2. Successful Use of Overhangs

Location: Hypolita Street St. Augustine, Fl.

Date of Photo: 1/14/2017

These photos show a successful urban planning design element. St. Augustine's downtown shopping buildings make use of overhangs and extended second floors to provide shading along the streets. This element was seen all throughout St. Augustine's shopping streets. St. Augustine is a town you generally experience best as a pedestrian which means there is a lot of walking around in the hot Florida sun. Providing shade in an area that many people walk through is a must in Florida. Due to the fact these streets are dominated by buildings, trees are difficult to use as the primary shading element. Therefore, the buildings use various overhangs and extended floors of the buildings to provide shade when walking along the storefronts. this is successful because it helps store owners and promotes walking around the city while maintaining a comfortable temperature. This made walking around the city a lot more enjoyable and contributes to the overall experience of the city.

This street fits into the larger landscape of St. Augustine by being a street that branches off and runs perpendicular to St. George street. This street is still heavily occupied by the pedestrian but also gets some one way vehicles coming through. It serves as connector between areas that are mainly walking and areas that are dominated by cars.

5. Unsuccessful ADA Accessible Urban Planning

Location: Midtown Gainesville, Fl.

Date of Photo: 4/10/2017

This picture shows an example of urban design due to the lack of ADA accessible routes. It is an unsuccessful planning choice because it makes it very difficult for those in a wheelchair to access the upstairs restaurants. As an architecture major, this is something that is always in the back of my mind when looking at successful or unsuccessful design. This was an example of poor planning and made me feel very disappointed with the design choices of the building. The closest ramp to the handicap parking spot requires one to go onto the street to access the ramp. The other ramp is positioned behind a parking bumper and is incredibly small. Also the only elevator is located nowhere near the handicap parking spot and would be very difficult to access.

This building fits into the larger landscape of midtown being a place that has many restaurants and bars, which is a popular trend along midtown. However, this building did not consider very well how those who are handicap will experience the building and possibly avoid the restaurants upstairs due to lack of easy access routes.

6. Successful Parking Buffer

Location: Midtown Gainesville, Fl.

Date of Photo; 4/10/2017

The example of an urban design element present here is the parking buffer that the parked cars provide along this side of the street. Due to the fact that many people walk along this side of the road and are in and out of the restaurants along this street, this is a successful planning element. The parked cars serve as protection for the many pedestrians that walk this street everyday. This buffer also provides street parking for midtown and, as mentioned before, parking is something all parts of Gainesville need more of.

However, the element of a parking buffer is not followed through on the opposite side of the street, as seen in the photo above. On the campus side of University, there is not parking buffer which exposes pedestrians to the street which is a lot less safe.

This fits into the larger landscape of midtown in the way that this area is a popular road for people to walk on. This benefits the overall midtown area by providing parking and making the sidewalk safer and therefore making it a more popular place for people to go in Gainesville.

7. Successful Seperation Between Bicyclists and Vehicles

Location: Inner Road Gainesville, Fl.

Date of Photo: 4/10/2017

This photo shows a successful element of street planning by separating the bike lane from the vehicles driving along the street. Inner Rd. uses both a barrier of parked cars and intermittent brick walls to separate bikers riding in the opposite direction of the one-way traffic along the road. By having a separate bike lane along this street, the pedestrians are also separated from bikers which makes the experience for the pedestrian, biker, and driver a lot safer. As someone who walks this path everyday, I see and get to experience the benefits of separating these three uses of the road. As a walker, I don't feel like i have to dodge the bikers and when driving this road i feel more at ease knowing there is some separation.

This design element fits into the urban landscape by providing multiple traveling pathways for different modes of transportation. This road is one many people travel on to get to and from campus. Therefore it provides an accessible route for all kinds of travel and connects the university to off-campus homes and facilities.

Despite the success that comes with separating these three paths, the opposite side of the road does not follow the same type of separation. while there is plenty of room and a buffer for the bikes traveling in the opposite direction of vehicle traffic, bikes traveling in the same direction have to share the road with the cars. There is a marked bike lane, but there is a very limited amount of room for both bikes and cars making it next to impossible for the cars to drive alongside the bikers often causing cars to be backed up behind the bikers and being a safety concern for bikers.

9. Successful Shaded Area

Location: Plaza of the Americas Gainesville, Fl.

Date of Photo: 4/10/2017

The Plaza of the Americas is a successful urban design element. This green space serves as a place for students to both relax, study, gather, set up hammocks, eat lunch, and so much more. This picture is taken of the newly renovated part of the plaza and is very successful in the combination of walkways, green space, and tons of vegetation and tree coverage. All these features make the renovation a huge improvement from what it was before and makes the plaza look so much nicer.

This fits into the larger urban landscape in the way that the plaza is one of the only free speech areas on campus so it can be utilized by all different people. It is also one of the green spaces on campus which draws in a lot of students. It is located in a central area of campus as well which means it needs to accommodate a larger number of students but also be visually appealing.