ORD-2025-01 Design Manual Effective 2025.1.21

A APPENDIX

Design Guidelines

B. For the purpose of these design guidelines and development within San Marcos, a typical neighborhood is measured by the distance people will walk if the streets are safe, comfortable, and interesting. People will typically walk approximately ¼ mile (1,320 feet) or 5 minutes before turning back or opting to drive or ride a bike instead. C. Of course, neighborhoods are not circular in design, nor is that desirable. Neighborhoods tend to elongate along contours and ridges and compress at slopes because the walkability elongates across flat plains. The ¼ mile radius, from the center to the edge or ½ mile (2,640 feet) from one edge of the neighborhood to the other is a benchmark for creating a neighborhood unit that is manageable in size and feel and is inherently walkable. D. Neighborhoods of many shapes and sizes can satisfy the ¼ mile test. Large civic spaces such as modern schools with play fields require a great deal of acreage and can be situated where they are shared by more than one neighborhood. E. Natural features, thoroughfares, and Greenway connections should be used to identify the boundaries between neighborhoods. There is no perfectly round neighborhood, so actual distances within different neighborhoods will vary.

Division 3: DESIGNING AT THE SCALE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD

There is no single test for neighborhood quality; neighborhoods of strong character are created through a variety of techniques. The most successful neighborhoods generally exhibit design conven tions that are absent in conventional sprawl. These include: a legible center and edge to the neighborhood, an integrated network of walkable streets, an overall size to the neighborhood suitable for walking, buildings set close enough to the streets to spatially define the streets as public spaces, and opportunities for shopping and workplaces close to home. Developing and redeveloping settlements based upon a model of traditional neighborhood design principles is the first step towards great neighborhoods. These design standards and conventions have withstood the test of time. These ideas help create livability, a sense of community, and ultimately community character. Section A.3.3.1 Identifiable Center and Edge A. One should be able to tell when one has arrived in the neighborhood and when one has reached its heart. Each neighborhood should have its own identifiable center and edge. B. The overall location of streets, along with greenway networks has helped identify the general edges of neighborhoods although they can be adjusted as necessary. The neighborhood, or pedestrian shed, should be used as an organizational tool that is refined when this scale of design is worked out. C. Discernible centers are perhaps even more important than discernible edges because of the center’s usefulness in day to-day life. There must be places where people feel welcome and encouraged to congregate, recognizable as the heart of the neighborhood. D. A proper center has at least one outdoor public environment for this purpose, designed with pedestrians in mind; this is spatially the most well defined “outdoor room” in the neighborhood. The size and formality of the central space vary from place to place. While it is most typically a park, square, or plaza, it is also possible to give shape to the neighborhood center with just a special “four corners” intersection of important streets. E. The best centers are within walking distance of the surrounding, primarily residential areas, and typically some

Pedestrian Shed Example

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Amended: January 21, 2025 San Marcos Design Manual