Sunday, August 22, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Cleveland
My whirlwind trip has brought me to Cleveland and the start of the Rust Belt. This also marks a change in my transportation plans, as I shift my mode of intercity transport from that of trains and planes to that of the car. Also within the city I will be trying to engage the waterfront via car and bike, allowing me to understand topography and distance on a more human scale.
Cleveland faces a condition where they are both lake-front and riverfront. The lake-front is for all intensive purposes a seasonal functioned area, which has the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Brown's football stadium, as well as a small lake-front airport. The rest of the land is in a transition from port to other uses. The problem with this program is it doesn't allow for a diverse 24-7 approach to land use. It also creates a situation where residents don't have any reason to go there apart from the 8 Sundays the team plays a home game. It appears from this trip that the best way to kill the life of a city is the placement of Stadiums. These deadzones are such a large scale that they seem to isolate parts of cities easily. I think there are examples where this isn't the case, but in most cases it is when the stadium is old enough that the fabric is rebuilt around it, as is the case with Wrigley Field in Chicago. Stadium placement is critical in cities, because it dictates these areas of concentrated activity at specific times and dead zones for much of the year.
Cleveland has bunched their remaining stadiums together on a single plot. The baseball and basketball stadiums are on the southern fringe of the CBD, surrounded by parking. The one arm that the city has extended is the establishment of a walking street that extends from Euclid Ave, a commercial core that seems to be newly revived with a BRT line and a number of restaurant and entertainment venues. The walking street unfortunately ends in a parking lot, reinforcing my generalization about Cleveland, and that is that at least in downtown it is a city that is ravaged by the parking lot.
It was an interesting comparison being in the vacant city on Sunday and then again on the busy Monday. The city actually felt better when cars occupied its parking lots than when it was entirely vacant. Nonetheless multiple blocks of parking separate the two viable sectors of the city, Euclid Ave and the Warehouse district, creating a condition where the city fabric breaks down.
The Warehouse district and the riverfront is a completely different condition than the lake-front. The Topographic condition is much more exaggerated on the river side, which is home to a number of warehouse and industrial buildings. A few of which have been converted to large scale lofts. Many others are still abandoned. One more has been converted into a large scale entertainment venue, compete with waterside covered amphitheater. It is quite impressive.
Actually, come to think of it the entire industrial river valley is pretty cool. theres a variety of cool bridges and warehouses that begs for an integrated adaptive reuse/redevelopment area. The only downside being the valley in which it lies. Plans are on the boards for some development in this area, but with the current economic state thats anyones guess if it'll continue.
The thing about Cleveland that I found remarkable was the amount of old buildings that there were. It may be that i've gotten to the part of the US in my trip that industry was prominent before the era of the Semi Truck. The pre-eminent mode of transport when Cleveland was booming was rail. The time period was most likely the 20s/30s-50s/60s. The interface towards rail meant that buildings were located in the heart of the city and at a smaller scale. With the change in interface towards roads industry moved abruptly towards the interstate highway. So Cleveland is either remarkable or so devastated that it has maintained a large portion of its industrial fabric.
Suburban development seems to be spread out, with the only density existing near Case Western University. Even then the majority of density in East Cleveland seems to be hospital related. The other interesting part is the location of many cultural institutions is not in downtown, but rather to the east.
Cleveland's industrial fabric was interesting because its by far the oldest I've seen, but as a city Cleveland didn't really spark my interest. The downtown was bland and primarily offices and parking lots, and the suburban sprawl was so expansive it was almost beyond repair. As a city that is still fighting back, I didn't see the vibrancy and invigoration that has taken place so many other places. Rather I read a lot about the plans and the thoughts about what could be.
Regardless now I continue on the rust belt towards Pittsburgh
Cleveland faces a condition where they are both lake-front and riverfront. The lake-front is for all intensive purposes a seasonal functioned area, which has the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Brown's football stadium, as well as a small lake-front airport. The rest of the land is in a transition from port to other uses. The problem with this program is it doesn't allow for a diverse 24-7 approach to land use. It also creates a situation where residents don't have any reason to go there apart from the 8 Sundays the team plays a home game. It appears from this trip that the best way to kill the life of a city is the placement of Stadiums. These deadzones are such a large scale that they seem to isolate parts of cities easily. I think there are examples where this isn't the case, but in most cases it is when the stadium is old enough that the fabric is rebuilt around it, as is the case with Wrigley Field in Chicago. Stadium placement is critical in cities, because it dictates these areas of concentrated activity at specific times and dead zones for much of the year.
Cleveland has bunched their remaining stadiums together on a single plot. The baseball and basketball stadiums are on the southern fringe of the CBD, surrounded by parking. The one arm that the city has extended is the establishment of a walking street that extends from Euclid Ave, a commercial core that seems to be newly revived with a BRT line and a number of restaurant and entertainment venues. The walking street unfortunately ends in a parking lot, reinforcing my generalization about Cleveland, and that is that at least in downtown it is a city that is ravaged by the parking lot.
It was an interesting comparison being in the vacant city on Sunday and then again on the busy Monday. The city actually felt better when cars occupied its parking lots than when it was entirely vacant. Nonetheless multiple blocks of parking separate the two viable sectors of the city, Euclid Ave and the Warehouse district, creating a condition where the city fabric breaks down.
The Warehouse district and the riverfront is a completely different condition than the lake-front. The Topographic condition is much more exaggerated on the river side, which is home to a number of warehouse and industrial buildings. A few of which have been converted to large scale lofts. Many others are still abandoned. One more has been converted into a large scale entertainment venue, compete with waterside covered amphitheater. It is quite impressive.
Actually, come to think of it the entire industrial river valley is pretty cool. theres a variety of cool bridges and warehouses that begs for an integrated adaptive reuse/redevelopment area. The only downside being the valley in which it lies. Plans are on the boards for some development in this area, but with the current economic state thats anyones guess if it'll continue.
The thing about Cleveland that I found remarkable was the amount of old buildings that there were. It may be that i've gotten to the part of the US in my trip that industry was prominent before the era of the Semi Truck. The pre-eminent mode of transport when Cleveland was booming was rail. The time period was most likely the 20s/30s-50s/60s. The interface towards rail meant that buildings were located in the heart of the city and at a smaller scale. With the change in interface towards roads industry moved abruptly towards the interstate highway. So Cleveland is either remarkable or so devastated that it has maintained a large portion of its industrial fabric.
Suburban development seems to be spread out, with the only density existing near Case Western University. Even then the majority of density in East Cleveland seems to be hospital related. The other interesting part is the location of many cultural institutions is not in downtown, but rather to the east.
Cleveland's industrial fabric was interesting because its by far the oldest I've seen, but as a city Cleveland didn't really spark my interest. The downtown was bland and primarily offices and parking lots, and the suburban sprawl was so expansive it was almost beyond repair. As a city that is still fighting back, I didn't see the vibrancy and invigoration that has taken place so many other places. Rather I read a lot about the plans and the thoughts about what could be.
Regardless now I continue on the rust belt towards Pittsburgh
Monday, August 2, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Seattle
Seattle is great. The weather has been phenomenal. Very gusty but by far the coolest its been my entire trip.
I ended up doing a ton of walking today. For a few reasons, 1 being that I was tracking the Alaskan Way Viaduct and looking at the spatial implications on the waterfront, and the other is that fact that the transit here is not so good. Nonetheless I had an interesting day and a good walk.
I guess the first thing I have to say is that topography plays a huge role in this city. Starting at Pike Place market I think its interesting that its not on the waterfront. My impression of Pike Place's location was that it was waterfront and directly related to the fishing industry. It is instead on the hillside interfaced towards the CBD, instead of interfaced a good 40 or 50 ft down to the waterfront.
I guess thats the interesting thing about Seattle is the amount of Topography in the CBD. It is quite substantial, to the degree that San Francisco is but with the hills pulled farther towards the water. This means a few things. One is that there is no mediation towards the water. Essentially there is a one block zone before you hit the waterfront. The other perception that I had about Seattle was that the Alaskan Viaduct was at the level of the city, when it in fact is about level with the bottom of the city. The main issue is the road noise.
So, bottom line is that a successful project here has to mediate between topographic change as well as (in the case of waterfronts) the rail lines and sometimes the elevated road lines that exist. Thats where I think the Olympic Sculpture park has been wildly successful. It is able to take care of all the issues of Road, River, And Rail in an elegant way that mediates all levels and scales.
I could talk more about my experiences on my waterfront walk but all I will say for now is how unfortunate it is in creating a tourist safe haven. For me the waterfront has to be populated and vibrant, and that is what will drive tourists, nor this dreary fisherman's wharf ideal.
The most interesting part of my day was the visit to the South Union Lake Project. This project is interesting because of its time scaled nature, multi-product, and transit components. Its got the movers and the corporations investing in it, but I wonder how much it will slow down due to the recession.
More tomorrow, as I finish out Seattle and return to Chicago for a rest day.
Transit thinking out 20 years.
I ended up doing a ton of walking today. For a few reasons, 1 being that I was tracking the Alaskan Way Viaduct and looking at the spatial implications on the waterfront, and the other is that fact that the transit here is not so good. Nonetheless I had an interesting day and a good walk.
I guess the first thing I have to say is that topography plays a huge role in this city. Starting at Pike Place market I think its interesting that its not on the waterfront. My impression of Pike Place's location was that it was waterfront and directly related to the fishing industry. It is instead on the hillside interfaced towards the CBD, instead of interfaced a good 40 or 50 ft down to the waterfront.
I guess thats the interesting thing about Seattle is the amount of Topography in the CBD. It is quite substantial, to the degree that San Francisco is but with the hills pulled farther towards the water. This means a few things. One is that there is no mediation towards the water. Essentially there is a one block zone before you hit the waterfront. The other perception that I had about Seattle was that the Alaskan Viaduct was at the level of the city, when it in fact is about level with the bottom of the city. The main issue is the road noise.
So, bottom line is that a successful project here has to mediate between topographic change as well as (in the case of waterfronts) the rail lines and sometimes the elevated road lines that exist. Thats where I think the Olympic Sculpture park has been wildly successful. It is able to take care of all the issues of Road, River, And Rail in an elegant way that mediates all levels and scales.
I could talk more about my experiences on my waterfront walk but all I will say for now is how unfortunate it is in creating a tourist safe haven. For me the waterfront has to be populated and vibrant, and that is what will drive tourists, nor this dreary fisherman's wharf ideal.
The most interesting part of my day was the visit to the South Union Lake Project. This project is interesting because of its time scaled nature, multi-product, and transit components. Its got the movers and the corporations investing in it, but I wonder how much it will slow down due to the recession.
More tomorrow, as I finish out Seattle and return to Chicago for a rest day.
Transit thinking out 20 years.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Portland Day 2
Today I met with a developer and had a productive discussion regarding Portland’s development scene. The interesting thing about Portland is that urban sprawl is curtailed by the Portland development act, Which periodically releases more land to ensure that there is a 20 year supply of housing. But what this means is that development is slow and thoughtful. In addition it is always more dense. This is because it is more expensive, and as a result parceled out into smaller pieces. What this means is that development isn’t this massive sprawling machine, but rather a regulated expansion.
Part of the process of releasing land in the 20 year supply is the fact that redevelopment plots are taken into the process. The city therefore encourages density and adaptive reuse. It also means that there was never a full fledged plight to the suburbs, because the supply couldn’t handle it.
The other thing that it means is that parking lots are economically sized, and stores are shifted towards the streets. It must also be related to the zoning and planning requirements for how many spaces are needed for specific purposes. This must make parking a nightmare during peak times, but the spatial quality it creates is far superior.
Talking with one of the developers of the South Waterfront provided insight into some of the successes and failures of the project. The thing that is clear about the project is with the proposed density and the changing market conditions, the project has had its hiccups. A less dense development might have propelled the development and been a more sustainable approach, but as it stands the project is ok, and the newest product being built is 5-6 story apartments.
The other tipping point of the project was the ability to secure the transit coming to the site at the same time as the opening of the first buildings. This is critical because of the sites difficult accessibility by car and selling point of public transit.
The other thing we discussed was the necessity to appreciate and understand the industry that is still on site. The Neighborhood has shifted its focus to celebrating it with a boat launchings of the shipbuilder. For the developer it was a necessary relationship. Its also not the worst industry to have to work with, as its non polluting and smell less. The only potential hazard is the light of the welding torches.
Another tough decision that must be made is to bury parking garages, at a massive cost. The most successful projects on any scale are the ones that provide connectivity to their surroundings. Having surface lots or parking garages isolate developments and divide cities, and at a certain point the land is simply too valuable to under develop.
I visited one development today that’s worth talking about. This theme of transit oriented development is one that gets tossed around quite a bit. In Portland there is a surburban Greenfield mall that I visited which is adjacent to the airport. Its fairly generic but the remarkable thing about it is the fact that it has polarized toward the light rail line that is at the edge of the site. All of the smaller outlier buildings have formed into an avenue like side that is directly adjacent to the avenue with the light rail station, there is then a medium sized parking lot and then the large big box retailers sit in a row on the far side. Its not groundbreaking, but it evokes a certain amount of urbanism in a Greenfield.
Tonight I’m on the train to Seattle. Looking forward to the final leg in the first half of my trip and getting a chance to recap and add imagery.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Portland
So far I've really enjoyed my time here in Portland. Its a unique city with a commitment to sustainability and the first city that I've seen doing a great job of fostering civic spaces and really working to make a city and sustainability a reality.
One of the things that I appreciate in a mid size city that Denver and Omaha lacked was a good transit system. Here in Portland a combination of light rail and streetcars make it relatively easy to get around, but the thing that is really great about transit here is the free ride zone. This zone within the city center makes it incredibly easy to get around and free. This fosters a park and ride relationship with the transit system that many cities lack when you look at the cost of getting to multiple locations. The additional incentive is in building the light rail system they removed vehicle traffic on many streets in downtown, adjusting them to instead be light rail only. A streetcar system also links a number of projects I looked at today. It goes across the far end of downtown, ringing the road.
The other sustainable planning initiative is the encouraging of bicycle transportation. Cognoscente of Copenhagen, the street network has been shifted to add bike lanes and on a few streets, even a full lane for bikes, again reducing the capacity for vehicles in order to encourage transport usage. It's been really easy to get around so far, making this a fun city to explore.
As far as the spatial experience of the city, seeing the waterfront on a weekend has shown the tremendous potential of outdoor spaces. For one, the Saturday market here in Portland is really great. This art, craft, and food market is open every weekend and optimizes the use of a number of city spaces, including a purpose built pavilion and the underpass of a highway. There was a great vibrancy to this show, with a number of really unique and interesting things. The other public event that was going on was the Oregon Brewers Festival, which occupied a large piece of Tom McCall but was a large event with multiple tents and a stage. The form factor of the park makes it roughly a block wide and extremely long, but I really enjoyed the space because it felt well scaled. with a row of trees on the city side and the river side, it helps to create divisions in the space as well as provide shade and shelter for park goers.
I saw three redevelopment projects today: The South Waterfront, Riverplace, and the Brewery Blocks.
The South Waterfront was everything I hoped. Really well designed buildings, great streetscape and water scape, and good connections to the city. Especially to the huge medical center on top of the hill directly behind the development that the aerial tram is connected to. The buildings are spread out enough to allow for infill without feeling empty and the massive highway that could be an issue is higher than the street level of the waterfront, so its not an issue. The integration of the light industry into the development is also an interesting choice.
The Riverplace development is greatly plagued by the double decker freeway bridge that is located between above it. The road noise is so massive that it ruins the area near the waterfront and ruins the quality of the waterfront space. The view is also towards the highway and industry, instead of trees and green like the south waterfront. It just wasn't great.
The Brewery Blocks project was really interesting. It took the industrial aesthetic and adaptive reuse to heart. This Five Block section of Portland features a number of interesting things, including a courtyard that has a smokestack in it that is a restaurant. Its an interesting area and no doubt has become a catalyst for the revitalization of the whole area.
Photos and Drawings to come. Another day in Portland and then its on to Seattle.
One of the things that I appreciate in a mid size city that Denver and Omaha lacked was a good transit system. Here in Portland a combination of light rail and streetcars make it relatively easy to get around, but the thing that is really great about transit here is the free ride zone. This zone within the city center makes it incredibly easy to get around and free. This fosters a park and ride relationship with the transit system that many cities lack when you look at the cost of getting to multiple locations. The additional incentive is in building the light rail system they removed vehicle traffic on many streets in downtown, adjusting them to instead be light rail only. A streetcar system also links a number of projects I looked at today. It goes across the far end of downtown, ringing the road.
The other sustainable planning initiative is the encouraging of bicycle transportation. Cognoscente of Copenhagen, the street network has been shifted to add bike lanes and on a few streets, even a full lane for bikes, again reducing the capacity for vehicles in order to encourage transport usage. It's been really easy to get around so far, making this a fun city to explore.
As far as the spatial experience of the city, seeing the waterfront on a weekend has shown the tremendous potential of outdoor spaces. For one, the Saturday market here in Portland is really great. This art, craft, and food market is open every weekend and optimizes the use of a number of city spaces, including a purpose built pavilion and the underpass of a highway. There was a great vibrancy to this show, with a number of really unique and interesting things. The other public event that was going on was the Oregon Brewers Festival, which occupied a large piece of Tom McCall but was a large event with multiple tents and a stage. The form factor of the park makes it roughly a block wide and extremely long, but I really enjoyed the space because it felt well scaled. with a row of trees on the city side and the river side, it helps to create divisions in the space as well as provide shade and shelter for park goers.
I saw three redevelopment projects today: The South Waterfront, Riverplace, and the Brewery Blocks.
The South Waterfront was everything I hoped. Really well designed buildings, great streetscape and water scape, and good connections to the city. Especially to the huge medical center on top of the hill directly behind the development that the aerial tram is connected to. The buildings are spread out enough to allow for infill without feeling empty and the massive highway that could be an issue is higher than the street level of the waterfront, so its not an issue. The integration of the light industry into the development is also an interesting choice.
The Riverplace development is greatly plagued by the double decker freeway bridge that is located between above it. The road noise is so massive that it ruins the area near the waterfront and ruins the quality of the waterfront space. The view is also towards the highway and industry, instead of trees and green like the south waterfront. It just wasn't great.
The Brewery Blocks project was really interesting. It took the industrial aesthetic and adaptive reuse to heart. This Five Block section of Portland features a number of interesting things, including a courtyard that has a smokestack in it that is a restaurant. Its an interesting area and no doubt has become a catalyst for the revitalization of the whole area.
Photos and Drawings to come. Another day in Portland and then its on to Seattle.
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