I took this photo near downtown Bellevue while trying to cross N.E. 4th Street from the Target store in a multi-story project on the south side of the street to a Trader Joe’s and REI in another multi-story complex on the north side. Many places would consider this good urban development, for there are seven major retailers stacked on top of one another in two buildings, but the access between them is more auto-oriented than anything on a commercial strip.
All of the store entrances are from the parking garages with mid-block entrances and exits. Using the corner crosswalks is a 520-foot trip down the hill, across the street and back up, all with a long wait at the lights. It’s “only” 85 feet directly across the street, but that means first walking out the parking lot entrances and then playing a human-game of frogger to get across four travel lanes. Five years from now there will be probably more people shopping there on e-bikes, but it may be decades before people walk there.