Does the livability of a residential street depend on the characteristics of the neighboring street network? : research brief.

PDFTech ReportMPC 16-309 (project 426)NeighborhoodsStreetsLiving conditionsResidential streetsQuality of lifeUnited StatesMountain Plains ConsortiumMarshall, Wesley E.McAndrews, Carolyn A.Janson, Bruce N.Mountain Plains ConsortiumUS Transportation CollectionThe character of the nearby arterial road influences residentiallivability across a number of livability measures. Whencontrolling for income, high levels of traffic and low levels ofurban design on the arterial both detract from the livability ofthose living in the surrounding neighborhoods. Moreover, someresults suggest that residential streets with heavy traffic near alow traffic/high design arterial are just as livable, if not more, thanresidential streets with light traffic near a high traffic/low designarterial.Our study includes three different measures of residentialsatisfaction, so the specific influence of the arterial road dependson whether one focuses on satisfaction with the neighborhoodstreet, satisfaction with the neighborhood, or overall sense ofhappiness. The results suggest that arterials perceived as vibrantare associated with increased residential satisfaction \ue2\u20ac\u201c above andbeyond other features of the residential environment