New Urban Progress

That's a wrap!

2007-04-13T14:26:00.000-04:00

A string of exciting news to share:

1) I graduate from the University of Michigan in two weeks.
2) I have been hired by Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company in Miami, Florida.
3) I will be heading over to Europe for two weeks after I graduate to visit my girlfriend. We plan to explore the hell out of Paris and Barcelona.
4). Starting next week, I am moving this blog over Planetizen's Interchange.

Cheers!

- M i k e

EDAW Funds TOD Research

2006-12-11T22:56:00.000-05:00

EDAW, an international planning, design, and engineering firm recently held a national research proposal competition for graduate students in urban planning. Accepting various proposals based on their DEEP principles (Design, Environment, Economics, and Planning) on transit oriented development, the firm selected one student to research each area of DEEP.

I was selected as one of the winners for my proposal "Transforming Detroit: Urban Design and the Integration of Transit Oriented Development. Thus, I will be researching and crafting a design based TOD thesis for the next 5 months. With a nice stipend, a trip to Denver, and a chance to finely hone my knowledge of TOD, I feel very fortunate.

Detroit Rising

2006-11-30T20:59:00.000-05:00

Detroit's MOCAD.

Detroit is often considered the most maligned city in America. On many counts it is. However, what many do not know is that Detroit is coming back, building by building and street by street. Billions of dollars have been invested in its downtown and midtown district. Want to know more, see the Brookings Institute report here:

The New York Times did a flattering piece today on Detroit's newest cultural addition, the MOCAD -- a fine example of everyday urbanism and architecture becoming accessible to the mainstream. Above is one of my shots of the newly minted museum.

2006-11-15T23:30:00.000-05:00

My latest article, co-authored with cooltownstudios principal Neil Takemoto, entitled How Cities Compete In The Media Economy is currently a featured article on Planetizen. In other news, I will be presenting the Miami 21 project to the Michigan Association of Planners student conference on Friday, November 16th. The presentation is entitled "Planning The Successional City: Form-Based Coding and the Miami 21 Project."

A Photo Update

2006-10-12T23:47:00.000-04:00

Charlie Parker's House, Lower East Side, NYC
Miami, Florida
Millenium Park, Chicago, Illinois
Dingle Town, Ireland
The Rose of Tralee Festival: Tralee, Ireland
Temple Bar district: Dublin, Ireland.

It has been far too long since I last posted here. The amount of places I have gone in the two months are too numerous to write about extensively now. It would all seem too trite, or a reduction of the way it felt. I prefer to write in the moment. Instead, I have simply posted a few photos from Miami, Chicago, Dingle, Tralee, and Dublin. Once I download more images from my camera, I might add Salt Lake City, Detroit, and Ann Arbor. I feel like I say this too often, but I hope to make more regular posts in the coming weeks. However, first I must go to NYC for a long weekend!

Friday Funny

2006-08-11T16:04:00.000-04:00

Check out this beauty from a not particulary tasty South Miami suburb! Up, up and away!

Photo snapped by fellow DPZ'er Lauren Koutrelakos

A Need for Vision

2006-08-01T16:36:00.000-04:00

I grew up in Coastal Maine, which is a part of the country that is rich with historical villages and vital rural landscapes. Though I consider myself a very urban person, in many ways it is my experience growing up in traditional towns that has influenced my desire plan and design places that foster a sense of community, and a sense of place - on all scales. However, like many towns in Maine, mine has begun to succumb to the pressures of conventional suburban development, which will systematically undermine the very vitalitay that makes it so attractive in the first place. Recently, a Wal-Mart was proposed for the outskirts of the town. Thanks to the hard work of concerned citizens, the town successfully voted for a size cap on all retail stores. However, the battle is long from over. Growth pressures are mounting. Below is an op-ed piece that that I recently wrote for a local paper, advocating for the use of a public charrette to help the community realize its potential, and hopefully start itself on a new course.

To the people of Lincoln County:

It is no secret that the Lincoln County is changing, and maybe not for the better. Though I spend less and less time in Maine these days, as an urban planner and designer I do keep in touch with town growth issues all over the State, especially in Lincoln County. Unfortunately, recent events make it clear to me that the vital towns and precious villages of Lincoln County have reached the tipping point. That is to say that we must now proactively deal with a pattern of growth known as urban sprawl.

Many other towns in Maine have been blindsided by such growth and are now dealing with the consequences. If we do not learn from their mistakes, we risk losing the very character that has made our area unique, and therefore economically viable - especially in a tourist oriented economy. We must ask ourselves if people from away will visit Damariscotta when much of it starts to look like Scarborough. Would you?

As a town planner and urban designer for a firm that specializes in the community visioning process, I would like to convey that the communities of Lincoln County have a unique opportunity to create a coherent vision for the future, one that will not only continue to induce that familiar sigh of relief when crossing the Wiscasset Bridge, but also make our area an attractive place for future, but planned growth. To most effectively create a vision for the region, concerned citizens of Lincoln County should demand a community visioning exercise, such as the one being proposed by Damariscotta 2020. The reason a community-wide visioning process is so advantageous is that it reverses the conventional role of developer and citizen. Typically, a visioning process empowers the community and inspires its citizenry to become proactive with its future, and not reactive, therefore getting the most benefit from future growth. Making this switch is critical to the Damariscotta area and its future, as it is the aggregation of wanton suburban growth that destroys a place, and not necessarily its individual developments.

It should also be known that a visioning process does not have to be project-specific. In fact, it is more advantageous to deal with growth more comprehensively. Doing so will guide future projects to be of the appropriate scale and of the character that defines our distinctive area. This can be as simple as the proper location for parking, and which building materials are used on a facade. More specifically, if a downtown plan had already been in place it may have prevented the downtown telephone pole debacle, and the planting of water side trees along the back parking lot’s edge, which diminish the magnificent view corridor when the trees mature.

Finally, a community visioning exercise respects and takes all viewpoints into consideration. Nothing is out of bounds. Though it might sound a bit chaotic, it is now well-known that the most effective planning comes from the ground up, and not the top down. After all, no one knows a town like its citizens, so why leave the future in the hands of a developer or chain business? Why not seize the opportunity to truly discuss the future and make a plan to actively implement the changes that you would like to see?

Across the country towns and cities of all sizes are harnessing their civic energy to actively shape their own destinies. Experts, such as Bill Dennis, have years of experience and are well-trained in guiding the public through the excitement of creating a vision for the future. The citizens of Lincoln County must consider doing the same, as doing so may protect and extend all of the qualities that make living in our region so special. I suggest we do so before it’s too late.

On Charrette

2006-07-05T06:32:00.000-04:00

I'm on charrette in Holladay, Utah. The project is to design a TND out of an old mall. More when I return..

Duany In Edinburgh

2006-06-30T09:30:00.000-04:00

Andres Duany is currently visiting the UK. Though primarily working on plans for a new town in Inverness, Scotland, Andres has also been busy lecturing on development and new urbanism as it applies to the local context -- assuring critics and supporters that whatever is built on Moray Estates will not be like Seaside. My DPZ Co-worker and esteemed roommate Senen Antonio has been providing the office with daily reports, as well as pictures like the one above.

Miami 21 Project: Scattered Notes

2006-06-25T20:52:00.000-04:00

Just a few hectic thoughts... more organization to come. These notes will help me further synthesize a coherent report later. Apologies for the frantic writing. This is all so exciting.

Over the past 5 weeks I have been deeply immersed into the Miami 21 Project. Does that sound cultish? Perhaps a bit CIA-ish?? Anyway, all I can say is the scope of this thing is incredible, if not intimidating. It is indeed rather mind boggling to think that we are only working in one quadrant of the city.

Having now seen most of the neighorhoods I am understanding the issues. Miami is such a young city, a baby really. As Andres says, cities must molt and its definitely time for Miami to molt, and grow into itself...from baby to toddler, hopefully we skip "the terrible twos. "

My biggest impression thus far has been how uniformly inconsistent Miami is as a city. From crack houses and industrial neighborhoods, to historic preservation and neighborhood conservation, to people aching for the largest upzoning possible, this project will change so much about the city. One thing is for sure, it will be better. It must be better.

Currently, Miami has downtown core, and sub-urban neighborhoods essentially next to each other. There is no gradient of density, no succession in the urban fabric. It's quite shocking for me because all I really have known in urbanism are the mature cities and towns of the northeast.

Fortunately, Miami has a rich tradition of mixed-use, typically along 16 main corridors that truly are easily accessed by the neighborhoods. However, the corridors are a mess. Public transportation is quite prevalent, but underutilized. Garbage, debris, and the homeless line some of the quadrants worst neighborhoods, while horrible frontages plague some of the better ones. Chain link fences that fence in driveways! FENCED IN DRIVEWAYS?! One has to unpadlock the fence before driving into the garage. It is very odd. Some chain link fence company made out very well on the City of Miami.

We had some very important public meetings in the last couple of weeks. In particular, this past Friday brought a cadre of neighborhood association representatives for one meeting, and then industrial property owners concerned about what will happen under Miami 21 for another. I do not need to explain the details of the meeting, but I can say it went very well. Many of the neighborhoods are unhappy with the initial proposals for changes, which is why we had them come to the office. We want to hear their concerns, understand what they do want -- but not pander to them. We must do what is best for the City in general, not the individual property owner. We wouldn't get anywhere. Not everyone will be happy. Growing pains will happen. But before the neighbors left the office, they were applauding the Miami 21 team. They were included, and they appreciated it. We heard, and the know we listened. If anything, DPZ has mastered the art of public interaction -- though one must. All those narrow streets, alleys, and mixture of uses and building types found in new urbanist communities didn't happen easily. Mastering the public process is essential. Designing in public is essential. Changing our country's patterns of development is essential. Urbanism is essential.

Final thought: Miami 21 will be a success when the NBA finals show pictures of downtown Miami streets on TV , and not South Beach, which is a separate city (Miami Beach). Improvement will happen. Miami will arrive. Give it time. Urbanism needs time.

CNU IVX: A Review

2006-06-10T19:54:00.000-04:00

For those of you were unfortunately not able to attend the largest, and perhaps best, CNU to date you can read my review on the planetizen website here:

CNU XIV

2006-05-30T00:12:00.000-04:00

I will be in Providence, Rhode Island this week enjoying my second Congress for the New Urbanism conference. Look for my report on www.planetizen.com early next week, which will include pictures and a summary of what has become the most influential conference in city and town planning.

I am especially excited to see the great New England city of Providence highlighted in what will surely be a successful event. Hope to see you there!

Cherry Hill Village Pics

2006-05-21T17:00:00.000-04:00

Parks and opens space
Town Square...too cold still to run the fountain.
Village Theatre: Not the most pleasing architecture, but a great anchor for the downtown.
Mews: There are a few of these within the site.
Missed opportunity here. A totally suburban configuration.
Typical Street.
Move in day.

For a site plan, phasing, and more pertinent info please visit www.cherryhillvillage.com

And Finally... My Cherry Hill Village Critique

2006-05-21T16:45:00.000-04:00

I have been meaning to post this critique of Cherry Hill Village for quite some time. Due to the limitations of blogger.com, I found it easier to simply post pics all at once, and then integrate the majority of the text afterwards. Sorry for the jumbledness, but I think you get the idea.

The Project

Cherry Hill Village, founded in 2001, is a 338 acre traditional neighborhood development (TND) in the exurbs of metropolitan Detroit. Unlike the rest of the Pulte and Toll Brother residential subdivisions that ignobly dot this once rural landscape, Cherry Hill Village offers an alternative to the single use, auto-oriented, and homogenous suburban “neighborhood.” This is accomplished by integrating many principles of the new urbanism.

Though the new urbanism is defined by and implemented on many different scales, it is frequently characterized as an interdisciplinary urban design movement that reintegrates walkable, mixed-use, diverse, and more environmentally sensitive patterns of development back into our town building practices. In the past two decades new urbanism has gained significant traction as an alternative to the conventional placeless sprawl that continues to degrade the political, social, economic, and environmental health of the built environment.
Brief History

Cherry Hill was established in 1825 as a small rural hamlet at the crossroads of Cherry Hill and Ridge Roads. As the community began to grow its settlement pattern required the construction of a church, school, general store, creamery, cemetery, and a number of residential buildings. By the early 20th century Cherry Hill served as one of the most prolific providers of sweet corn to the growing Detroit market region. Henry Ford took notice and added Cherry Hill to his “Village Industries” program.

Today Canton Township has lost much of its rural character to national homebuilder subdivisions, but the lack of sewer and water connections always seemed to discourage significant development in the Cherry Hill area. In order to protect the area from intense development pressure Canton Township decided to proactively guide future growth in the area to “preserve the character, scale, and quality of the community aesthetic.” This response helped shape the Cherry Hill Village TND in a way that was consistent with the Township’s development goals. Thus, as the design and build-out of the first two phases has taken place, the historic community buildings that originally defined the hamlet have been preserved and integrated within the new Cherry Hill Village.

The concept for Cherry Hill Village was originally conceived in the mid -1990’s by Biltmore Properties, a leading southeast Michigan land development company who bills themselves as “Town Builders Since 1924.” Despite the catchy slogan, representatives from Biltmore Properties spent a significant amount of time learning the principles of real town building by studying the new urbanism. As a result of their work, Biltmore Properties hired Looney Ricks Kiss Architects, an architecture firm experienced in traditional neighborhood design, to successfully integrate the diverse elements of the new urbanism, and to preserve Cherry Hill’s character, scale and aesthetic qualities.

Concept

The Cherry Hill Village plan was built using a “Design, Density and Dynamics” strategy. The mixed-use village core was thought of as an “enhanced hub of civic, social, commercial and special activities” for the community. The “crown jewel” of the core is the village square, which is located directly across from the original schoolhouse and terminates the intersection of Ridge and Cherry Hill Roads.

As one moves away from the village center the density of development decreases and lot size gently increases. Eventually the pattern returns itself to the rural and agricultural uses at the edge of the development. This gradient of development is designed to be consistent with the concept of the urban to rural transect.

Critique

Though new urbanism successfully accommodates a great variety of architectural styles, a regional vernacular style of architecture common to pre-World War II is consistently the most visible and criticized component in the physical realization of new urbanist communities. Yet to many practicing new urbanists it is not the architecture, but a commitment to all scales of urbanism that truly elevates the movement above the conventional building practices. This commitment to the urbanism is demonstrated by the form of buildings, the layout and width of streets, the distance of setbacks, the placement of parking facilities, the quality of materials, and the design of public spaces that facilitate diverse human interaction, physical activity, and a high level of connectivity between all people and the places they need to go. These are the standards from which I have chosen to analyze Cherry Hill Village.

When held against its principles, new urbanist communities are often designed and implemented with varying success. This variation is sometimes explained by those in the ‘growth machine’ who have little understanding of urbanism, but a desire to target a specific segment of the real estate market. Having never heard anything about, or personally seen Cherry Hill Village until a month ago, I was curious as to how it would hold up to the design principles that I hold in such high esteem. Thus, from an urban design perspective Cherry Hill Village presented a unique opportunity for study and critique.

The above site plan displays Cherry Hill Village at full build out. Currently, phase I is complete, and phase II is nearly complete (see below). The “Uptown” district, which is the maroon and orange buildings seen in the middle right between the wider end of the “wishbone” streets, is comprised mostly of multi-family town homes/apartments and is also close to completion.

Streets and Circulation

Cherry Hill Village is located in Wayne County, where most public road design standards are skewed toward the need of the automobiles. Traffic moves fast, pedestrian amenities are an afterthought, and bicycling facilities do not exist. Cherry Village on the other hand uses its village scale and design to appropriately cater to automobiles, bicyclists, and pedestrians. This approach is accomplished by integrating wide sidewalks, relatively narrow street widths, on street parking, street deflection, multi-use paths, and a general pattern of connectivity throughout the entire development. As a result, the streets are seen as a common space amongst residents, and not as a threat to their personal safety.

Though the residential streets are well designed, the town center still lacks cohesiveness. This is because the town center is located at the crossroads of two major, but historically rural Canton thoroughfares – Cherry Hill and Ridge Roads. The town center side of Cherry Hill Road presents a nice pedestrian street experience, while the other lacks urban amenities all together. The pictures below properly display a violation of the urban to rural transect, and demonstrate an awkward lack of spatial enclosure. An improved design orientation for the town center might have defined both street edges with mixed-use buildings, while also keeping a presence on these two heavily trafficked County roads.

Also, despite a fairly tight knit core, the street pattern in the edge neighborhoods feels too curvilinear and suburban. I experienced this both in my automobile and as a pedestrian. The village master plan explains that the confusing orientation is due to odd lot sizes, and the landform created by the River Rouge. I find this hard to believe, as the River Rouge is nowhere near most of the residential sites. I am not necessarily advocating for a strict Midwestern styled grid, nor would I ask the designers to ignore topography or view sheds, but by looking at the site map one can see that a few of the edge neighborhood are glorified cul-de-sacs. This suburban pattern makes the town center seem much further away than it is for the residents on the edge. I suspect that these conditions have less to do with topography, and more to do with maximizing the amount of parcels available for development.

Streetscapes and Pedestrian Environment

As I mentioned in the section above, Cherry Hill Village is a great environment for walking. This holds true for both the town center and the residential neighborhoods.

Most of the streetscapes in Cherry Hill Village are filled with interesting design features that lead the pedestrian to real destinations like neighborhood parks, the town center, and multi-use recreational paths. I particularly feel that once the trees mature, the mews will be one of the most intimate spaces in the whole village.

However, as nice as the streetscapes are in Cherry Hill Village, the designers did a horrible disservice to the main streetscape in the “Uptown” district of the Village.

This particular district is supposed to be one of the most urban places in the village. Apartment buildings, town homes, and condominiums bring the highest density within the closest proximity of the town center. Yet, the broad side of these particular buildings opens up to parking lots, rather than the street. It effectively ruins the visual continuity of the street, and serves up many views of the ugly internal town center parking lot and the monolithic back end of the theatre (upper left, 2nd picture). Interestingly, further down the street and away from the urban core apartment buildings of a similar vintage actually do line the street. Why the first sets of apartment buildings are not oriented to the actual street is beyond me.

Open Space

The neighborhood parks are probably the single most important design oriented amenity in Cherry Hill Village. The parks function at the scale of the neighborhood, and are defined by the tight residential lots that surround them. In essence the parks serve as the center to each neighborhood. They also bring a sense of rural solitude to a development that is far more urban than the typical Detroit exurban community.

From a design perspective the parks seem to strike a nice balance between programmed playground space, open grass, and the more formal village square and village green. This flexibility allows the spaces to evolve if need be, and allows the residents to picnic, play soccer, or have larger community gatherings. The neighborhood greenway path is also a great recreational amenity that affords residents the ability to move throughout the neighborhoods with ease.

Buildings

Before sticking a shovel in the ground, Biltmore Properties used a visual preference survey to help them determine the overall architectural style of the Cherry Hill Development. Traditional Victorian architecture common to southeast Michigan was preferred and is therefore consistent throughout Cherry Hill Village. Simple geometries and rectangular, square, or L-shaped homes give the residences a feeling of coherence, but also allow the close-knit buildings to differentiate themselves with unique porches, turrets, roof types, and other distinct architectural details. Exterior building materials are primarily brick or wood clapboard, which despite several variations (some ugly) again provide a feeling of unity to the architecture. The town center is primarily brick and features three and four story buildings, as opposed to the residential neighborhoods that feature either one or two story homes. Thus, one might say the town center, “plays nicely” with the surrounding neighborhoods, but also clearly defines itself as a commercial district.

Parking

In the development industry it is typically said, and often lamented, that form follows parking. However, by following several principles of the new urbanism, Cherry Hill Village manages to create a more balanced approach. This is done by integrating alley ways, screened parking lots, on street parking, and by placing garages behind principle residential structures. This type of design demonstrates that though cars are welcome in Cherry Hill Village, they are not the priority. My only gripe related to parking is the aforementioned “Uptown” situation where parking is clearly prioritized over the built form. The area suffers because of it.

Uses

One of the biggest challenges to creating a new town center is getting the retail to prosper. Many new town centers intelligently integrate commercial uses within the design of the community as a whole, but still find that retail struggles until the right balance of demand and space is achieved. Though Cherry Hill Village has already seen a financial service office and a pizza restaurant come and go, its vacant retail space is quickly disappearing. As of my last visit, a new coffee shop, florist, gift shop, and bank are getting ready to join an insurance agency, general store, ice cream shop, dentist office, fitness center, the Cherry Hill Village sales office, and a daycare in the town center. Also in the pipeline are a recently approved K-8 Canton Township school and a full service grocery store. With no other commercial activity nearby, Cherry Hill Village has positioned itself to also become the town center for all of the nearby Pulte subdivisions, which offer no such amenities.

Despite the seemingly early commercial success, it is actually the Village Theatre that has defined the early success of the Cherry Hill Village. With a capacity of 400 and over 300 performances throughout the year, the Village Theatre is a major draw for the region and has given the most prominent street corner an identifiable and community oriented use. This was an intelligent strategy.

Another great success for Cherry Hill Village is the diversity in its housing stock. With single family homes, condos, town homes, apartments, and auxiliary units of all sizes and price points, a wide range of people can find something affordable in Cherry Hill Village. Moreover, besides the “Uptown” district, the different housing types are well integrated throughout the various neighborhoods. It will be interesting to see how long the area remains affordable, especially after the new school is constructed.

Conclusion

Since Cherry Hill Village is the first new urbanist TND development to be designed and significantly built out in the State of Michigan, its successes and failures are being closely followed by those with a stake in the development of the region’s built environment. Fortunately the early success of Cherry Hill Village has brought the need for smart growth in southeast Michigan to the forefront. Moreover, the development has demonstrated that new urbanism can provide comprehensive design solutions for building places with lasting value. Cherry Hill Village also provides a concrete example of how the private and public sectors can work together to simultaneously meet their seemingly disparate goals.

On a macro level Cherry Hill Village is a success. However, its exurban location and the quasi-suburban design features (streets patterns, parking and configuration in Uptown) open the development up to a well-deserved level of criticism. However, when considering that Biltmore Properties had no prior with TND experience, they have managed to produce a quality alternative to what could be characterized as “more of the same.” Yet, as successful as Cherry Hill Village has been thus far, when I asked their proud lead engineer if the company planned to do another new urbanist project, he furrowed his brow and said, “I don’t know, it’s awfully hard.” This where the real critique needs to happen.

Miami 21

2006-05-14T17:27:00.000-04:00

I am Sitting in the Cafetto, a coffee and internet cafe in South Beach, and for the past hour and a half I have been the only one pounding away on my key board. If the palm trees, 90 degree weather, and constantly beautiful people sitings were not enough, this coffee shop has driven home the point that I am now in a very different environment. Back in Boston and Ann Arbor I spent numerous Sunday afternoons with dozens of other people catching up on the Sunday newspaper, doing school work, and hanging out with friends. Apparently, the wireless internet cafe is not the place for such activities in Miami. Lesson learned.

Nevertheless, I am happy to be here. Miami is a very interesting place, and one that is starting to realize its potential as a great international city. Moreover, work at DPZ began with a bang last week as I was instantly thrown onto the Miami 21 project, which is a complete rezoning of the entire City of Miami. We unveiled the plans for the first quadrant yesterday to a very large crowd of developers, laywers, and citizen activists. Overall, I think it went well.

In short, Miami 21 is an effort to streamline and simplify the development process, while also creating a much more livable Miami for the future. To do so, the project is moving from a use-based to a form based code. To my knowledge it is the largest application of a form-based code. It is an ambitious project for which DPZ is the lead consultant, and a project that I will spend much of my time on this summer. You can read more about it here and here.

A Couple Of Thoughts...

2006-05-02T22:03:00.000-04:00

Though I promised that this next post would be an in-depth analysis of Cherry Hill Village, I am currently in my home state of Maine without my computer. Thus, my review, which has been written, will be posted after I return to Michigan and make my move to Miami. So instead, this will just be a bit of a schmorgasboard of thoughts.

I survived my first year of graduate school in good order. Some of the highlights were working on a corridor redevelopment plan in Detroit, creating a small TOD that included an extension of the traditional town fabric of Dexter, Michigan, and completing a site plan and financial analysis for the redevelopment of a suburban strip in Ann Arbor into a mixed-use town center. One final highlight was working for Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company during my spring break. Fortunately, they have asked me back for the summer. Hence, the previously mentioned move to Miami. I'm sure my time there will give me plenty to write about -- that is if I have the time.

I would also like to comment briefly on the death of one of my biggest heroes, Jane Jacobs. I originally wrote quite a long post regarding my feelings for her work and its effect on my own, but it unfortunately got lost somewhere in cyberspace last week. If you are reading this you probably have a enough of an understanding that I can simply leave it with my two favorite Jacobs quotes:

"Our songs and cities are the best things about us, songs and cities are so indispensable."

-and-

"Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody."

Finally, I find it very interesting, if not disturbing that after a week of articles highlighting Ms. Jacobs' many accomplishments and contributions to the field, a rash of people this week have chosen to take cheap shots at not only her work, but the work of the new urbanists. I specifically mean the recent Nicoloai Ouroursoff article in the New York Times, and the most recent Wall Street Journal article by Leonard Gilroy, who is a policy analyst at the infamous Reason Institute. It is quite interesting how these two were able to conveniently use the death of one of the foremost luminaries in the field as a way to take cheap shots at new urbanism, a movement based on principles that they clearly do not comprehend.

If you take a moment to read Gilroy's article you will see that he equates smart growth, high density planning with an "end-state vision of the city." He implies that Smart Growth is a Utopian cure-all for our built maladies. As if those who are proponents of Smart Growth are naive enough to think that we can implement transit-oriented development and all will be right with the world.

Gilroy further comments that new urbanism is no different than the "social engineering mentality of those who wrought the disaster of postwar urban renewal." Clearly, the man is misinformed.

However, what particularly bothers me about Gilroy's article is that he tries to place himself, a defender of the "market oriented" suburban pattern, between Jacobs and the new urbanists, as if Jacobs herself would defend the sprawling patterns that inevitably occur because of our antiquated postwar financing and zoning regulations. The issues are much deeper than Gilroy leads the reader to believe.

Furthermore, he says that, " ...you can't create a vibrant city or neighborhood. The best cities and neighborhoods just happen, and the best thing we can do is to step out of the way of innovators and entrepreneurs."

Cities and neighborhoods do not just happen. This is a complete oversimplification of the historical processes, policies, and power struggles that have forever shaped the urban landscape. Gilroy would do well to understand that you don't just wish upon a city and *poof* Greenwich Village, or Charleston, North Carolina.

Finally, like most other critics of smart growth and new urbanism, neither Ouroursoff or Gilroy proposed any type of alternative solution, idea, or thought on how cities should grow and change. This is where I would like the critics to step-up and stop rehashing old arguments that just make them look ignorant. Until they do, all of their critiques seem as hollow as they claim new urbanism to be.

Cherry Hill Village

2006-04-10T19:49:00.000-04:00

Conventional Detroit Exurban sign of things to come.
The future of Southeast Michigan? The first picture above is located roughly 1/2 mile from the second, which is the public square at Cherry Hill Village, Michigan's first new urbanist TND to be substantially built out. After my final projects are done for the semester I will provide a more robust review. Until then...

KATRINA COTTAGE

2006-03-22T00:21:00.000-05:00

Typical FEMA Trailer - $75,000

Katrina Cottage - $60,000

A completely inept federal government agency? Priceless.

Despite being only 308 Square feet, the Katrina Cottage has made a big splash recently. One reason is because it costs more than $15,000 dollars less to build than a standard FEMA trailer. Yet, FEMA claims their hands are tied and have refused to purchase the cottages and all of its adaptability for Hurricane victims. The real kicker is that the cottages have been built to withstand hurricane force winds and are able to be expanded quite easily....something that is rather important to the thousands of survivors who are just trying to get semblance of normalcy back in their lives. Would you want to rebuild a neighborhood with Katrina Cottages, or with trailers? Wake up FEMA.

DPZ

2006-03-09T20:17:00.000-05:00

Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company - Little Havana, Miami

Over my spring break vacation I worked as an intern at Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company. As someone who has closely followed the work of the firm for years, it was somewhat of a dream come true. Throughout the course of the week I worked almost primarily on projects related to DPZ's work in Hurricane battered Louisiana. After having the opportunity to become acquainted with their plans for recovery, I can say the effort is nothing short of miraculous - much like the efforts put forth in Mississippi. This week DPZ is finishing up another charrette in Arabi, Louisiana.

For a firm of its size, the amount of work they have taken on in Louisiana and Mississippi is mind-boggling. Yet, after working there for a week I now see how it is all possible. The employees at DPZ work hard, really hard. However, the atmosphere is far more convivial than I ever expected. On my first day I was told that DPZ operated more like a family, than as a firm with one of the best reputations in the field. Having never worked exclusively in the for-profit world I was unsure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. The people at DPZ is what makes it such a special place to be. Even though I was there for only a week, I was welcomed warmly, invited to participate in post-work social activities on numerous occassions, and treated to lunch at a neighborhood Cuban restaurant. DPZ employees are also quite young, which is probably because the pace can be fairly brutal, but it also gives the office a lot of energy.

Of all the things that I was exposed to over the course of the week, I would have to say that the Miami 21 project was my favorite (www.miami21.org). DPZ is the lead consultant on the project and are transforming the entire City of Miami's zoning code into a form based code. Never before has a form based code been implemented at this scale. Though the project is very complicated, from a planning perspective it has the potential to make Miami one of the most progressive cities in the the United States. I will certainly be following the project over the next couple of years.

In summation, working for DPZ was a great experience. Hopefully it was not my last!

Mad For Madison

2006-02-17T22:58:00.000-05:00

State Street, Madison on a rainy Saturday. Why didn't I take pictures the day before when it was so sunny?! Oh yeah, too busy enjoying FAC and $2 pitchers.

Apparently, only lunatics tool around Madison with cameras on a rainy, raw 33 degree day. I assure you the city has so much more life than the following pictures depict!

A Little bit of sun would do this plaza some good.

From any angle, the capital provides a tremendous vista termination. Even in crappy weather!

Tough guys in a beautiful building. The capital!

This Copp's grocery store is designed to help define the urban character within the town center. Unfortunately, many of the storefronts remain vacant, and the architecture of most retail building is homogenous and suburban-esque. Time will should heal its current ills.

An alley in Middleton Hills, WI. Excellent deflection!

Public right of way already being worn into permanence.
Middleton Hills, WI
A Close in DPZ designed Middleton Hills, WI

Frank Lloyd Wright Methodist Church, Madison WI

Three weeks ago today I joined two of my Michigan planning buddies for a road trip from Ann Arbor, MI to Madison, Wisconsin. We did so for a few reasons, the first being that my friend Alex, who bleeds Badger red, wanted to return to his alma mater for his birthday weekend. Second, both my other friend (Ben) and I were sick and tired of hearing Alex sing the praises of his former place of residence without having a frame of reference. Finally, we all needed to get the hell out of Ann Arbor for a weekend and find some real urban energy, which Alex promised Madison had in spades. With that we were off.

From the moment we got off the perpetually flat and uninspiring series of midwestern highways that somehow got us from eastern Michigan to central Wisconsin in 6 hours, we entered John Nolen Drive, which leads right into the heart of Madison. From that moment on Ben and I sensed that Alex was not exaggerating. Madison is a special place. I will try to keep the gushing to a minimum, but the city is magnificent. The visual scenery around the isthmus, the lakes, and the capital is incredibly beautiful. The energy of the city is three times more intense than in Ann Arbor. The social scene more robust. The street characters more peculiar. The bars more lively. And the bike lanes, wow how I long for Madison's bike lanes! Yes, Madison has a true sense of place.

Throughout the weekend we walked the rainy streets like true urbanists and passed judgement on just every about every physical aspect of the city. And with knowledge on just about every new and planned University and City development, Alex proved to be an incredible tour guide. Moreover, we got a chance to drive out a few miles to check out Middleton Hills, a DPZ project near full buildout just outside the city limits. Overall, the trip was fantastic. We ate, drank, and critiqued street widths and building envelopes. A getaway of proper proportions for proper urbanists. Sadly, the weekend came to a close all too soon. Nonetheless, our time in Madison was enough to prove to me that as far as mid-western cities go - Chicago excluded - Madison cannot be topped.

The Real Story...

2006-02-08T20:01:00.000-05:00

http://www.planetizen.com/node/18727.

Normally, I do not like to post random articles on this blog. However, with all of the skepticism, false reporting, and controversy surrounding the Mississippi Renewal Charettes, I felt that this op-ed by Biloxi Sun Herald publisher Ricky Mathews was both timely and informative to those throughout the planning community. Check it out!

Ricky Mathews, Publisher of the Biloxi Sun Herald and Vice-Chairman of the Governor's Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal after Hurricane Katrina, argues that Andres Duany and other New Urbanists have been critical to the early success of rebuilding efforts in Mississippi, providing citizens not only with the hope of recovery, but with master planning that has inspired confidence in a bigger and better Gulf Coast community, all while respecting local traditions.

It has been five months since Hurricane Katrina altered the landscape of the Gulf Coast in Mississippi and Louisiana and changed forever the lives of those of us who live here. For understandable reasons, the national focus has been on the post-Katrina challenges in New Orleans. But it's important to remember that New Orleans suffered a flooding disaster precipitated by a hurricane. South Mississippi got the hurricane.
A storm surge exceeding 30 feet leveled structures and ripped apart the infrastructure for nearly 100 miles along our coastline. Some 50 million cubic yards of debris must be removed. More than 30,000 families now call FEMA trailers home, with thousands more waiting to get trailers. Our South Mississippi economy, leading the state prior to Katrina, is sputtering with near-record unemployment and reconstruction costs in the billions. Visitor after visitor has told me this is a see-it-to-believe-it experience. You can't truly understand the magnitude of destruction -- or the rebuilding job ahead of us -- unless you're here to see for yourself.
And yet there's something else you might have to experience first-hand to see its potential. Amid the rubble, hope grows. The reason is, we have a plan.
Because I am both publisher of South Mississippi's principal newspaper, the Sun Herald, and vice-chairman of the privately funded Governor's Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal, I've been in a unique position to watch -- and to encourage -- this transition from despair. It began in mid-October with the Mississippi Renewal Forum, in which architect/planner Andres Duany led more than 100 international specialists and a like number of their colleagues from Mississippi in a six-day charrette sponsored by the Commission and organized by the Congress for the New Urbanism. Those six days of intense planning produced sets of principles, process suggestions, and actual plans for 11 communities in the three coastal Mississippi counties.

At a public meeting shortly after the Forum, someone asked me to explain how we could think about the future when we were still in the recovery mode. It's the question that remains such a tough one for New Orleans officials. For us, the answer lies in the genius of the Governor's Commission's effort. In order to get out of this mess we are in, we have to have an approach that matches the depth and breadth of the effects of the storm. Katrina didn't target one sector of our lives or one class of our citizens or one stage of our preparations. It didn't wait on our readiness to cope before escalating to the next level of destruction. Katrina was a comprehensive, equal-opportunity force. And we have to deal with its aftermath with comprehensive strategies. We have to recover and rebuild at the same time; because, the fact is, each short-term recovery decision has critical long-term rebuilding effects.

Duany and the New Urbanist planners, engineers, and other specialists have taken their shots along the way, usually from critics outside Mississippi and often from people who didn't bother to read the reports of the Forum teams. Many of us who worked on a day-to-day basis with the New Urbanists were especially offended at the suggestion their agenda was to create a playground for the rich at the expense of cultural diversity, regional tradition, and working class neighborhoods. What the New Urbanists proposed was just the opposite. Every plan was rooted in research and discussion with locals about traditions -- including design traditions -- citizens most wanted to preserve. And I saw first-hand the passion of these planners to protect and to rebuild neighborhoods such as those settled by working-class Yugoslavian, French, Vietnamese and African American citizens in East Biloxi.

Too many in the news media haven't yet understood the scope of what was lost or the ambitions we have to build back better than before. We have whole cities to re-imagine and to reconstruct. Every social and economic issue we may have ducked before the storm is now in plain site. But what is different about where we are right now from where we were in September and perhaps for years prior to Katrina, is that, thanks to the Commission's foresight, the courage of our citizens, and the expertise of the New Urbanists, we have a plan. What's more, we have increasingly reasonable expectations that we can implement its key components.
What the New Urbanists brought to the table was hope. They brought a belief that the obliterated communities that make up South Mississippi could emerge bigger and better. They introduced common-sense principles and approaches to planning, like the SmartCode that links so many of our rebuilding ambitions together and can help us recapture the essence of what was lost. They gave us a strong understanding of how to create a sense of place through design. And they demonstrated how synergies inspired by thoughtful design multiply value that can be measured in classic economic development terms and in the quality of life enjoyed by a community's citizens.

If you're reading and viewing only reports of the struggles in New Orleans, these rising expectations on the "other" Gulf Coast will seem beyond imagining. But there are plenty of us who have been eyewitnesses to this beginning transformation. Every day more of our citizens and their leaders emerge form the Katrina fog and begin to see the value of the New Urbanist approaches and the Governor's Commission recommendations that reflected so many of them. Many of those ideas are already finding their way into rebuilding strategies in individual towns and counties. And I can assure you that, as time goes on, more and more will begin to get their hearts and minds around these gifts of hope and apply their energies to implementing them in ways that will create a story of recovery, discovery and renewal never before seen in American history.

Hooray, Suburbia

2006-02-07T01:12:00.000-05:00

Picture of The Week:

This picture of me was snapped in the Fall of 2005 on a site visit to Dexter, MI. I must admit, I was thoroughly impressed by the ineptitude of whoever developed this trite suburbo pod of poorly constructed, yet expensive housing.

Coming Soon.... A review of Middleton Hills, a TND designed by DPZ that I visited last weekend. I promise it is more inspirational than this. I will also include pictures of Middleton Hills and downtown Madison, WI. Faaaaaaaantastic.

Picture of the Week

2006-01-22T22:17:00.000-05:00

Church Street Marketplace in Burlington, Vermont.

Placemaking at its finest. As one of the only successful American "pedestrian only" streets in an urban environment, this main street in the heart of Burlington is a rare gem. The street teems with public life. Cafes, street performers, hippie transients, shoppers, interactive public art, bars, and a viable mix of independent and chain establishment are the norm here. I believe that much of its success is derived from an intelligent parking strategy and narrow cross streets that are open to traffic flow. This makes it both accessible to the throngs of cars that descend upon the city in the summer, and pedestrian friendly. I spent much of the summer of 2004 working for the Vermont Forum on Sprawl and basking in the urbanism of Church Street.

Since I have increasingly litte free time to write meaningful posts to this blog, I have decided that in the busiest weeks I will simply upload a picture with a brief explanation. However, with two major planning projects in the works, and an article that should appear in the upcoming issue of Places, I should have plenty of material to share over the coming months!

Sprawl Manifesto

2005-12-28T10:05:00.000-05:00

It was recently asked on the PRO-URB list serv that if you do not believe in New Urbanism/Smart Growth, then what the hell DO you believe in. To answer this question, K. Fischer Craft inverted the Charter of the New Urbanism to appropriately fit the alternative.

SPRAWL MANIFESTO

The Congress for the Continuation of Sprawl views disinvestment in central cities, the spread of placeless sprawl, increasing separation by race and income, environmental deterioration, loss of agricultural lands andwilderness, and the erosion of society's built heritage as the preferredmethod of development in America.

We stand for the deterioration of existing urban centers and towns within incoherent metropolitan regions, the continuation of sprawling suburbs as opposed to communities of real neighborhoods and diverse districts, the destruction of natural environments, and the collapse of our built legacy.

We recognize that our physical solutions may not solve social and economic problems; neither do we promise long lasting economic vitality, community stability, and environmental health.We advocate the restructuring of public policy and development practices to support the following principles:

neighborhoods should be ethnocentric in use and population; communities should be designed with the automobile in mind, with a lesser emphasis on the pedestrian; cities and towns should be shaped by laissez faire growth and amenities should be sufficiently separated, so as to facilitate reliance on the automobile; sub-urban places should be framed by architecture and landscape design that disregards local history, climate, ecology, and building practice.

We represent a broad-based citizenry, composed of public and private sector leaders, and multidisciplinary professionals, who are reaping the temporary benefits of sub-urban sprawl.

We are committed to clear-cutting forests and replacing them with asphalt and standardized "big box" buildings, despitethe loss of local identity and community.

We dedicate ourselves to the decline of our homes, blocks, streets, parks,neighborhoods, districts, towns, cities, regions, and environment.

Ann Arbor

2005-12-23T23:40:00.000-05:00

I’m sitting here in the new Northwest terminal of the Detroit Metro Airport anxiously waiting for my jet plane to arrive and hurl me back the great state of Maine, and all of the comforts of my favorite places and spaces. Boston! New York! Portland! Oh east coast, how I have missed thee. Well, given this transitional moment, I think that it might be an appropriate time to reflect on the last four months.

Though leaving for Boston for the Midwest was low on the priority list, I was more than excited to finally dive head first into pursuing a masters degree in urban planning. Moreover, I assumed that the University of Michigan would be a good fit, and that Ann Arbor would be a good place to live. I am happy to say that both of these assumptions have held true. However, I have not had blinders on, and I would like to make a few definitive statements regarding Ann Arbor, the state of Michigan, and my planning education thus far.

The City of Ann Arbor is a great place to live. However, I will start by saying it feels much more like a town, rather than a city. In fact, the City of Portland, Maine with half the population feels a lot bigger. But from a planning perspective, Ann Arbor is walkable, compact, has some great traditional neighborhoods, and has three vital downtowns. Yes, three. Two of these serve the University and one of them the greater Ann Arbor region. There are plenty of delicious restaurants which serve any type of food you could want, and there is a healthy mix of chains and independent stores/restaurants. However, I will say that the bars in Ann Arbor leave a lot to be desired. Either they cater to the plethora of undergraduate students, or they are just plain lame. Moreover, dive bars don’t even exist here. Perhaps the east coast just holds the bar as a great third place in higher esteem. Here in Ann Arbor, coffee shops reign supreme. I have found one good place, called Goodnight Gracie’s, which is an urbane and intimate jazz club on the bottom level, and a larger funkier bar/ live music venue on the second level. This is the only place in Ann Arbor where I feel as though I am in a city. Too bad I only discovered this place recently. I shall patronize it more in the coming months for sure.

Perhaps one of the great strengths in Ann Arbor is the park system. The City decided a while ago to create a green ring around the City, and for the most part it has been very successful. Moreover, the park system is well connected, mostly following the Huron River which snakes around the north side of town. It is nice to see a City that embraces such a natural feature as an asset. I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring these places by foot and by bike. If there is one thing that Ann Arborites like, it is their parks. This was made abundantly clear at the public downtown visioning sessions that have been lead by New Urbanism stalwarts, Calthorpe and Associates.

As for the urban planning program, I have been very happy with it. The professors that I have had thus far have been challenging, passionate, and very engaging. I consider this a blessing because I know that at many graduate schools the professors merely teach so that they can research. New urbanism is definitely not the focus of the program here at Michigan, but it has plenty of support through various professors. Students on the other hand do not seem to know much about its central tenets. I have done my best to begin this dialogue and help educate my classmates about what new urbanism means, and why it is important. As always, this is an uphill battle.

Most recently, I have decided to pursue a dual degree in urban design, as well as a certificate in progressive real estate development. I have no intention of ever getting involved in real estate, but to learn the language of the developer is a very important skill. Moreover, to learn from NU specialist Chris Leinberger is an opportunity that one should not pass down. I think that this should make me a more complete planner, and allow me to achieve my dream job of being an urban designer within a multidisciplinary firm. Yes, things are good here, and I am staying uber busy. I miss Boston and the rest of the east coast, but 2-3 years in the mid-west will only strengthen my love for my home, as well as provide me with invaluable knowledge about life outside of New England. Happy Holidays ya’ll.

Seaside, Florida

2005-12-14T15:53:00.000-05:00

Good friend, New Urban colleague, and Knight Fellow Jon Ford recently returned from a four day seminar at Seaside, Florida. His reactions have been posted on his blog located here: http://spacesandsounds.blogspot.com/2005/12/seaside.html. Includes some excellent images! Check it out.

Reacting to NYT Seaside Article

2005-12-14T15:48:00.000-05:00

Seaside at 25: Troubles in ParadiseBy FRED A. BERNSTEIN
http://travel2.nytimes.com/2005/12/09/travel/escapes/09seaside.html?emc=eta1

This article is evidence that after 25 years, Seaside is starting to be "broken in." Robert Davis and DPZ know this. Urbanism happens over time. The criticism of many new urban projects is certainly valid, but many forget that most NU developments are extremely "young." Ever see pictures of Back Bay Boston in the early 1860's? How about the Champs Elysees shortly after Haussman worked his magic? They both looked pretty contrived and stale. Let these places evolve, gain some grit, grow into themselves, and we will see that Traditional Neighborhood Developments and traditional urban forms hold up much better in the long run than other current alternatives. As for Seaside's affordability (yikes!)...if we built more places that mattered then we might see a depression in prices as demand is met. There are only a few places that that provide the amenities that many crave (think San Francisco,Portland OR, Boston, NYC, even Ann Arbor etc..) As it stands now, supply of good urban form in this country is so sparse that those places that have created, or maintained it, see so much demand that most of us can't afford to live there. I am not equating Seaside with either Boston, or Paris....just that urban form needs time. We often forget that.

Revisiting Mumford

2005-12-07T12:38:00.000-05:00

Below is a paper on The City in History, by Lewis Mumford, that I wrote back in November for my History of Urban Form Class. I had read Mumford about ten months prior to taking this course, but got a whole lot more out of the second reading. He might be the most passionate and idealistic writer that I have encountered. I don't agree with all of his theories, but I certainly love the way he writes. Check it out!

Towards an Environment of Freedom:
Lewis Mumford and the Pursuit of the Human Scale

Lewis Mumford’s The City in History is an utterly remarkable assessment of humankind’s greatest invention, the city. This seminal text proves that Lewis Mumford was not only a true scholar of urban history, but that he was also completely enamored, if not obsessed with urban form and its intrinsic relationship to the culture of its time. To this end, Mumford frequently posits that though humans often communicate their most sincere social, political, economic, and cultural values through the intentional ordering and design of their own surroundings, the social core is actually of more significance than what he calls the container, or the physical manifestation of the city. After all, “…if we lacked the written documents, the stones of Athens would not tell the story.” (Pg. 148) Variations of this principle are repeated throughout the text and serve as the crux for Mumford’s historical criticism, hope for a better future, and a constant pursuit of what he calls an environment of freedom.
Throughout The City in History Mumford episodically shares his strong, yet sometimes capricious opinions on the symbiotic relationship between urban design and the evolution of culture through history. Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say that Mumford explicitly chronicles the deterioration of culture and the rise of what he calls ‘post-historic man’, who is not a favorable character in his eyes. Nonetheless, Mumford’s open writing style allows his variegated views on urbanism to be very accessible to the reader. Thus, if one has any trouble wading through Mumford’s miasma of praise and damnation, he or she will at least be able to comprehend that in its totality, The City in History is more than a linear survey of urban history in the Western world. It is a powerful critique of cultural values through space and time, and it is an attempt to define the ideal city form, both culturally and physically. This is no small task.
Not surprisingly Mumford, who was forever flummoxed by the ephemeral nature of what he considered to be good urbanism, begins the book by asking a very large question.

“Can the needs and desires that have impelled men to live in cities recover, at a still higher level, all that Jerusalem, Athens, and Florence once seemed to promise? Is there still a living choice between Necropolis and Utopia: the possibility of building a new kind of city that will, freed of inner contradictions, positively enrich and further human development?” (pg.1)

This very pertinent issue drives the book, and implies that his ideal city would indeed exist in a permanent state between Necropolis and Utopia, and not fall prey to the waywardness of time. Did Mumford not see that such a permanence in and of itself is a rather utopian concept?
Yet, despite the impossibility of maintaining a city locked into a social and physical state of Mumfordian virtuousity, the main principles of his cultural idealism are noteworthy. In fact, my own goal of contributing to the production and maintenance of a more robust human habitat has much in common with Mumford’s own conception of the environment of freedom.
Throughout the text Lewis Mumford champions a human habitat that would first and foremost evolve organically, and not be forced into a predetermined social and physical form ala post-World War II suburbia, which is the home of ‘post-historic man’ and all of his deplorable mechanizations. To continue, Mumford’s environment of freedom would operate at the human scale by placing the human experience of movement throughout the city as paramount. Such an environment would be emotive and breed a high level of consciousness for one’s own humanity, an idea that is very dear to Mumford’s heart. Furthermore, Mumford’s ideal city would naturally create and maintain social structures that nurture the arts, foster human ingenuity through several forms of education, maintain democracy across all social strata, promote a widespread peace, and preserve an ecological balance between the built and natural environment. Perhaps most importantly to Mumford, this environment would be built for the ages, and would be capable of nourishing the requirements ideal human habitat. In short, urban form of beauty would follow a society of Mumfordian magnificence.
Interestingly, as Mumford takes the reader through all of the fascinating stages of human culture and the cities that housed them, he explains that imperfect and incongruent versions of this model living environment have actually occurred momentarily in Western history. Not surprisingly, he uses these temporary historical moments, like the strength of democracy and the importance of the public realm in Athens, the socio-economic structure and organic design of the medieval city, and the scale and charming nature of the garden city suburbs, as the inspiration for his own pursuit of the environment of freedom.
However, Mumford struggles to accept that the social, political, and economic forces that help push history forward inevitably thwart the perpetual design and maintenance of his favorite cities in history. Moreover, he undoubtedly grapples with the loss of the unique socio-political patterns that made places like Athens possible in the first place. Mumford’s effort to reclaim these places dominates his method of critique, and governs his opinion of what will truly create the ideal living arrangement in the future.
This is when the reader understands that the very connection Mumford delineates between culture and design can actually hinder the development of his ideal city, rather than contribute to its creation. This is because human culture is by nature a fluid entity and therefore susceptible to change via a plethora of uncontrolled variables. Yet, unlike many other utopian urban theorists, at least history, albeit rather briefly, has produced the apple of his eye!
To make his arguments, which there are many, Mumford utilizes a multidisciplinary approach that includes history, culture, politics, economics, architecture, urban planning, and of course, urban design. As one who believes that interdisciplinary studies are essential to the study of urbanism, this method of inquiry is extremely relevant to the complicated social problems that Mumford valiantly strives to overcome. And regardless of the fact that many of his views on urbanism are contradictory, he writes with an eloquent strength that, in my experience, is only matched by his friend turned foe, Jane Jacobs. And as I mentioned previously, I find myself to be in agreement with most of Mumford’s philosophies. I am attracted to the organic, the human scale, the ecologically balanced, the long-lasting, and the equitable. I too find Baroque planning a bit troublesome, Coketown to be a frightful human habitat, and all the furnishings of suburban American culture to be a great cause for concern. (Mumford wrote The City in History in 1961, I truly wonder how scathing his critique would be of our current situation in 2006!)
However, this is my second reading of The City in History, and like the first reading, I am struggling with Mumford’s prescription for the future. This is because for all of his incisive criticism, his ability to create a solution is severely weakened by the sheer weight of his concerns. It almost reminds me of a great fireworks show that has no grand finale. I say this because Mumford brings the reader through the entire history of urbanism with such a righteous fervor, but then leaves us with such a general feeling of anguish for the prospects of the city. As he sees it, there is no happy ending in sight, and his environment of freedom will not be conceived. Though that is rather disheartening, I guess that we should all be glad that we have yet to experience nuclear holocaust! Moreover, for now large scale urban renewal seems to be a thing of the past! Unfortunately, Mumford didn’t have the luxury of this hindsight.
I also believe that throughout many of his critiques, he fails to truly understand that with incredible cultural and technological advances came a certain level of sacrifice. Sure, he may severely dislike ‘post historic man,’ but I would wager that if Mumford were stricken with pneumonia, he might thoroughly enjoy modern medicine and proper sanitation. This begets the question of whether or not Mumford himself would actually want to live in Athens or the medieval city. I don’t think that he would, as he has several criticisms for these, his favorite city forms. Such contradictions are made throughout the book, and unfortunately he has no real practical solution to what ails him.
Regardless, I believe that Lewis Mumford’s struggle with the current state of society in post war America is rather axiomatic. It is only natural for someone like Mumford to look ahead to what they cannot control and feel some level of despair. Therefore, I think it is much wiser to avoid dwelling on all of our current cultural misgivings, which there are many, and instead focus on integrating an urban (re)development strategy that is wholly inclusive, is flexible enough to maintain its integrity over time, and most importantly responds with grace to an ever-changing cultural topography. Our inability to do just this is in my opinion where we have gone wrong in post-World War II America. Much to Mumford’s probable dismay we are still a culture that is exceedingly entrenched in the vapid automation of the one size fits sprawl machine. However, I do believe that we are slowly beginning to awaken from this coma of entropy. There are signs of hope.
Though Lewis Mumford is incredibly adept at understanding the flaws of urbanism through all of its historical iterations, he fails to fully admit that past, present, and future urban form have never been, and never will be a static entity. Athens couldn’t last forever! It is like he loses his grip on the history that he so proficiently recounts, and in doing so reveals his tendency to move fluidly between pragmatic historian and utopian theorist. A role he assumes throughout the entire text. With this fluctuation in mind, it is not surprising that he struggles to produce a full prescription for the future of the city. The reader knows that he has his theories, but towards the end of the book the reader also understands that Mumford is not as confident in his ideals as he might have once been. It is an interesting duality for sure, and in my opinion proves to be the biggest flaw within The City in History. Yet, despite the futility of Mumford’s history based search for future clarity, The City in History is the most passionate and exacting work on urban form that I know, and I thank him for that.

Chi-Town

2005-12-06T18:25:00.000-05:00

Chicago.

Wrigely Monument at Night. Spectacular.

The Bean, Millenium Park.
Downtown.
I had no idea how I was going to feel about Cloud Gate, or "The Bean" as it is called. It is just a giant reflective sculpture in the middle of rather bland and windswept plaza. Yet I was completely engaged. It's a totally interactive piece of art. You could approacht his thing every day of the year and I am sure you could get a different view of the city in its reflection. It's incredible, and so is Millenium Park.

Gold Coast - Traditional Row Houses. Too bad the road is so damn wide.

Pictures!

2005-11-26T02:05:00.000-05:00

Mike Lydon That's me!

I finally figured out how to post pictures (I think). Now I can start posting pictures of the places I write about. Sweet. Chicago pictures will becoming once I get back to Ann Arbor and upload them...

The Windy City

2005-11-26T01:12:00.000-05:00

I am currently spending my Thanksgiving vacation with my sister in Elm Grove, WisCONSIN, a mundane suburb of west of Milwaukee. Brew Town! Though downtown Milwaukee has actually become a destination of sorts ( I checked it out back in September, good things are happening here), I decided to hop on the Amtrak today and head for Chicago, a city I have not seen since I was nine. After being stuck in provincial Ann Arbor for 2 months, I was uber excited to experience a large (and succesful, sorry Detroit) urban environment again.

It was not long after the train rumbled past the southern Milwaukee suburbs that we entered the northern edge of Chicagolopolis. The feeling was more tangible, as my innate city sense could feel the pull of the loop from 25 miles out. It was almost like being back in the arms of a loved one. The weight of my final papers, projects, and exams lifted. It was a welcomed feeling, it was time to explore.

After deboarding at yet another Union Station (my third Union Station this year) I headed due east towards the lake. The weather was frigid and I was not dressed properly, but I couldn't have cared less. Walking from Union Station through downtown Chicago at 9:30 am on "black Friday" was not all that inspiring... the streets were dead. I conjectured that most people were either already in their offices, or they were taking the day off. However, I soon found out that they were all shopping on Michigan Avenue, the home of the Magnificent Mile, a midwest shopping mecca. It was also the only thing that seperated me from my first destination of interest, Millenium Park.

Since its official opening, I have heard nothing but positive comments about this urban gem. Parks can either be incredible amenities, or be urban voids. Millenium Park is certainly the former. Before I continue to sing its praises, I must admit that I was a little skeptical of the "BP Bridge" and the "Jay Pritzker Pavilion," both designed by Frank Gehry. It's not that I totally disregard Mr. Gehry's work, I just typically feel his blob-itecture is is much more disorientating than inspirational or space defining. However, the Pritzker Pavilion makes me feel that Mr. Gehry should just focus on performance art venues! Forget musuems, forget academic buildings, just music venues! His incredible creativity seemed to flow perfectly with the creative nature of music. Of course, there was no concert being performed in the 10 degree weather, but staring at the stage from the middle of the pavilion field the music in my head was only enriched by my surroundings. Nice one Frank.

Okay, my two year old niece Fiona is asking me to play with her, so I will continue this entry as a photo essay when I return to Ann Arbor tomorrow. Cheers!

Update

2005-11-19T19:06:00.000-05:00

Wow, it has been a long time since I have had a chance to post anything to this blog. I sincerely apologize to the throngs of people who have anxiously been awaiting my next post. Ha. Anyways, rather than delve into a month of worthy blogging material, I will touch upon just a few key happenings.
Here in Ann Arbor, I had the pleasure of working alongside Calthorpe and Associates as a facilitator for the third and final downtown redevelopment charette in Ann Arbor. The plan that CA presented was just one of many possibilities that would add housing to the downtown core, increase walkability, and intensify what is already a very successful downtown district. CA will be taking final recommendations and presenting a final plan on December 5th. I hope that the City understands the skill of CA and moves to adopt their ideas as soon as possible.
I also recently took a guided tour of Hamtramck (pronounced Ham-Tram-ick), Michigan. Hamtramck is a small city within the city of Detroit. No, seriously it is its own municipality within the confines of Detroit proper, like Lesotho in the midst of South Africa. Anyways, touring this small, dense, walkable city of 22,000 people was fascinating. First, it is probably the most diverse part of metro Detroit, as it has served as an affordable place for immigrant populations for the last 50 years. As a result, you can experience any number of ethnic restaurants, grocery stores, or bars. Second, it has a great stock of housing that reminds me much of Somerville, MA, both in form and density. However, it is MUCH more affordable. Houses, whole houses, can be bought for 60,000 a piece. Crime is somewhat of an issue, and local politics are a bit insane, but the place seemed highly livable and vibrant, especially compared to the rest of Detroit. I have a feeling this whole place will gentrify in a matter of years. Get in now, and make out like a bandit!
In other news, I am currently co-authoring an article for the PLACES journal with cooltownstudios principal Neil Takemoto. The article will be centered around media/invisible technology and how it is changing the urban form. If our article is selected, it will be published later this winter. I will keep you all updated for sure.
Finally, I have decided to maximize my resources here at the University of Michigan, and apply for a joint degree in urban design, and for a certificate in progressive real estate development. This means that my stay in Ann Arbor could move from 2 years to 3. A thought that is both exciting and depressing, as I like the town but miss the city life. We'll see what happens... stay tuned for a paper on Lewis Mumford and a review of Ann Arbor. Cheers!

Deciphering Detroit

2005-10-25T21:51:00.000-04:00

If you mention the word "Detroit" anywhere in Michigan, or in the United States for that matter, you will almost always witness a pained reaction. Without a doubt such expressions are joined at the hip with perceptions of racism, disinvestment, misallocated resources, and an urban history that is addled with social and political mistakes. This is true. It's impossible to argue that Detroit is not in dire straits. But with that said, hope should not be lost. Why give up?

I am currently working on a 10 block commercial corridor redevelopment plan for the Bagley Community in Northwest Detroit. Like much of Detroit, the problems in this neighborhood are immense. The commerical corridor, West McNichol's Avenue, is the dividing point between an attractive middle class pre-world war II neighborhood to the north, and a dilapidated low income neighborhood to the south. Last Saturday I left the friendly confines of Ann Arbor to investigate why there is such seperation, and how the corridor that currently seperates the two neighborhoods could be redeveloped to unify these two disparate populations, and not further segregrate them. To do so I spent the afternoon interviewing resident and business owners. This is what I found:

First of all, I should illuminate the psychology of place. The residents of the north and south neighborhoods are overtly aware of their economic differences. In fact, people on both sides of McNichol's Avenue refer to the the south side as "the ghetto, " while those solely on the south speak of their neighbors to the north as "the suburbs." This has a tremendous psychological affect on those who live in the south side neighborhood. After speaking with a few residents of "the ghetto," I found out that despite the reputation, their neighborhood is slowly coming around. Those who are financially stable are starting to reinvest in the properties that they own, which in style and form are very similar to the well kept homes to the north of West McNichols. This helps to erase the perception of poverty in this neighborhood and displays that this area has great potential. Nevertheless, with vacant lots and abandoned homes that look like missing teeth, the south neighborhood has a long way to go. Urban pioneers needed!

The north side neighborhood is replete with well kept sidewalks, well kept homes, attractive landscaping, and signs that show not only political awareness, but a propensity to care about the greater the health of Detroit. Across the West McNichol's corridor to the south, these types of things are non-existent.

So if the neighborhoods are the cookie, the commercial corridor is hardly the cream. Though the 10 blocks corridor connects one vibrant middle class neighborhood and two well respected institutions of higher learning (Marygrove College and University Detroit-Mercy) it is in sad shape. Buildings are dilapidated, vacant lots and buildings persist for entire blocks, barbed wire and chain link fences protect many businesses that do exist, there is an overabundance of surface parking lots, service alleys are overrun with vegetation, liquor stores are on every other block, the Avenue is unneccesarily wide (60ft), and the pedestrian experience is absolutely dismal. What the corridor does have going for it is that the buildings are all at a human scale, the sidewalks are fairly wide, there are two bus stops (though they are not particularly hospitable), and in the past few years a couple of new businesses have survived. This gives me something to work with, although not much.

The concept for my revelopment plan is to transform West McNichols into a neighborhood center that can knit these two neighborhoods together. To do so, I must not only be sensitive to the existing businesses, but also to the needs of the two populations that populate the north and south side neighborhoods. Moreover, as several residents told me, their is too much commercial space for the market that it serves. The vacant lots and vacant buildings make this blatantly obvious. Here is my strategy (remember, this is just an academic exercise and no intensive market studies have been conducted) :

I'm going to transform two vacant lots in the center of the corridor into a YMCA and community center that both provide much needed daycare service to neighborhood residents, as well communal spaces. The YMCA will also provide recreational activities for children and adults alike, which are currently non-existant. Between the YMCA and the community center is a church. On the other side of the YMCA is a vacant lot that actually heads south for 9 more lots. Here I plan to create a neighborhood park that provides a plaza, playground, basketball courts, open green space, and a winter ice rink/summer wading pool. In theory, this park would serve as the true neighborhood center and help draw people from both neighborhoods. Across the street from the YMCA I plan to add a post office, a laundromat, and bookstore/cafe. One block down will be a public library branch and a non-profit office center that allows for greater flexibility and collaboration between like minded organizations. Currently, all of these things are not even close to within walking distance of the neighborhood. These uses will hopefully piggyback on an already successful restaurant, a dry cleaners, furniture store, and a market.

Further down the corridor I plan to redevelop many of the vacant lots/buildings into housing. This will immediately put more people on the corridor, as well as provide new housing stock that provides more flexible living arrangements. I plan to have everything from studios, live/works, 1-3 bedroom, and plenty of multi-generational 4-5 bedroom apartments which are in high demand, but short supply in Detroit. All of these housing units will be built to the street, and be 2-3 stories. This in essence will recreate the urban character that was demolished years ago by redevelopment that placed parking lots in front many now vacant buildings.

By diversifying the housing stock, and adding a few basic, but desperately needed services, I hope to enliven the street and bring more people together. To further enhance this goal, the absurdly wide Avenue will be transformed into a Boulevard, with street trees, a tree lined median, strategic bump-outs, widen the sidewalks, add onstreet parking, and stripe in several crosswalks. There are no crosswalks!

In a perfect world, all of this sounds great. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world and Detroit is far from perfect. Nevertheless, it is not hopeless. There are several simple design improvements that could greatly enhance the character of this once thriving city. The biggest challenge is to get people thinking positively about Detroit again, as well as to transform its failing economy. No small challenge there. The city is in desperate need of reinvestment. It starts block by block, and neighborhood by neighborhood. I hope in my two short years here that I can learn a great deal from a city that has so much potential, but so little hope. I travel to Detroit from Ann Arbor once a week, and I can't help but marvel at the historic buildings that remain, respect its redeveloping waterfront, and dream of a city that captures the imaginations of the world again. It's time for us to love Detroit!

Commercial Street: An Urban Symphony

2005-10-14T22:22:00.000-04:00

I was recently given an assignment in my History of Urban Form class that asked us students to pick a lively street that we knew well, and to describe what made it so successful. This was to be done in homage to Jane Jacobs, and her Hudson Street Ballet (p. 50-54 of Death and Life). I chose Commercial Street in Portland, Maine.

Commercial Street, which runs along the waterfront of Portland, Maine’s historic Old Port district, is a grand stage for highly diverse human activity. Due to an ever-evolving variety of uses and excellent human oriented design, Commercial Street produces a constant ebb and flow of pedestrian activity. Whether it is morning, afternoon, or night, the drama of humanity performed on this stage is akin to the various acts in a play or the various movements found in a symphonic opus. Though each act or movement is interesting on its own, they could not truly stand on their own, as the entire meaning would be lost. Each is dependent on the other, which is the essence of urbanism.

On Commercial Street the early morning belongs to the men and women of the working waterfront. From any number of vantage points, one can witness hundreds of fishermen and lobstermen crossing the street, swigging their coffee, boarding their vessels, and preparing for a long day at sea. These very same fishermen provide distinctive odors and fresh catch for the thousands of people who later in the day will inevitably flock to the restaurants, bars, and piers, that graciously adorn the street. The most popular, but least tasty is DiMillo’s Floating Restaurant. Though the tourists “from away,” create endless opportunities for people watching, those who know the local restaurants would rather walk a few more blocks to The Porthole. The Porthole is a local gem located down a dirt, pot hole infested pier. Though some of the defunct fishing piers have been retrofitted in to posh condo developments, this particular one is gritty and looks more like the main street of a decrepit western ghost town than a quaint small New England City fishing pier. Nevertheless, the Porthole often has live music on the back patio where you can literally look over the railing at fisherman bringing in their daily catch.

After the fishermen head out to sea for the day, a second wave of inhabitants arrives by foot, bus, bike, and car. These are the folks who work in the offices above the first floor retail and eating establishments, and who single handedly keep the small markets, corner stores, delis, and coffee shops in business throughout the year. After all, in Maine tourists are hard to come by in January.

After the morning “rush hour” is over, the real rush begins. Somewhere between coffee and lunch, the street and its pleasantly wide sidewalk seem to shrink and pedestrian gain a more intimate knowledge of each other. Shop doors open, sidewalk displays beckon weekending Boston boutique shoppers, and camera laden tourists purchase sandwiches before boarding the ferries to the Casco Bay islands. The foot traffic in and out of the storefronts is so consistent that it almost seems mechanistic, as if there is an urban puppet master conducting the entire show.

Even though the summer tourists are largely responsible for the crescendo and decrescendo of this special place, over time the regular participants in the Commercial Street symphony do not even notice them. The regulars will notice that the man with the long black hair and worn black boots who always strums his guitar by the hot dog stand has worn the same t-shirt for 4 straight days. Deciding that he might actually need the laundry money, a regular might be coerced into actually placing a few coins left over from their morning coffee purchase into his guitar case. Though he is not a homeless man, he makes a daily wage from those who recognize him, not from those who do not.

The afternoon hours on Commercial Street are the most varied. People of all ages and all agendas can be seen walking the sidewalks, frequenting the restaurants and lunch stands, sitting on benches, skateboarding, tripping on the uneven cobblestone cross walks, exiting and entering the fairy terminal, and crossing the street in such enormity that automobile traffic truly is a secondary concern. Though there might be a brief lull in the action around 4 o’clock, it is not long until the island hoppers return to the mainland, the fishermen tie up for the day, and the professionals exit the offices. Many will flock to the restaurants and bars to recount the happenings of the day over happy hour food and drink specials. If they are smart they head to Three Dollar Dewey’s, which offers free popcorn and cheap Shipyard Ales – Maine’s finest microbrew.

As the daylight fades into twilight, an entirely new population reveals itself. Commercial Street, and the Old Port in general, becomes a playground for the hip and socially active. It is at this time that most of the older professionals, fishermen, and tourists head home and call it a day, while teenagers, creative classers, and twenty- somethings are just starting their evenings. Not to mention the Bachelor or Bachelorette parties that are inevitably attracted to the most vibrant district in the only real city in Maine. The demographic shift is not only noticeable, but the increase in energy is tangible. Bars begin to fill up, dance clubs begin pumping music, and posh sushi restaurants entertain the young and successful, many of whom live nearby in waterfront condos or apartments.

As one might also expect, a sizeable police force begins roaming about, looking for late night revelers out of control, or to simply tell the bongo players for the 10th time that they must tone it down. After the bars, restaurants, and clubs close down for the night, the action begins to slowly fade as the young dissipate for the night. However, Bill’s Pizza remains a hot spot until nearly three in the morning, as it is the only place on Commercial Street that provides late night nourishment. Bill’s Pizza has been serving the late night crowd for years, and is somewhat of an institution on Commercial Street. As the smell of pizza and alcohol radiates out on the sidewalk, just about anything can and does happen.

By the time Bill’s pizza has finally closed down for the night, Commercial Street receives a much deserved rest. Yet, this rest only lasts for 2-3 hours as the earliest of fishermen will soon be arriving, coffee in hand, ready to reinvent the Commercial Street symphony.

As you can see, Commercial Street thrives on the varied combinations of people and uses. Take away one of these movements and the whole Commercial Street symphony suffers. Though each act or movement is interesting on its own, they could not truly stand on their own, as the entire meaning would be lost. Each is dependent on the other, which is the essence of urbanism. This interdependence is best characterized as ordered chaos, and the feeling of the street transcends space and time. This is the trademark of humankind’s most gratifying places, and as a culture we need to build, maintain, and preserve more of these special places.

Toronto Is Terrific

2005-10-04T22:12:00.000-04:00

I admit that this post is about a week late. However, this whole "graduate school thing" is rapidly shrinking the amount of time that I have to write for pleasure.

I tried to just think of a more clever title for this entry, but the above just says it all. Our urban planning program trip to Toronto was on many levels, absolutely terrific. For one, it was nice to get the hell out of Ann Arbor for a little while. Don't get me wrong, A2 as the locals call it, is a great town, just not a great city. As soon as we arrived in Toronto, the intensity of the large city filled me up with a feeling that I have not had since I lived in Boston. I welcomed its return.

While in Toronto, we all stayed in a great Hostel, called Backpacker's Canadiana. It was clean, in the middle of downtown, and even featured free food, drink, and plenty of communal space. In fact, on the back deck parties are encouraged. The owner even joined us, and allowed me a few sips off his bottle. Nice atmosphere.

Both Thursday and Friday were extremely busy days. We had meetings, briefings, and tours scheduled all day, everyday. We even had three of Toronto's young planners take us out on a "nightlife" tour, all while sharing with us the issues and problems of each neighborhood as we jumped from club to club, and bar to bar. What we quickly learned of Toronto is that if it were in America, it would be the most progressive city in the whole country. In one particular meeting we were briefed on the city's current planning strategy, and its accompanying master plan that ensures its success. The following are a few facts that would make most American urban planners want to pack up and knock on the doorstep of our friendly neighbors to the north.

- Toronto has a 30 yr. moratorium on all road construction (read highways, and large arterials)
- The City is considering removing the one expressway that does bisects downtown (Gardner Expressway)
-They spend 12-13 billion dollars a year on public transit ( with bus, streetcar, and subway their system is the 3rd largest in North America)
- All future development is being concentrated in only 25% of the city, which has been identified for having high growth potential. This in effect means that all historic neighborhoods will not be tampered with (75% of the city). Major corridors that are transit serviced will be intensified in height and use, and billions of dollars worth high density condos are going up along the waterfront.
- The Air Canada Center, the cities premier arena, only has 300 parking spaces, which are all underground. Everybody arrives on transit!!

Another positive thing that is occuring in the planning realm is that the City is currently in the process of dismantling Regent Park, a 70 acre housing project that is the largest in Canada. They will be replacing it with a mixed income, connected, transit serviced neighborhood. Everyone currently living there, will be guaranteed housing in the new neighborhood development if they so choose, and the neighborhood population will increase from 2,500 to 5,000. Yes, Toronto has a lot of exciting things happening. Smart people. They get it.

On the whole, Toronto is a safe, clean, and progressive city. Though I have two criticisms. The first being that when the city was participating in the project of modernism, they effectively wiped out most of the city's historic core. What remains are just a few historic structures surrounded by glass and steel (However, they managed to keepUnion Station, which is perhaps the most elegant train station in North America). In this this sense, both Montreal and Quebec City are much more connected with their own history.

The second criticism that I have, is that the entire downtown is connected by an underground mall. They call it the PATH system, and its one of the scariest things I have ever seen. The intention was to allow pedestrians to move freely about downtown, going building to building, without ever going above ground. From what I understand this is a good thing during the winter. However, the PATH itself is a completely disorientating sewer of commercialism, and it sucks way too much life off of the street. I instantly got "mall back" upon entering this subteranean hole. I say give me cold weather, not Cold Stone Creamery. Give me fresh air, not Airborne Express. Oh well, no place is perfect!

Toronto is great, check it out. Jane Jacobs lives there. You will not be dissapointed.

Tackling Toronto

2005-09-21T18:01:00.000-04:00

From Wednesday, September 21st - Sunday, September 25 I will be traveling to Toronto with my urban planning program. I have never been to this Canadian city, and am quite excited to get out of Ann Arbor for a few days. Perhaps I am even more excited to leave the U.S., even if it is just temporary. Since Katrina, there has been a perpetual media blitz and I need the break. I'll report my findings next week.

Look Back, To Look Ahead

2005-09-14T01:09:00.000-04:00

Okay, I admit that my last post was a little more negative than normal. I wrote it after coming home from a bar and watching too many corporate media newscasts, which goes straight to your head. In the meantime, I have been reading several articles a day that deal with the Katrina crisis. Everyone seems to be positing their theories on what should be done with New Orleans, as if someone in yesterday's New York Times, or Washington Post hadn't already championed a similar argument. It's starting to get a wee bit redundant.

Personally, I have no grand vision for how New Orleans should build. Notice how I said should build. Last week I got a bit hasty and inferred that New Orleans should be left alone. It geographic location makes that impossible, and in a more calm and sober state, I realize that. However, I do have a opinion on a very basic city planning guideline that the city should follow.

Respect topography! All the buildings that were destroyed were clearly not occupying sites that were high enough in elevation. The buildings that did survive, the winds and the water, were in the historic French Quarter (thank goodness) and in the wealthy mansion strewn neighborhoods that are adjacent. This shows us two things: One, those who founded and built New Orleans were wise enough to plan the city around the most intelligent geographic position. They would have never built in locations that were so susceptible to such destruction. It's not smart, and its too difficult. Two, the rich will always occupy the best sites. Clearly, the wealthy in New Orleans were living in the best location, as their homes still exist. If New Orleans is to be rebuilt, it should only be done on land that has a fighting chance to survive another Katrina like disaster. Moreover, it should be reserved for those who are less fortunate and really had no choice but to live in poorly constructed and poorly sited houses.

The challenges that lay ahead for the New Orleans, the Gulf Coast, and the country are immense. This would be a great opportunity for a widespread planning effort based on traditional city building. The outcome could be a marvelous example for the rest of the country. It could display our country's resilience, and most importantly that we still have a modicum of intelligence left. Rumor had it that Andres Duany was meeting with the Mayor of Baton Rouge and the Governor of Mississipi. I'm not holding my breath, but this horrific tragedy could wind up becoming a positive if we re-learn a few basic planning principles. Let's look back and see what worked so that we can look ahead to a better built environment. New Orleans can be our crown jewel once again.

What sort of people are we?!

2005-09-02T02:20:00.000-04:00

Let's be honest, Americans are a curious bunch. Our culture leads one to believe that we are on top of the world, but we are not. We think we have it made because of cheap oil, but we really don't. We love plastic bottles full of water, and think its "environmental and safe," but it is mostly environmentally destructive. Well, with Hurricane Katrina and its accompanying destruction, I hope that my fellow Americans realize that these sentiments are not only bunk, but that the U.S. of A is not as secure as most people think. In fact, I think that our country is about to enter some of the most serious geo-political situations in history. Why, you ask?

Well, mostly because the economic success of our entire country depends on a few certain regions that produce cheap labor and cheap gasoline. These regions are full of people who do not like us, and probably for good reason. I do not have to reassert Jim Kunstler's Long Emergency thesis, but it does seem as though everything he predicted is tragically coming to fruition. Drastic hurricane destruction, rapid hikes in gasoline prices, and speculative markets that provide energy to our suburbs is more than the reality, it is simply the future of America. Moreover, it is the future of most of urban America to wallow in the decrepit state that is the lack of planning in the "good old US of A." Because so many of our cities are based on the success of the automobile, we will be perpetually asking ourselves whether it was a good idea to put billions of dollars into the interstate highway system, and I'm sure the overwhelming majority of people will figure out that this has been a 100 year experiment that has failed.

Could we not see how urban America should grow in the future? Could we have not seen how important it is to look at regions as a whole? Where will the search for profit end, and the desire for the public good begin?! Do people realize that you can both make a profit and make marked improvements to our society? I don't have definite answers to all these questions, but I only hope that our fellow humans will take up the cause of planning for the expansion of human activity and interaction. Afterall, if we do not plan for life in public spaces, we are unfortunately planning for the ineffectual lack of social mobility, as urban space andpublic life are more than linked. If you are not connected to these issues, its time to wake up, and make certain that the planning for people space takes precedent over planning for individual interest, as we will all be the richer, and the wiser for it. Okay, that's my tangent for the day, but to get back to the issue at hand here....

Katrina has destroyed one of America's most historic cities, but most people are not thinking about the possibility of letting well enough alone. Man foolishly thinks we can once again conquer nature. We don't realize that we are OF nature, not above it. I would like to see New Orleans come back and thrive more than ever, but to be honest I think that sometimes you have to cut your losses and realize that those who believe that perpetually planning a city in that location were a few beers short of a six pack. As a result we are already beginning to see the effects of the Long Emergency, and its not pretty.

New Home: Ann Arbor

2005-08-24T05:33:00.000-04:00

Despite the ridiculous levels of tourist congestion, leaving coastal Maine in the middle of August is never an easy thing to do. Yet, that is exactly what I did last week as I packed my bags, bike, and hand-me-down furniture to head to my new home in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Fortunately, I have never had a problem with anxiety or new places. If I did, I'm sure leaving New England for the midwest could have caused a panic attack. Well, to be completely honest, I almost did freak out as I drove through the Canadian province of Ontario and witnessed all the new sprawl that is occuring outside of some of the region's largest cities. Seriously, do our friendly neighbors to the north not see the monumental planning mistakes that Americans have made in constructing our built environment? It's almost as if development outside of Ontario's cities is roughly 10-15 years behind the suicidal precedent that America set in the 1980's and 1990's. Almost every open farm field along the QEW Highway, for which there are many, has a sign with some iteration of "Will build to suit." We all know that development can actually enhance a community when done right. But, if what has already been built in this region is a sign of what is to come, I do not hold out much hope. Ugh! Can you hear the death rattle? I sure did. Anyways, after being thoroughly dissapointed with Canada's recent patterns of development I realized that I have my own country to deal with, which is why I was heading to Ann Arbor, Michigan in the first place.

In less than two weeks I will be starting my masters in Urban and Regional planning, with a concentration in physical planning and urban design. As someone that willingly admits to being a little too interested in urban planning, this is a dream come true. However as a life long New Englander, getting used to the midwest is going to take a few minor adjustments. Frozen custard chains, crazed football games with 110, 000 fans, and an automobile lobby stronger than Jose Canseco on steroids are not things that I consider "normal." Nevertheless, Ann Arbor itself is a very cool, liberal college town. Though there is all the requisite sprawl near the highway, downtown Ann Arbor is full of independent businesses, restaurants, shops, theatres, and cool bars. Furthermore, real neighborhoods, with real sidewalks that make real connections are the norm, public parks and open spaces are ample, bicycling is more than accepted, and so far the local Michigan microbrews that I have tried are quite tasty. Some places even serve Harpoon!! I am settling in nicely here, but will wait to make a full analysis of my new home after I spend a little more time here. I expect that I will only enjoy it more.

Interestingly, Downtown Ann Arbor has hired Calthorpe Associates from Berkeley, California to assist in its new downtown masterplan. All fall there will be a series of lectures, public meetings, and workshops that will result in a brand new 25 year vision for Ann Arbor. Original CNU founder Douglas Kelbaugh is currently the Dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning, and new urban downtown finance guru Christopher Leinberger was recently added as a faculty member. What a great time to be here! Moreover, Detroit and all its urban maladies are a mere 40 minutes away. Every year the Urban Planning department holds a charette in a different part of Detroit, which allows students and Detroit citizens realize the potential of their forsaken city. The chance for me to learn here are great, and I look forward to taking full advantage of every available opportunity. On Friday, I have an interview to work part time for the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce's Get Downtown Program, which encourages those who work and play in the downtown to get there by using alternative forms of transportation. I hope to land this job, and if hired I expect that my work at MassBike will certainly come in handy. Wish me luck.

I miss New England already, but am excited to be here. A wise man once said that change is as good as a holiday, and I think that he was right. Its time to go exploring!

Book Review: The New Civic Art

2005-08-12T02:06:00.000-04:00

The New Civic Art: Elements in Town Planning (2003), By Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Robert Alminana is essentially an updated version of The American Vitruvius: An Architect's Handbook of Civic Art (1922), which is one of the most well-known architecture books ever to be published. It is my opinion that over time The New Civic Art should not lag far behind, and that every planner, architect, or active minded citizen - young and old - should be exposed to the principles that are rediscovered and deeply explored in this seminal text.

The ambitious project that is The New Civic Art includes over 1,000 written entries and more than 1,200 illustrations, which display the best, and sometimes the worst, examples of urban planning from around the world. All of which are treated as important historical documents to be carefully examined by the reader, just as each plan, theory, and diagram was carefully critiqued and reviewed by the authors.

Some of the documents are well known, such as Ebenezer Howard's garden city number 5 diagram or Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Musuem in Bilbao, while others probably have not been uncovered and considered for their grace, efficacy, and contribution to the always evolving urban form in quite some time. The first thing that comes to mind as an example of the latter are the U.S. Housing Corporation public housing projects, which were built during the post-World War I era and were the United States' first attempt at producing public housing. These first attempts at public housing in America shame the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) projects of the 1960's and 1970's, most of which are widely considered to be failures. They also serve as the inspiration for the soon to be defunct (Thanks G.W.) Hope VI projects that have managed to repair much of the urban fabric that was destroyed so ruthlessly by the HUD projects.

Within the book's 369 pages, Duany et. al. were remarkably able to cover every theory, plan, diagram, and practicioner with an honesty and a veracity that only those at the top of the field could produce. The care and clarity from which the authors write make it seem almost impossible that we as a society could even make planning mistakes today. I guarantee that even the most seasoned and skilled architect/planner could take something positive away from this book, and that they should add this new found knowledge, or newly rediscovered knowledge to their own practice.

I believe that the greatest strength of The New Civic Art is that it proves that before we ever look forward, we must always stop and look back to learn from history so that we can adapt and build the kind of places that we all deserve to live in. To me, this is an important lesson, and one that those in the planning field should always remember. Just think of all those amazing places that everyone loves to visit - Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Boston, Charleston etc. -now think of the basic principles that made each place possible. We don't have to reinvent the wheel, we just have to look at it again, and that is exactly what Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and Robert Alminana have done in The New Civic Art, and they have done it masterfully. This is a book worth owning, and one that I know that I will continually refer to for the rest of my professional career.

Is this Developer Confused or Reformed?

2005-08-02T19:54:00.000-04:00

I recently read an article about Henry Rodriguez, a self proclaimed "civic investor," who is currently working on his first new urbanist development in Osprey, Florida. The development is called Bay Street Village & Town Center, and if built it will include a library, a town square, 30 shops, and 532 condos, villas, and town homes.

Rodriguez admits that he calls himself a "civic investor" because he believes that the term "developer" conjures up heinous mental images of the sprawlscape that has decimated much of Florida's natural beauty. Smart man. However, developer or otherwise, Rodriguez's 41 acre new urban project is quite the departure from his most recent effort in Osprey, which is a Super Wal-Mart sited on route 41 in Florida that is slated to open later this month.

Yes, you read that correctly, a Super Wal-Mart. If you ask me, that's not much of a civic investment. In fact, I would actually call that one hell of a civic disinvestment. Nevertheless, according to the Florida Herald Tribune article, found here: http://www.planetizen.com/news/item.php?id=17438 , Rodriguez belives that the suburban sprawl that has persisted for 60 years is responsible for road congestion, environmental problems, and antisocial behavior. He says, "Everybody is isolated. Our social systems are breaking down to a point where you don't know your neighbor."

Though he is absolutely right, please forgive me for not being totally convinced that Mr. Rodriguez is truly worthy of his civic investor title. It's more like he has caught on to the fact that new urban communities are high in demand, and high in profitability - especially in the south. And though it seems like he has reformed his ideas to include new urbanist principles with Bay Street Village, we'll have to wait and see how this development actually pans out.

Yet regardless of his intent, if a recent Sprawl-Mart developer (not civic investor) wants to abandon that approach to development, in order to create smart growth and new urban projects, then I say that is a step in the right direction. I hope we see more developers change their tune, like Mr. Rodriguez, so that they include the new urbanism in future developments.

Saratoga Springs Update

2005-07-27T16:45:00.000-04:00

Author and Saratoga Springs resident, Jim Kunstler, informed me yesterday that there is indeed a shoe store located in downtown Saratoga Springs. Jim says, "Hey, there's a very big shoestore in downtown Saratoga -- the Shoe Depot. It ain't bargain central, but they've got plenty of sneakers."

My best friend, the one who needed the sneakers, and I were under the impression that they only sold dress shoes. We were obviously wrong. So it looks like our trip to Saratoga sprawlville was completely unnecessary. However, it was nice to see the darkside of the town, as it makes you appreciate its core that much more. The lesson here is not to judge what is actually in a store by its storefront! Thanks for the update Jim!

Frank Gehry is Scary

2005-07-15T18:17:00.000-04:00

Some people do not learn anything from history.

http://www.planetizen.com/news/item.php?id=17327

AND

http://www.planetizen.com/news/item.php?id=17246

Finding Freedom: Cycling Through Boston's Historic Neighborhoods

2005-07-14T13:15:00.000-04:00

Those who know me well are quite aware that I am currently not the most patriotic of American citizens. Liberal friends might say that this makes me politically aware, and progressive. Conservatives might say that I am a spoiled brat that doesn't appreciate the "freedom" of being an American God-loving consumer. Regardless of their opinions, and my own, I actually wanted to do something on the 4th of July that meant "freedom" to me. Thus, I decided to hop on my bicycle and take a ride through most of Boston's downtown neighborhoods. For me, being on a bike in the middle of America's most historic city, was indeed freeing. It also provided me with another glimpse at the Boston that I have grown to love and appreciate - follies and all.

Leaving my apartment from Boston's Back Bay, I headed straight down Commonwealth Avenue towards The Public Garden. If you have not had the pleasure, Comm. Ave. is an incredible place to ride a bike. The historic Brownstone apartments and townhomes are simply elegant, and are about as European as American dwelling architecture gets. Moreover, the statue and memorial laden pedestrian mall that runs through the middle of the Avenue (part of Olmsted's emerald necklace) is a real treat for anyone who enjoys civic art and the conviviality of an outdoor room.

After cycling around the Public Garden and through the Boston Common I headed up to Beacon Hill, the home of Massachusetts State Government and some of the richest people in Boston. Beacon Hill might be one of the most satisfying places for a pedestrian to be in all of Boston. It's also a great place to test your leg muscles as a cyclist. The streets are tight, the buildings and homes are elegant, and the urban quirks are tangible, if not fascinating. I cannot help but smile everytime I venture into this American urban wonder. I believe that though the buildings of the Back Bay are very European, the physical layout and design of "The Hill" are even more so. It's like being transplanted back in time, and on the 4th of July where "American patriotism" is celebrated so thickly, I was reminded how well we used to make cities.

Yet as quickly as the pleasure can come in Beacon Hill, it can dissappear in the West End - a neighborhood, or should I say "the artist formerly known as neighborhood," that sits right between Beacon Hill and Boston's first neighborhood, the North End. As I just alluded, the West End used to be a neighborhood not unlike Beacon Hill or the North End. However, it was rapidly cleared for urban renewal. Citiznes homes were condemned and razed for being "slums", and the 93 expressway was put in. This is not an uncommon chapter in the story of American urban life. What exists there today are a bunch of bloated buildings, towers, and institutions that are both ugly, and provide no clear connection from the North End to Beacon Hill to the Charles River basin. As I cycled through this part of Boston, which wasn't easy (big dig construction still lingers) I could only imagine what once was.

After quickly traveling through the West End I happily entered the North End, and the HarborWalk. The HarborWalk is a multi-use paved trail that is suppossed to one day connect the graceful Charles River Esplanade trail with the North End, the South Boston Waterfront, and extend all the way to the Neponset Greenway. However, the connections which would make this such a vital urban amenity are in serious jeopardy because the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority is reneging on the environmental mitigation commitments that it promised to make as a result of the big dig. These committments include three pedestrian bridges, which would be the key connections between the esplanade and the harborwalk. Yesterday, my organization, MassBike, co-sponsored a walking tour with WalkBoston to demonstrate the importance of these connections.

Regardless of the big dig issues, the North End and the HarborWalk are both very pleasant places to be on a bicycle, or on foot. The architecture is historic, the streets are narrow and inviting, and the HarborWalk provides pedestrian access to the waterfront which offers great sites and smells. Note of cycling caution: In some locations, like Hanover Street, it is more appropriate to walk your bicycle because the street life can be very alive, and the pedestrian traffic is thick! However, if pedestrian traffic is the sign of urban health, then the North End is fit, trim, and was built to last. Can you believe they wanted to erase the North End, much as they erased the West End?!

I escaped the North End before the smell of the Italian tasty baked goods got the best of me, and decided to stop for a bit in Christopher Columbus Park so that I could "people watch." Despite being named after a genocidal imperialist maniac, the park is a great urban space! The park was absolutely filled with people of all ages biking, sitting, sleeping, reading, playing frisbee, running in the fountains, strolling along the boardwalk, and even making out. A sure sign of a beautiful and inspirational urban place is when you see people sucking face. Cheers for that. Jan Gehl would be proud.

Well, with no one around for me to kiss I decided to move on after about 20 minutes. My next destination was the South Boston waterfront, which is the fastest developing neighborhood in Boston. Unfortunately, the way its developing does not make it conducive to being much of a neighborhood at all. As I walked my bike over the pedestrian bridge along Summer Street and into South Boston and rode onto Fan Pier, I felt like I had entered a completely different world. What was in front of me was disturbing to say the least.

Though the views along the HarborWalk are excellent, the development and redevelopment that is currently happening on the South Boston waterfront is treacherous. It's on a large scale, and its happening very quickly. Moreover, what has been built, has not been built well. Granted, I have not seen all of the plans for this new district, but as it appears now, it will be more much more like the people unfriendly West End than some of Boston's other rich, textured, diverse, and vibrant neighborhoods. This is made readily apparent as one cycles through the Seaport.

First, the amount of surface parking lots that currently exist between the few new shiny buildings is astonishing, though I am sure that the plan is to build on most of these lots, which is a good thing. Secondly, much of the architecture seems to have forgotten about the needs of the pedestrian, as they seem difficult to access and not very permeable. Third, the new Boston Convention Center is with out a doubt the largest underused boondoggle that I have ever seen built with public money. I attended a conference in this Star Trek Enterprise wannabe, and was completely overwhelmed by its scale, and senselessness. In the Long Emergency, it is the buildings like the Convention Center, which will seem most absurd. And finally, there is no real destination for people! Anyone who lives there must feel like they have been marooned on some distant island that an over zealous leader promised would be great.

Don't get me wrong, I firmly believe that time is the main ingredient for urbanism, and all new development needs time to mature. Thus, I would not completely write the off the efforts of the Boston Redevelopment Authority. However, the waterfront district's current pattern is setting itself up for failure. The new buildings are not adaptable, like those found on Newbury Street (Back Bay), Centre Street (Jamaica Plain), or Charles Street (Beacon Hill). There is no reason for any pedestrian to be moving by foot, and in fact I saw no pedestrians. And as far as I can tell, any and all of the development that is in the pipeline won't create this either. If the planners were smart, they would have extended the dense, walkable pattern of the Fort Point Channel district that is a mere stones throw away.

After leaving the HarborWalk trail, which currently abruptly ends in an overly large surface parking lot next to the phantasmagoric Jetson-esque Institute for Contemporary Art building that is under construction, I was left with nowhere to really go. A quick word about this building: It's like the Convention Center is the mother ship, and the ICA is its fighter pod sent out to ruin probe the earthlings that ostensibly will not be on the Waterfront. Anywho, I meandered around the new buildings, did a few more circles in the parking lots, almost got run over by an empty Silverline bus, and generally felt uninspired by everything that I was seeing. In retrospect, I should have biked on over to the nearby Harpoon Brewery for a drink or two, but I doubt that they were open on the 4th of July. After a few more hearty searches for intelligent life, I got the hell out of South Boston and hoped that what is to come is far better than what exists.

I finished my day by zipping through the financial district, the theatre district, and then on home via the South End. Sadly, I did not have time to cycle the South End, which another historic neighborhood that displays the planning and building skills of those who came before us. For those of you who have never biked through Boston, I highly suggest doing so, as its a great way to see the city in a different way!

I (Heart) Saratoga Springs, NY.

2005-07-08T15:08:00.000-04:00

For the past three summers I have indulged in a weekend-long trip to Saratoga Springs, New York. Though the original attraction to Saratoga for me were a couple of Dave Matthews Band concerts over a long weekend, I now look forward to hanging out there as much as I do attending the actual concerts.

If you have never been, Saratoga Springs is a beautiful place. Additionally, it has more amenities than most towns its size could ever dream of calling their own. First and foremost, Saratoga Springs has a great and historic downtown, replete with funky restaurants and cafes, a good mix of retail (much of it independent) and great bars that are open until 4am! Furthermore, downtown housing exists, and many traditional neighborhoods are within walking distance of Broadway, Saratoga Spring's main street. Like most great towns, Saratoga also has a great downtown park, which is called Congress Park. Among other things, Congress Park features plenty of old trees, open green space, and even a restored carousel.

To many, Saratoga Springs is a well known place because of the plethora of summertime activities it provides. As the home of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), where national acts, philharmonic orchestras, and artists of all variety perform, Saratoga draws a large crowds of concert go'ers all summer long. It is also the home of a natural springs spa that sits in the middle of a State Park, which is just minutes from SPAC.

However, what Saratoga might be most well known for is it nationally renowned horse racing track, which dominates much of the summer culture, and makes for some interesting horse sculptures along the downtown sidewalks (much like the lobsters sculptures in Rockland, Maine, or the lighthouse installations throughout Portland, Maine). Finally, biking, boating, and camping are also all abundant in the summer. As a biker, it was great to see share the road signs, and bike route designation all over both the rural and urban landscape.

For inexpensive places to stay, I would recommend Lee's camp ground on Saratoga Lake. A cheap, no nonsense camp site that sits two miles outside of downtown and provides easy access to all of Saratoga's activities, including its nationally ranked golf course. If you are further pressed for financial resources, I recommend staying in Erica's basement. She lives near the lake, was kind enough to take me and my best friend Brent in for the entire weekend, and has nice comfortable couches as well. (Lee's campground was full!). If you are lucky enough, Erica's parents will take you out for Sunday Brunch at the veritable Saratoga diner, and her dad will tell you all about being a horse photographer. Sweet.

Unforutnately, Saratoga Springs does have its share of homogenous sprawl, although most of it is to the north of downtown on Route 9. Due to hanging out in the pouring rain the night before, my shoe soaked concert mate and I ventured out that way to go foraging for a new pair of shoes at the mall (Gasp!!). One gripe that I have with the town is that one cannot buy sneakers downtown. However, what we happily realized was that the place was pretty much empty because all of the action was where it should be, downtown!

Brent didn't find any shoes to his liking, but we did find a whole lot of sad looking people, and a tick on a shelf that housed cheap, but trendy shirts. Brent and I figured that the tick's name was Ralph, and he was the last of the ticks who used to live in the bucolic field where the mall monstrosity, and all its sprawl appendages, now sit. I hope more sprawlscape off of route 9 does not further corrupt the strength and diversity of downtown Saratoga, or displace more ticks like Ralph.

Though I have been mere tourist one weekend every summer for the past three years, Saratoga Springs is the kind of place that offers all the attractions of a larger city, in a rural setting where the urban and rural edge is still somewhat decipherable. This is a rare thing these days, and it makes Saratoga all the more attractive. I look forward to going back next summer!

I lied.

2005-07-08T02:28:00.000-04:00

Originally, I was going to provide large summary of my experience of CNU XIII in Pasadena in June. However, I have been lazy and have yet to place the myriad of thoughts that I have had on the matter into a coherent form. Moreover, so many pressing planning related issues have come up recently (Kelo, Frank Gehry's Brooklyn Redevelopment, etc.) that I am no longer thinking too wholeheartedly about the conference. However, I will say this: Though I did not learn as much as I had originally hoped, it was a great experience and a great time. I certainly appreciated meeting others around the country who are as involved with new urbanism as I am. Unsurprisingly, new urbanists are a social bunch and the entire conference provided ample opportunity to eat, drink, and be merry. Moreover, Pasadena was an interesting town for sure. I'd even call it a nice place to visit, with some great architecture and planning. However, in general Southern California makes me want to walk into oncoming freeway traffic. Unfortunately, it might not have the desired affect because the traffic moves so damn slowly. What a mess! I was more than happy to make my way back to compact Boston.

Urbanoetry

2005-06-17T13:05:00.000-04:00

* I have not yet finished my review of CNU XIII, so in the interim I thought that I would make a quick post about a personal highlight from the conference*

A conference wide party was held last Saturday at LA's Union Station - a beautiful building that was constructed when public transportation was still a dignified and treated with a respect that it no longer commands. Unfortunately, the price to enter the party was way out of my meager budget. This upset me because I had read a few weeks ago that the party was going to feature a poetry slam, which I wanted to enter, and with a $500 prize hopefully win. As I discovered that more and more of my "Next Gen" friends were headed to the party I decided to tap my resources and see if I too could join in on the fiesta.

Luckily I was able to find a strong connection, which assured that I would be let into the party. For this, I was extremely grateful. When else in my life would I get a chance to party in downtown Los Angeles with free food and drink? PC, you are a hero.

Upon entering the event I immediately found a drink and a couple of new friends, Jeff and Cali. After a brief discussion we decided to grab a couple more drinks and write a poem that all three of us could perform in the upcoming poetry competition. In the short time that we had to complete the poem we decided to focus on our experience as first time CNU conference attendees, and on being part of the Next Generation of new urbanists. Well, after what must have been 10-15 minutes we had scraped together a skeleton of a poem that we thought was readable, and a little humorous as well - especially for those in the "older" crowd.

After we informed the judges that we were game for the contest, Jeff and I immediately grabbed another drink to, um....ah... to "enhance the art." I think that we were both a bit nervous. Nevertheless, when it was our turn to go onstage to spit the poem we were definitely ready.

I had the first verse and informed the crowd that I had thoroughly enjoyed my first urban planning camp, which is exactly what CNU seemed like. I then asked for everyoneunder the age of 30 to join us on stage. Roughly 15 people joined us, which was great, as it created that good old safety in numbers feeling. Jeff and I then readour formless poem and Cali did an interpretive dance, which went like this:

__________________________________________

Down the rail lines of a movement unhinged
you'll find the visions of the urban few.
Yet, down the corridors of a dancing evolution still chained
by conventional thought, you'll find the need for change
that cannot be sold or bought.
And rest assured, despite the future battles lost and won
You'll find Jeff, Cali, and me at CNU 33
Rockin' new urbanism into this new century.

Young urbanists, T-3 Virgins like streetcars
smaller version of a big steam train.
We're all new at the CNU
watching the ageless Norquist, DPZ, and Poly who?
Mixed housing, urban design, and rail lines
density makes us hiiiiigh.
Infill retrofit
under 24 and lovin' it
'Cause we're new at the CNU
Mike is Next Gen
Cali is a rail fan
and Jeff drove all the way from Austin.
Because the future is us
form based and takin' the bus
We're new at the CNU.

_________________________________________

Even though we were up against CNU Board president Hank Dittmar, and CNU President John Norquist (who wrote a hilarious poem defaming Randall O'Toole), as well as a slew of other talented urbanists/poets, we wound up winning the contest! I think we were all a little surprised, but then I realized that Cali's boss was one of the judges! Regardless, we graciously accepted the money and then turned around and donated to the "Next Generation" so that someone could receive a scholarship to attend CNU XIV in Providence, Rhode Island. This made me especially happy because I was a recipient of a scholarship this year, which made it possible for me to attend the conference. Overall, it was a great night that ended up with me riding a mechanical bull (a whole other story) and a great conference. I will try to publish my thoughts this weekend. Cheers!

Pasadena Bound!

2005-06-07T13:44:00.000-04:00

Hello! It's been a while since I have written a blog entry, and a lot has happened since my last post. CNU New England had its first full board meeting, which was a successful meeting of some of the best urbanists and urbanistas that the region has to offer. Also, after being rejected from the first three planning schools that I applied to, I was accepted at the University of Michigan, which is great because it was my first choice. I will be focusing on physical planning and urban design while studying in Ann Arbor. I especially look forward to the opportunites to learn from the catastrophes of Detroit. With so much stimuli, rest assured that this blog will stay active while I'm in school.

Now its on to Pasadena for my first CNU conference. I will offer a full review of CNU XIII, and my impressions of the ultimate polycentric city (LA) when I return!

Cheers!

Memory Lane: Camden, New Jersey

2005-04-26T02:29:00.000-04:00

Over the past eight years my passion for live music, particularly that of the Dave Matthews Band, has encouraged me to travel all over the east coast. In doing so, I have experienced a plethora of musical venues in wide variety of urban, suburban, and rural locations. I have seen concerts in beautiful State Parks (Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Jones Beach, both in NY), in famous arenas in world renowned cities, (Madison Square Garden, NYC, and the Fleet Center, Boston) large football stadiums (Foxboro Stadium, MA, RFK Stadium, DC), amusement parks (Hershey Park, PA), in blighted urban areas (Hartford, CT and Camden, NJ), in small city arenas (Providence, RI, Lowell, MA, Manchester, NH, Rochester and Albany, NY, Portland, ME, small towns, (Amherst, MA, and Kingston, RI,) and even in another country (Molson Arena, Montreal, Canada). However, no venue location has had a more profound effect on how I view the built environment and American culture as the Tweeter Center in Camden, New Jersey.

If you know anything about Camden, New Jersey, you probably know that it is one of the poorest places in America. In fact, despite its history, today it is probably more famous for its urban blight than anything else. This is a shame. Though my experiences in Camden were brief (three wonderful DMB shows over three days in June of 2002), they have yet to be duplicated by any of my other concert travels.

Interestingly, my three days in Camden always started and ended in the tony New York City suburb of Short Hills, New Jersey. Though I would have liked to be a little closer to the actual venue, I had a good college friend that lived in Short Hills and he offered his house to me and my concert mate for the three day run of shows. Thus, not only did I get to spend my three days in two completely disparate environments, but I also got to travel along some of New Jersey's most crowded highways, the very same highways that helped facilitate the blighting of Camden.

My first impression of Camden was that it had to be one of the most depressing urban landscapes in America. For the entire three day period that I was in Camden I couldn't help but ponder how a country with so many resources could completely turn its back on a city that was once so vibrant. Who let this happen?! Though I could not answer my own question at the time, I now know that the answer to my question is not so much who, but what.

The collector road that brings a motorist from the highway into the empty "core" of Camden passes boarded up building after boarded up building. These places looked absolutely unfit for human habitation. So much so that I nearly rammed into the traffic stalled cars in front of me when I began to notice that people were actually coming in and out of these places, as if they was nothing inherently wrong with their decayed state of existence. Sadly, at one time they were probably elegant houses. However, that was then, in the present most of the buildings looked as though they had suffered from fires that were not quite strong enough to damage the entire structure. I remember thinking to myself that maybe all Camden had was a really responsive fire department.

If the windows were not boarded up, they were mostly without window panes. When the motorists in front of me began to notice this pattern, they began rolling up there car windows, in an almost mocking manner. I kept mine down. This was an education into the America that most people do not want to think about, and an America that I certainly had never seen. As I sat in priveledge I wanted to smell, hear, and see it. Never before I had ever been so aware, of my own fortunate situation in life.

As traffic creeped its way closer to the venue, I half expected to see a slightly more positive urban environment. Afterall, on the maps that I had with me the waterfront park district - with a new amphitheatre and a new aquarium - looked like a vibrant urban location further enhanced by its location across the Delaware River from downtown Philadelphia. What I learned is that in an environment like Camden, maps displaying cultural attractions don't mean a damn thing. In fact, the shiny new lamp post signs, which were like band aids on open wounds, directed SUV infested traffic to the Camden waterfront. These signs almost seemed like a cruel joke, as I'm quite sure that most of those sitting on the stoops of the nearly destroyed houses had never set foot in the aquarium or the Tweeter Center. Thus, like many urban renewal projects that bank on the development of large inorganic cultural institutions as the solution to blight, the aquarium and amphitheatre were not doing much for the actual people of Camden. This is a major shortcoming in the field of urban planning.

As we began to approach the venue I realized why we had been moving so slowly. Someone had thought it was a good idea to plan a festive Puerto Rican Pride Day parade along the same thoroughfare that was suppossed to move thousands of concert-goers from highway to venue! Though I was rather upset about the traffic situation, it was AMAZING to see the tail end of this parade. I had never seen so much fervent and authentic national pride. This was not the post-9/11 consumer hyped-get-a-flag-on-your-car-or-die type of patriotism. I loved it, as it reinforced that beauty, joy, and humanity can, and do overcome even the most depressing of situations.

Upon arriving at the venue, I instantly noticed that the area surrounding the amphitheatre and aquarium was an urban wasteland of mostly surface parking lots. I imagined that when there aren't any events at the amphitheatre - say half of summer and all of winter - the acres of surface parking must be pretty useless. There was one large parking structure, but not much else in the way of urbansim. This is an area that needed infill development in the worst way. Development that create restaurants, shops, parks, and other basic ammenities that might actually create real destinations, beyond special summer amphitheatre events.

The last thing that I noticed before entering the venue is that though it was getting close to show time, several of the lots had not even filled up. I began to think maybe the location of the venue actually scared away much of DMB's white, upper-middle class fanbase. I was wrong. Most fans were just arriving by ferry from across the river. Apparently, parking in Camden after dark, even for events, was not a good idea. I didn't let this bother me too much. Of the three evenings that I spent in Camden, I never once felt threatened. However, maybe I was just too tired from the concert to really notice.

Like all of my Dave Matthews Band concert experiences, the entire weekend was full of music and joy. Unfortunately, the surrounding environment was not (except for the Puerto Rican Day parade). Though I did not think too deeply about what I experienced in Camden at the time, those three days have strongly influenced the way in which I view this country, and its social problems. I was able to carry that experience through my remaining two years of college and apply it to several of my courses that delved into the roots of the problems that are so prevalent in Camden. Today, my memories of Camden seem stronger than ever. To be honest, I hope they never leave me, as they serve as the inspiration for me to become an urban planner that works to better the human environment at all times, and for all people.

Stand Up

2005-04-16T17:49:00.000-04:00

Over the past week there has been heavy conversation taking place on both national and local new urban planning list serves regarding the question, “What’s with the planners?” The original question, which was posed early last week, was an attempt to further understand the lack of support that new urbanism is receiving from the municipal planning side of the profession. However, over the course of the week the conversation evolved into a larger examination of the planning profession as a whole. Most theories and ideas related to the current state of the field, in simplified terms, have touched upon two major themes:

1) The structure of the public planning sector
2) Education

I do not feel the need to fully expound on the well known and ridiculous challenges that municipal planners face in their town and city governments. Nor do I feel qualified to speak about changing planning curriculums, as I have yet to experience a single graduate course. However, I would like to share my thoughts on passion.

It is my feeling that many planners are simply uninterested in the lifelong process of studying and learning about the planning profession. Informal education is essential to planners who are 5, 10, or 25 years out of school. The problem with many planners, I believe, is that this type of education must be self-directed, and can only come by committing oneself to truly learning about changing theories, trends, and ideas. I have worked with planners in Maine, Vermont, and now Massachusetts, who are so robotic and entrenched in status quo bureaucratic thought, that thinking outside their steel reinforced box of muncipal planning codes is not even an option for them. These are the types of people who love to complain about new urbanism. Yet, they don't ever take the time to understand what it is. If someone with a firm understanding of new urbanism (or simply what makes good urbanism) wants to tear it apart, fine, because I can learn from that. But making snap judgements without taking the time to understand what new urbanism is, shows lack of interest for the profession.

It’s also my impression that many planners enter school as idealistic, forward thinking people with a desire to create change. As a young professional who is looking to go back to planning school, this is where I stand. Yet, if planners are not disillusioned by the time they leave their graduate program (many recent grads that I have spoken to for advice have had less than stellar things to say about their respective planning schools), they will eventually morph into embattled professionals that spend passionless days reacting to new development with antiquated and ineffective regulations, which is not planning. Unsurprisingly, this has created a profession without true municipal leaders, and a profession that has unintentionally harmed the human environment, rather than enhanced it. Many recent posts on the previously mentioned list serves have explained this phenomenon by positing that a planner without a true urbanist as a city manager or mayor, will be handed a one way ticket to unemploymentville if they challenge the status quo. Though this provides some explanation for my preference for the private sector, I believe the problem runs deeper than that. Planners must start showing more leadership by educating themselves, and educating those who help shape development in their respective communities.

As someone who is disheartened by those who lose passion for the profession, it is my goal to never stop learning from, or about the art of placemaking. In fact, I think my best chance at helping to solve America’s collective placemaking amnesia is to constantly educate, and re-educate myself about architecture, economics, urban design, politics, history, and culture. Staying on top of these disciplines and the wealth of connections between them, will only help me change and adapt to our ever-changing culture. Furthermore, I will always stand up and be vocal.

To me, one of the biggest values of the new urbanism is that it has created a lasting and meaningful dialogue on the many problems associated with post-World War II planning methods. What other methodology has made such progress? Moreover, new urbanism has recreated lasting solutions that employ time honored principles of truly successful urban planning methods. New urbanism is also a movement that is full of people who like myself, are self-taught, passionate people. People who believe that there should be no more complacency within the profession! People who believe in change! We hold meetings and have discussions about the harmful nature of past and present planning methods. We hold conferences. We tell family and we tell friends. Most importantly, we believe in teaching and being taught. We stand up.

In the context of history new urbanism is still an immature movement. Yet, with the passion for placemaking that new urbanists have, its should be no surprise that after only 15 years of real work we are already asking “what’s with the planners?” "Why don't they get this stuff?" Well, I believe that the answer to the question is the utter lack of intellectual curiosity. Most municipal planners have not taken the time to truly understand the principles of the movement, or to stand up and demand better methods for community building. New urbanism has its shortcomings and imperfections, but it has done so much for getting us back to creating the type of places that have social and cultural worth.

Placemaking: Continuing the New England Tradition

2005-04-03T20:02:00.000-04:00

I am extremely proud to say that the New England Chapter for the Congress of the New Urbanism's first annual conference was by all accounts a tremendous success!

When those of us on the conference committee started organizing this conference in late January I remember thinking that our passion for educating New England about the new urbanism might be clouding our judgement on how quickly we could actually pull off a successful conference. Afterall, none of us had any real conference planning experience, and most conferences are planned over the course of a year, not two months. Regardless, serving on the planning committee once again proved the wise and often repeated words of my dad to be true, "You get out, what you put in." Well, we put in a whole hell of a lot, and the results on Friday spoke for themself. If you were not there, I have provided a review of the sessions that I was able to attend.

Members Meeting (CNU NE members)

The first meeting of the members went well. Quorom was made, and our first official board of directors were voted into office. In my opinion this was the most important part of the meeting because with at least one representative from each New England state, our chapter has grown from a disproportionately Boston-based organization, into an organization that truly represents the region. This bodes well for both the chapter, and the villages, towns, and cities of New England.

On a personal note, I was very proud to sign my name to the official chapter charter as a founding member. Though this investment will never pay itself out in direct financial gain, it certainly helps plant a seed that will grow into planning, building, and re-building places of lasting value in New England. To me, that is worth all the money in the world.

Keynote Address (John Norquist)

When planning a conference it is always a good idea to get a well known person to deliver the keynote address. However, it is equally, if not more important to have that well-known figure be someone who truly understands the topic at hand. We were lucky enough to have John Norquist, President of CNU, who is both well known in new urbanist circles, and clearly someone who understands what the movement is about. Though Mr. Norquist looked half asleep when he started his presentation, he effectively caffeinated the crowd by mixing humor with a compelling powerpoint slide show that displayed the importance of placemaking. My favorite portion of the address was when Norquist compared post-World War II Berlin and post-World War II Detroit. By comparing post-war Berlin to the Berlin of today, and the condition of Detroit in 1945 to present day Detroit, one would instantly surmise that Detroit was the city that was destroyed by war, not Berlin. The message resonated loudly, and set the stage for the rest of the day.

The Urban to Rural Transect and Form-Based Coding (Catherine Johnson, Ann Daigle)

The urban to rural transect, which is adaptated from the natural transect of topography found in the natural environment and applied to the built environment, codes the type of development that should occur within one of six different transect zones. I often think that for a newcomer the transect is the most esoteric of new urbanist principles, and therefore waspleased that we devoted a session to it on Friday. Both presenters did a great job of illuminating the relationship between transect zones and code.

Catherine Johnson related her experience as an architect in Connecticut to the importance of coding. As an experienced code writer, she emphasized the use of language within the actual formation of design codes. For example, using "build to" lines as opposed to "set back" lines help create good urbanism. She also emphasized the important difference between "codes" (something that is upheld by the law) and "design guidelines" (something that is merely a suggestion and hold no weight).

Ann Daigle picked up where Catherine left off by explaining her experience as a code writer on the national level. By applying the transect to communities throughout the United States Ann mentioned that her passion is planning for development that will be the "historic preservation" of the future. With a half century of building meaningless places behind us, this is a nice thought indeed.

Integrating Charrettes into the Public Process (Paul Ostergaard, Margaret Marshall)

Everyone knows that for various reasons many great plans never come to fruition. Thus in my opinion one of the most exciting things about new urbanism is the use of the charrette. A charrette is an inclusive community planning process that builds consensus around a plan in a short amount of time. This method of planning ensures that every interested party is heard and the plan is a reflection of the community's aspirations, not just those of a municipal planning office.

Paul Ostergaard, of Urban Design Associates, took the audience through the process that UDA has developed for their charrettes. Mr. Ostergaard emphasized that the entire purpose of the charrette is building consensus, or as he referred to it "building the bandwagon." To do so, UDA first utilizes a prepatory process that includes research and preliminary meetings with all interested parties. This method lays the groundwork for the entire process, which takes between 3-6 months - lightspeed by most municipal planning standards. Paul advised that charrettes should always include a mechanism that produces at least 4 loops of community feedback and that charrettes should always keep a local planner on staff. Mr.Ostergaard also advised that because the charrette is an intense experience, that those leading the process should always "dine well, and lodge well," to help rejuvenate themselves for the activities of the following day.

Though Margaret Marshall's firm, Dover, Kohl, and Associates, have a different approach to charrettes, she echoed many of UDA's principles throughout her presentation. Most importantly, she mentioned that as long as consensus is built, there is no right or wrong method for an effective charrette. However, Margaret emphasized that a community must be ready for the charrette process. She advised that if the town or neighborhood is not open to creating a shared vision, then a charrette of any variety will be ineffective. While answering questions from the crowd Margaret mentioned that getting the local media on your side early is extremely important. She also advised that when community members show up at meetings to share their hopes, ideas, and grievances, a charrette leader should always hold the microphone!

Lunch

Let's face it, food at conferences is normally one small step above hitting up the local high school cafeteria. However, lunch at the Park Plaza hotel was actually pretty good! Attendees sat at tables of 8-10 people, and seemingly enjoyed good conversation alongside their three course meal. In order to spur interaction, we had participants write topics for discussion on cardstock throughout the morning. We then placed them at random tables so that attendees could find a topic of their choice to discuss or not discuss at their leisure. My favorite topic was "Cranky Old New Urbanists," which was created by Bill Dennis. I stayed away from that table.

New England Urbanism ( Russell Preston, Robert Orr)

This was my favorite session of the day. Russ Preston, of Cornish and Associates, began the session by explaining what it was like for him to grow up in the miasma of suburban Florida and then recently move New England. He said that exploring New England's coherent village, town, and urban centers "was liked being dropped into the middle of Europe." His presentation was a mixture of rhetorical questions and answers regarding "what makes the New England urban form so unique in America." He emphasized that though sprawling patterns of development have taken over the New England tradition of placemaking, our historic patterns are rich, and should inspire the creation of new places that operate like those of old, which everyone loves so much. As a life long New Englander, I enjoyed Russ's perspective as an outsider looking in.

Robert Orr's presentation of New England urbanism was extremely thorough and intellectually engaging. Though Orr spoke from a much more academic and historical standpoint, it jived nicely with the questions of design and intention that Russ posed. Orr skillfuly explained that the history of the urban form in New England had much more to do with the local patterns of settlement than anything else, as location, culture, and historical precedents all accounted for the way New England began to develop. Unfortunately, I cannot offer a much more detailed description of the speech, as I was too caught up in Orr's presentation to take notes.

Afterwards someone suggested that Mr. Orr expand his presentation into a book. I imagine that such a transformation would be easy for Orr. Such a book might also illuminate the paradoxical tragedy of building great American places in the 1700's, but with ample knowledge and technology, building cartoon nowhere's today. Three cheers for people like Robert Orr who have kept this tradition alive, and to Russ Preston for keeping hope alive for the future of built environment in New England.

Critical Case Studies of New England TND Plans (Bill Dennis)

As a long time new urbanist, Bill has been involved in some of the most significant NU projects in the United States and abroad. However, as he put its, "it was time to start living in the kind places that I was designing." Fortunately for us, that means he is back in New England. As new urbanism and traditional neighborhood development starts to take hold in New England, the timing could not be better.

Bill, who combines sardonic wit with a wealth of experience, and an incisive critical eye, made attending this session a real joy. Though the stated goal of the session was to rake all of the current NU/TND projects in New England over the coals, it was mainly a participatory critique of the Weymouth Naval AirBase Redevelopment plan (Weymouth, Rockland, Abbington, MA), with only a little bit of ad-hoc criticism of South Village (Burlington, VT) and Madison Landing (Madison, CT). Several of the members of the audience spoke out against the current plans, and offered suggestions for improvements, which would enhance the current plans and enable them to become real places over time, not just knock- off NU developments.

This session was particularly entertaining because several of the developers, designers, and consultants who worked, or are currently working on these developments were in the audience! Having no fear of criticizing or being criticized, is another great aspect of new urbanism, as it provides a level of instant peer review that is unmatched in any other planning realm.

Networking Party

After the conference, roughly 1/3 of conference participants attended a networking reception/party at the offices of Goody Clancy. I enjoyed several conversations, free Harpoon Beer, and the sounds of a jazz trio from the Berklee College of Music. Special thanks to Goody Clancy and Associates for hosting this wonderful event, and to everyone else on the conference planning committee who helped make this first event a success. Cheers!

1st Annual CNU New England Conference!

2005-03-19T13:38:00.000-05:00

Due to a lot of pre-conference work my blog entries are currently on hold until after the conference has ended. For more info, or to register, visit http://www.cnunewengland.org/conference-home.htm

Hope to see you there!!

Austin City Limits: Part 2

2005-03-12T21:06:00.000-05:00

After exploring Austin by foot, I was excited to continue my exploration at a more rapid pace - via bicycle. Unfortunately, after being dropped off at one of Austin's finest bike shops, I realized that I had forgotten my wallet back at the Riata. With no public transportation available to ferry me back to the Riata sprawl-plex, I would not be able to rent a bike, nor would I be able to do much else, except repeat my pedestrian activities from the previous day. Though I was psyched to be on vacation I was temporarily unhappy that my mind was on vacation as well.

Since my "walk through the park" had been rudely interrupted by rain and darkness the day before, I decided to thoroughly check out Zilker Park. Doing so quickly reminded me why public spaces, such as parks, are so important - they are free! Like I mentioned in my last entry, Zilker Park is one of the best things that the City of Austin has given its citizens. I entered the park on the south side of the city and began walking along the multi-use path that follows along the Colorado River. When I looked to my left I was able to see baseball fields, people playing volleyball on sand courts, open fields, and a narrow gauge railroad track that circled around the perimeter of the south side of the park. Though I thought it would be great if this was a fully operational rail line that offered rides to tourtists - ala the Narrow Gauge Railroad in Portland, Maine - I never saw any evidence that supported my theory.

Despite the "cold" temperatures (55 degrees), in front and behind me were droves of people walking, biking, and running along the river. Unlike many "multi-use paths" that I have recreated upon, this particular one was actually wide enough to support all three activites at once. To my right were excellent views of the Austin skyline, people fishing alongside the river, and the University of Texas crew teams skimming briskly along the river. This particular scene reminded me strongly of the Charles River here in Boston.

When I made my way across a pedestrian bridge to the other side of the river I discovered more baseball fields, a continuation of the path, kayak rentals, and Austin's main public high school. The location of the school made me wish I had attended high school adjacent to such a great public amenity.

After stopping to sit on a park bench to read another chapter of Mumford's book, I remembered that I had forgotten to find a post office where I could send my financial aid application out to the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia. With the due date approaching fast, I quickly left the park in search of a post office. I soon found a friendly stranger who pointed me in the right direction. Though I am fully aware of how most American towns and cities have severely bastardized the importance of their new civic buildings, I was fully expecting Austin's main post office to be housed in a historic and well-designed building, in a well sited location. Needless to say, I was thoroughly dissapointed by the vapid parking lot that surrounded the putrid box that is the downtown Austin post office. I was also dissapointed to discover that had I remembered my financial aid application 15 minutes earlier I might have been able to send it out, as the post office was closed! Bugger.

Sadly, I had to take my friend Laura's car the next day to the post office nearest her gated sprawl-plex, which was literally a three minute drive from her apartment. I wanted to walk, but like most of American suburbia, nothing is accesible via foot. To ensure its arrival I paid 15 dollars to overnight the application. The irony of paying that much to send a
FINANCIAL AID application made me smile. Making fun of ones self is an important skill, and I instantly felt a little better about driving three minutes to the post office, which was expectedly worse than the downtown annex that had brutally denied my attempt to send off the application frugally. Okay...enough of the post office tangent.

After visiting the post office I decided to explore the western end of the city. As I walked through the "Warehouse District" along 5th Street, I noticed several mixed-use housing complexes that were either under construction, or recently completed. If there is one thing that Austin is lacking, its housing in its urban core. In fact, I was hard pressed to find any neighborhoods of real urban density within a mile of the downtown. Maybe Austin-ites will rediscover the joy of actually being able to walk to all of the wonderful cultural amenities that make-up a good portion of their the downtown core. Moreover, with a new take on traditional southwest stucco architecture many of the rowhouses and condo complexes spoke the local architectural language and were built to the sidewalk, thus adding great life to what used to be an area of the city dotted by dilapidated warehouses. I liked what I was seeing there.

Since it was starting to get dark and I had not magically found $20 dollars in the park, I had to find a place of entertainment that cost absolutely no money. I took a chance and continued walking way west. Luckily I walked 5 or 6 more blocks and came to a very vibrant intersection that was home to not only the Corporate headquarters for Whole Foods (which includes the coolest Whole Foods that I have ever seen), but also Waterloo, Austin's best independent record store! This my friends, was a brilliant stroke of luck. However, I still couldn't figure out why a store such as Waterloo did not exist near the University of Texas on Guadelupe Street. Regardless, after a long day of walking I thoroughly enjoyed strapping on the headphones and sampling the local music scene at the stores FREE listening booths.

Though it is annoying to be in a wonderful music store without a wallet, I was grateful that I stumbled upon Waterloo in the first place because it kept me busy until Laura could pick me up. It also primed me for the wonderful evening of local live music and tasty libations. (Point of advice: When in Texas, do as the Texans do and drink Shiner Bock.)

Of the five days that I spent in Austin, the two that I have chronicled within this blog speak to some of the positive and negative aspects of the City. Overall, I had a wonderful time and really enjoyed Austin. It really is a nice city that has plenty of wonderful places to eat, drink, and explore. With its river park system, large student population, and wonderful night life, Austin even shares many of the things that make Boston such a great city, albeit in a completely different context. Nevertheless, it was nice to get out and leave the northeast, but it sure was nice to come home!

Austin City Limits: Part 1

2005-03-04T01:31:00.000-05:00

If I had any confusion as to where I was going (Texas), it was immediately cleared up as I sat in seat 20F from Boston to Houston. Next to me was a twenty something who was so engrossed in Bill O'Reilly's (O'Lie-ly) latest book that she barely even said "hi." Behind me sat another twenty something who verbally thanked God and Jesus Christ for every cloud, road, hill, body of water, field, and forest that was visible from takeoff to landing. He did this about every five minutes for the duration of the four hour flight. Luckily I had a cd player and a copy of Lewis Mumford's City in History to distract me from a situation that could not be any more stereotypical, or nauseating.

Yet despite the plane trip to Houston, which did nothing to alleviate my stereotypical view of the conservative/uber religious southerner, I was immediately comforted by landing in Austin. This is because as I stepped out of the the plane and onto the jetway I saw a sign that said, "Welcome to Austin, The Music Capital of the World." The sign served as an instant remedy to what could have developed into a bad case of the land-locked blues.

By most standards, Austin is a great city. It has some great human scaled historic architecture in its urban core, a beautiful university located just "up the hill" from downtown, an excellent park system along the Colorado River, beautiful weather, corporate headquarters for Whole Foods and Dell, and a thriving restaurant/bar scene that satisfies the higher needs of the "creative class." And did I mention the music?! The first two days that I was there I checked out all of the above by foot, except the beautiful weather (once again I "brought the New England weather with me.") What I found was not all that different from the glowing reports that I had previously heard and/or read. Nevertheless, like all cities Austin is a work in progress, and in my opinion that is a good thing.

My friend Laura's apartment, which is where I was staying, was not anywhere near the downtown. Much to my chagrin it was in the Riata, a gated community/office park complex 20 minutes north of Austin on the freeway. As we drove from the airport to her apartment, I remember thinking, "I thought she lived in Austin." What I realized was that the city limits are not all that limiting in Austin. This concept is foreign to me because if I were to leave a northeastern city of a similar population, like Boston, and head 20 minutes north on the expressway, I would be at least 5-6 towns away from the actual city. However, I realized that if Austin wasn't so expansive, all the tax generating suburban development that surrounds the small urban core would have effectively killed the downtown.

The first morning that I was in Austin I got a ride to Guadalupe Street, which serves as a primary commercial district for the University of Texas. To my delight, I found more local business here than corporate. No starbucks, no Gap, and no Tower Records. Rather, there was a plethora of local coffee shops, funky restaurants, an outdoor artists market, and several vintage clothing stores that were not overpriced! Oddly enough, I did not find one book or cd store. I'm not quite sure how that is possible, maybe I missed something. Regardless, this commericial district, which is literally across the street from the School of Architecture, was delightful and a great place to start off my day.

Wandering through the University of Texas campus I marvelled at the beautiful 1920's and 1930's Stucco architecture that dominates much of the campus. The view from the main building on campus (a very large clock tower) looking towards downtown was magnificent, and it terminated with a clear view of the Texas State Capital Building. Knowing that the City of Austin was primarily planned around the State House, the University, and the Colorado River, I decided to check out the other two.

Walking from the campus towards the state capital building, a pedestrian notices two things. First, Austin is not the greatest city for pedestrians. The streets are extremely wide, often three and four lanes, and the traffic lights are long. By the time I was permitted to cross most streets, I could only get 1/3 of the way across before the chirping walking man turned into a blinking hand. Second, the majority of the State Capital Complex is quite banal and unrewarding. Besides the beautiful state house, all the buildings feature the same non-descript office tower design. Moreover, each building has precisely no relationship to the street. In fact, most of the buildings were either surrounded by parking lots, or oddly proportioned greenspace. Fortunately, the shear magnitude and visual power of the original captial building takes the focus off what in any other setting might seem like a typical suburban office park. Though my photography would not do the building justice, one of these days I will figure out how to actually place pictures into this blog, and then you would be able to see what I mean.

After exploring the capital building complex I made my way downtown. Downtown Austin, like most U.S. cities, is a fractured conglomeration of large office towers and smaller historic buildings. The towers in Austin are nothing to write home about, except for the Frost Tower, which oddly enough looks like a cartoon icicle. On most streets the historic old shops, apartments, and theatres are have been randomly displaced by a scattering of modern office towers. Since many of the large towers are spread out, you do not get the effect of being in an urban canyon. On the positive side, this allows for much more light to penetrate the wide streets. On the negative side, the visual effect is jarring as many streetscapes seem very inconsistent. However, on Sixth Street one can find a continuous historic streetscape of two and three story buildings. Sixth Street is also home to the majority of bars and restaurants in the downtown area. Though the truly "hip" in Austin decry Sixth Street as being "too touristy," there are clubs, bars, restaurants, and theatres that meet anyone's taste - hipster or not. When recently showing a picture of Sixth Street to a friend, he commented "wow, those buildings look like old western saloons." I was happy to tell them that they were.

Before heading south towards the Colorado River, I stumbled upon a historic creek of sorts, which ran perpendicular to Austin's gridded street pattern. This enchanting creek was accompanied by a subterranean paved pathway that brought me under stone bridges and between and behind several buildings. Though the paved pathway along the creek was not in the best shape, its setting was amazing. I literally felt like I was the first to explore this old river bed, perhaps that is because I was the only human present.

After making my way back to "civilization," I headed towards the Colorado River. One of Austin's greatest assets is certainly its magnificent riverfront park system. Full of public art, bike and pedestrian paths, playing fields, gazebos, benches, bridges, and beautiful views, Zilker Park is impressive. Unfortunately, on the first day that I was there it began to rain, and it was starting to get dark. I quickly left the park sooner than I wanted to, and headed for cover. I found refuge in a funky little coffee shop named"Little City." This aptly named bistro was halfway between the river and the Statehouse, and it served as a place to rest before meeting my friend for dinner. Though much of downtown was dead at this time, I found company in a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and The City in History.

To be Continued....

Boston to Austin: A Yankee Heads to the Sun Belt (again)

2005-02-23T02:33:00.000-05:00

I'm on vacation! Yes, its true. Tomorrow I will take to the friendly skies and transport myself from snowy Boston to hopefully not rainy Austin, Texas. I must admit, I have never had any desire to travel to the lonestar state. In fact, I always thought that I would spend my first "real" vacation from the 9-5 work-a-day world strolling the Las Ramblas in Barcelona, or skiing in the back bowls of Vail. Boy, I was way off.

So why Austin? Well, for one there is a pretty girl that I know there. Two, why not?! Afterall, it is suppossed to be a pocket of "hipness" in an otherwise oversized, overfed, overhyped, Red State. Not that I have any preconceived notions. Anywho, I'm hoping that my time "down south" goes a little better than my previous trips below the Mason Dixon line.

My first experience in the south was as a ten year old boy at Walt Disney World. Wow, what a dissapointment that was. Florida entered some sort of freakish cold snap while I was there, which caused the amazing pool outside of my hotel (complete with a pirate ship waterslide, a.k.a. ten year-old heaven), to be unusable. I will never forget the pool boy who said that " I must have brought the bad weather with me." For a Maine boy in Florida, this is the definition of cruelty. Second, besides the initial excitement of Space Mountain, everything at Disney World was pretty boring, fake, and "not as cool as the commercials." Did I just quote myself from thirteen years ago? Yes I did.

My second experience in the south was not any better. In high school I spent an entire week at an A.A.U. basketball tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina. Our team, which was solely comprised of my proud high school teammates, never came within twenty-five points of an opponent. Moreover, off the court we tried to find entertainment in Greensboro. This is not something that I suggest doing. As I recall, what should have been downtown was nothing but two or three stale office towers with literally nothing around them, except parking lots. We never even ate downtown. We had to take our overly cramped van ten minutes outside of the city to find some suburban chain eatery where multiple waitresses asked us if we were from Canada. However, we did spend one long afternoon at a regional mall where I got a brand new pair of shorts stolen from me. That was fun.

My third experience in the south involved another pretty girl, and Greensboro again. I don't feel like going into details.

My fourth experience in the south was not bad. If I said that it was, I would feel like a spoiled brat because I spent an entire spring break at Kiawah Island. For those of you who do not know Kiawah Island, it is an ulta-exlusive, gated island in South Carolina where my college buddy happened to have a condo. I mostly lounged on the beach, kayaked the back marshes, drank rum, and pretended that I was decent at golf. Regardless of the fact that I was about as completely removed from reality as one can get, it can be good to sleep with the enemy and see how the other half lives. My only regret from this trip is that I didn't take more pictures of Savannah, Georgia - we went there for a long afternoon and an amazing Widespread Panic concert. If there is anything that I love as much as cities, its music.

My last experience in the south does not really count. I was in Miami during spring break of my senior year of college. To me, Miami is not the south. Rather, Miami is one unbelievable melting pot of hispanic culture, art deco architecture, hideous sprawl, and natural ecological beauty. It is as equally ugly as it is beautiful. I loved every minute of my time there.

This brings me to tomorrow. I will fly from what is basically the capital of New England, to the capital of Texas. Besides renting a bike and taking numerous pictures with my digital camera, I have no plans other than to hang out with my beautiful friend Laura. I have had some strange times traveling outside of my quaint New England life, but I look forward to seeing and learning new things from different places. And as far as Austin goes, I know very little. But learning is what traveling is all about. It won't be the Rockies and it certainly will not be Barcelona, but it will be Austin and if it isn't great, at least I will have some more stories.

Trans-Texas Corridor

2005-02-12T16:25:00.000-05:00

Over the last few months I have read several articles related the State of Texas's plan to build a transportation corridor that would be the highway to end all highways in the Lonestar State. Apparently, the transportation planners, engineers, and politicians who support this plan ascribe to the "everything is bigger in Texas,"slogan seriously, perhaps a little too seriously. Time for me to weigh in.

The Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) plan includes a 4,000-mile network of six-lane highways (in each direction, 12 total) and six tracks for rail transit. The plan also calls for a sytem of oil and natural gas pipelines that will be buried underneath the rail and highway. This unprecedented quarter mile swath of transit is a response to the continued suburbanization of Texas, and the American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which has sent an ever-increasing amount of 18-wheel "NAFTA" trucks careening down the Texas freeway system. The TTC will purportedly facilitate less trafic congestion on the existing highway system, and will move goods more efficiently from Mexico to America. Though this may be true in the short term, like many others, I see several problems with this Texas sized boondoggle.

Assuming that Governor Rick Perry gets the TTC plan approved, the system will unquestionably relieve traffic congestion, and it will help move cheap goods from Mexico to America. However, this will only be a temporary solution, as the plan ignores the fundamental nature of highway systems. As highway usage increases, the clover leaf exit/onramps become the lifeblood for more formless sprawl and the traffic congestion that highways are suppossed to relieve in the first place. It's a deadly and circuitous system of development that has historically failed in America. These days highway systems are more about band-aid economic development than transportation. If this country really wanted more sustainable transportation efficiency, we would be building high-speed rail, not highways.

Speaking of rail, if the TTC system is anything like our country's current rail system (inefficent and underfunded), who the hell is going to use it?! Moreover, why build the rail system along the exact same corridor as the highway. Though it is smart to build rail for the imminent global energy crisis, the rail system will start off as a joke when motorists go rumbling by a train sitting at an empty station. If Texas was really serious about efficiently moving people and goods long into the 21st century, then the TTC would be mostly rail, with development oriented to its stations, not the clover-leafs.

The sheer size of this project will also cripple cattle ranchers. How the hell is a rancher suppossed to tend his cattle when a quarter mile highway/tranist corridor bisects his property? The answer is that he won't. Texas will seize the property via imminent domain and many ranchers will be forced to reduce their herds, or sell them completely so that new shopping and housing pods can grace the once bucolic Texas prairie land. The amount of land this project will consume is astonishing (9,ooo square miles of right of way), and not only spells economic injustice, but also ecological suicide. Has anyone thought of the security issues and ramifications of placing a natural gas pipeline and oil pipeline under a monstrous transportation corridor? If I were a terrorist, this obvious sign of American ignorance might be my number one target on principle alone.

Finally, the TTC plan calls for the privatization of the entire road. What this means is that the State will seize the land through imminent domain, use state taxes to fund the project, and then lease it to private interests. The private holders who will operate the system will then charge tolls throughout the entire 4,000 miles. This toll system will be incredibly expensive to maintain and in combination with rising gas prices will make the system nearly unusable in 25 years. The highway system has previously been funded through the gasoline tax, Texans must surely view this new development as unfair.

As far as I know, this project has a long way to go before it is actually approved. Not only is funding the TTC and issue, but it currently lacks public support. Regardless, the TTC plan still proves that much of America's governemnt refuses to think progressively about the way our towns and cities must be ordered so that they can survive the turbulence of the 21st century.

Robert Moses, Le Corbusier , and Jane Jacobs Take The Stage

2005-02-05T22:55:00.000-05:00

Les Freres Corbusier, an aptly named off-broadway theatre company, has decided to examine the life of the omnipotent and highly controversial New York City urban planner, Robert Moses. The play is entitled Boozy: The Life, Death, and Subsequent Vilification of Le Corbusier and, More Importantly, Robert Moses.

Commissioner Robert Moses worked for the City from 1924-1968, and was known as one of, if not the most powerful man in New York City. Though Moses never held public office, no person in American urban history has ever had as much power over the configuration (and misconfiguration) of the built environment. The projects that Moses got built cost a startling $27 billion! Among other things, this includes the Triborough Bridge, Jones Beach, the West Side Highway, Co-Op City, Shea Stadium, the Verrazano Bridge and Lincoln Center. Moses was always the proponent for large scale go-big-or-go-home development, and once had a plan for an intricate highway system to cut through and fragment lower Manhattan. Had it not been for Jane Jacobs(A true hero) and her herculean efforts to thwart Mr. Moses, the now thriving Soho neighborhood would have been utterly dismantled for "urban renewal."

The play covers everything from Moses's childhood to his inevitable decline where he refused to relinquish power in old age. Boozy has an impressive list of characters that include Benito Mussolini, FDR, Le Corbusier, Jane Jacobs, Joseph Goebbels, Fiorello LaGuardia, Nelson Rockefeller, and even the ghost of Baron von Haussmann! Though I have never seen a Les Freres Corbusier production, they are known just as much for their zany inspiration for subject matter, as they are for their detailed research and accurate portrayal of historical events. Needless to say, I expect that for the urban planning and architecture crowd, Boozy will not dissapoint. I have already planned my trip to see the March 5th show. For more information, please visit the play's website, www.boozyshow.com. For an in-depth look at the life of Robert Moses, I would suggest reading The Power Broker: Robert Moses and The Fall of New York, by Robert Caro.

Book Review #1

2005-01-29T13:51:00.000-05:00

I have to admit that when I first picked up a copy of Preserving the World's Great Cities: The Destruction and Renewal of The Historic Metropolis, by Anthony Tung, I did not expect a particularly lively read. Afterall, the breadth of the subject matter could cripple even the most entertaining writer. Fortunately, my assumptions were way off the mark.

In Preserving the World's Great Cities, Anthony Tung, a former New York City Landmarks Preservation Comissioner, uses his particular expertise in urban preservation to survey the built history of what he considers to be the 18 most important cities to human civilization. The cities covered by Tung include many of the usual suspects like Rome, London, Paris, New York City, Venice, and Athens. Other cities featured are Kyoto, Amsterdam, Charleston, Warsaw, and Singapore - to name a few.

Impressively, Tung actually traveled to all eighteen cities in the book, which allowed him to to most accurately depict the triumphs and failures of the the world's greatest urban forms. This epic voyage, which would make any urbanoid or history buff jealous, not only enriches the author's analysis, but also furthers his ability to communicate the amount of sheer change inherent to the evolution of all cities, both ancient and modern. His sharp historical analysis and descriptions only help the western reader feel the sights, sounds, dynamics, and living history of the world's greatest cities.

Perhaps the most important part of Tung's comprehensive work is that he is able to succinctly explain the social, political, economic, and historic events that have caused the destruction of some of humanity's greatest physical and social accomplishments. Though each city could easily be a book of its own, Tung clearly illuminates the destructive nature of human civilization and how the confluence of greed, war, and ideological change have forever impacted human-made environments.

Tung is especially critical of the modernist movement, which is made obvious in a brutally honest chapter about the recent failures of his hometown - New York City. I found this chapter to be one of his best because he has a such a deep understanding of the history of NYC, and how modernist architecture has managed to sever the all-important and time-honored principle of creating strong relationships between buildings, streets, and the public realm. Though he questions similar developments in every chapter, his own life experiences in NYC make for a level of knowledge that simply cannot be matched by his analysis of the 17 other cities.

Tung efficiently covers thousands of years of history in relatively short chapters. Thus, if you are looking for extremely detailed historical information, this book might not be for you. However, if you want to gain a broader understanding of World history, historical and modern planning theory, and the pains of preserving some of the most impressive architectural sites in the world (think Venice, Italy!) then I would highly recommend Preserving the World's Great Cities: The Destruction and Renewal of the Historic Metropolis.

Building Community

2005-01-18T13:03:00.000-05:00

Is the American real estate market finally becoming sick of building and selling cookie-cutter suburban development? With communities like Centreville, Utah recently choosing a new Wal-Mart over a pedestrian friendly mixed-use village, its still hard to tell. Nevertheless, over the past week I have been encouraged by three project related articles that prove "America the amnesiac" is finally remembering what creates real communities. If nothing else, the following projects prove that though changing America's patterns of land use is a perpetual uphill battle, our half-century old suburban pendulum is starting to sway in the other direction. People want more choice regarding how and where they live, and the following three projects do just that. (Note: The following are only overviews of the projects, which are intended to reinforce the emergence of a few development trends. For in depth info please read the articles in their entirety and please share your opinions).

COHOUSING

According to a recent article from the Akron Beacon Journal, (http://www.planetizen.com/news/item.php?id=15531), "cohousing" is making its way to Ohio. For those of you who are unaware of this concept, cohousing is a movement that started in Denmark during the 1960's that emphasizes communal life in residential neighborhoods by including shared spaces within the design of the actual development. Thus, housing lots are clustered, houses orient to the shared public space of the street, paths and sidewalks link neighbors together, and community buildings are used for public dinners, meetings, and activities. The simple design of the community fosters neighborliness and places value on the overall community, not the individual. According to the article referenced above, American cohousing developments first appeared in the 1980's. Today there are more than 100 cohousing developments in the United States, and more are on the way. Though cohousing communities have primarily been located in more progressive areas of the country like Colorado and California, the demand for communal living is growing. Hence the new cohousing development outside of Cincinnati- the first of its kind in Ohio - mentioned in the article.

Cohousing communities seem to present a plethora of benefits to its residents. I certainly respect the emphasis on community and support its mission of changing the American pattern of suburban housing development through eco-friendly design. However, I am still learning about the details of cohousing, and should hold off on any real critique until I have a better understanding of how these developments are integrated into the contexts of their larger towns or cities. However, I will say that much like new urbanism, cohousing faces the problem of supply and demand. In other words, the supply of communities that actually foster civic involvement is much too small for the demand. On the positive side, the shortage of supply proves that Americans are looking for change. The negative side is that living in a cohousing community is expensive and currently out of reach for the average home buyer. Let's be honest, cohousing communities do not even try house people of various incomes. If you care about social equity, like I do, this is a major shortcoming. Nevertheless, the American real estate market proves that people want more options in how they live, and movements like cohousing are finally starting to provide choice.

Prairie Crossing

"Prairie Crossing is a 'conservation community' located 40 miles northwest of Chicago, and an hour south of Milwaukee, in the town of Grayslake, Illinois. Based on a set of ten guiding principles, the community strikes a balance between preserving the natural landscape, providing energy efficient homes of Midwestern vernacular, and presenting a variety of opportunities for resident involvement. While most development to date has concentrated on relatively low-density housing, higher-density homes are being built near the Metra train station, and plans are in the works for a mixed-use 'Main Street.' Additionally, an onsite regional branch of Lake Forest Hospital is under construction." -
http://www.terrain.org/unsprawl/9/

In my opinion, the Prairie Crossing development and its goal of fostering "lifelong learning" present a great alternative to the traditional suburban subdivision. I have yet to see the actual plan, but the article makes it seem like the developer of the project, George Ranney Jr, understands the importance, and long term marketability of producing communities that are sustainable. Though the built portion of the project is low density thus far, the developer has real plans for a more dense TOD town center, which will be adjacent to a Metra train stop. This village center will include a school and services that will allow this development to actually develop into a real town - a major malfunction of most suburban development. What's more, Prairie Crossing is the first community scaled project for the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America Program. What this means is that all of the houses and commercial buildings within the development will become a model for developing context sensitive and energy efficient homes. Thus, Prairie Crossing has already demonstrated that it is not only serious about learning, but also about teaching others.

Village Homes

The "Village Homes" development in Davis, California, prides itself on changing, er, reverting to a better pattern of suburban development. Architecture Week online, http://www.architectureweek.com/2005/0119/building_1-1.html even states that it uses some new urbanist principles in its design. This includes narrow streets and bike paths that don't cater to the automobile, an emphasis on open space, a small mix of retail (a dance studio, a restaurant, and a community daycare center), and sustainable context sensitive house design. These factors along make it better than most suburban development.

Though I agree that the open space, narrow streets, and "eco-friendly" design of the development contribute to a more convivial atmoshphere, the overall design and function of the neighborhood does not seem all that different from most vapid suburban cul-de-sac "community" developments. But in an effort to keep this part of the article short, I will only pick on one aspectof Village Homes.

All of the streets within the development are cul-de-sacs so there is no real connectivity within the development, or to the outside. This would be more reasonable if the entire town of Davis were based on meandering bike paths and sidewalks. But the truth of the matter is that people still use their cars for most, if not all of their daily needs. Thus, the paths are great for moving within the neighborhood, but as the article mentions, most people still drive to the grocery store, even though it is just minutes away via bike. What this says to me is that the collector road that the Village Home cul-de-sacs force cars onto is not pedestrian or bike friendly. Therefore Village Homes acts like any other development in that it really limits the ability for those without a car to explore, make communal connections outside of the development, or to obtain the necessities of daily life.

Though Cohousing, Prairie Creek, and Village Homes all have their weaknesses, all three offer proof that that the paradigms of suburban development are slowly starting to change. This is a good thing.

Get On The Bus

2005-01-08T19:44:00.000-05:00

America would like to believe that it supports its own cultural progression through the constant pursuit of efficiency. Yet the ways in which we manifest our obsession with improvement are laughable, oftentimes embarrassing, and are in need of some serious reconsideration.

Americans love the fact that they can pay for gas at the pump, buy movie tickets online, and check out at the grocery store without having to interact with a single human being. After all, who has the time? Americans also loves their tiny cellular camera phones, and portable music devices (none of which are made in this country), because there convenient size makes it easier and more “efficient” to call their friends while simultaneously listening to sweet tunes and taking pictures of beautiful wilderness vistas from a remote mountain apex, which they traveled to in their bloated SUV. Oh, wait…that only happens in the commercials.

The sad reality is that our culture has placed itself into an entrenched pattern of existence that is built on the pursuit of efficiency (happiness?), which has become wholly inefficient. In other words, we’re the mad scientist who did not consider the unintended consequences of our invention. For example, the bigger roads that we build to transport us to bigger stores only create higher taxes and more traffic jams. The bigger cars we drive to shuffle more people to and fro use larger amounts of gasoline, which create increased amounts of pollution and as supplies peak, rising oil prices. And finally, the bigger meals that we feed our families while traveling on said roads to said shops only creates bigger people. My God! We’ve created a monster!

But seriously, the further use of all of our oversized cars, houses, stores, meals and tiny digital devices only serve as a distraction from the lack of real progressive ingenuity that pervades our civic and socio-cultural institutions. Thus, this is a call for the reconsideration of American inventiveness.

Today, my contribution to the reclamation of American ingenuity is going to come through an admittedly half baked idea (I’m not sure if it is original or not, so I welcome your feedback) that I have for rural, exurban, and suburban public transit, or the lack thereof. I’m from Maine and contrary to popular belief, I did not grow up in the woods sans electricity, and I certainly do not find my cousin to be a good source of future progeny. Nevertheless, I am extremely familiar with the beautiful bucolic nature of the state and am aware that most people need a car to obtain life’s necessities. Of course that does not mean that everyone indeed has a car, or likes to use one, which is why I believe a state like Maine could really benefit from some creative thinking.

Currently Maine is like most states in that it has severe budget issues. Federal funds have been scarce recently, and the state faces increasing demands on its public services – education costs have skyrocketed even though enrollment numbers have declined. Thus, the state could simultaneously combat some of its transportation issues while actually earning some income from the only public transit that exists in most rural locations – school buses.

Why should such expensive vehicles be used strictly to shuffle children around for two hours a day? Is there any reason why school buses are not used in communities to help shuttle the elderly, those without cars, and those who do not like driving? The ability to get on the bus and go to town, or a regional center could reconnect the isolated, and increase communal connections. Moreover, one would almost think that since local and state tax money is used to purchase the school buses that citizens, especially those without school aged children, would insist on reaping the benefits of their own tax dollars.

Sure, there are some restrictions, as buses are used roughly from 7am to 8am and again at 2:30 pm to 4pm. You might even argue that some buses are used in field trips and for after school sporting events, but certainly not all of them. Why not charge $1.00 per ride and establish a local and regional bus route that travels on a regular schedule during off hours? Why not establish full service on the weekends and during the summer? Has this idea even been considered? I certainly do not have all the answers, and I do recognize issues of mechanical upkeep and the accrual of high mileage at a faster than normal rate, but I think the benefits of using buses as public transportation in rural areas are tremendous. Thus, I encourage Maine, and all other areas that are deprived of public transportation to get on the bus.

Red Vienna? Brilliant!

2005-01-03T02:04:00.000-05:00

Let me preface this entire blog entry by saying that often times I think of America’s social and public urban planning policy as a talented, bright, and athletic, but terribly arrogant and lazy 10th grader who never does any of his homework and therefore winds up working at the Qwik-E-Mart, sniffing glue and wondering where he went wrong.

As I was reading Anthony Tung’s Preserving the World’s Greatest Cities[1] (A Wonderful book that I will review in full when I finish it) this weekend, I came across an extremely important and enlightening chapter entitled “Historic Preservation and Social Conscience,” which featured Vienna, Austria. As a subsection to the chapter Tung covers “Red Vienna,” which unbeknownst to me, was a period of progressive socialism in Vienna during the early 20th century. This impressive period produced one of the most innovative and intelligent public housing policies in modern history. Though America has always struggled ideologically with socialism, Red Vienna’s housing policy was a program that regardless of its ideological origin, should have been mimicked as soon as the American federal government decided that they should offer housing to those who could not always provide there own.

In short, Red Vienna’s housing policy supported close to ten percent of the cities population (200,000) within 400 housing “blocks” dispersed throughout the city. All of these housing projects, which were completely unlike America’s conception of a housing project, were built within 15 years and were accompanied by the creation of facilities like health clinics, playgrounds, theatres, shops, and green space. Integrating these services into the overall public housing plan ensured more economic equality, and gave the lower economic classes in Vienna a great sense of dignity, as well as access to all the pleasures of urban living that meet the panoply of human needs.

Yet, the entire public housing program in Vienna could not have been possible without the Federal Rent Control Act of 1922. This act helped ensure that the average rental rate within the city would be less than 5% of an individual’s salary – a concept that today could not be any more foreign to the average urban dweller in the western world. Although the rental freeze program enveloped close to 25% of the cities annual budget, it significantly decreased the profitability of speculative real estate development. The rental freeze decreased the value of Vienna’s land, which helped the burgeoning city purchase cheap land on the open market. This allowed the City of Vienna to double its land holdings from 17% to 34% of the total land mass within the city’s limits. The city then created a graduated tenant rental tax that focused on taxing the wealthy and their luxury apartments, which kept rental rates affordable for the poor and generated 40% of the money needed for the cost of its ambitious public housing policy.

Though the creation of rent control, the graduated tenant tax, and the suppression of the speculative real estate market were essential components in the creation of a successful public housing policy, they were merely a representation of the larger ideological framework from which the city was operating. That is to say, the leaders of Red Vienna envisioned a collective humanist society where the poor were not to be marginalized from the social and cultural achievements of a city that was entering the rapidly industrializing world of the 20th century. (Wow! A society that cares just as much about its people as the bottom line!?)

Before all of the public housing projects were actually built in Vienna, they were conceived as being both public buildings and private dwellings, or communes that supported a shared vision of a convivial urban social life. This vision contributed greatly to the integrity of the actual housing stock created for Vienna’s underclass. Amazingly, none of the land that the public housing was built upon in Vienna was acquired via eminent domain. Impressive. Can you imagine this happening in America? I most certainly cannot.

Perhaps what is more impressive is that since the housing blocks were interspersed throughout the city, there weren’t any heavy concentrations of the urban poor. Thus, the communes were established gracefully into existing neighborhoods that were already connected by Vienna’s existing mass transit system (an impressive subway system that featured stations designed individually to fit in appropriately within the context of the neighborhoods for which they were a part). Such an amenity is not known by most poor urban dwellers, especially in early 20th century Europe.

Because the new housing developments were either fully integrated into the existing urban fabric, or were extensions of established neighborhoods, they easily could have completely distorted the architectural pattern of Vienna’s historic neighborhoods. Yet, the architecture of the communes sought to simultaneously show the progress that the socialists were making in Vienna, while also honoring the historic architecture of existing buildings. As a result, there were no generic housing plans capable of ruining the aesthetics of Vienna. The result of which was a proletariat class that believed their housing stock helped assimilate them into the established culture of the city. The new buildings, though larger in scale, incorporated several components of the architectural language and patterns endemic to the unique styles of the historic city. Moreover, most buildings were built by hand to guarantee unique craftsmanship, and to employ several workers, craftsman, and artists.

By giving the poor dignity through housing, Red Vienna was able to engender the widespread political support of the proletariat, which was quite an accomplishment during the tumultuous times of early 20th century Europe. Moreover, the city was able to create a fluid transition between its great architectural history and the imposing force of modernism, which began pressing down on Vienna as it industrialized. Yet, like many great social and cultural strides that were made in Europe during this time period, most were virtually erased by Adolf Hitler and his goon laden squad of misanthropes. Nevertheless, Red Vienna and all of its public housing glory should simply serve as a lesson in how to properly integrate the poor into a successful city. Once again, we have the wheel and it does not need to be reinvented.

[1] All of the information contained in this article may be found on Pgs. 206-211 in Preserving the World's Greatest Cities, By Anthony Tung.

Brookings Institution Study

2004-12-20T16:06:00.000-05:00

If you're like me, and you spend altogether too much time perusing the information superhighway for the latest in urban planning news, then you might have recently noticed the release of a very important report from the Brookings Institution (http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20041213_rebuildamerica.htm).

The report outlines that in the next 30 years most metropolitan planning organizations (MPO's) and state governments expect, and are planning for a tremendous surge in America's population, especially in the continuously booming sun-belt region. Perhaps what is more impressive is that according to these findings, half of the buildings and the infrastructure improvements that are needed to house all the people and their social, business, and recreational needs, do not currently exist . A reality that must have real estate speculators and developers chomping at the bit.

Yet, with America's current method of absorbing growth by building ever outward, the prediction of such rapid population growth and development is chilling, as our society is not ready for it. By this, I mean that that we do not have the energy or the natural resources to adequately sustain such growth. Nor do we have the social, political, and economic mechanisms in place to grow and maintain the high quality of life that most Americans currently expect, if not demand. How can the southwest continue to develop lush golf course "communities" without cheap gasoline and a plethora of water? They can't.

Thus, as the Brookings Institution notes, these growth projections should be viewed as yet another round of ammofor the battle against sprawl, as well as the impetus for America to start reconfiguring its own manifest destiny to something that actually purports real sustainable progress through development. But let's face it, most high level decision makers and the people who put them into office are not currently prioritizing how we must grow in order for this suppossed boom to actually occur.

If America is to grow in population and remain an economically stable place to inhabit, those who salivate at the opportunity to produce more auto-centric far-flung edge city boomburgs must change their approaches, and quickly. If they do not, then America will have to endure long term population growth that is not coupled with economic growth. A disastrous dichotomy that is sure to alter the social and political structures within our country. If you do not believe this prediction, simply use history as a guide and you will see that most great societies of the past were the cause of their own decline.

Fortunately, in effort to stave off this gloomy future, more and more people are getting involved with changing our patterns of growth and development. Moreover, the nascent sustainable development movements of new urbanism, smart growth, and LEED certification, along with other well established environmental movements, are gaining traction in America, as society at large is realizing that sustainability isn't just for the hippies anymore. Yet, with the inherent challenges of our nation's predicted growth, our efforts need to be ramped up even further, and now!

As Winston Churchill said, (Not an exact quote) "Americans will do what's right, only after exhausting all of other options." Well, after a century long experiment with a reckless and profligate socio-economic system, we now have an impending energy crisis, an ever weakening dollar, an over-extended military, state and national budgets that are deep in hole, and a federal government that is led by a president who has quietly waged a war on our country's most precious natural resources. If these conditions do not precede a tipping point, I'm not sure what will. Thus, I echo the Brookings Institution's report and say that we must mitigate against several of the problems that threaten our nation in the future by working tirelessly now to rebuild America with a more intelligent approach.

Maine Embraces Smart Growth

2004-12-12T00:56:00.000-05:00

On Friday, December 10th, the first annual Maine Smart Growth Summit was held at the Civic Center in Augusta, Maine. This conference, which had close to 500 people in attendance, was long overdue for the state that boasts that it is "the way life should be." Ironically, this first conference on combating sprawl was held at a facility that has helped incubate some of the states finest examples of big box debauchery and highway spur development. Nevertheless, I wouldn't have missed the opportunity to attend the first conference in Maine dealing with the issues that I care so deeply about.

Unfortunately, Maine's long standing reputation as the home of genuine people, beautiful vistas, and real towns and villages, has been severely threatened by the slow creep of suburbanization "from away" (the term us Maine'ers use to describe something that is not endemic to our beloved home state). The growth of sprawl, like everything else that finally makes its way to Maine, has been slow and incremental. Yet, in the last 20 years it has compromised the quality of life that that is so crucial to those who not only live, but work in Maine.

This very important point was emphasized by key note speaker, former Governor Angus King, who told the attentive audience that though Maine lacks many of the essential mechanisms needed for sustained economic growth, the state has always been able to use its extraordinary quality of life assets as a key selling point. This means that though business moguls do not move their companies to Maine for its low taxes, or its warm weather, people are attracted to Maine because it offers refuge from the terrible places that many are forced to call home.

Thus, if Maine loses the battle to sprawl, it loses twice. That is to say, not only will Maine continue to be further homogenized by sprawl and all its culture sucking accoutrements, but that the state will lose its power to draw those from away (tourists) who keep the Maine economy alive. Thus, for the state of Maine, smart growth is smart business and yesterday's conference should serve as a battle cry to keep Maine, Maine.

The Perfect Neighborhood? (part 1)

2004-11-30T01:37:00.000-05:00

Is there such thing as a perfect neighborhood? Usually, when I pose this question it is frequently answered with a resounding “yes.” Which is then usually followed up with a generic supporting statement like, “my neighborhood is perfect because it is so safe,” or “this must be a great neighborhood because all the streets are clean, and all the houses and lawns are so well taken care of,” or the ultimate, “my neighborhood is perfect because I don’t have to drive that far to go shopping or to take the kids to school.”

Though safety, cleanliness, and short driving distances (shouldn't we prefer walking to transit?) represent positive aspects of neighborhoods, they are merely a small part which does not represent the whole. Thus, I fear that these types of responses signify a high tolerance for bad development, if not a completely misinformed idea of what comprises quality neighborhoods and districts. Lesson number one: No neighborhood is perfect, nor should it be. Thus, the previous question was a trick.

As Jane Jacobs says, any neighborhood worth its weight in praise should always be evolving, and evolving slowly. A neighborhood that does not evolve is static, and therefore lacks the essential mechanisms that are intrinsic to social and cultural progress. Feel free to disagree with me, but I am a hard fast Darwinist. Creationists be damned, evolution happens, which means that all organisms, natural or otherwise, need to change to improve and adapt. This is why generic single use, single income, single family suburban cul-de-sac “neighborhood” enclaves fail miserably.

Unfortunately, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which is what concerns me. Americans have been force fed this tired “American Dream” that implores that happiness can only be obtained by owning a single family home, in an all-single family development, with an all-American car (or SUV), in an all- American suburb. Over fifty years of market proven success has fueled (pun intended) this unrealistic dream, almost to the point of no return. Luckily, there is hope. America is changing, but mostly because it has to.

When the economic catastrophe known as an energy crisis emerges from the dark shadow that has been cast by the soon to be outmoded American Dream, America will cognitively realize that suburbia has been the BIGGEST misallocation of social, political, environmental, and financial resources that human civilization has ever witnessed (Kunstler).

When this dawning takes place, America’s “leaders,” A.K.A government, will realize what a large mistake subsidizing suburbia was. Hopefully, this will elicit an “oh shit” response and the massive mis-investment of the past fifty years will shift from the wholly unsustainable paradigms of our car culture to a more prudent and intelligent allocation of resources that will encourage sound social, environmental, and social investment. What would this look like?

First of all, we would stop subsidizing the destructive disease known as sprawl by creating tax incentives for fat cat developers to reuse existing or underutilized neighborhoods. This is already happening in some places, but it needs to happen in more. Sadly, most Americans with the power to enact change don't do anything progressive, unless there is some sort of financial or personal incentive.

Second, we would stop pretending that cheap oil will fuel (literally) our economy forever. This second realization will force our unbelievably wealthy nation to focus our efforts on lifestyles that do not revolve around the automobile. We must also stop planning for the continued use of the automobile on such a large scale. Continuing to invest billions in highway expansion is like pulling out a shotgun and shooting yourself in the foot.

Third, we would stop pretending that big box stores, conventions centers, and stadiums are a panacea for economic downturn and neighborhood devolution. Real wealth is created and maintained in diverse urban, suburban, and rural enclaves that encourage economic, social, environmental, and cultural diversity. This means creating environments that are welcoming to businesses, public places, and social institutions that value the exchange of ideas. Such an exchange should function first on a local scale so as to not depend wholly on the whimsical nature of a tourism/service based economy.

As author and social critic James Howard Kunstler has said repeatedly, the energy crisis will cause globalism to go in reverse. This change of direction will hurt America a lot, especially if Americans do not change their energy sucking, land consuming, and money-squelching habits.

Nevertheless, we are lucky that good neighborhoods and districts still exist. Much thanks to the new urbanists who have not only “rediscovered” and canonized the principles of good placemaking, but also created plenty of new working models that should be read as “Good Neighborhoods for Dummies.” What this means is that we have plenty of positive models to learn from. We know how to build good blocks, neighborhoods, towns, and cities. We just need to do it more.

Fortunately, Americans know about these places, and even pay large sums of money to visit them on vacation. It’s just time that Americans realize that their own “good neighborhood” in generic anyplace U.S.A can actually be transformed into a real evolving neighborhood worth caring about. For this to happen it is essential that people demand change. Will this happen? Probably not as quickly as it should.

An' Another Thing

2004-11-23T01:23:00.000-05:00

Like Weymouth, I think the New Station Landing development in Medford, MA ( http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/pub/4_153/residential/188727-1.html) is another classic example of smart growth mislabled as new urbanism. Like I said in the previous entry(http://newurbanprogress.blogspot.com), there has to be some distinction. New urbanism is smart growth, but smart growth is not new urbanism.

In this case, I would say that New Station Landing is a vast improvement over a suburban office park, or strip mall, but it seems like its going to fail miserably with housing choices. Note all the "market rate" and "quality high end residential" comments within the article. This development isn't even pretending to cater to the middle class. With no mention of affordable housing, it leads me to believe that there will clearly be no low-income units, or affordable housing units with a price cap.

Housing choice, as in the mixture of housing types that welcome a true array of incomes is a CENTRAL tenet of new urbanism. Moreover, the single income monoculture that might result from such a development will drive up real estate prices around this site. The end result is a very posh development with little to no environmental impact (smart growth), but a less than diverse urban population (new urbanism) that makes good places great.

I'm not completely against gentrification. In fact, I agree with new urbanism founding father, Andres Duany, that gentrification needs to happen to some extent so that developers and investors will make money back on their investments and the neighborhood remains stable. But to me, this development is another upscale project that will price out the lower and middle income members of what is now a working class community. Let's not forget Jane Jacobs. Diversity makes great streets, blocks, neighborhoods, cities, and regions.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Station Landing development is another exciting example that developers in New England are starting to "get it." But, who is going to live over those retail shops on the lower floors? Not the shop owners and employees. -Mike

Good TOD vs. Bad TOD

2004-11-20T01:54:00.000-05:00

Transit oriented development (TOD), which seeks to place all new growth within walking distance of public transit, is one of the few new urbanist "buzzword" concepts that has successfully made the crossover to the more mainstream smart growth movement. The popularity of this concept can now be seen in the painfully bureaucratic state of Massachusetts, which now champions the idea that all future growth should be focused in TOD areas. Cheers TOD (40R).

However, though it is truly exciting to see that new urbanist terms and concepts are being utilized by mainstream planning entities, TOD actually has a history as dark and dastardly as the interstate highway system. Check it out.

TOD has been around for more than a half century and has played an essential role in incubating and nurturing the infectious American disease known as sprawl. You know, those gluttonous traffic/pollution/tax-raising/culture destroying developments that continue to cheapen and ravage the American landscape. TOD traces its origins back to when President Dwight Eisenhower decided in 1956 to fully fund a little program called the Federal Aid Highway Act. As a result, every highway rest-stop, every interstate Howard Johnson, and every highway exit that funnels onto collector roads laden with tacky big box store infested "power centers", is now indeed a TOD. It's just car-transit oriented development (please do not call this COD, as I am not attempting to further trivialize new urbanism), as opposed to the enlightened public transit oriented development. Think Bad TOD vs. Good TOD.

Bad TOD and all its culture homogenizing debauchery would be virtually non-existent if, while serving in World War II, Ike hadn't fallen so deeply in love with Hitler's Autobahn. Sure, the interstate highway system might be the greatest public works project in world history, but like the Autobahn that was used to help Hitler in his attempt to homogenize Europe, the US version has homogenized American culture. Thanks Ike. (I don't fully blame the guy, how could he possible anticipate what happened?)

The reason why I am pointing out what may seem like a re-hashed rumination on suburbia is that as of late, "TOD/new urbanism" and "smart growth" are terms that part of the development community have co-opted and used to sell their best laid development schemes. Thus, there needs to be some distinction between Bad TOD and Good TOD, because too many people seem happy to just throw Good TOD around all willy nilly, without actually understanding its intricacies.

BAD TOD - The redevelopment plan for a defunct Naval airbase in Weymouth, Massachusetts (http://www.thevillagecenterplan.com) is being marketed and touted by the developer, Lennar Partners, as a TOD smart growth development. A local newspaper has gone as far as to call it a new urbanist community(http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2004/10/16/news/news05.txt). Blasphemy. Though the plan is not the entirely car dependent TOD model of the last fifty years, its still not an effective TOD.

In a recent meeting a group of concerned urbanists analyzed the Weymouth redevelopment plan thoroughly. What was readily apparent to us was that though the plan maintains a healthy amount of protected open space (smart growth), the "TOD" portion of the plan is very weak. True, the site is very fortunate to be directly adjacent to a MBTA commuter rail stop, but the actual plan places a very small proportion of the total amount of housing/ commercial development within a comfortable walking distance of the actual transit stop (for comfortable walking distance think 1/4 to 1/2 mile), which makes this a hard sell for Good TOD. In fact, the majority of the development is located in suburban-esque pods on the other side of the base from the transit stop, where a "shuttle bus" is supposed to ferry people back and forth to the town center and transit station. Moreover, the transit stop and the edge of the naval base are located right next to a major south shore-Boston collector road corridor that already produces traffic nightmares.

Peter Calthorpe, CNU Charter Member, might call the entire plan a secondary neighborhood. That is, the portion of a good TOD neighborhood that is adjacent to the town center and all the primary uses of a Good TOD. Secondary neighborhoods are needed in TOD's, especially as they mature, but they need to serve as an equitable balance with the density needed to support the town center and the actual transit stop. In this case, the secondary neighborhood is the majority of the plan, and its too far away from the transit. It's like they have the right idea, but the wrong plan.

The plan simply does not achieve the required density. Moreover, in such a car dependent society where a large percentage of all car trips are less than 3 miles, most citizens in this development will most likely drive to the "town center" and to the transit stop. Hell, if you actually look at the plan you will see that there is plenty of parking for doing so. In fact, most of the town center is comprised of parking lots that are not shielded from the primary "A" streets. Ugh.

In conclusion, I agree that aspects of the plan certainly encourage smart growth. Certainly the planned development is lucky to have an existing transit stop, and the plan could actually be a lot worse. But overall the development is not a good TOD, and it is certainly not an example of new urbanism.