HIGHWAY IMPACTS ON DOWNTOWN AND SUBURBAN SHOPPING

GROWTH IN URBAN AREA RETAIL SALES OCCURS IN SUBURBAN BUT NOT IN DOWNTOWN LOCATIONS, ACCORDING TO MOST RECENT SURVEYS. THIS STUDY, DEVELOPING FROM NCHRP RESEARCH INTO TRAVEL CHARACTERISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH SHOPPING CENTERS, AIRPORTS, AND MANUFACTURING PLANTS, WAS AIMED AT AT ASSESSING THE ROLE PLAYED BY HIGHWAYS, IF ANY, IN THIS DEVELOPMENT. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MARKET AREAS WITHIN A FIXED TRAVEL TIME FROM A HYPOTHETICAL CBD AND SHOPPING CENTER WERE COMPARED. THEN IT WAS ASSUMED THAT URBAN AREA-WIDE HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENTS TAKE PLACE, BRINGING ABOUT AN INCREASE IN AVERAGE TRAVEL SPEEDS AND THUS ENLARGING THE MARKET AREAS ACCESSIBLE WITHIN THE SAME TRAVEL TIME AS BEFORE. A TEST CASE, USING SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND NETWORK DATA FROM THE NIAGARA FRONTIER TRANSPORTATION STUDY, WAS USED TO DEMONSTRATE THE CONCLUSIONS OF THESE HYPOTHETICAL CASES. FOR VALUES OF TRAVEL TIME COINCIDENT WITH A TYPICAL MARKET AREA BOUNDARY FOR THE SHOPPING CENTER, IT WAS FOUND THAT GROSS FAMILY INCOMES TOTALED MORE IN THE SHOPPING CENTER MARKET AREA THAN IN THE AREA WITHIN THE SAME TRAVEL TIME FROM DOWNTOWN. WHEN HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENTS AFFECTING THE WHOLE URBAN AREA ARE INTRODUCED, THE RELATIVE ADVANTAGE OF THE SHOPPING CENTER IS ENHANCED. IMPLICATIONS WITH RESPECT TO DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES ARE BRIEFLY DISCUSSED. THE CONDITION DESCRIBED IS LIKELY TO HAVE ITS GREATEST IMPACT WHERE THE TRADITIONAL COMMUNITY RETAIL CENTER IS NOT TRULY CENTRAL, BUT SOMEWHAT REMOVED FROM THE PRESENT AND FUTURE CENTROIDS OF URBAN POPULATION AND INCOME. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1967/187/187-002.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Origin and Destination and presented at the 46th Annual Meeting. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Witheford, David K
• Publication Date: 1967

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 15-20
• Monograph Title: Transportation impacts and attitude surveys
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 187
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Central business districts; City planning; Highways; Improvements; Redevelopment; Retail trade; Sales; Shopping centers; Suburbs; Travel time; Urban growth
• Uncontrolled Terms: Comparative analysis
• Subject Areas: Economics; Finance; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00225117
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Nov 26 1994 12:00AM