Survey participants viewed a series of 240 slides of Atlanta and other urban areas around the world. To identify the streetscapes, buildings, and landscapes they found the most and least appealing, participants rated each image on a scale of -10 to +10. It should be noted, however, that the resulting averages never exceeded a +7 or fell below a -7.
   Below is a summary description of the slides participants gave the highest and the lowest ratings in each of the following ten categories: Pedestrian Environment, Streets, Transit, Office Buildings, Parking, Retail/Mixed-Use, Residences, Parks & Plazas, Security, Signs. Some of the summaries include the original images used; others do not because the images were no longer available.

Pedestrian Environment
The real personality of a neighborhoods becomes apparent when one walks in its streets. Attractively landscaped, well-lighted, continuous streetscapes will encourage more people to get out of their cars and onto the pavement in Midtown. The Visual Preference Survey™ found that:

• More than half of survey participants agreed that elements of the pedestrian realm, such as pavement materials and street furniture, should create a readily identifiable image for Midtown;
• The highest priority for spending transportation dollars should be additional pedestrian sidewalks and bicycle paths in Midtown.

  

• Image with the highest mean score (+6.04): The pedestrian on this street enjoys abundant trees and colorful awnings, which provide shade and sense of enclosure. Brick pavement designates the pedestrian right-of-way. The ground level uses of the buildings allow for many windows along the street front. A bus lane on both sides of the street provides a buffer between pedestrians and vehicular traffic.

  

• Image with the lowest mean score (-6.54): Walking along this sidewalk, the pedestrian is confronted with trash and weeds as well as the visual clutter of power poles and transmission ์ines. Completely without windows, the street-level facade of the building acts as a wall along the sidewalk preventing any connection between the buildings' occupants and the the people on the sidewalk.

>>Profile of
>>Survey
>>Participants

>>Ten categories
>>of the VPS:

• Pedestrian Environment
• Streets
• Transit
• Office Buildings
• Parking
• Retail/Mixed-Use
• Residences
• Parks & Plazas
• Security
• Signs

>>Printable Copy
>>of Results
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