Experience economy/nightlife: Boston, LA, Pittsburgh, London, Santa Monica

I wrote about this issue recently, in "Ain't got that soul (when younger demographics leave the city): and musings about the nightlife economy" as well as some other pieces.  

This does not look very congenial.  BG photo.

This Boston Globe article,  "Downtown Boston is trying to find its post-pandemic identity. It’s fighting an uphill battle," hits a home run on the topic, that cities need to reshape their downtowns to remain relevant, that mixed use neighborhoods are more popular, that people tend to stay closer to home, especially if they don't work Downtown.  From the article

Measures of foot traffic and office vacancy haven’t fully rebounded. Hybrid work remains pretty common. Car traffic is worse. Empty storefronts persist. But more than anything, we just don’t mix like we did before.

A Northeastern University study of cellphone data found that when COVID hit, inhabitants of Greater Boston became far less likely to interact with people of different socioeconomic backgrounds. Those numbers have been recovering, but for many parts of the region, particularly in the suburbs, levels of what researchers call “social exploration” have fallen sharply.

And that’s bad news for a city whose culture and economy have, for centuries, been built on people mixing, connecting, and sharing ideas, said Northeastern University physicist Esteban Moro, who’s leading the study. Bad enough that it raises questions about what cities like Boston are for, now, and how we make them places that people connect once again.

... It’s an indicator of the diminished role that downtown plays in the daily lives of Bostonians. According to recent figures from the Downtown Boston Alliance, about 20,000 fewer people work downtown than they did five years ago, and they come in, on average, about three fewer days per month. Add it up, and the work trips into the core of the city district have fallen by almost half.

... “The fundamental thing that we’re asking is where are people?” she said. “Where is the center of gravity in the city, whether for shopping or for hanging out or for work? Where do people come together?”

Increasingly, that’s neighborhoods where people do more than work. While foot traffic downtown remains below pre-pandemic levels, according to city data, it’s nearly back citywide, and up in places such as Fenway and Longwood. What’s the difference? These “multipurpose” neighborhoods, as Moro describes them, provide chances to live, work, and play in more equal measure.

... To Crockett, even the word “downtown” feels a bit archaic, as it implies we’re all going to the same place. In this more splintered age, we aren’t. “If people are going to venture out of their home for any reason,” she said, “it’s to have a particular experience.”

And experience is a big part of how developers aim to draw people out now. Food halls, for instance, are springing up across the city, not just catering to office workers seeking lunch but also tourists, families, and after-hours crowds into the night.

... A slew of for-profit “Instagram museums” and immersive art experiences have recently taken up residence in hollowed-out storefronts. A Harry Potter exhibit has lately drawn throngs to an empty old Best Buy at the CambridgeSide mall. “Competitive socializing” is all the rage in the Seaport, where different venues offer mini-golf, ping pong, bowling, pickleball, or darts. And the recent arrival of new spaces where people can both shop and linger — be it at Beacon Hill Books & Cafe, or the batting-cage-boasting Dick’s House of Sport in Back Bay — are models for how businesses can transform an errand into an event.

Complementary articles I've come across and/or written about over the past few months are "Once LA's nightlife epicenter, the storied Sunset Strip has a murky future," from the San Francisco Chronicle, "An interesting public space development project in Downtown Pittsburgh: extends the range of after-work activities to keep office workers engaged," about a forthcoming space in Downtown Pittsburgh that has some of the characteristics of experiential interaction discussed in the BG, and the Los Angeles Times, "‘Experiential’ retail surges as landlords try to lure customers back to the mall," mostly about Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade and its need for change in the face of the decline of traditional retail--it had been anchored by at least two department stores, and about the reproduction of a 1970s study on people's use of public spaces ("People aren't "hanging out" as much outdoors during the workday in the center city").

Plus, this "The suffocation of Soho: how London's creative rogue is being sanitised," on London's SoHo (Evening Standard).  It's more about how permanent residents want to put strictures on businesses. 

 Westminster borough has put together a report, After Dark, about their desires to quiet things a bit.

So I guess I shouldn't have been as derisive of Mayor Bowser's similar effort in DC ("Know your market #2: DC commercial property incentives"), the issue wasn't so much an overfocus on big things and converting office into residential, but that many steps are necessary especially because there is a hard ceiling on how many people want to live Downtown.

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Also see, "Getting a filling — at the mall. Why dentists and other wellness tenants are in big demand," Los Angeles Times. and "A $100M bet on experiential entertainment by Chicago restaurant vets," Crain's Chicago Business.

Along the lines of the Pittsburgh project, "A historic gas station in Glendale becomes art when an artist fills it with color," Los Angeles Daily News, a streamlined old gas station maintained as a public art space, and "Pacific Science Center and Seattle Center forge new partnership," Seattle Times, on continuing to redefine and improve programs and spaces.

Since their creation for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, Pacific Science Center and the adjacent Seattle Center campus have operated independently: Seattle Center as a department of the city of Seattle and PacSci as a science and education nonprofit with its own buildings.

That’s now changing. Pacific Science Center and the city announced Wednesday morning their plans to integrate the two campuses as one public space, open to all, though PacSci will retain ownership of its buildings. The organizations will also explore city funding options for courtyard renovations and expanded public access.

The deal opens the door for more city funding and involvement for PacSci’s iconic but aging buildings. It likely also speeds up funding for the removal of its north gates and kiosks as well as improvements to its southern entrance.

Big changes are coming to Pacific Science Center, which neighbors Seattle Center.

 (Greg Gilbert / The Seattle Times.

This, leaders said, should make its beloved, currently gated courtyard more accessible, ideally by the FIFA World Cup in summer 2026. It will also help with previously announced renovations of PacSci’s aging courtyard and leaking pools.

... More broadly, the partnership charts a more sustainable path forward at a time when the future of both Pacific Science Center and Seattle Center — as well as Seattle’s downtown as a whole — are in flux, and as civic leaders aim to “revitalize” downtown ahead of the World Cup.

“This is our opportunity to help the Science Center ensure the future of its incredible campus,” said Seattle Center Director Marshall Foster, and “to breathe new life into … programming, activation, things that will give people reasons to visit Seattle Center and the Science Center.”

... But, like a cream pie, the building wasn’t really designed to survive forever — it was made to house the largest science exhibit ever assembled by the federal government at the time then move on. While the facilities ended up enduring under the umbrella of a private nonprofit, they’re in dire need of renovations, Daugherty said. Much of the courtyard isn’t ADA-accessible. The terrazzo is deteriorating. The pools are leaking.

Cultural planning and for profit assets: Philadelphia's Wanamaker (Macy's) Department Store Organ

Wanamaker Grand Court organist Peter Richard Conte at the console of the organ at Macy’s in Center City, June 22, 2021. TYGER WILLIAMS / Staff Photographer

Philadelphia's Wanamaker Department Store installed one of the largest organs in the world, and it has been regularly played.  

After many mergers, the store ended up as a Macy's with part of the building sold off for non-retail functions.

Over the past few months Macy's has been closing more stores, including a preponderance of stores located in Downtowns.  The Philadelphia store will close Sunday.  There will be a gala concert on the Saturday before the closure of the Macy's ("The Wanamaker Organ is closing out the Macy’s era with a grand, daylong series of concerts," Philadelphia Inquirer).

The property owner for the rest of the building has bought the Macy's space.  While they will be keeping the organ, there is no disclosed plan of yet on how to use it.  

What happens to the Wanamaker Organ after Macy’s closes isn’t settled. It has been a reliable feature of Philadelphia musical life for decades, played in twice-daily recitals six days a week. TF Cornerstone, which owns part of the Wanamaker Building and is expected to soon acquire the rest of it, has said it will keep the massive instrument, whose components are tucked away in various parts of the building. It is often cited as the largest fully functioning pipe organ in the world.

“We are committed to the preservation of the organ and ensuring it remains a cherished part of the space,” said the company in a January statement. But whether that means it will be played regularly and given the visibility it has had in the past isn’t clear.

I have a number of entries about taking a more expansive approach to community cultural planning, ranging from keeping an eye on higher education art programs that might be threatened with closure ("Revisiting entries: Should community culture master plans include elements on higher education arts programs?"), to various types of music, local radio ("Community radio as an element of local cultural planning"), the history of local music, retail ("Cultural plans should have an element on culture-related retail"), etc.

L. Curt Mangel III, curator of the Wanamaker Organ at Macy's, with some of the organ's 28,482 pipes, April 29, 2013. Photo: David Maialetti.

In historic preservation, it's rare but possible to designate interiors as public landmarks, and one such place is the Grand Court and the Wanamaker Organ.  From "Is the Wanamaker Organ safe? And what does ‘safe’ mean?" (PI).:

Moreover, architecturally and socially, there’s more at stake than just the organ. The Wanamaker Grand Court may be privately owned, but it has long functioned as a public square. It is as much a public right-of-way as the Reading Terminal, Elfreth’s Alley, or Independence Hall. Any building owner or developer violates the terms of this tradition at their own risk. So it makes sense that, in 2017, the Grand Court was granted a spot on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. 

“When you stand in the Grand Court, just about everything you see that is attached to the building is protected,” says Paul Steinke, executive director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, which filed the 2017 nomination.

But saving a cultural resource versus maintaining its use/providing access to the public is something else entirely, when it is an interior feature of a for profit building.  Building the process for access worthy of inclusion within a community cultural plan.

But the strongest case for the organ might not rest on preservation or nostalgia. It’s about creating a lively future for this important urban linchpin. The ornate Wanamaker Grand Court is vast and impressive — 150 feet high, or about the same height as the Kimmel Center glass dome. To hear the organ there is to feel it, so strong are the vibrations. The combination of sound and sights creates a sense of awe that’s not unlike a cathedral. It is our Notre-Dame.

And it’s inherently more inclusive than a cathedral. It’s a precious community gathering space and a place for rediscovering what it means to stand elbow to elbow in a crowd and feel part of something bigger. That something is powerfully humanizing.

If you think this exaggerates what one department store organ can achieve, recall Opera Philadelphia’s visit in 2010, when hundreds of choristers showed up in the store and surrounded shoppers with the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah with organ accompaniment. The YouTube ...video still gives me chills, and others must agree. It has been viewed 9.6 million times.

... That experience sits at one end of the scale — big, public, brimming with a sense of commonweal. At the other end is the personal, like the impact of walking into the store at noon expecting sheets on sale and instead tearing up to a 10-minute organ transcription from Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier.

... There’s something particularly powerful about stumbling on unexpected bolts of poetry in prosaic settings. It’s one of the things great cities have in common.

Peter Dobrin, the classical music columnist, whose purview includes great writing on cultural aspects of public space ("Great article on urban design qualities of Kimmel Center in Philadelphia | extendable to civic assets more generally"), suggests in the second PI article that the Organ needs to be more visible, and have music organizations as partners, that maybe the space should be converted from retail.  One person he quotes suggests that a Philadelphia-focused museum would work, and keep the Organ in the public domain.

-- Friends of the Wanamaker Organ 

Dobrin also suggests that The Wanamaker Grand Court and Organ are an important gateway to Market East and its future, which has been the subject of a great amount of community input since the initial proposal, since retracted, to relocate the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team to space above the Market East train station ("Bait and switch in Philadelphia: 76ers basketball team won't move to Downtown, will remain in South Philly").

Perhaps that could be an outcome of Philadelphia's renewed focus on celebrating the 250th anniversary of the country, focusing on how Philadelphia was the first capital ("Time for a civic ‘Tush Push’: We need an all-hands-on-deck, brotherly and sisterly shove to get us over the goal line in readying Philadelphia for the Semiquincentennial celebrations.," PI), a program for the lower floors of the Wanamaker Building, and a plan and program for the Organ.

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Note that here in Salt Lake, the Church of the Madeleine, the most prominent Catholic church in the region, also has a great organ, albeit not on the scale of the Wanamaker.  And one of the Eccles foundations sponsors an annual series of concerts to promote the existence of that cultural gem to the community, regardless of religious identity.  There is even an event where people with experience can play the organ.

Uneven development: cities and states | Oakland California and the Silicon Valley

When I went to college I got interested in Latin America and development studies.  One theory I was enamored of was that of "underdevelopment" or dependency theory as proposed by Andre Gunder Frank and others.

Dependency Theory: Frank, along with other dependency theorists, challenged the traditional modernization theory, which viewed underdevelopment as a result of internal factors in developing countries. Instead, they argued that underdevelopment is a consequence of the historical and ongoing exploitation of peripheral countries by core capitalist nations.

Metropolis-Satellite Relationship: Frank posited that the global capitalist system is structured as a network of "metropolitan" (core) and "satellite" (periphery) regions, with the former exploiting the latter through unequal trade, capital flows, and political dominance.

Capitalism as the Cause: Frank argued that capitalism, rather than being a force for development, is the root cause of underdevelopment in the periphery. He believed that capitalism's penetration into peripheral regions led to the extraction of resources and surplus value, hindering their development and reinforcing their dependence on the core.

Historical Roots: Frank emphasized the historical context of underdevelopment, arguing that the current inequalities are rooted in colonialism and the subsequent unequal integration of peripheral countries into the global capitalist system.

Often this was the case for countries with natural resources and extraction/enclave development, where first world companies would extract resources with little focus on regional economic development.  Examples would be Shell Oil in Nigeria or Kennecott Copper in Chile, 

Years ago, I applied these ideas to the Anacostia neighborhood of DC ("Enclave development won't "save" Anacostia," 2006) and Prince George's County ("Can enclave development "save" Prince George's County?," 2012).  

There are many types of enclave development like sports stadiums and arenas, casinos, developments like the Renaissance Center in Detroit ("Detroit needs a transformational projects action plan for the Renaissance Center, the adjoining waterfront and business district, and transit," 2025).  And generally in these areas, when there are many better opportunities elsewhere, a great deal of government subsidy tends to be required.

In terms of the "resource curse," states and nations with great mineral deposits are places of extraction rather than regional economic development.  

More recently I've thought about this in terms of sub-national relations within the US in terms of petro-states--Texas, Oklahoma, California, Utah, etc. being examples ("Oil dependence | The US as a Petro-state and gasoholic | and war," 2022).  

Mostly, states with an economy focused on resource extraction tend to have conservative politics, California being a major exception.  This goes beyond oil to include coal, minerals like copper and iron ore, etc.  These days minerals like lithium, necessary for batteries, are another.

There is an article on Bloomberg, "Why Hasn’t Silicon Valley Fixed the Bay Area’s Problems?," discussing a form of underdevelopment in Oakland, California, wondering why capitalism in the Silicon Valley hasn't resulted in substantive revitalization of that city.  From the article:

Palo Alto is the symbolic heart of the modern Bay Area economy, even though Stanford University and the venture capitalists of Sand Hill Road are just outside the city limits, and most of the tech giants founded there have departed in search of more space. Oakland, once the region’s second-biggest city and now the third (after San Jose and San Francisco), is the area’s perennial also-ran, occasionally looking like it has found a path to the center of the action but always getting swatted aside.

The article references two books, The Pacific Circuit: A Globalized Account of the Battle for the Soul of an American City and Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism and the World.

Oakland is comparable to Detroit and a predominate population of blacks.  As discussed by Sugrue, The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit, racism is an issue.  

But so is competition from other communities, such as SF or Oakland County, Michigan ("The rise of Oakland County is built upon Detroit's fall," 2014, "Revisiting stories: the death of L. Brooks Patterson, County Executive, Oakland County, Michigan," 2019).

While we can apply "deep theory" to cases like Oakland, and such interrogations are completely reasonable, legitimate, and help inform us, in a way I think it's a lot more simple. From something else I observed in DC--

Basically, developers prefer to work in the areas that are the most economically thriving or with the potential to do so.  That minimizes risks, increases predictability, and maximizes economic return.

Only once all those build out opportunities are exhausted do they care to go into areas that require a lot more work to gain extranormal returns.

E.g., in DC, it took almost 30 years from the opening of the Metrorail system and real estate development downtown, before it moved to sites outside of the central business district but served by Metrorail.

There are so many more profitable build out opportunities in the SF Bay metropolitan area right now, that Oakland is likely to languish for a long time.  

This is accentuated because we're not always thinking about ways to address laggard microeconomies within otherwise more successful communities ("Pontiac Michigan: a lagging African American city in one of the nation's wealthiest counties," 2022).

In "The real lesson from Flint is about municipal finance"(2016), Minneapolis and the New Jersey Meadowlands region are listed as places where tax resources for development are shared across jurisdictions, to provide for more equity in development and a spreading out of the benefits.

Other "city pairs" with the same kinds of conditions are Seattle-Tacoma, Newark-New York City, and DC-Baltimore.

Federal government cuts target civil society

While the other day I wrote about the alleged "Nonprofit industrial complex" ("The "nonprofit industrial complex," city government and service delivery"), at the same time, nonprofit organizations are a key element of American civil society, as President George H.W. Bush said, "1,000 points of light." 

Many nonprofits are top down, with few opportunities for volunteers, while volunteers and efforts focused on delivering outputs helping communities are the mission of many others.

I haven't read Project 2025 : Building for conservative victory through policy, personnel, and training, but given that it is a handbook targeting "progressive action," we shouldn't be surprised.

Nonprofits are the foundation of civil society and civic engagement.

Grant cuts are likely to affect cities and counties as well, and in turn nonprofits that get grants this way ("Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump administration freeze on federal grants and loans," AP).  According to the Los Angeles Times:

... a Jan. 27 memo from the White House budget chief. The memo ordered a wide-ranging spending freeze, specifically calling out “the use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering.”

Image from "Community Gardens: What Are They and How To Find Them," Nourishing Neighbors.  Also see "8 Great Tips to Start a Community Garden," Sunset Magazine.

Cuts at the Agency for International Development ("Secretary of State Rubio says purge of USAID programs complete, with 83% of agency’s programs gone," AP) diminish civil society development in foreign countries, and reduce the effectiveness of "soft power" and public diplomacy efforts of the US.

At USDA ("USDA’s $1B in cuts leaves farmers and schools bracing for impact," Washington Post, "Trump's USDA secretary defends $1 billion cuts to funding for food banks, schools," NBC, "A message from the Board of Directors," Green Urban Lunchbox, Salt Lake City), from GLUB:

We are reaching out to share an important update regarding The Green Urban Lunch Box’s programs. After thoughtful deliberation, we have made the difficult decision to pause all our current programs for this year - including the Small Farm Initiative (SFI), CSA, FruitShare, and Back-Farms - while we evaluate the best path forward.

... This decision was not made lightly. We are deeply committed to exploring sustainable ways to continue serving our community and advancing our mission. We are actively engaging in discussions with like-minded organizations and partners to ensure that the impact of our collective efforts endures. However, we do not anticipate resuming our programs this year.

EPA (E.P.A. Plans to Close All Environmental Justice Offices," New York Times, "A West Philly nonprofit lost a multiyear grant worth $700K to DOGE cuts," Philadelphia Inquirer, "The protectors of Santa Monica Bay are caving to Trump’s dangerous demands," Los Angeles Times),  From the PI:

The Overbrook Environmental Education Center is now without up to $700,000 promised to the group for its work to support other organizations working on community gardens, waste reduction, sustainable agriculture, and other environmental projects in disadvantaged local communities, said Jerome Shabazz, executive director of the center.

From the LAT:

A page on the Bay Foundation’s website that previously explained how climate change is affecting the watershed — as seen on the Jan. 21, 2025, version of the page, available via the Internet Archive — was rewritten to delete all references to climate. The group also removed its Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion page, which had previously pledged its commitment to “equity and inclusion across race, gender, age, religion, identity, and experience.”

Also alarming: a draft work plan presented last month to the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission. Before the Environmental Protection Agency doles out federal funding for Santa Monica Bay restoration, it must approve a work plan written annually by the commission and the Bay Foundation, then submitted to the EPA.

HUD ("Trump DEI Purge Hits Affordable Housing Groups," Bloomberg), from Bloomberg:

The canceled awards include ongoing projects in more than 1,000 communities to address homelessness, disaster recovery, persistent poverty and other housing issues, according to a list seen by Bloomberg CityLab.

... At least eight national organizations saw their technical assistance contracts with HUD terminated following the DOGE review of their public-facing sites. Technical assistance refers to grants for consulting on tools, coordination, systems and other solutions.

DOGE further eliminated awards for least two of the three groups that administer grants for a program known as Section 4. Federal law requires these awards to be managed and distributed by national intermediaries; HUD’s own guidance for these awards, which are meant to provide support for capacity-building and community development, requires recipients to “advance housing justice” and “support underserved communities.”

(Interestingly, while LISC and the Enterprise Foundation have lost their grants, Habitat for Humanity, which is religious affiliated, did not.)

parks ("Trump administration eyes 30 percent payroll reduction at National Park Service," The Hill, "Workforce cuts raise concerns over national park upkeep," Roll Call).  The National Park Service was one of the first agencies to face massive cuts, cuts so deep professionals are afraid the parks can't be managed and operated in the face of high usage ("National Parks cutting hours, limiting services as Trump layoffs reduce staffing," USA Today).  

NPS is a big utilizer of volunteers and the likelihood is that such programs will barely function this year.  It's one of the largest "citizen-facing" agencies.  And for many it begins to engender greater understanding of the environment and wilderness.  .

 It reminds me of my old joke, that the guiding principle of property management at DC Government was demolition by neglect.  The Trump Administration aims to wreck the Park Service ("DOGE cuts National Park staff as visitation rate peaks," Washington Examiner).  The Park Service was ordered not to share statistics on use ("National Parks Had a Record Year. Trump Officials Appear to Want It Kept Quiet.," New York Times).

To further diminish the quality of visits, the government is cancelling leases of land that hold visitor centers and museums ("Trump property purge to include national park visitor centers, museums," Washington Post).

transportation ("Sec. Duffy Moves to Rescind Billions for ‘Woke’ Transportation on Feb. 18 — So Advocates Must Speak Up Now," Streetsblog): cuts will target sustainable mobility programs and affect biking, walking and biking programs, among others

the arts ("'Chilling effect': Arts organizations react to end of DEI initiatives from fed agency," NPR), etc., public radio and television ("Trump's FCC chief opens investigation into NPR and PBS," NPR). are attacks on civil society.  From the PI:

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Note: for Sugar House Park, I intended to apply for a grant to create a senior nutrition community garden in association with the Utah State University Extension Service--the grant proposal is due around now.  

But that call for proposals was issued by the Biden Administration, and with all the changes with grants in the Trump Administration, it seemed like a waste to put in the energy to apply, since it's not likely such grants will be proffered.

Salt Lake City TRAX light rail is kind of both "monocentric" and "polycentric"

In Cities in Full, Steve Belmont argues for center city centralization and in his discussion about transit, he contrasts the SF MUNI system, which is completely within the city, but complemented by the subway-commuter rail BART, which serves the Greater Bay Area, and the WMATA Metrorail system in Greater DC.

What I figured out that he didn't is that the Metrorail system functions as two different system, a polycentric commuter rail system reaching out as far as 32 miles into the suburbs (Metro Center to Ashburn on the Silver Line), and a monocentric heavy rail subway system in the core of DC proper.  

WMATA/Metrorail core system in DC.

Full system graphic.

The smallest circle is the core of DC.  From Cities in Full.

Most every station catchment area in the DC core has revitalized, while many out-city station areas remain poorly developed ("Transit oriented development station typology revisited," "Welcome to the loneliest Metro stop," Washington Post).

I was arguing with New Urbanists about a "new urban development" in the Daybreak community of South Jordan ("Downtown Daybreak opens, a mixed-use city core," CNU), stating that an itty bit of urbanism, 200 acres, in the midst of hundreds of miles of sprawl is but a wee bit forward.

One of the counter points was that Daybreak "has light rail."  It will, but at 20 miles from the core of Salt Lake City, it's almost exurban ("Transit oriented development station typology revisited"), and research finds that the best ROI from transit is within the first 10 miles of the system.

TRAX came about because of the 2002 Winter Olympics and I think it functions pretty well within its transit shed ("Updating the mobilityshed / mobility shed concept" and "Manhattan Institute misses the point about the value of light rail transit connections to airports | Utility and the network effect: the transit network as a platform").  It's just that the State Legislature has been more focused on far suburban extensions of the system, rather than more intensive additions in the core of the system.

I wouldn't say TRAX in the core is exactly monocentric, but complemented by a decent enough bus system, if you live within one half mile to one mile of a station, it works pretty well.  The main core line, on 400 South in Salt Lake, hasn't seen the kind of more intense development and urban re-design that is necessary to adequately leverage the transit infrastructure, but for a city of its size--210,000 people--it does reasonably well.

I was skeptical of the proposal for the new Orange Line ("Utah Agency Picks Preferred Route for $400M Salt Lake City Light Rail Expansion," Engineering News-Record), because it is mostly duplicative of the existing transit shed, but it does add some stations in the Central Business-Residential District as well as a couple on or near the University of Utah campus, and proposes TOD at one of the stations on the campus also.

The favored route would include 2.8 miles of new track. Map courtesy Utah Transit Authority

Interestingly, this would move TRAX a couple stations towards Foothill Avenue, which is the main arterial in my neighborhood, leading to I-215.  

The new stadium station would provide a different route from the current station at 1300 East, which is at the bottom of the stadium/park and ride lot.

The blue line on the map is I-215.  On the northeast end, it runs into Foothill Drive, about two miles from the University of Utah campus.

To my way of thinking, the best intensification effort would be to have a line on I-215, either light rail or commuter rail to the University campus and research park (the Frontrunner train is also decent, a single line though, within its catchment area).  

And then separately with a light rail along Foothill and down to Sugar House to connect to the S-Line streetcar and back to the light rail, in an orbital route.

Of course, such line extensions could happen but beyond my life time.

Ann Arbor as intensification "best practice"

I've written about this before.  There's no question that it changes the character of the community.  When I went to school there, granted slightly more than 40 years ago, except for the tall building on the right most corner (the facade is reskinned, back in the day it was definitely urban renewal concrete style), I don't think any building was more than two stories tall on this stretch of South University.

This photo is from the Ann Arbor News article, "Hundreds apply for ‘affordable’ Ann Arbor apartments with rents up to nearly $1,700."

Ann Arbor's South University Avenue student high-rise corridor on Dec. 3, 2024, with the new Vic Village South apartments at right across from Vic Village North. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com/ | The Ann Arbor News.)

Why Europe is going car free?

 Early in my days of pro center city advocacy, I was somewhat troubled about how advocates jumped on the ideas of Hans Monderman and the woonerf or shared street, streets designed to mix motor vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, as a way to slow traffic and better balance mobility between the car and non motorized forms.

It wasn't because I don't believe in making pedestrian and bike trips better, but because the US physical environment is so dominated by the car and much of the nation's urban form, outside of the cities built up to the streetcar era ("Transportation and Urban Form: Stages in the Spatial Evolution of the American Metropolis") is shaped for the car.  In short, a woonerf, at least in the US, will still be dominated by the car, and worse, by mixing different types of traffic, it will create new conflicts.  

One place you see this in DC is at the Wharf, both on the boardwalk where there can be vehicles, and in the outer perimeter where there is a separate bicycle path, but it is crossed frequently by pedestrians getting to the sidewalk.  

For the boardwalk, they probably should have made all the service access underground.  WRT the cycletrack, it probably should have been further out into the street right of way.

There is an article in the Washington Post, "Why Europe is going ‘car free’," about congestion zones and low emissions zones for cars, (but not so much discussion of pedestrian districts in most major cities, which is a distinguishing condition between US cities and European ones).  That Europe is going car free while the US is not.

In one way, it's another example in the US of what I call "next generation asphalt nation," that instead of aiming to shift more traffic to sustainable modes, we are focusing on electric cars and maybe hydrogen powered heavy trucks, to be more environmentally conscious, when not driving is the best choice for the environment--note this is happening some as people switch from cars to electric bikes.

The amazing thing about so much of Europe is that it retains the "streetcar era" and "walking city era" urban form.  So you can go "car free" because your life is not harnessed to the car the way it is in the US--92% of all trips involve a car.

In short the author is making the same mistake as woonerf opponents.  Promote better policies where they can work.  Don't try to adopt other treatments without consideration and adaptation.

For example, people in DC talk about a congestion zone pricing scheme.  But DC, especially with the Trump Administration's destruction of government, has so many commercial district competitors in  the metropolitan area: Montgomery, Fairfax, Arlington, and Loudoun Counties, and Alexandria City, that businesses could easily pick up and leave.  That's much harder to do in NYC or London.

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This came up today in the Park in SLC for which I am on the board.  A graduate student doing a design study of the park suggested grade separation of the walking and bicycle paths--the park is a one way loop road with smaller lanes for walking and biking, a motor vehicle lane, and a parking lane.  It works pretty well.

Parc La Fontaine, Montreal

I am embarrassed to say this didn't occur to me. It will probably take at least 5 years to try to pull off.  But it's worth trying.

Trash piled up around a trash/waste can/container at London Fields Park, on a nice weather weekend, London

 

Reddit photo.

Many parks and business improvement districts provide more limited services on weekends, when these districts may have more patronage not less, but it doesn't comport with "business hours."

They need to have more frequent pick up on weekends.  

This has to do with planning for seasonality and 12 month parks.

Note that the park users are to be lauded for putting the trash at the waste can.  There are photos of Dolores Park on a weekend that are super trashy ("Enough litter to fill 460 bags of trash left behind by Dolores Park revelers over weekend," San Francisco Chronicle).

That's the point made in the entry, "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part One | Levels of Service" wrt parks that need more service than what is typical.  That goes for parks in temperate areas too.  In winter, parks tend to be used less.  But not in temperate areas.

Southern California Museums “Free-For-All” day: March 16th

I think coordinated "Open Doors" events like this are a great way for the cultural community to market itself while providing access to people who might not otherwise visit.

-- Southern California Museums “Free-For-All” day, Sunday March 16th

The only thing is one day probably isn't enough, I'd do the full weekend.  The downside of such Open Doors events, like the one the Smithsonian Museums sponsors in September, is that they are super crowded and can be uncomfortable.

Although in the SoCal case, it turns out that some of the institutions aren't open on Sundays, only Saturdays, so it works out.

Cultural heritage tourism. When you travel, looking for such events can be pretty cool.  So many cities have them, such as New York City, Pittsburgh, and Toronto.

The "nonprofit industrial complex," city government and service delivery

The Baltimore Sun has a commentary, "Baltimore is being strangled by the nonprofit industrial complex," criticizing the city for making a grant of almost $1 million to an organization with a limited track record.

A $900,000 grant by the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund (BCYF) to a nonprofit organization known as Thrive Arts Inc. in 2022 is the latest evidence that Baltimore’s version of the “nonprofit industrial complex” wields too much power. 

As reported by The Baltimore Sun, Thrive Arts was incorporated in 2021 but lost its corporate charter last year after failing to file tax returns for three straight years, and is [legally] now defunct.

It was an extraordinarily large grant for a small organization with no proven track record. Yet to be confirmed is how much of the $900,000 was disbursed to the grantee and spent on the purposes for which it was intended or returned to the city.

I do intend to do a book review on the book Nonprofit Neighborhoods: An Urban History of Inequality and the American State, which discusses how cities began outsourcing dealing with inequality and social issues to nonprofits.  This brief blog entry is by the author too, "The Origins of the Nonprofit Industrial Complex."

I have written many times over the years about problems with DC government grants and nonprofit execution.  

This is in the news more recently because of alleged bribes to a councilmember ("Trayon White expelled from the DC Council for corruption but he’s free to run for his old seat," AP) and government employee ("Former DC government official charged with taking bribe,"NBC4) by a grantee eager to secure their place in the system.

But it's been an issue for a long time, in fact the organization in Baltimore that is criticized by the author is similar to one that engaged in improper grant making in DC ("Harry Thomas, former D.C. Council member, is sentenced to more than three years in prison," Post), leading to the jailing of a Councilmember.

Minneapolis had some terrible problems/mistakes during covid, when it granted tens of millions to a grantee to provide meals, when the grantee had zero capacity to do so ("Minneapolis man admits to stealing at least $3.8 million from COVID-19 relief programs," KARE-TV).

Thinking about this I have five main points:

1.  A lot more money needs to be invested in capacity development and technical assistance for nonprofits, especially those receiving government grants.

2.  There must be transparency with the grant making process--something definitely not present in the Baltimore example.  An RFP and open call process with deadlines and decision making criteria.

3.  Accountability mechanisms must be in place to ensure that the right stuff is being done with the money and that it gets results.  This has been an issue with violence prevention programs in many places, including DC, where one recipient of funds recently was imprisoned for murder ("Former D.C. Violence Interrupter Sentenced for His Involvement in Drive-By Shooting," Washington City Paper, "Violence Interrupters Push Back Against Calls for Defunding," Washington Informer,  Many cities are putting hopes in violence interrupters, but few understand their challenges," NBC News).

4.  Evaluation of success and failure needs to be built into the program ("D.C.’s Violence Intervention Programs To Receive In-Depth Evaluation,".DCist").

5.  Ethics training is mentioned in the academic literature as being important.  I wonder...

=======

-- "Managing the brand promise of cities in the face of corruption," 2019
-- "Wow: Revisiting DC's Corruption Caucus," 2019

-- Corrupt Cities: A Practical Guide to Cure and Prevention, World Bank
-- "DC ethics legislation misses the point: focus on what produces corruption as a regular outcome, not monitoring," blog entry, 2011
-- Spring 2015 issue of the alumni magazine of the International Anti-Corruption Academy

=======

I just came across this, I haven't read it.  From the Journal of Business Ethics article, "The Labyrinth of Corruption in the Construction Industry: A System Dynamics Model Based on 40 Years of Research," :

Abstract 

The academic literature has viewed drivers of corruption in isolation and, consequently, failed to examine their synergistic effect. Such an isolated view provides incomplete information, leads to a misleading conclusion, and causes great difficulty in curbing corruption. This paper conducts a systematic literature review to identify the drivers of corruption in the construction industry. Subsequently, it develops a system dynamics (SD) model by conceptualizing corruption as a complex system of interacting drivers. Building on stakeholder and open systems theories, the proposed SD model shows how the complex reinforcing relationship between authoritative, organizational, cultural, and financial drivers of corruption further increases corrupt practices. The new model also provides lessons that can be helpful in the development of policy frameworks to control corruption in the construction industry. To achieve success in the fight against corruption, the findings of this research suggest that (1) corruption must be understood at both the organizational and state levels, (2) anticorruption practices must be informed by ethically grounded stakeholder management strategies, and (3) anticorruption reforms must go hand-in-hand with strategies to tackle the economic downturn.

No wonder corruption is so endemic.  It's embedded deep within the system.  Below is the diagram from the article showing the dimensions of corruption within construction.

Spring break must be different today...

 

Narcan is handed out Saturday March 8, 2025 on Fort Lauderdale beach to combat drug overdoses during Spring break. .(Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

From "Scenes from Spring Break 2025 on Fort Lauderdale Beach."

Crime has always been an issue with spring breaks.  Assaults, robberies, sometimes murder, and general mayhem, which is why some communities have worked to de-emphasize the "holiday" ("Florida police issue 'spring break reality check': Visit but follow the rules," USA Today).

Florida had more than 140 million visitors in the 2024 spring break season, Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference Thursday. Miami joins Fort Lauderdale and Orlando in the top five most popular domestic destinations for spring break travel according to AAA.

But when the world was beginning to emerge from the pandemic in 2021, partiers flocked to Miami Beach and law enforcement was overwhelmed with more than 1,000 arrests. The following year, several people were injured in shootings. Last year, Miami Beach said they were "breaking up" with spring break

Although out of 140 million, I guess the crime statistics aren't so bad.

 Free Narcan takes it to another dimension.  What about warm water and sun to those of us in colder climes?

M. Paul Friedburg, obituary: making landscape architecture "urban"

Bloomberg has an obituary on M. Paul Friedburg, a landscape architect based in Minneapolis, "Remembering the Landscape Architect Who Embraced the City," which has an interesting turn of phrase that I've thought about but never so succinctly.

Friedberg, who died on Feb. 15 at 93, made landscape architecture urban, injecting new relevance into a design discipline that originated in luxurious European country estates. He saw landscapes not as isolated or self-contained patterns of green space and civic features, but as an urban gradient of exploration and discovery. For him, play was not a recreational activity taken up by very young people; it was the notion of urban socialization itself — the unexpected encounter, the surprising view corridor, the coalescing of disparate groups of people within the rhythms of the city.

Friedberg tapped into the rhythm of the city for modernist landscapes such as Peavey Plaza in Minneapolis.Photographer: KeriPickett/Cultural Landscape Foundation

Also see from the New York Times "M. Paul Friedberg, Landscape Architect Who Celebrated the City, Dies at 93," this article about the aging of Peavey Plaza, "Minneapolis Tussles Over a Faded Plaza," and this about the remaking of Pershing Plaza in DC to a World War I Memorial, "Lines Are Drawn Over Design for a National World War I Memorial."  And from the Architectural Record, "Tribute: M. Paul Friedberg (1931–2025)."

I remember a conversation I had with a planner, and he made the point that adding green infrastructure to cities, depending on how it is effected, can be seen as a suburbanization of the urban landscape.  This has bothered me for some time.  There is a place for nature and green infrastructure in cities, but it needs to be complementary to urban design.

An undated photo of Jacob Riis Plaza in New York shows that youths understood Friedberg’s vision for an urban landscape. Courtesy of the Cultural Landscape Foundation

From the article:

Friedberg’s first bit of acclaim came in 1963, when a grant from the Astor Foundation allowed him to design an expansive courtyard and playground for the Carver Houses on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. This public housing landscape offered climbing walls with offset brick footholds, jungle gyms, pavilions and an amphitheater, with sculptural arrangements of raised planter beds. Both a playground and civic plaza, it put communal assembly on equal footing with children’s recreation. ...

Subtle changes in material let visitors know when they were transitioning from one zone of the landscape to another; there were no fences. It was play stripped of prescription, intended to foster creativity, choice, self-determination and democracy. Friedberg later described it as “a happening” in the landscape, in the parlance of the times. Legendary New York Times architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable raved about it in 1966, saying that it “breaks every sterile mold and state convention of the city’s park, playground and open space policy for the last 30 years.” Play at Riis was meant to be a “challenging and creative process,” Friedberg wrote. “Ideally, it would be best to leave a playground unfinished, letting children bring their creative participation to it.”

The one problem with modernist urban landscape architecture is that it often doesn't wear well.  It may need constant maintenance and programming to enliven it, as it can be bare, spare and uninviting when empty or near empty.  Over time, some of Friedburg's projects were remade as a result.  Which also happened to the works of other landscape architects like Dan Kiley, where the maintenance requirements for intricate public spaces were beyond what a parks department is normally capable of providing.

Peavey Plaza

Ain't got that soul (when younger demographics leave the city): and musings about the nightlife economy

The San Francisco Chronicle ("Why 20-somethings are abandoning San Francisco — even when they can afford it") makes the point that as the demographic of younger people shrinks in the center city, mostly due to lack of jobs or high rents, there are fewer customers for night life--bars, restaurants, etc.

“Young people supply culture and creativity, which are the beating hearts of a city,” said Assembly Member Matt Haney, who represents eastern San Francisco. “When a lot of young people leave a city, that place loses some of its soul.”

Overall, from 2013 to 2023, the share of 20-somethings in San Francisco County dropped from about 18% of the population to about 14% — the largest such decline of any major U.S. county and nearly quadruple the national drop. The data prompts a big question relating to the city’s economic future: Is this the mere ebbs and flows of San Francisco’s demographics at play, or the start of something much grimmer? ...

“You can feel the drain of young people from the city just by how empty the bars are,” said Aaron Paul, co-owner of San Francisco bars Macondray and Zhuzh. “It’s definitely a tough time to be working in nightlife.”

Positioning in neighborhoods versus entertainment districts.  I saw this in a different way in DC in terms of neighborhood demographics.  As people age they go out less to bars, spend less in restaurants, and maybe on concerts, etc.  So there is a distinct difference in clientele and positioning for restaurants in entertainment districts versus neighborhood districts, which is captured in the various "Richard's Rules for Restaurant (Food) Based Revitalization, Salt Lake City and DC's Chinatown" posts over the past 20 years.

Aging out.  And I've written about how people age out of living in "entertainment districts" as they get older, their household configuration changes, etc. I've written about this, "Daypart and age-group planning in mixed use (commercial) districts" 2009), partly in response to a Washington Post article (but there were others), "Residents of Washington's U Street Corridor Tired of Area's Growing Noise.."

Inflation and upscaling.  This has only been exacerbated by the post-covid rise in food inflation, which makes food and drink more expensive, and upward pricing more generally--e.g., $30 cocktails ("D.C.’s Minetta Tavern is an alluring chip off the old block in N.Y.," Washington Post), which makes going out even more expensive.

Sometimes restaurant pricing seems out of control.  I was looking at the tasting menus of the restaurant Gravitas in DC, which got online opprobrium because of the chef-owner's support of Elon Musk's wacking government--when government is the main business in DC--and I was somewhat shocked at the pricing.  

It's a once/year super special occasion if anything.  But the food looks amazing.  

Get the $60 upcharge for wagyu prime rib, which seems cheap compared to the caviar course that can be as much as $1800.

Similarly, the Houston Chronicle reports on two restaurant closings in the Houston Heights neighborhood.  Patton's Steakhouse, has entrees starting at $45 to $155.  The companion restaurant, Savoir, had entrees from $19 to $65.  

Patton's is not the kind of restaurant that should be placed in a neighborhood (Savoir is on the cusp) even though it's definitely a high income neighborhood, unless somehow it can develop a regional clientele that transcends its neighborhood location.  My sense is that the average neighbor might go there once/year, which isn't enough of a revenue stream.

Musings/further implications for night life in the city

1.  Reduced number of the college aged going forward.  Extending from this, another demographic trend that will negatively impact cities is the decline of the college age population.  Fewer students in college ultimately means fewer graduates moving to cities.

2.  Fewer patrons means that some places are over-supplied with entertainment districts, and likely some will suffer.  Is that a problem for H Street NE in DC ("H Street NE went from riot-torn neighborhood to success story. Now it’s lost its magic," GGW, although I wrote about this in 2023, "H Street NE nightlife district, failing?" and "A follow up on the H Street article: Learning from Philadelphia | More sophisticated daypart, retail, cultural, and experience planning").

3.  Some entertainment districts will broaden their reach by adding upscale establishments, e.g., the Minetta's Tavern mentioned above is but one of a large number of expensive choices in the Union Market district.

4.  Programming and management of the district will help some become stronger than others, remaining successful.  Union Market has a significant chunk of property owned by a sophisticated property owner and manager, while H Street NE is laissez faire with a commercial district revitalization organization and Eastern Market is encumbered by city ownership and other issues ("Eastern Market DC's 150th anniversary last weekend | And my unrealized master plan for the market").

5.  High quality transit access probably makes a difference, e.g., Union Market has a Metrorail station within walking distance, not so much for H Street NE or Ivy City.

6.  Arena/stadium entertainment districts may have similar issues.  As ticket prices increase, the patron base shrinks, and older patrons are less likely to consume a lot of alcohol or stay out later.

7.  WFH affects after work happy hour culture and sales.  Fewer workers, fewer younger workers, means happy hour is a less successful sales event.

8. Private clubs will diminish the amount of spend available to "in the wild" restaurants ("Inside Ned’s, the private club for a new generation of D.C. cool kids," Washington Post).

9.  And I forgot that Gen Z is less inclined to drink alcohol ("Why Gen Z is drinking less," TIME Magazine).