that date quickly.

•Identify a community's aesthetic strengths and potential and expand upon them. If there are only a few, create new ones.

That which has evolved slowly and by chance in older and historic communities is difficult to orchestrate intentionally in a modern setting. Often good intentions are overshadowed by excessive planning or overzealous design. It pays to observe the natural habits and preferences of city dwellers and what has evolved naturally. People love to watch people, to interact with others and to be alone at times. They are attracted to a wide range of tactile and visual experiences. Sometimes they prefer simplicity and minimalism, and at other times a variety of spontaneous and eclectic elements. Usually the more unusual and unpredictable things are, the more intriguing and attractive they are to harried city dwellers. It takes a lot of dedication and commitment to direct a streetscape project through an invariably complex and sensitive political process. Strong commitments from everyone involved can help ensure the successful outcome of a streetscape project.

Southern California Style

The process of creating a new look for a city's commercial corridor requires selecting a style or theme. Experienced streetscape designers are finding that classic and time-tested designs and materials work best. In Southern California, where the culture expects change and theatrical effect, a commitment to Old World substance and permanence is new. Savvy communities are now spending tax dollars on improvements that can become civic treasures and points of pride for generations.

Cities should consider hardscape elements that reflect the best of their historical architecture. Replicating or adding historically inspired street elements found in great old cities can give character and romantic substance. Stone, brick, iron, bronze and tile are materials of permanence, craftsmanship, character and longevity. Designed with care and skill such elements can and should become civic heirlooms to be protected and saved by future generations. Contemporary designs can also be more acceptable when built of durable materials. Like some architects who are asked today to give more than minimalist or trendy architectural commercial design solutions, the streetscape designer needs to hone his or her skills in the fine art of urban design.

In the process of translating master plan elements into functional and buildable elements, the designer must consider the needs and response of the pedestrians, the merchants and the realities of the site. Many city sidewalks hold unforeseen obstacles such as meters, roof drain outlets, junction boxes and poor drainage. Being flexible and creative pushes the designer to address the city street's idiosyncracies creatively.

While working on the Huntington Drive and First Avenue Streetscape project in Arcadia, California, the design team developed a residentially inspired theme to reflect some of Arcadia's fine homes, the Santa Anita Race Track and L.A. County's Arboretum. Ashlar cut fieldstone wallseats, monumental pylons, traditional styled octagonal street lanterns from Sun Valley Lighting and metal strap benches from DuMor have given Arcadia's commercial core a timeless quality.

The City of Cypress, California desired to upgrade and unify its randomly spaced and irregular strip commercial corridor on Lincoln Avenue. The process involved consulting with city officials and receiving input from merchants and the chamber of commerce on a design theme where no significant architectural heritage existed. Deciding to unify the three mile strip with a backbone of London Plane street trees occasionally punctuated with stands of flowering trees (Jacarandas, white orchid trees and evergreen pears) created a need to add visual interest and pedestrian nodes at strategic gathering points.

Borrowing from Frank Lloyd Wright's "prairie school" residences, the designs for Lincoln Avenue's wallseats, bus shelters and clock tower were installed with horizontal brick banding and 'Renaissance' patterned pavers from Higgins Brick, precast stone urns from Sierra Stone, molded wall caps from Quick Crete, 'Reading' steel benches from Custom Structures, 'Chinook' iron tree grates from Urban Accessories, and 'Pacific' art deco styled street lanterns from King Luminaire Lighting. The bus shelters were flanked by intricate water jet cut 1" solid steel grills inspired from Wrightian leaded windows. As future development comes to Cypress, the city hopes the upgraded streetscape will inspire and elevate design standards on Lincoln Avenue.

The City of Cypress' Lincoln Avenue provides many large and heavily landscaped bowout planters to 'calm traffic' and to add visual interest. They provided an opportunity to plant additional street planters and to add large trees, visual buffers and to increase access for pedestrian strolling, shopping and lingering.

Lighting the Street

New sidewalk and street lighting should add a warm, low level, pedestrian scale to the night time streetscape environment. Where appropriate, intimate lanterns or down lights to designate pedestrian paths and seating nodes are useful in creating nighttime ambience. Many cities such as Santa Barbara, Arcadia, Cypress, Glendale and Pasadena have returned to traditional street lamps and posts that they used in the early 1900's. Most lighting companies carry full lines of period genre street lighting.

While working with the city of Glendale, California on its Maryland Street and Broadway Streetscape enhancements it was decided to install traditional 'acorn' type luminaires on fluted aluminum poles, replicating similar street lighting in older residential neighborhoods. Time and benign neglect tend to be forgiving of old style fixtures and add to the street's ambience.

Removing unattractive overhead street lights ("cobra heads") where safely feasible, helps to reduce clutter and softens the streetscape setting. New taller overhead traffic lighting in "crook neck" and mission bell designs are attractive replacements for standard lighting. The city of Bakersfield, California decided when renovating Chester Avenue to eliminate all of its tall 'cobra head' fixtures and replaced them with ornate double armed acorn fixtures mounted on fiberglass fluted poles from Shakespeare Lighting. Lighting was designed to meet prevailing safety and traffic requirements. A simpler, much less cluttered and pedestrian friendly street atmosphere has been created.

Arcadia, California (photographs on pages 62-64): While with L.R. Moss and Associates, Steve Smith developed a residentially inspired design theme to reflect some of Arcadia's fine homes, the Santa Anita Race Track and L.A. County's Arboretum. Ashlar cut fieldstone wallseats, monumental pylons, traditional octagonal street lanterns from Sun Valley Lighting and metal strap benches from DuMor have given Arcadia's commercial core a more elegant and timeless quality.

Avoid creating glare, adding unnecessary wattage and reducing spacing of street poles and luminaires that contribute to visual clutter. Minimize heights of light standards and limit wattage to safe but aesthetic levels. Choose contemporary fixtures carefully with an eye to how they will look in 15 to 20 years. Streetscape architecture and light fixtures should be compatible.

Users respond positively to warm, natural colors in the landscape. The strong color delineation of high-pressure sodium (yellow orange) or the blue gray cast of mercury vapor lamps can compromise these. While economical and efficient safety lighting is needed for traffic, long lasting low wattage incandescent or color corrected sodium lamps can give a classic Old World feel to a streetscape.

Glendale, California (see photographs top and bottom): Maryland Street and Broadway Streetscape enhancements lead to the installation of traditional 'acorn' type luminaires on fluted aluminum poles, replicating similar street lighting in older residential neighborhoods. Time and benign neglect tend to be forgiving of old styles fixtures and add to the street's ambience.

Landscape Planting

When appropriate, a residential or 'gardenesque' style of landscape planting may be incorporated into the streetscape. This may include perennial masses surrounded by boxwood hedges, flowering espaliers on trellises or overhead arbors and masses of easy to maintain shrub roses. Dwarfed varieties of standard species will help ease of maintenance.

The city of La Verne, California has enhanced its downtown streets over the years by limiting its downtown plant palette to a refined combination of California natives and compatible Mediterranean plants. In Transportation Square on La Verne's 'D' Street and in surrounding parking lots, plants such as rock rose, santolina, salvia, rosemary, Coast Live Oak, toyon, arbutus, lantana and lavender give charm and color to what normally would be austere urban spaces.

It is best if the designer segregates plant palettes into horticultural/geographical families with similar growing requirements. Since Southern California has unlimited combinations and varieties, plants are visually harmonious in a compatible context.-- Plant drought tolerant Mediterranean plants together; tropical plants together or eastern/northwest temperate plants together. Intermixing incongruous plants rarely looks harmonious. In addition, be sure to select street trees that provide useful functions. Major canopy shade trees should be the backbone of a streetscape project because they can provide shade.

La Verne, California (see photographs top and bottom): The City has enhanced its downtown streets over the years by limiting its downtown plant palette to a refined combination of California natives and compatible Mediterranean plants. In Transportation Square on La Verne's 'D' Street and in surrounding parking lots, plants such as rock rose, santolina, salvia, rosemary, Coast Live Oak, toyon, arbutus, lantana and lavender give charm and color to what normally would be austere urban spaces.

When appropriate, use palms selectively if they fit into the plant palette and architectural setting. When using tropical palms such as Queen or King Palms, use tropical shrubs to compliment the look. Use drier palms such as California and Mexican Fan Palms when desiging a Mediterranean or California native palette.

Street Benches and Wall Caps

Wood benches are handsome and appealing when new, but with age they can become worn and uninviting. Provide durable, well built and classic wood benches where they are appropriate and less prone to vandalism. Heavy duty metal benches in traditional forms are always reliably classic, durable and attractive over time in most places. Precast concrete benches are useful in high vandalism and theft situations but they need to be carefully scaled to their setting. When a heavier, sculptural statement is desired in a contemporary setting, concrete benches can act as functional and artistic forms. They rarely work well in refined traditional and intimate settings.

Proposed wallseats and raised planters can be capped with precast concrete caps, brick or stone. Wall caps can be domed or peaked to discourage skateboarders and/or transient use. The purpose of wall caps in a traditionally styled project is to give a refined finish and protection of the masonry or plastered wall. Wall and pilaster caps can give a hand-made patina to a project similar to the architectural details found on classic buildings. Slight variation in color, hand tooled joints and some imperfection give a crafted and human touch to the hardscape element.

Design Guidelines

Great streets shouldn't look "designed" or contrived. Many of the most attractive streets in the world are those that evolved as a reflection of the needs and uses of the adjacent inhabitants. There are some basic design decisions that should be considered when working on a streetscape project:

1) Don't use excessive repetition of details as a means of economy. This soon becomes boring to the pedestrian. Streets that provide variety and spontaneity attract people who linger.

2) Make street elements functional and workable. Artificial contrivance or false ambience are soon ignored and disregarded. Bollards, trash receptacles, pottery and wallseats need to be placed where they work and are useful.

3) Use materials that age well and last over time. When not using quality or natural materials such as brick or granite pavers, don't try to simulate materials that aren't there. When installing concrete flatwork, use classic treatments such as simple deep scoring and acid etching that will age well.

4) Street trees are the backbone of a good streetscape. Well-selected trees of adequate size at maturity can give character and grand scale to a street. To the average pedestrian, trees can influence the microclimate, enhance the views, and subconsciously create a sense of well-being more effectively than any other item.

5) Create varied and meandering walkways, bowout planters and seating nodes. Use raised planters, kiosks, directories, tree wells and street furniture to provide safe and more interesting experiences for pedestrians.

San Diego, California (see photographs top and bottom): Wieber Nelson Design created a 21 foot tall sign in a median at 30th Street and University Avenue that combined the location's trolley-stop past with elements in the present design. This streetscape is a good example of how to integrate the history of a community into a modern and exciting new look.

The great streets of Europe, along with some older parts of the United States, have become the standard for successful streetscapes. These streets encourage human interaction, conversation, and entertainment by providing a physically attractive site that adheres to the specific features of the location. The challenge for modern designers is to create the same style which has evolved naturally for centuries. LASN