Central Business District (CBD): This
would be the downtown area of a city. Characteristics would
include very good transit service, street grid, parking garages,
extensive pedestrian sidewalk network, multi-story buildings and a
wide range of land uses (including mixed use sites). Obvious
CBD's would be downtown New York, Chicago or San Francisco.
CBD's also exist in smaller cities such as downtown areas of Portland,
Maine or Bakersfield, California.
Central City, Not Downtown (CND): This would be the
area outside the downtown area of a larger city (typically cities
above 250,000 or more in population). These sites typically
exhibit greater land use density than suburban sites but are
substantially less density than the CBD. The intent of this area
designation is for the areas around large central cities such as
Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland, Atlanta or Washington, DC - but not
large suburban cities which are addressed separately).
Suburban (SUB): Suburban
locations are those outside the central city of a metropolitan area.
Characteristics would include limited transit services, surface
parking, less than complete pedestrian networks, single story
buildings and larger groupings of homogeneous land uses. In
smaller metropolitan areas (less than 250,000) the area surrounding
the CBD could be characterized as suburban.
Suburban Center (SBC): Suburban center areas
are those downtown areas of suburbs that have developed CBD
characteristics but are not the central city of a metropolitan region.
Characteristics can include good transit service, mix of surface and
structured parking, connected streets, connected pedestrian network
and a mix of land uses. Examples would include the downtown
areas of Bellevue, Washington, Las Colinas, Texas or Walnut Creek,
California.
Rural (RUR): Areas outside a metropolitan
region (any SMSA's) would be considered rural.
Parking Cost - This
variable is important to document on each parking occupancy survey form even when there is no charge for parking (place
a zero in the data forms). Research has indicated that parking
charges impact parking demand. Without this information provided
in surveys, parking demand can be misrepresented for a site that has
charges for parking as compared to those without parking costs.
While the site may not charge for parking - it is equally important to
note "zero" parking cost on the form so that the free
parking sites can be properly grouped.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Jina Mahmoudi.
