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Coldwell Banker identified in 1990 as the highest ever developed land. In El Paso,Texas,the percentage is 17
<br /> national vacancy rate(6.9 percent)of industrial buildings percent. El Paso is a county seat and therefore must offer
<br /> larger than 100,000 square feet. the entire spectrum of institutional uses to the region.
<br /> This shift has led to the conversion of many industrial
<br /> • buildings into residential loft or commercial office space, Transportation and Utility Uses
<br /> thus decreasing the industrial ratio. Transportation and utility uses have consistently covered the
<br /> Differentiating between industrial and commercial uses second highest amount of acreage in a city since these data
<br /> has also become more difficult. For example,many light were recorded. As evident from the data set,many cities do
<br /> manufacturers also have service centers, showrooms,and not include streets and rights-of-way in their acreage.These
<br /> warehouses on the premises.Therefore,when ratios are cities therefore have disproportionately low transportation
<br /> calculated,they are categorized as heavy commercial uses, land-use ratios. Because of this discrepancy,averages for
<br /> not industrial uses. this category are not listed.
<br /> As the ratios from the three studies show,economic The amount of land devoted to rights-of-way increases
<br /> restructuring has not affected the land-use ratios in suburban as a city's single-family housing stock increases. But
<br /> areas nearly as much as large cities,because heavy because many cities calculate streets into institutional and
<br /> manufacturing never was a dominant force there. recreational uses,it is extremely difficult to pinpoint
<br /> transportation land-use ratio trends. For the purpose of this
<br /> Parks and Recreational Uses analysis,it is understood that streets and rights-of-way
<br /> The following analysis is based primarily on improved parks constitute most of the transportation uses and utilities
<br /> and open spaces that are maintained by public park districts category.The utilities and communication uses are usually a
<br /> or municipalities. very tiny portion. For example,only one-half of a percent of
<br /> Historically,the rule of thumb for calculating the number developed land in Austin,Texas,is occupied by utility uses.
<br /> of acres of park land needed in a community is one acre of There are two major current planning issues that may
<br /> land per 100 residents.However,for the past 40 years,many affect future street and right-of-way ratios: the Intermodal
<br /> communities have fallen well short.In the 1955 study,the Surface Transportation and Efficiency Act(ISTEA)of 1991
<br /> percentage of park and recreation land for central and satellites and neotraditional town planning. ISTEA marks the first time
<br /> cities was 7 percent and 4.4 percent of developed land, that the federal government plans to tackle congestion
<br /> respectively.Eleven small communities from the 1983 survey problems head-on by improving the management of existing
<br /> list an average percentage of only 4 percent.These data are transportation systems and coordinating transportation
<br /> difficult to compare,in part because,in many communities, planning with land-use planning. Until now,the solution has
<br /> parks,playgrounds, and athletic fields on school property, as been to increase road capacity. Successful implementation of
<br /> well as vacant lots,are calculated into the institutional ratios high-occupancy-vehicle lanes,bus lanes,ridesharing,
<br /> rather than the parks and recreation ratio.This makes itencouraging the use of alternate modes of travel,and
<br /> appear as though less land is available for parks and ' coordinated land-use and transportation policies,could mean
<br /> recreation than really exists. that right-of-way and transportation-use ratios will hold
<br /> The explosive growth in single-family homes also had an steady even if population increases.
<br /> interesting effect on the use of public parks. Most suburban
<br /> homeowners have their own private front and back yards. Words of Caution 444
<br /> This explains, in part,why suburbs will typically have a It is not recommended that these ratios be used as urban
<br /> lower percentage of land in the parks category. Manassas, land-use models. Any city predicting its future land-use
<br /> Virginia,an outlying suburb of Washington,D.C.,has only requirements solely on the ratios of other cites could be
<br /> 1 percent of its land as parks,while in St. Paul,Minnesota, seriously misguided. Every city has different factors affecting
<br /> this use covers 12 percent of the developed land. its land-use distribution. Instead of considering these numbers
<br /> as rules of thumb,consider them examples of land-use ratios
<br /> Institutional Uses that exist in cities today. Look closely at what factors affect
<br /> The percentage of land occupied by institutional uses has your own city's land use before comparing your ratios to
<br /> increased slightly in the last 50 years.The Bartholomew these data.
<br /> study indicated that central and satellite cities had about
<br /> 10 percent of their land devoted to institutional uses.The
<br /> 1983 survey showed that the ratio of institutional uses in The PAS Menu)is a monthly publication for subscribers to the Planning Advisory
<br /> small towns was 13 percent. No averages were calculated for Service,a subscription research service of the American Planning Association:
<br /> Israel Stollman,Executive Director:Frank S.So.Deputy Executive Director.
<br /> this study.However,the data do not differ drastically from The PAS Memo is produced by APA staff in Chicago.Research and
<br /> the earlier studies. writing by Research Department staff:Marya Morris,Editor.Production
<br /> Large cities typically will have higher institutional land- by Publications Department staff:Cynthia Cheski,Assistant Editor:
<br /> Dennis McClendon.Design Director.
<br /> use ratios. Uses such as hospitals,churches,schools,and
<br /> buildings are all directlyrelated to the Copyright 01992 by American Planning Association, 1313 E.60th St..Chicago.IL
<br /> governmentg 60637.The American Planning Association has headquarters offices at 1776
<br /> population;as the number of people grow, so will the acreage Massachusetts Ave..N.W..Washington.DC 20036.
<br /> of these institutional lands. Other institutional uses are not so All rights reserved.No part of this publication may he reproduced or utilized in
<br /> clear cut: state capitol grounds, museums,civic centers, and any form or by any means,electronic or mechanicrl,including photocopying,
<br /> recording,or by any Information storage and retrieval system,witi,out permission
<br /> colleges and universities are all uses that serve a regional in writing from the American Planning Association.
<br /> market and are therefore more common in large cities. Printed on recycled paper,including 50-70%recycled fiber
<br /> An example is Hoffman Estates,Illinois,a Chicago and 10%postconsumer waste.
<br /> suburb,where institutional uses cover only 3.4 percent of Revised and reprinted April 1994
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