By Deborah L. Myerson, AICP 

Connections between places, and connections among people: these are the key elements that shape downtowns and neighborhoods. “Linking Land Use and Transportation” was the theme of ULI Northwest Arkansas’s fourth Policy and Practice seminar.  

Speakers and participants from the Community of Practice discussed the connections between land use planning, transportation planning, and housing development in communities—and how to advance more collaboration among agencies. 

Speakers included: 

• Mike Ludwig, Deputy Director, Development Services, City of Des Moines, Iowa; 
• Steve Luoni, Director, Community Design Center, University of Arkansas; 
• Ryan Hale, Founder and CEO of LaneShift; and  
• Elizabeth Bowen, Project Manager, Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission 

Wes Craiglow, Executive Director of the ULI Northwest Arkansas District Council, moderated the discussion. 

Are We Leaving Things Better Than We Found Them? 

In his presentation, “Land Use, Transportation & Housing Affordability,” Mike Ludwig noted the influences and experiences that have had an impact on his career, particularly Ian L. McHarg’s Design with Nature. 

As a planner, he noted, “You’re not just looking at a site for development. It’s what’s around you, and how your development fits in with that, and how your development treats nature and protects nature going forward…Carrying forward from a sustainability perspective in our city, and in our region: Are we leaving things better than we found them?” 

One of the ways Ludwig and his city of Des Moines, Iowa’s capital city, have sought to leave things better is through their comprehensive plan, “PlanDSM: Creating Our Tomorrow.” The award-winning 2016 plan was recognized by the American Planning Association (APA) for its values-based vision for the City of Des Moines and for integrating sustainability throughout the plan.  

The plan helped to usher in many changes—such as removing downtown parking minimums, directing growth toward existing infrastructure, redeveloping nodes and transit corridors, and encouraging mixed-use development with a focus on form and design. 

Ludwig explained that the long-term relationships with stakeholders such as business leaders and community organizations were central to the planning process. “We built those relationships over five, six, eight years with these groups to build support for what we were doing as a community.” 

Change Is Incremental, Communication is Critical 

Des Moines’ efforts also included the adoption of MOVE DSM, the first citywide transportation master plan in 2018. Ludwig reported that the research for the plan found that 23 percent of the city’s sidewalk gaps were within a quarter mile of a school, and 56 percent of sidewalk gaps were within a quarter mile of a transit stop. The result: the plan prioritized addressing sidewalk gaps to increase access to schools, bus stops and commercial nodes. In addition, the plan calls for adding 37 miles to the core bike network, to bring 86 percent of the population within a quarter mile of a high-quality bike facility and regional trail network. 

In 2013, the Des Moines Metropolitan Planning Organization adopted The Tomorrow Plan for the region, supported by a $2.2 million Sustainable Communities grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Sustainable Communities. The Tomorrow Plan envisions a vibrant future for greater Des Moines. It seeks to convene the many agencies and organizations in the region, as well as area residents, to collaborate and coordinate efforts toward a shared future. 

Des Moines’ Tomorrow Plan emphasizes the importance of creating regional transportation, housing, water, and air quality plans that are tied to local comprehensive land use and capital investment plans, as well as increased use of compact development. 

Cumulatively, these planning efforts have incentivized scaling up density in single family neighborhoods with accessory housing units and “missing middle” housing and then adding more commercial development.  

Yet, Ludwig noted that change is incremental, and communication is paramount. An important step, he emphasized, is to identify local champions. He explained that planners’ daily challenge is recognizing that not every policy will be in place to direct future development. “Most of it is just negotiation, and trying to make things incrementally better every time you get a chance.” 

Connecting Active Transportation and Housing 

As local commentators for the seminar, Steve Luoni and Ryan Hale offered their perspectives on opportunities to link land use and transportation planning in Northwest Arkansas.  

Luoni suggested that the most efficient to create change is to focus on a multimodal transportation. He commented, “Transportation should be an ecology with many different modes. Too many times, we are arguing for one mode over the other. But in thinking about the relationship of transportation, each mode has its place, a presence.” 

For land use changes that prioritize equity, economic development, and livability, he suggested that design is a better tool than zoning. 

“You go to any great city in Arkansas in the 1920’s and you see the fantastic DNA of great urban fabric. And it’s about relationships. It’s not about the kind of things that code set out. It’s really about rediscovering pattern languages,” Luoni observed.  

He added that with Fayetteville’s typical low-density residential development, it would likely cost about $600 million for 300 miles of roadway and infrastructure to support four to five dwelling units per acre. Yet, Luomi cited a poll that reported that two-thirds of respondents said that they want a housing that’s served by public transit. ”The market hasn’t delivered,” he said. By increasing density between downtown and the mall, “You can get six new downtowns and get six new nodes—and you can actually align market demand with supply.” 

Ryan Hale suggested several strategies that planners can to advance active transportation and mobility—and connect housing in that process. 

1. Choose to walk and bike more. Every mode begins and ends as a pedestrian. Planners need to put themselves in a position of a vulnerable user, and developing facilities that are for all ages and all abilities. 
2. Shift to focus on “moving people” instead of “moving cars.” In particular, reduce friction for vulnerable users—make it easy and safe for pedestrians and bicycles to travel comfortably.  
3. Recognize that most downtowns don’t have a parking problem. Hale noted, “What you actually have is a walking problem. On a busy Saturday at Home Depot, if you have to park in the furthest 10 percent parking spots to walk to the front door, have you ever thought once about calling the manager and complaining about the walk? But of all the cities that we work with, the two most common complaints that they get are road maintenance and parking.” 
4. Account for the true costs of “edge development.” Land may be cheaper, but the costs for extending roadways, utilities, and emergency services must be factored in.  
5. Scrutinize volume and traffic estimates. Ask engineers questions about the numbers. Hale commented, “There’s been studies that have now come out that have shown that by and large, the traffic volume estimates that we’re using to base new roads and never hit the targets that we established. But we still build those roads.” 
6. Cultivate a culture to match the infrastructure. Seek to develop a welcoming, inclusive, and encouraging culture for bicycles and pedestrians to accompany investments in infrastructure improvements.  
7. Lean on relationships. Invest the time and energy to get to know people in other departments and agencies.  “Planting those seeds ahead of time that you can harvest later on in the form of a relationship,” Hale suggested. 

Infrastructure Drives Growth Patterns 

Elizabeth Bowen was the final seminar speaker, presenting on the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission’s role in directing transportation planning for the region.    

As a Metropolitan Planning Organization, the NWARPC supports joint cooperation and decision-making in the region’s transportation system improvements. NWARPC’s current membership includes 35 units of government in Benton, Madison, and Washington Counties, Arkansas; McDonald County and Pineville, Missouri; the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD); the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT); transit agencies; and Beaver Water District. 

The NWARPC has created many plans and programs, including the NWA 2045 Metropolitan Transportation Plan, the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), the Congestion Management Process, the NWA Transportation Alternatives Analysis, the NWA Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, and the NWA Open Space Plan. 

Bowen explained that while NWARPC is primarily a transportation planning organization, they also look at housing, employment, green space, and green infrastructure. They work with the state demographer to assist with 25-year projections in transportation planning. Bowen noted that the metropolitan area population is projected to reach 1 million by 2045. She recommended keeping an eye on the street and trail projects being funded by NWARPC. “Those impact your transportation. It impacts where buses go, where your housing goes.” 

Wes Craiglow commented, “Where that transportation money flows, the landscape, the built environment will rise. That infrastructure is going to drive growth patterns.” 

Bringing it Home 

Members of the Community of Practice discussed how they could employ the ideas offered by the seminar presenters in their own communities. Proposals included: 

• Share the seminar presentation slides with other departments, such as public works and transportation. 
• Make more site visits before approving proposed projects, to understand the context. 
• Bridge gaps in the bicycle and pedestrian network in the community. 
• Consider the possibility of a points-based system to help incentivize preferred densities for planned unit development and planned residential development. 
• Using the NWARDC Congestion Management process to make the case for access management. 
• Educate new Planning Commission and City Council members. 
• Emphasize the benefit of commercial nodes. 
• Hold onto easements until reviewing plans for development. Waiting to vacate easements is a good way to leverage preferred development. 

CoP member Tyler Overstreet, Planning and Community Development Director in Bentonville commented: “It’s important that we embody the values that we see. If we want things to be at a pedestrian scale, we need to see it at and ensure that it is sensitive to context. We need to ensure that we are actually supporting the type of development we say we want.” 

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This event was part of the year-long “Aligned for Affordability” initiative hosted by ULI Northwest Arkansas, aimed at understanding our region’s housing market, identifying constraints to housing production in varying forms and locales, and advancing policy recommendations that ensure lasting affordability and vibrant neighborhoods to the working families of Northwest Arkansas.  

Deborah L. Myerson, AICP, is a housing and community development consultant based in Bloomington, Indiana.