The industrial zoning allows buildings with tremendous foot prints and large masses directly adjacent to the very low scale residential structures. Redevelopment that could occur under the existing zoning would only be required to make minimal allowances for transition between the existing low-scale residential structures and what would be built.
General urban design guidelines and principals prescribe that low scale residential areas should be buffered and/or protected from intense commercial development. Controls for density, setbacks, height and massing should be used to decrease the negative impact of commercial development when it is directly adjacent to residential uses and to provide transitions between low-scale residential and more bulky commercial development.
In addition to scale and density transitions, organizing different uses along different street frontages can help minimize the negative impacts of adjoining uses. If a street, such as Fayette Street, has primarily residential uses along the frontage on both sides, a residential character can be more easily achieved, creating a sense of community. Where commercial and residential uses do front on the same street, the commercial uses should be of a similar scale as adjoining residential in order to preserve and strengthen a residential character.
More intense commercial development would be most appropriate in the area north of the metro station, where low scale residential is not located and parcel sizes provide room for transitions in scales and densities. One or two key buildings with high heights in this area could serve as a focal point for the area, but development in the remaining areas should have buildings that are at moderate scales relating to the existing scale of the built area.
Pedestrian Access and Visual Character
The street grid system for vehicular and pedestrian circulation and the strong residential element in the Braddock area provides a solid foundation for providing a well defined pedestrian environment. Existing pedestrian paths, particularly to and from the metro station, need improvement. Visually, the area suffers from a lack of streetscape treatment. Street trees are inconsistently located and many properties in the immediate vicinity of the Metro Station are fenced off from public walkways.
Pedestrian paths to and from the metro station need delineation. This can be achieved through the provision of street trees, street lighting, accented crosswalks and crossings at controlled points across the heavily trafficked Route 1 and other major streets. The pedestrian environment could further be improved by encouraging private development to adhere to minimum standards which include pedestrian areas or plazas, seating, landscaping, streetscaping, etc..
The City's Capital Improvements Plan currently includes some limited improvements in the Braddock area, including some undergrounding of utilities, some streetscaping and improvement of a linear park between Braddock Road and King Street metro stations along the metro right-of-way. These planned projects will help to improve the visual appearance of the area and pedestrian access to the metro station.
Two streets within the Braddock area will undergo the most change as redevelopment occurs: Henry and Fayette Streets. Strong redevelopment potential exists on almost all of the blocks between these two streets, primarily north of Oronoco Street. Henry Street has a largely established character, with commercial and industrial development predominating along this heavily trafficked street and should remain commercial.
Fayette Street has a less identifiable character, with some commercial uses at the lower edge, then, moving north, several blocks of low-scale residential, two blocks of industrial, two blocks with industrial to the east and residential to the west, ending with industrial at the northern edge. Fayette Street is potentially a strong residential street, with the established residential uses to the south and new residential uses built and planned toward the north. The Braddock Place mixed use project sited the residential town-
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