One of my favorite childhood memories is of times when my mom and I would travel to Downtown Los Angeles on a bus to go shopping or to visit my grandparents at their jobs in the Garment District. I can still remember how alive the streets seemed to be with all of the people and cars. It was noisy, dirty, and sometimes scary, but so much fun! I guess that this is where my interest in cities began. I love to explore cities and walking or bicycling is the best way to do this. I feel that the best and most memorable cities, neighborhoods, or streets are those that are the most walkable and accommodate bike and transit along with automobiles. I feel that transportation planning best supports livable and healthy communities when it focuses on the safe and efficient movement of people regardless of their travel mode as opposed to being focused primarily on the movement of automobiles. Making travel safer and more convenient for pedestrians and bicyclists makes a transportation system safer and more convenient for everyone.
Art has over 20 years of diverse professional experience that includes service with public agencies, planning and design firms, and private developers. This diversity has allowed Art to develop a keen understanding of all aspects of the project planning and development process. His specialty is in the area of transportation and land use planning with a focus on multimodal transportation networks, context-sensitive roadway design, and mixed-use development. Art is an active member of the Congress for the New Urbanism and is the local coordinator for CNU’s National Transportation Summit scheduled to take place in Long Beach, CA in 2012.
Representative Projects
Historic Town Center Master Plan Multimodal Transportation Plan, City of San Juan Capistrano, CA
Art led the preparation of a multimodal transportation plan as part of the revision of the City of San Juan Capistrano’s Historic Town Center Master Plan. The transportation plan was based on a context-sensitive roadway design approach that focused on the safe and efficient movement of people regardless of more rather than focusing primarily on the movement of vehicles. Through this approach, the transportation impact analysis was able to quantified how the careful repositioning of existing auto-oriented land uses with more pedestrian-supported uses, and related infrastructure improvements would result in an overall decrease in trips generated at the master plan build-out even with the construction of approximately 300,000 SF of new infill mixed use development.
Los Angeles County Model Design Manual for Living Streets, CA
This manual was produced through a two-day charrette attended by national transportation experts in livable streets concepts. Art collaborated in the preparation of the manual’s transit access chapter. The manual seeks to achieve a balanced street design that accommodates cars and provides for the safe movement of pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users.
Metro Pasadena Gold Line Station Area Plans, CA
Art developed station area access plans for each of the 13 stations along the Gold Line’s alignment in conjunction with local cities. These plans identified improvements that enhances pedestrian and bicycle access to the individual stations and were successfully used by the cities to secure $12 million in public funding for their implementation.
San Gabriel Valley Bicycle Master Plan, CA
Art oversaw the preparation of one of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority’s (METRO) bikeway subarea master plans. The master plan sought to identify corridors for proposed Class I and II bicycle facilities to expand the study area’s regional bikeway network, provide improved bicycle connections to local destinations and transit facilities, and to increase the ability of people to commute by bicycle as a means of reducing private automobile use. The plan also provided the policy framework to assist cities to develop local plans and to qualify for competitive funding sources for the implementation of local projects.
