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Energy Efficiency and Environmental Quality

A photo of a surface level parking lot with solar panels shading — BART Parking Lot with Solar Panels (Source: Flickr: Jim Maurer)

A photo of a vegetated swale next to a parking lot. — Vegetated Swale (Source: UC Santa Barbara)

Provision high environmental quality parking facilities that improve water quality by filtering and cooling though stormwater best management practices, including vegetated swales and rain gardens.

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An illustration of a parking lot with callouts for visual buffer (trees/bushes) and a parking island. — Parking with Trees for Shade

A photo of a parking lot with a parking island with trees. — Parking with Trees for Shade

A photo of tall shrubs between a sidewalk and a parking lot. — Visual Buffer (Source: Flickr - Sergio Ruiz)

Minimize use of tall shrubs in favor of lower shrubs and groundcovers to allow for greater visibility within a parking area for pedestrian and vehicular safety. Clear lines of sight minimize...

Photo of a parking lot with several parked cars and trees in the background on a sunny day

Rethinking Parking Requirements: There are new ways to consider how much vehicle parking a city, development, or region should have. Many parking zoning codes err on the side of caution to accommodate...

A photo of a brick parking garage that blends blends in with adjacent development. — Parking Structure, Boulder, CO (Source: Flickr - Brett VA)

A photo of a parking garage next to a five story residential development. The parking garage has art and complements the color of the residential development. — LA Plaza Village Structured Parking, Los Angeles, CA (Source: Watry Design Inc. - Heather Collins)

Conform parking structure height and façades to match the surrounding built environment and adjacent uses. Parking structures should complement the scale and character of the neighborhood.

Consider...

A graphic showing a transit stop near bike share, bike lanes, and car share. — Multi-Modal Streets

Provide secure and convenient cycling and micro-mobility amenities including, but not limited to, bike racks, bike lockers, and bike and scooter share to encourage multi-modal transportation.

Locat...

A photo of lawn area and water feature next to mixed-use developments. — Santana Row, San José, CA

Photo of benches and seating outside a restaurant entrance that is on the bottom floor of a larger building with people standing outside — Plaza del Sol, Sunnyvale, CA

Photo of people sitting outside restaurants under trees with people walking by — San Pedro Street Restaurants, San José, CA (Source: Flickr - Sergio Ruiz)

Photo of people sitting in a parklet with string lights above, fake grass, a bench, a dog, and a person biking by with a child

The efficient use of parking facilities can provide numerous benefits related to site design, trip generation, development cost, and building design and function. When implemented effectively, parking...

Photo of an intersection taken from above with a bus, several bicyclists, and cars traveling through

Every street is a transportation link for every mode; differences are based on the balance of how each mode is prioritized. Street design should complement surrounding land uses and support walking...

Graphic of a map of a downtown with callout boxes of policies and programs that incentivize people to not drive for traveling — Support transportation demand management and reduce single occupant vehicle use

Photo of play structure and shaded amphitheater next to transit center — The Monrovia Station Plaza Play Area and Amphitheatre in Monrovia, CA activates the Monrovia Station Area (Source: IBI Group)

Graphic showing map with yellow, orange, red, and green colors indicating with higher or lower levels of VMT — Sample VMT heat map which can be used in CEQA screening; green and yellow areas have lower VMT, orange and red areas have higher VMT

A photo of a row of townhouses with a sidewalk, street trees, and parallel parking — Clear Boundary Between Public & Private - Laurel Grove, San José, CA (Source: Flickr - Sergio Ruiz)

A photo of a plaza in front of a high-rise building with large ground lights on the sidewalk and an emergency call button box. — Salesforce Plaza, San Francisco, CA (Source: Flickr - Sergio Ruiz)

Natural surveillance is key to neighborhood safety. Neighborhoods with higher walkability indices and/or businesses open longer hours are associated with lower crime. Ensure open sightlines to and...

Develop an outreach plan and expect lots of comments. Quick-build projects are public beta tests. They allow local agencies to get input on a design and modify it before it becomes permanent. Because...

Two taller buildings surrounding a gated pedestrian walkway on a sunny day — 4th Street, San José, CA

Photo of skateboarder in front of street party in front of apartment building — A person travels on a skateboard on Octavia Boulevard’s shared local access road past a public meeting space created with the street redesign. (Source: Sergio Ruiz)

Photo of a common space covered in grass and walkways surrounded by taller buildings at night — Hayes Green at night. This park is located in a wide median created when Octavia Boulevard was built to replace a portion of elevated freeway (Source: Sergio Ruiz)

Barcelona, Spain - Superblocks

In 2016, the Poblenou neighborhood in Barcelona, Spain created a people-centered, pedestrian-friendly, nine-block “superblock” within an otherwise auto-oriented...

A graphic of a neighborhood with a clear corridor and connection of two parks/open spaces. — Open Spaces and Multimodal Corridors

A photo of an urban plaza under an elevated roadway. — Park Space Under Elevated Roadway (Source: IBI Group)

Pursue the use of excess land adjacent to transit and roadway rights-of-way, and under elevated structures where available. Unused space beneath elevated transit lines and roadways can be...