.jpg)
Over the years, I have often been analytically frustrated by geographically fragmented downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts, not knowing what to call and how to define the fragmented parts. In recent assignments in Morristown, NJ and and Long Island City, NY, I have used an expanded notion of a commercial node to address this problem and found it is a heuristically useful solution.
To my ken, the term commercial node is usually applied to a commercial agglomeration around an important intersection. While often useful for smaller districts, its application is usually more problematical in larger districts where the fragmented pieces of a district can occupy a cluster of several blocks or a substantial part of linear street corridor.
Also, since a commercial node functions as a socio-economic entity with supply and demand aspects, it often is not only useful to look at the business operations in a particular cluster, but also at their potential customers who are located within a reasonable walking distance.
The map above shows three of what we are calling extended commercial nodes in Long Island City. Each is composed of a commercial corridor, but also has a 0.25 mile band around the corridor. The corridor is where most commercial activities are located; the band is a 5 minute walk shed for residential shoppers, office workers, etc.
The three corridor segments are geographically quite detached, but the walk shed bands overlap. This shows both the overall district’s dispersion and the connections between the nodes.
