tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92386642024-03-18T23:59:01.453-04:00Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space"A community’s physical form, rather than its land uses, is its most intrinsic and enduring characteristic." [Katz, EPA] This blog focuses on place and placemaking and all that makes it work--historic preservation, urban design, transportation, asset-based community development, arts & cultural development, commercial district revitalization, tourism & destination development, and quality of life advocacy--along with doses of civic engagement and good governance watchdogging.Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.comBlogger11990125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-371624627162486192024-03-18T06:00:00.075-04:002024-03-18T06:00:00.243-04:00Thanks Obama! (for saving my life)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Sz1zSvekw1fT0vjb32Jq0_wNF2zFNuuFxeSil_dTHuOIl6MaXkq0LAAC0xKMuORR1TnGM3WQttK5Y31tyn4W8XAus64gNei-Z304nfcuuSp683h6C-Ug0eZAxNPGTznIZaQhwJNDk6e6eVB4f8hbvezVmFHtjDfgAJg2z5i1a8C9tNL7l-t7hw/s550/13a3f42cedcd7be6b243e8d88811ca48.webp" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="550" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Sz1zSvekw1fT0vjb32Jq0_wNF2zFNuuFxeSil_dTHuOIl6MaXkq0LAAC0xKMuORR1TnGM3WQttK5Y31tyn4W8XAus64gNei-Z304nfcuuSp683h6C-Ug0eZAxNPGTznIZaQhwJNDk6e6eVB4f8hbvezVmFHtjDfgAJg2z5i1a8C9tNL7l-t7hw/s320/13a3f42cedcd7be6b243e8d88811ca48.webp" width="320" /></a></div>There was a conservative meme during the Obama Presidency about how bad he was for America ("<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/02/13/thanks-obama-the-evolution-of-a-meme-that-defined-a-presidency/">‘Thanks Obama.’ The evolution of a meme that defined a presidency</a>," <i>Washington Post</i>).<p></p><p>I had been doing some reading on the New Deal, when the US Government did so many great things. </p><p>And that spirit of innovation marked the federal government for some time, e.g. Medicare and Medicaid were created in the 1960s, LBJ's Great Society program invested in cities and civil rights, and even Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency.</p><p>Although the federal government hasn't stopped investment in science as discussed in the Michael Lewis book, <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/The-Fifth-Risk/">The Fifth Risk</a>, the government has become a lot more timid, which Lewis covers in his book on the response to covid, <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324035534">The Premonition: A Pandemic Story</a>. </p><p>Part of this is because in our current system there is zero room for mistakes, people get excoriated--despite the venture capital community saying learning from failure works for start up culture.</p><p>(Years ago then Mayor of Baltimore O'Malley said mayors want to be second with innovation, because being first sets you up for failure.)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRflK9WnROS6GMG0BzVhj9s_vxFUkmyq79dsk99CgJ6GW8eF9a9ruNPptx1YGGfywULZc3gPpBz3axS24i-gmYiu46IvYC-OjFkjKDXOZU6PcYUOzVqND5rxLAhauNBW1G_yfMSD48VmrfsqQd8OwE8BTSjrTmYZ_GhXCejnASEW4C0ZCnxRk6qw/s1350/ParksOfThe21stCentury_cover_blog-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRflK9WnROS6GMG0BzVhj9s_vxFUkmyq79dsk99CgJ6GW8eF9a9ruNPptx1YGGfywULZc3gPpBz3axS24i-gmYiu46IvYC-OjFkjKDXOZU6PcYUOzVqND5rxLAhauNBW1G_yfMSD48VmrfsqQd8OwE8BTSjrTmYZ_GhXCejnASEW4C0ZCnxRk6qw/s320/ParksOfThe21stCentury_cover_blog-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>But the primary reason, at least in the 1970s, was a loss of confidence because of the Gas Crisis, which was a major shock to the system, from which US confidence never really recovered.<p></p><p>This was made worse by the neoliberalism philosophy adopted soon after ("<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot">Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems</a>," <i>Guardian</i>), which exalted the market and private sector action and denigrated government as a failure.</p><p>And the anarcholibertarianism of Republicans, which militates against government generally, governance specifically, public investment and the concept of public goods, cut taxes--the revenue government needs to function, defund it, and then criticize a defunded government for acting inadequately when pressed by disaster or other great needs.</p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/01/you-dont-have-to-bash-federal.html">You don't have to bash the federal government to make the case for local action</a>"</p><p>I argue that because for many decades the US government overinvested in society, it was able to withstand disinvestment for some time (also see the concept of "capital shallowing"). But the Bush Administration and its failed response to Hurricane Katrina, demonstrated that the government capital surplus had finally been depleted.</p><p>A recent Reuters article, "<a href="https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-CONGRESS/PRODUCTIVITY/egpbabmkwvq/index.html">Why Congress is becoming less productive</a>," about how Congress is accomplishing less and less.</p><p>Government can't seem to accomplish much more than one thing, let alone great things during one four year term, maybe one, and a lot of the time, the "great thing" may not be so great. Trump's biggest accomplishment was cutting taxes for the wealthy and corporations--1/3 of the federal deficit is attributable to Bush and Trump tax cuts, so it's not much of an achievement. </p><p>Although the Biden Administration is actually accomplishing a lot, from investments in transportation to creation of technology hubs around the country, continued investment in broadband, etc. ("<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/03/11/joe-biden-profile">Joe Biden profile</a>," <i>New Yorker</i>).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhufOL50CvMEyWBrGp2ahrgkpw9nHmTiTefnOS5NgErZKzpbLZbZ5XkNQeTjB6EuR6gd9IAzoOzsMuxUPW5HmHW4rcEmrbTnNVAryJGxNPFfLPpssNhcofBP2wUw-2MkVeRKlUWmRaHfW7rG3kdIVhe7skKJBe2kOWilu_QDrb4dIdt49J647HRHQ/s387/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="258" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhufOL50CvMEyWBrGp2ahrgkpw9nHmTiTefnOS5NgErZKzpbLZbZ5XkNQeTjB6EuR6gd9IAzoOzsMuxUPW5HmHW4rcEmrbTnNVAryJGxNPFfLPpssNhcofBP2wUw-2MkVeRKlUWmRaHfW7rG3kdIVhe7skKJBe2kOWilu_QDrb4dIdt49J647HRHQ/s320/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(2).jpg" width="213" /></a></div>Besides a great macroeconomic response (that could have been better, "<a href="https://jacobin.com/2021/10/meltdown-gibney-sirota-podcast-obama-2008-financial-crisis">Obama’s Failure to Adequately Respond to the 2008 Crisis Still Haunts American Politics</a>," <i>Jacobin</i>) which warded off a depression in response to the 2008 Great Financial Crisis, the other New Deal comparable act during the Obama Administration was the expansion of health care access to the less well off, which is commonly called Obamacare, but formally is the Affordable Care Act.<p></p><p><a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/">Obamacare included Medicaid expansion</a>. Many Republican states refused to participate in this, although a number did, and over time more red states are participating, although many still not ("<a href="https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2024/01/16/medicaid-expansion-again-off-the-table-for-florida-gop-leaders/72191202007/">2024 Session: Health care a driving issue — but don't talk about Medicaid expansion</a>," <i>Tallahassee Democrat</i>). Red states tend to have much worse health outcomes than blue states because of policy choices like this ("<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/interactive/2023/republican-politics-south-midwest-life-expectancy/">HOW RED-STATE POLITICS ARE SHAVING YEARS OFF AMERICAN LIVES</a>" <i>Washington Post</i>).</p><p>Republicans continue to denigrate Obamacare ("<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/north-carolina-gop-guv-candidate-mark-robinson-on-obamacare-its-an-effort-to-enslave-everybody">GOP Guv Candidate Mark Robinson on Obamacare: It’s an Effort to ‘Enslave Everybody’</a>," Daily Beast) or try to repeal it ("<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-obamacare-health-care-biden-c2b1f5776310870deed2fb997b07fc2c">Trump says he will renew efforts to replace ‘Obamacare’ if he wins a second term</a>," AP) but are more resigned to it because it's effective and a majority of the population support it ("<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republicans-abandon-obamacare-repeal-rcna49538">Republicans abandon Obamacare repeal</a>" NBC News).</p><p>Utah joined the program in 2019, not because the state government did the right thing, but because voters approved joining the program in a referendum vote in 2018 ("<a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/from-ballot-initiative-to-waivers-what-is-the-status-of-medicaid-expansion-in-utah/">What is the Status of Medicaid Expansion in Utah?</a>" Kaiser Family Foundation). Voter referenda have accomplished this in a number of states, in response to conservative intransigence.</p><p>I'm poor. I don't have an advanced degree in planning, making it harder to get a job. I'm 63. I moved to a new place with no network of contacts. Covid happened. So it was even harder to find a job. I haven't. Now I'm pretty sick although fortunately my mind is fully intact. So I have no real income.</p><p>I'm sick. I didn't have insurance. I applied to Healthcare.Gov. Almost immediately during the process it said I was eligible for Medicaid. The process for signing up was easy. (Although I worry about being kicked out next year, just because, see "<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/most-people-dropped-in-medicaid-unwinding-never-tried-to-renew-coverage-utah-finds/">Most People Dropped in Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Never Tried to Renew Coverage, Utah Finds</a>" and "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/06/halfway-through-unwinding-medicaid-enrollment-is-down-about-10-million/">Halfway through ‘unwinding,’ Medicaid enrollment is down about 10 million</a>," KFF).</p><p>Since September </p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>I'd been diagnosed with colon cancer </li><li>had surgery for it in November, it was Stage II/III but with zero spread</li><li>in post-op my troponin levels were so high it indicated a heart attack, which I didn't have, but it turned out I do have congestive heart failure</li><li>the raised lymph nodes in my groin weren't colon cancer but a rare aggressive lymphoma that without treatment most people die within one year</li><li>I started chemotherapy in December with immediate positive results, although it's on hiatus because of 6 and 8</li><li>hospitalization for covid in February because it got worse, not better, with non-viral pneumonia and myocarditis</li><li>since I had covid last March I've lost 1/3 of my body weight, I meet the definition of malnourished and I finally agreed to a feeding tube which was installed last Friday</li><li>since November it turns out I had heart rhythm issues that would have resulted in death, but the doctors weren't really sure if it was bad or not, but just this week, I had a pacemaker installed on Tuesday after being called in the middle of the night and ordered to the hospital because there was a period of 12 seconds where my heart wasn't beating.</li></ol><p></p><p>Medicaid covers it all.</p><p>Thanks Obama. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p><p>Obamacare/Affordable Care Act has saved my life.</p><p>With an assist from the residents of Utah.</p><p>And bike riding for 30 years. My father, uncle and grandfather all died at 54 or earlier from heart disease. So I decided at 30 to bike for transportation, because I didn't think I had the perseverance to actually go regularly to the gym. Instead my exercise would be forced by my need for transport.</p><p>But I guess I could postpone genetics but not outrun it. I've lived almost 10 years longer than my father. And while I have a lot of health problems at the moment, but surprisingly pretty good prognoses. And when I get tests other than for the specific problems my organs and such show pretty well, e.g., I have no plaques in my veins, etc. My colorectal surgeon attributes those kinds of results to the biking...</p>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-13288463900922892552024-03-17T22:29:00.001-04:002024-03-17T22:29:08.845-04:00It's hard to ward off climate change: beach replenishment failures in California and Massachusetts<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvawl7mVFiXs1LRKLFvmhxzEDyMfxKoBtn0NS99fdSN4mp8dSJbi8vqlxcyBBImw8huA5PiF-fiM9N1w2A2F2LId2jeV7wPcb7WJweZgnQsoXEFwKfFloT-Z7nLkj5LmLgCf6iQONW2-obto_cxCxtS-o6s7ROfZUgDwQuTjYK6Xn5HnLckCbB5A/s1240/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="746" data-original-width="1240" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvawl7mVFiXs1LRKLFvmhxzEDyMfxKoBtn0NS99fdSN4mp8dSJbi8vqlxcyBBImw8huA5PiF-fiM9N1w2A2F2LId2jeV7wPcb7WJweZgnQsoXEFwKfFloT-Z7nLkj5LmLgCf6iQONW2-obto_cxCxtS-o6s7ROfZUgDwQuTjYK6Xn5HnLckCbB5A/s320/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter.webp" width="320" /></a><i>A sand dune erected to protect homes in Salisbury, Massachusetts, washed away in three days. Photograph: WCVB Channel 5 Boston ("<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/17/salisbury-massachusetts-sea-level-sand-dune">Massachusetts town grapples with sea rise after sand barrier fails</a>," Guardian).</i><div></div><blockquote><div>Last month, after a series of storms battered the area, local citizens came together to take the necessary steps to protect their homes. Volunteer organization Salisbury Beach Citizens for Change raised more than $500,000 to erect a 15,000-ton sand dune – a formidable barrier that would hopefully protect at least 15 beach houses from destruction. </div><div><br /></div><div> Or so they thought. The sand dune was completed after one month in early March, but just three days later, the dune – and nearly half a million dollars – was wiped away.</div></blockquote><p>Understanding the science of sand movement can make these processes work better ("<a href="https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/socal-coastal-sand-replenishment-projects-erosion-orange-county">Some OC Beaches Are Disappearing. New Data Gives Clues On How To Help</a>," LAist). </p><p></p><blockquote>Despite periodic deliveries of sand to Oceanside beaches, they have continued to shrink. Wave patterns in the area pull the sand up the coast toward Oceanside Harbor.</blockquote><p></p><div></div>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-56733232221667019192024-03-13T06:00:00.027-04:002024-03-18T13:51:29.110-04:00Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Three | Planning for Climate Change/Environment<p> <b>Gaps in park master planning frameworks</b></p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-master-planning-part-one.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part One | Levels of Service</a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/parks-2.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Two | Academic Research as Guidance</a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-master-planning-part.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Three | Planning for Climate Change/Environment</a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-mater-planning-part-four.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Four | Planning for Seasonality and Activation</a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-master-planning-part.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning, Part Five | Art(s) in the Park(s) as a program </a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-master-planning-part.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Six | Civic Engagement</a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-mater-planning-part-four.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Seven | Park Architectural (and Landscape Design) History</a>" <br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-master-planning-part_0858186970.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Eight | Second stage planning for parks using the cultural landscape framework</a>" </p><p>====</p><p>-- <a href="https://media.rff.org/documents/RFF-RPT-ORRG-State-of-Outdoors.pdf">The State of the Great Outdoors: America’s Parks, Public Lands, and Recreation Resources</a>, Resources for the Future (2009) <br />-- <a href="https://parks.berkeley.edu/sites/parks.berkeley.edu/files/Conservation-Conversations_Report.pdf">Addressing 21st Century Conservation Challenges to Benefit Our People, Economy, and Environment</a>, Conservation Conversations</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXFyokISuFwqEDuS_b1Aog0xxDyC2Q1ZK55M-2VqSKPU4iVuokLEO6-CZZafVfkr9MSdHjja-_YgPmND7s24EOwcdzdVfJtr_W3eJHfoFEX2kGoA5DEZNsEbvpoILHLtdzBMVXQZlsQL529oVjaDn893xhlYJRy7jFdAqrgDhzDi-U-WUCW5v0g/s2048/53579053998_8c80204a9a_k.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1345" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXFyokISuFwqEDuS_b1Aog0xxDyC2Q1ZK55M-2VqSKPU4iVuokLEO6-CZZafVfkr9MSdHjja-_YgPmND7s24EOwcdzdVfJtr_W3eJHfoFEX2kGoA5DEZNsEbvpoILHLtdzBMVXQZlsQL529oVjaDn893xhlYJRy7jFdAqrgDhzDi-U-WUCW5v0g/s320/53579053998_8c80204a9a_k.jpg" width="210" /></a></b></div><b></b></blockquote><p><b>Climate change and national parks. </b>Parks with extraordinary environmental features face big losses in the face of sustained heat.</p><p>Many of the signature parks operated by the National Park Service will sustain serious damage from climate change and managers will have to make hard choices about what elements of parks can survive and what will have to be abandoned ("<a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/climatechange/resistacceptdirect.htm">Resist, accept, direct framework</a>").</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/sustainability/upload/NPS-Green-Parks-Plan-Third-Edition.pdf">Green Parks Plan: Advancing the National Park Service Mission Through Sustainable Operations, third edition</a>, NPS<br />-- <a href="https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2279647">Planning for a Changing Climate</a>, NPS<br />-- <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/climatechange/upload/climate-change-unigrid-for-web-feb2017.pdf">Climate change in National Parks</a> brochure<br />-- <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/climatechange/visitation.htm">Park visitation and climate change</a>, NPS<br />-- <a href="https://www.npca.org/issues/parks-and-climate-change">Parks and Climate Change</a>, National Parks Conservation Association<br />- "<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/national-parks-sustainability-carbon-free">Some U.S. national parks are trying to go carbon-free. What does that mean for visitors?</a>," <i>National Geographic</i><br />-- "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/18/climate/national-parks-climate-change.html">What to Save? Climate Change Forces Brutal Choices at National Parks</a>," <i>New York Times</i><br />-- <a href="https://www.tpl.org/resource/climate-smart-cities">Plan for Climate-Smart Cities</a>, Trust for Public Land<br />-- "<a href="https://www.saltlakemagazine.com/national-parks-earth-day-climate-change/">Saving our national parks could save us too</a>," <i>Salt Lake Magazine</i><br /><i>-- </i>"<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/02/us/national-parks-climate-extreme-weather-impacts/index.html">How the climate crisis is forever changing our national parks</a>," CNN</p><div><b>State Parks and Climate Change</b></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>-- <a href="https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/24872/files/brochure-climatechange.pdf">Climate change and California State Parks</a><br />-- <a href="https://www.emnrd.nm.gov/spd/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/ClimateBorchure_2021.pdf">State of Change: Climate Change in New Mexico's State Park Areas</a></div><div>-- <a href="https://cig.uw.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/11/WA-Parks-Vulnerability-Assessment.pdf">Preparing Washington State Parks for Climate Change A Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for Washington State Parks</a><br />-- "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/04/07/state-park-systems-future-challenges/">A pivotal period: Century-old state park systems face modern issues</a>," <i>Washington Post</i><br /><i>-- </i><a href="https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/climate/climate_change_info/what-dnr-doing.html">Climate Change webpage</a>, Minnesota DNR<br />-- "<a href="https://www.parksandtrails.org/2022/12/12/climate-change/">How climate change affects Minnesota and our parks and trails</a>," Parks and Trails Council of Minnesota</div><div>-- "<a href="https://www.popsci.com/state-parks-funding-climate/">State parks could be 10 times more expensive to operate by 2050</a>," <i>Popular Science</i></div><div>-- "<a href="https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania-state-parks-plan-funding-report-dcnr-pa-20191221.html">Pennsylvania’s state parks have more visitors and less money — and fresh hopes to change that</a>,"<i> Philadelphia Inquirer</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Webinar: Climate Change and State Parks</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1mYU8BTQGJo" width="320" youtube-src-id="1mYU8BTQGJo"></iframe></div><p><b>Local/City/Urban Parks and Climate Change</b></p><div><p>-- <a href="https://planning-org-uploaded-media.s3.amazonaws.com/publication/download_pdf/Parks-for-Climate-Change.pdf">How Cities Use Parks for Climate Change Management</a>, American Planning Association<br />-- <a href="https://www.tpl.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Climate-Smart-Cities-Report_GCAS-report-2018_R6.pdf">Parks as a climate solution</a>, TPL<br />-- <a href="https://www.greenflagaward.org/media/2381/pc-adapting-to-climate-change.pdf">(Parks) adapting to climate change: Working with nature to transition our urban environment</a>, Plante&Cité<br />-- <a href="https://www.greenflagaward.org/media/2380/pc-implementing-eco-management.pdf">Implementing Eco-Management: Concepts and practice for more nature in the city</a>, Plante&Cité<br />-- "<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213138822001163">The carbon sequestration potential of urban public parks of densely populated cities to improve environmental sustainability</a>," <i>Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments</i><br /><i>-- </i>"<a href="https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/102/9/BAMS-D-20-0193.1.xml">50 Grades of Shade</a>,"<i> Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society</i></p><p>According to the Trust for Public Land (<a href="https://www.tpl.org/parks-address-climate-change-report">The Power of Parks to Address Climate Change</a>, webpage, <a href="https://www.tpl.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/The_Power_of_Parks_to_Address_Climate_Change_-_A_Trust_for_Public_Land_Special_Report.pdf">report</a>) parks are good at greening.</p><ul><li>Eighty-five percent of cities are adapting parks and recreation facilities to address climate change</li><li>Eighty percent are enlisting parks to counter urban heat</li><li>Seventy-six percent are improving surfaces to reduce flooding and runoff from rains</li><li>Twenty percent are actively managing parks and woodlands to sequester carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas responsible for climate change. </li><li>Other cities are managing parks to reduce the risk of wildfire, restoring shorelines to absorb storm surges, and opting for renewable sources of energy. </li><li>Cooling green space is not equitably distributed, however. Trust for Public Land analyzed the 100 most populous cities and found that the neighborhoods where most residents identify as people of color had access to an average of 43 percent less park acreage than predominantly white neighborhoods.</li></ul><div>If 85% of cities are addressing parks and climate change, then my thesis that this is a gap in parks master planning practice is wrong. OTOH, it's a micro versus macro scale issue. And the reality is that the day to day operations requirements and the increased demand from the public for both more parks and more activities and facilities makes dealing with long term issues, like climate change, difficult. </div><div><br /></div><div>From "<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169204615000377">Designing urban parks that ameliorate the effects of climate change</a>," <i>Landscape and Urban Planning</i>:</div><p></p><ul><li>During heat waves now and in the future urban microclimates put human health at risk.</li><li>Intercepting solar radiation is the most effective way to reduce the heat load on people.</li><li>Reducing air temperature is the second most effective way to reduce heat loads</li><li>Evidence-based climate-responsive design can make parks more thermally comfortable.</li></ul><div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgup9ptV_T4ajVl3G0y492gHWU3EOVNgqdMcUWmn2H8nWcJqJxa0nMPC5983bjpWXHLICQGWNQ7hXcq9Ppzkt0xnkEzVqUUGuzaO5kWHb2jyIK5Guvt484ml5SQzWtfXC8Grk-02kCGLE92b66zF8RXxw4D_ZWfhaflksHLal5C39ezpjpVwcI_Hw/s400/0_dalston-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="259" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgup9ptV_T4ajVl3G0y492gHWU3EOVNgqdMcUWmn2H8nWcJqJxa0nMPC5983bjpWXHLICQGWNQ7hXcq9Ppzkt0xnkEzVqUUGuzaO5kWHb2jyIK5Guvt484ml5SQzWtfXC8Grk-02kCGLE92b66zF8RXxw4D_ZWfhaflksHLal5C39ezpjpVwcI_Hw/s320/0_dalston-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><p><i style="text-align: center;">Elements of a Cultural Landscape Report, from the NPS brochure on Cultural Landscapes</i></p><p></p><p><b>Planning at the landscape scale for Sugar House Park: the cultural landscape. </b>A way to tie the various planning approaches together is to use the cultural landscape planning framework, which looks at sites in a variety of ways.</p><p>For the purposes of Sugar House Park we should focus on the elements of land, vegetation, buildings, and history.</p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-master-planning-part_0858186970.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Eight | Second stage planning for parks using the cultural landscape framework</a>"</p><p><b>Parley's Creek and its watershed</b>. In the 1800s, Salt Lake City got control of most of the water rights on nearby federal lands--the canyons--which are mostly controlled by the US Forest Service. </p><div>Water rights are controlled by Salt Lake City Public Utilities, which defines watersheds in terms of the production of culinary water, not the flow to the Great Salt Lake.</div></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoZW0Hg5LAdqhYqp30RFqDagxot1vESRFYYqU9LqKUjoSoWrSV49TQ3o972LBPPM6j9Z8vK1-efX__aW_qc05ucgU-M2uDofbItJ_9yCwmg1jVyl4B6xRKEU5qxkBdza2T59MITD5zLsbMonOJ_ZtYGSHSb4B48SNEP_Dfu1H6PJOXE1UM8f_bmQ/s2048/52884970891_6a22fa4238_k.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoZW0Hg5LAdqhYqp30RFqDagxot1vESRFYYqU9LqKUjoSoWrSV49TQ3o972LBPPM6j9Z8vK1-efX__aW_qc05ucgU-M2uDofbItJ_9yCwmg1jVyl4B6xRKEU5qxkBdza2T59MITD5zLsbMonOJ_ZtYGSHSb4B48SNEP_Dfu1H6PJOXE1UM8f_bmQ/s320/52884970891_6a22fa4238_k.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></b><div><br /></div>Parley's Creek and a pond are part of the Park, and part of the Jordan River watershed, which flows into the Great Salt Lake.</div><div><br /></div><div>To SLCPU, the "watershed" ends at the mouth of the canyon and its water treatment plant. The Creek's contribution beyond the Canyon to "the general watershed" comes from water discharges into the Creek, but past the Canyon, much of the Creek derives from storm water. And these days we don't get a lot of rain.</div><div><br /></div><div>-- <a href="https://slco.org/globalassets/1-site-files/watershed/resources/streamcareguide_2015.pdf">Stream Care Guide: A Handbook for Residents of Salt Lake County!</a> </div><div>-- <a href="https://sevencanyonstrust.org/blog/parleys-creek-management">Salt Lake City Riparian Corridor Study: Parley's Creek Management Plan</a></div><div>-- <a href="https://jordanrivercommission.com/vision/">Jordan River planning documents</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Within the park the Creek is mostly daylighted, with a small section not, because it was contaminated when the site was a prison. The Creek Management Plan provides a number of recommendations for the Creek within the Park. But not much has been addressed since the plan was released in 2010!</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXbnmIWExYveHpQ_Hb_HSkF4ppaurJScwOAHPv-jPvavAeu43mDQgBgOgbiYm7-w82rusa5rnqbJIj5mundN6o7Ia6OPEE3vazIkusdxfYXzQ6RHYS8jkSpxt7aEQn-leBtGAJzrTL7NMG6xAGWGtdURTgDNj-1T6NntYxoRj1UiahhsFlmZ7sNA/s2048/52250246651_bbcdb90482_k.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXbnmIWExYveHpQ_Hb_HSkF4ppaurJScwOAHPv-jPvavAeu43mDQgBgOgbiYm7-w82rusa5rnqbJIj5mundN6o7Ia6OPEE3vazIkusdxfYXzQ6RHYS8jkSpxt7aEQn-leBtGAJzrTL7NMG6xAGWGtdURTgDNj-1T6NntYxoRj1UiahhsFlmZ7sNA/s320/52250246651_bbcdb90482_k.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>As we gear up to do a new round of master planning, one element will be the Creek and pond. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Park is implementing a wayfinding and interpretation signage system, so we have an opportunity to do some watershed interpretation. </div><div><br /></div><div>On our list of things to do, we are organizing a kind of symposium of the area river and creek stakeholders so that we start moving on Creek issues. The state has the <a href="https://jordanrivercommission.com/">Jordan River Commission</a>, and the advocacy group, the <a href="https://sevencanyonstrust.org/">Seven Canyons Trust</a>, works on creek daylighting issues throughout the County.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are good models for better practice. Nearby Fairmont Park, run by the city, has done a lot with their portion of the Creek. Fairmont has springs, which feed <a href="https://www.utahasla.org/fairmont-park-community-fishing-pond">a fishing pond</a>. Fitts Park in the City of South Salt Lake, which includes Mill Creek, has done nice stabilization work around their creek too. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglKrABCkVpwZWqleP_EZZbmkN-s_gh_nWqfQqNFA1oJJcyfstOcxJlqsElrnjME8VrDVHCKhHYMOJDFQk2S9kkZdtCytwFFLPKgV_n7aH0IlQV5KpZXJjwqn1n7PeCmhSSvRA5fQ7tdi9mjlmsXhlzXJ4nbOrSTPyavAh6i8x4JBpoT3aatRcFTQ/s320/ftcms_27b59a30-7faf-404f-89ca-86da38251aab-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(3).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="203" data-original-width="320" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglKrABCkVpwZWqleP_EZZbmkN-s_gh_nWqfQqNFA1oJJcyfstOcxJlqsElrnjME8VrDVHCKhHYMOJDFQk2S9kkZdtCytwFFLPKgV_n7aH0IlQV5KpZXJjwqn1n7PeCmhSSvRA5fQ7tdi9mjlmsXhlzXJ4nbOrSTPyavAh6i8x4JBpoT3aatRcFTQ/s1600/ftcms_27b59a30-7faf-404f-89ca-86da38251aab-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(3).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Flooding/Flood control</b>. In the 1980s, Salt Lake City experienced major flooding because higher than normal temperatures led to premature snow melt.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) High water levels in Salt Lake City's Sugar House Park on Wednesday, April 26, 2023.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>As a result, Sugar House Park was rebuilt in part as a flood control structure. When snowmelt is high, Public Utilities will do water discharges so that the reservoirs don't overflow. </div><div><br /></div><div>We don't have issues at the scale of a coastal city like Boston (<a href="https://www.boston.gov/environment-and-energy/climate-ready-boston">Climate Ready Action Plan</a>), but sometimes parts of the park may close because of risk management planning and flood control. Fortunately this is an infrequent occurrence. Last year there was flooding at the park, resulting in road closure ("<a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/04/27/flooding-sugar-house-park-means/">Flooding at Sugar House Park means the pond is working as planned</a>," <i>Salt Lake Tribune</i>). </div><div><p></p><p><b>Water conservation.</b> The park is a lot of grass and trees and we water it. I need to find out about the ability to use recycled water. I don't think Salt Lake City is set up for it. </p><p>Parks serve many people, therefore should remain a priority for water use, compared to other institutional users. But we need to be efficient. We are planning to add various monitoring sensors and upgrade the irrigation system ($1 million minimum) and other equipment to address this. </p><p>We need to collect and present information on water conservation and irrigation in our plans, on the website, etc.</p><p></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgiXLkEC4aPI0XmFyMvrC1HZjIOBxMln_YtQ4HC8Q413BBHjOYA5dOl6dEycI7nXIrZxMSmGzINwS-QuL6dT0WlKxQ6hxk9wE9wTA1kMHaCN68YQ1wTMV-OXQy0G6qMzBgx6N8TAOvEZu-y4wL4S8kEMnTMMcrtwTu8YNCf7F3VCIAW6MV48KiQ/s2048/53013185404_6978ce81aa_k.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgiXLkEC4aPI0XmFyMvrC1HZjIOBxMln_YtQ4HC8Q413BBHjOYA5dOl6dEycI7nXIrZxMSmGzINwS-QuL6dT0WlKxQ6hxk9wE9wTA1kMHaCN68YQ1wTMV-OXQy0G6qMzBgx6N8TAOvEZu-y4wL4S8kEMnTMMcrtwTu8YNCf7F3VCIAW6MV48KiQ/s320/53013185404_6978ce81aa_k.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b>Turf and plants.</b> Grass uses a lot of water. Two years ago, Salt Lake City Public Utilities introduced <a href="https://www.slc.gov/utilities/conservation/slcturftrade/">a turf blend that uses 30% less water</a> ("<a href="https://www.upr.org/utah-news/2022-09-15/slcs-drought-tolerant-turf-is-such-a-hit-other-communities-in-utah-want-some">SLC's drought tolerant turf is such a hit, other communities in Utah want some</a>," Utah NPR). <p></p><p>That's something to look at, but then we have a lot of grass we'd need to dig up. One option could be to convert some sections of the park to meadow.</p><p>-- "<a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ppp3.10188">Urban park visitor preferences for vegetation – An on-site qualitative research study</a>," <i>Plants, People, Planet</i></p><p><b>Trees/arboretum</b>. Trees: serve as shade devices, are an <a href="https://www.treeequityscore.org/">equity issue</a>, and provide environmental benefits ("<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/01/us/los-angeles-shade-climate-change.html">‘Turn Off the Sunshine’: Why Shade Is a Mark of Privilege in Los Angeles</a>" and "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/08/24/climate/racism-redlining-cities-global-warming.html">How Decades of Racist Housing Policy Left Neighborhoods Sweltering</a>," New York Times)</p><p>Planting new trees is important but faces challenges because of heat and water (<a href="https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/landscaping-shade">Landscaping for shade</a>, US DOE, "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/climate/forests-trees-climate-change.html">How Much Can Forests Fight Climate Change? A Sensor in Space Has Answers.</a>," New York Times, "<a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2017.304155">What About the Trees? Trees as Nature-Based “Shade Sails”</a>," <i>American Journal of Public Health</i>, <a href="https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/crops/forestry/advice/Your-tree-planting-companion.pdf">Your tree planting companion</a>, TEAGSAC Urban Forestry Department, Ireland, "<a href="https://thewalrus.ca/cities-are-good-at-planting-trees-theyre-not-so-good-at-keeping-them/">Cities Are Good at Planting Trees. They’re Not So Good at Keeping Them</a>," <i>Walrus).</i></p><p></p><p>Tree planting as a city equity measure is an important priority of the Salt Lake Mayor.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhklwrQAAcROF7sXB9NZ3qgY83C4aLifMir4aa4GXupDeul16PD9kd68VVwXpHD8HkRIGwfcN_nybzrONeWtLqPCHmd5GdChRtJWHGyq-FCwkIt4bFE4FmbFqdN_P6-wopA-nwTUKyb42sw16sUdb8gbaFbbNVw8Zx5wDHJSKfhrZwUCtCM-dz9ug/s1650/5384478416_d10347315c_k.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1275" data-original-width="1650" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhklwrQAAcROF7sXB9NZ3qgY83C4aLifMir4aa4GXupDeul16PD9kd68VVwXpHD8HkRIGwfcN_nybzrONeWtLqPCHmd5GdChRtJWHGyq-FCwkIt4bFE4FmbFqdN_P6-wopA-nwTUKyb42sw16sUdb8gbaFbbNVw8Zx5wDHJSKfhrZwUCtCM-dz9ug/s320/5384478416_d10347315c_k.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><i>Infographic about the climate change impact of tree planting </i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><i>as part of a bus rapid transit project in Cleveland.</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><i><a href="https://www.sasaki.com/projects/euclid-avenue-healthline-bus-rapid-transit/">Sasaki</a> </i></span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_0Rg4vMFhq5ZrHucFxEdMnNgCYAR0AOrkonVdTxtBPhOvYFkFefo3ZDEYjhc_jqnesXc9u2AAATXnabvdGdi6DnGSn7HfLqcZwyAd9VuF4KGhPm_9PIsKAfS0SlKmrILj1MGE6plz0yKRK0bYNh88bTrj2CE-jvRYJGV1ycI0K5VhE1g7w0XhyA/s1500/52250246651_bbcdb90482_k.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1004" data-original-width="1500" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_0Rg4vMFhq5ZrHucFxEdMnNgCYAR0AOrkonVdTxtBPhOvYFkFefo3ZDEYjhc_jqnesXc9u2AAATXnabvdGdi6DnGSn7HfLqcZwyAd9VuF4KGhPm_9PIsKAfS0SlKmrILj1MGE6plz0yKRK0bYNh88bTrj2CE-jvRYJGV1ycI0K5VhE1g7w0XhyA/s320/52250246651_bbcdb90482_k.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Over the next year <a href="https://www.arbnet.org/">we are looking to become accredited as an arboretum</a>, which provides another opportunity for environmental interpretation, improve tree cover, do fundraising, etc. <p></p><p>-- <a href="https://www.americanforests.org/">American Forests</a><br />-- <a href="https://www.treeutah.org/">TreeUtah</a><br />-- <a href="https://www.arborday.org/">ArborDay</a>, April 26<br />-- <a href="https://www.nationalparkcity.org/">National Park City Foundation</a><br />-- <a href="https://www.un.org/en/observances/forests-and-trees-day">International Day of Forests</a>, March 21</p><p><br />-- <a href="https://www.tpl.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Community-Forests-Report_Final.pdf">Community Forests: A path to prosperity and connection</a>, TPL<br />-- "<a href="https://www.governing.com/community/bringing-the-jungle-to-city-streets">Cities Nationwide Combat Climate Change With Urban Forests</a>," Governing<br />-- "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/30/opinion/environmental-inequity-trees-critical-infrastructure.html">Since When Have Trees Existed Only for Rich Americans?</a>," <i>New York Times</i><br />-- "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/28/special-series/befriending-trees-to-lower-a-citys-temperature.html">Befriending Trees to Lower a City's Temperature</a>," <i>New York Times</i><br />-- "<a href="https://www.dailynews.com/2024/03/09/why-trees-in-los-angeles-are-political-cherished-underfunded-and-controversial/">Why trees in Los Angeles are political, cherished, underfunded and controversial</a>," <i>Los Angeles Daily News</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWBp2m4WJjGtv_KtVzVGW-fg6_vwbwENsMrAS5QQkvE8qBg_-47SklVryEWzMr7nUk72sbEETvDohWSBS3SlMtA8M_7vmlotKggxVxqFOgAY2KnyETRnGemo1tqQ54HDtZWquxEi7zeKLA24JLcb8e5gfDvQiOSUhW2vsykU7sd9syGIJzHy9Qpg/s2048/52226265383_66a2631a27_k.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWBp2m4WJjGtv_KtVzVGW-fg6_vwbwENsMrAS5QQkvE8qBg_-47SklVryEWzMr7nUk72sbEETvDohWSBS3SlMtA8M_7vmlotKggxVxqFOgAY2KnyETRnGemo1tqQ54HDtZWquxEi7zeKLA24JLcb8e5gfDvQiOSUhW2vsykU7sd9syGIJzHy9Qpg/s320/52226265383_66a2631a27_k.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A TreeUtah event in Fairmont Park, Salt Lake City</i></div><p></p><p>-- "<a href="https://www.ideastream.org/environment-energy/2024-02-29/northeast-ohio-cities-works-to-reverse-history-and-impacts-of-tree-canopy-loss">Northeast Ohio cities work to reverse history and impacts of tree canopy loss</a>," Ideastream/NPR<br />-- "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2021/dec/14/mature-trees-are-key-to-liveable-cities-housing-intensification-plans-must-ensure-they-survive">Mature trees are key to liveable cities – housing intensification plans must ensure they survive</a>,"<i> Guardian</i><br />-- "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/02/scientists-unlocking-secrets-why-forests-make-us-happy">‘I’m glowing’: scientists are unlocking secrets of why forests make us happy</a>,"<i> Guardian</i><br /><i>-- </i>"<a href="https://www.vox.com/cities-and-urbanism/23930284/trees-living-city-des-fitzgerald-cities-urbanism-climate-change">It takes more than trees to build a livable city</a>,"<i> </i>Vox<br /><i>-- </i>"<a href="https://time.com/6336537/america-tree-equity-urban-climate-solution/">How America Is Making Tree Equity a Climate Solution for Cities</a>," <i>TIME Magazine</i><br />-- "<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/tree-planting-american-cities-health-environment-benefits">The surprising way that millions of new trees could transform America</a>," <i>National Geographic</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVOD_ypMvU4aMj8P0qiuQMVWoqTxIOF5wien83H0xbeBccyVPZDlV53vkwNlCXZVRxSDOrgOE-qJrvYVLGkhgYcl2FMFMsYWNSRYLMwsCyDoc_kRXfwsBcVii7wiu3MFh-qx1Vjd9y8VSnxbFEI33KoPhyphenhyphenucaDQoL2mpcLFOiD19ZpH9hjSqHYw/s960/53518652471_61cf9866aa_b.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="752" data-original-width="960" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVOD_ypMvU4aMj8P0qiuQMVWoqTxIOF5wien83H0xbeBccyVPZDlV53vkwNlCXZVRxSDOrgOE-qJrvYVLGkhgYcl2FMFMsYWNSRYLMwsCyDoc_kRXfwsBcVii7wiu3MFh-qx1Vjd9y8VSnxbFEI33KoPhyphenhyphenucaDQoL2mpcLFOiD19ZpH9hjSqHYw/s320/53518652471_61cf9866aa_b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Creating an arboretum within the park is an opportunity to develop some great guides, brochures, education programs, etc. for interpretation.<p></p><p>Unfortunately, as more organizations shift to digital presentation, there is no longer access to the often great materials produced in the past. The quality of today's brochures pale by comparison.</p><p>Plus, most state and local sites don't do a very good job of putting their documents online to begin with</p><p>One of my ideas is to develop an online database of such historical documents. The closest we have is the <a href="http://npshistory.com/">database of the National Park Service's online brochures</a> for the parks, as well as other materials. NPS archives don't have everything, but remain an incredible resource.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh54gjtkZ2zJWm5HIAYF-Gp4HsEgBo2NBE5tRs9c8L2BhA6E-mRm_dkYe5cGa9ig1YTTjcqB4whItPENF8_hVc5A4X3PwoBTqYeB8_q3bSos14wK5S-8mL6DwpFvYgHi9VkNJpWHDWyCGXAZAYX3YGIO64b4-JfRb8kS_LYTysGSfafsiApMGlZuw/s386/52226265383_66a2631a27_k.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh54gjtkZ2zJWm5HIAYF-Gp4HsEgBo2NBE5tRs9c8L2BhA6E-mRm_dkYe5cGa9ig1YTTjcqB4whItPENF8_hVc5A4X3PwoBTqYeB8_q3bSos14wK5S-8mL6DwpFvYgHi9VkNJpWHDWyCGXAZAYX3YGIO64b4-JfRb8kS_LYTysGSfafsiApMGlZuw/s320/52226265383_66a2631a27_k.jpg" width="249" /></a></div><p><b>Fauna/biodiversity.</b> Participating in the Bridge Park initiative 10 years ago ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/revisiting-11th-street-bridge-park.html">Revisiting the 11th Street Bridge Park project as an opportunity rather than a folly: a new revitalization agenda for East of the River, DC</a>"), I was struck by how one of the design teams focused on providing food not just for people, but for flora and fauna in and along the Anacostia River.</p><div>SHP is pretty sculpted. Lawns are well maintained without much in the way of leaf litter or other elements that support insects and other fauna ("<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257671090_Species_richness_in_urban_parks_and_its_drivers_A_review_of_empirical_evidence">Species richness in urban parks and its drivers: A review of empirical evidence</a>," "<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11252-018-0756-8">City parks vs. natural areas - is it possible to preserve a natural level of bee richness and abundance in a city park?</a>," <i>Urban Ecosystems</i>). </div><div><br /></div><div>This is a problem for residential property too ("<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2023/04/22/long-grass-helps-bees/">The ‘no mow’ movement could transform our lawns</a>," <i>Washington Post</i>). From the article:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>Mowing grass too short can cut the tops off flowering plants, creating lawns that are inhospitable for pollinators seeking habitats in which to feed, rest and nest, experts say. Keeping your lawn neat and trim not only is resource-intensive but can also affect its overall health. </div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdMIc0Q42v8dPem0JkgguLo7Z4erSC26wIeNLHLfj3agswrRXqVuHsQEZyrFtJWcZf-lHZsQO9CLKnhAIK9tL_V5PzjWgQY2Wp45-yhQUq0-ggjBzGDk3O6GrUZVanOwdtlZpO1CtZtC5DX5n61NGAYx6-O807HGbfNjgBE3rryHUzu3yh8PV8eg/s1440/s-l960.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="1440" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdMIc0Q42v8dPem0JkgguLo7Z4erSC26wIeNLHLfj3agswrRXqVuHsQEZyrFtJWcZf-lHZsQO9CLKnhAIK9tL_V5PzjWgQY2Wp45-yhQUq0-ggjBzGDk3O6GrUZVanOwdtlZpO1CtZtC5DX5n61NGAYx6-O807HGbfNjgBE3rryHUzu3yh8PV8eg/s320/s-l960.webp" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i> <a href="https://www.bwpawards.org/">British Wildlife Photography awards</a>. Hidden Britain Runner-up <br />Flower crab spider and Honey bee, Lee Mill, Devon by Lucien Harris</i></p><blockquote><div>... creating a <a href="https://extension.umn.edu/landscape-design/planting-and-maintaining-bee-lawn">pollinator lawn</a> will take a bit more thought than just letting grass grow freely, experts say.
“If you have a traditional lawn, letting the grass grow to a foot tall or whatever it would be at the end of May is no value whatsoever,” says Susan Carpenter, native plant garden curator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum. Grass that long could be harmful to lawn health and become a mowing nightmare.</div></blockquote><div></div><div>The park has some insects ("<a href="https://projects.research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/en/horizon-magazine/what-urban-nature-really-means-insect-biodiversity">What urban nature really means for insect biodiversity</a>," <i>Horizon: The EU research and information magazine</i>), birds ("<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.958572/full">Urban parks are a refuge for birds in park-poor areas</a>," <i>Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution</i>), and maybe some small animals like raccoons.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>To expand fauna diversity, perhaps we should install bat houses and beehives. We do have a community garden, and are looking to create another.</div><div><p></p><p>Of the entire park, only a small section along the Creek is "more wild." </p></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio9ECM02N1HOb_66C9ydjN9jR01zTynjqkj1PkzFA7etdA1_uuMKQHQIb9bzsmN_AmZ4fqVQZ_K23sa7OXVEs_HxUrnLm_IvdRN8FFHxlJdmORCMMEv5RQf2iWkltHl-7NRuqRJcJxv28zdaoO-dh6IKD6yy3cF1WhumXGlyUmWZX04hyphenhyphenqPLaxZw/s825/53588550058_6e350e7e4d_o.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="825" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio9ECM02N1HOb_66C9ydjN9jR01zTynjqkj1PkzFA7etdA1_uuMKQHQIb9bzsmN_AmZ4fqVQZ_K23sa7OXVEs_HxUrnLm_IvdRN8FFHxlJdmORCMMEv5RQf2iWkltHl-7NRuqRJcJxv28zdaoO-dh6IKD6yy3cF1WhumXGlyUmWZX04hyphenhyphenqPLaxZw/s320/53588550058_6e350e7e4d_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://myphillypark.org/mowstomeadows/">Mows to Meadow Project</a> in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park is converting some grass areas to meadows planted with native plants.</div><div><br /></div><div>We may wish to stop mowing some parts of the park to increase opportunities for fauna ("<a href="https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/publicworks/news/2023/07/meadowdevelopinginflagstaffparktorestorehabitat">Meadow Developing in Flagstaff Park to Restore Habitat</a>," Cambridge, Massachusetts).<p></p><p>The south side of the park abuts the I-80 freeway so it's very noisy. </p><p>Long term, we could deal with UDOT to increase plantings on the abutting embankment to support fauna (<a href="https://www.environment.fhwa.dot.gov/env_topics/ecosystems/Pollinators_Roadsides/BMPs_pollinators_landscapes.aspx">Roadside Best Management Practices that Benefit Pollinators</a>, FHWA) and reduce noise (that section of freeway used to be part of the park). </p><p>How much do we manage the park for people and for fauna is a question definitely not posed by the existing master plan.</p><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-aqbd4axYXtduoBLAKxgbKCwns0lCw0rucxluCKq9QvhwfV36KVl3S9LdJJeNm7Kg5xaK31Cxm-QcEts2ZiqO7W0B-gsxrB5hCPWgSKPDh0yePtpVvUmhJJQR2CFLbPBrI-9A1jSm3EkvAEf6kt9E2ttnmk27lVX6s8zZACg3xusinFFIN5v3-Q/s320/53587098398_000748c2dd_o.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-aqbd4axYXtduoBLAKxgbKCwns0lCw0rucxluCKq9QvhwfV36KVl3S9LdJJeNm7Kg5xaK31Cxm-QcEts2ZiqO7W0B-gsxrB5hCPWgSKPDh0yePtpVvUmhJJQR2CFLbPBrI-9A1jSm3EkvAEf6kt9E2ttnmk27lVX6s8zZACg3xusinFFIN5v3-Q/s1600/53587098398_000748c2dd_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Ducks and dogs as disease vectors</b>. Sadly, because of the pond, the park has a hell of a lot of ducks.</div><div><br /></div><div>Which end up contributing <i>e. coli</i> to the Jordan River watershed, which in turn flows into the Great Salt Lake. </div><div><br /></div><div>Who knew <i>e. coli</i> could be a park management issue. </div><div><br /></div><div>Errant dog owners who don't clean up after their pets are big contributors too.</div><div><br /></div><div>Plus people feed inappropriate food like bread to the ducks. We have signs up, but it doesn't matter.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Carbon neutrality/greenhouse gas emissions, etc.</b>. <a href="https://www.sasaki.com/projects/the-ellinikon-park/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.sasaki.com/projects/the-ellinikon-park">Ellinikon Park</a> (designer website, <a href="https://experiencepark.theellinikon.com.gr/en/">Ellinikon Experience Park website</a>), under construction in Athens, Greece has the goal of being carbon neutral--increase carbon sequestration, limit or avoid emissions, and reuse embodied carbon--but it will take 35 years to accomplish. ("<a href="https://dirt.asla.org/2023/01/07/carbon-first-design-the-ellinikon-metropolitan-park-in-athens/">Carbon-First Design: The Ellinikon Metropolitan Park in Athens</a>," ASLA).</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6h2VPCrq9bR1SSd8O0IDj-zYDnhBe3wRPwsXXTqpatMAuGsMwSaqGHSBhvp-S6Tvkr9POzdxrDGsr6YUS2tYn1XPPHeGI7C_tmw2APNVxNvoOxN2IPe0ka14_OJ45wONAwthRseZBwYbXRigf5UNIpz6T7B_psIPi-64qmjdMin4U4nGt0JnvQ/s1800/53590548989_03e7c1a79d_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="878" data-original-width="1800" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6h2VPCrq9bR1SSd8O0IDj-zYDnhBe3wRPwsXXTqpatMAuGsMwSaqGHSBhvp-S6Tvkr9POzdxrDGsr6YUS2tYn1XPPHeGI7C_tmw2APNVxNvoOxN2IPe0ka14_OJ45wONAwthRseZBwYbXRigf5UNIpz6T7B_psIPi-64qmjdMin4U4nGt0JnvQ/w400-h195/53590548989_03e7c1a79d_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>Should that be a goal for Sugar House Park? While grass clippings are left on the grass, we don't compost from trees and shrubs. That's an issue. Can we improve our energy use? We are bystanders to the Salt Lake Valley's air quality problems ("<a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2024/01/23/reaching-air-there-are-solutions/">Reaching for Air: The Salt Lake Valley’s pollution problem can be solved. Will Utah leaders act?</a>" and "<a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/12/12/reaching-air-price-utahns-pay-poor/">Reaching for Air: The price Utahns pay for poor air quality</a>," <i>Salt Lake Tribune</i>) but by planting more trees, etc., we can help on that score.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Transportation demand management</b>. Despite all the media coverage about how environmentally-conscious Utah is, the fact is that the predominate land use and transportation planning paradigm is sprawl. While there is a transit system that is decent for what it is, but most everyone drives.</div><div><br /></div><div>Motor vehicles significantly contribute to the air quality problem. A lot of patrons come to the park by car. Can we reduce our park's contribution to the problem by working to improve biking and transit options for getting to the park?</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtg8ZAIISo2aninVX-Gj66vy2AxS7edPfZor_7HyL2csoPwyjjiLv10jWPDGenjtOwwXpsC_mxQtRm6Sfcvt0HUpLnphrvKupQ4KoOZcbvJo39rYrr9cFsDPQDA1r6P4cJ5GjcFL2DKJk556bWbgNOnZGRBmPriJbysKTXYFHK7rPump2nlMkcA/s1506/53591959137_bd81c71217_h.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1506" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtg8ZAIISo2aninVX-Gj66vy2AxS7edPfZor_7HyL2csoPwyjjiLv10jWPDGenjtOwwXpsC_mxQtRm6Sfcvt0HUpLnphrvKupQ4KoOZcbvJo39rYrr9cFsDPQDA1r6P4cJ5GjcFL2DKJk556bWbgNOnZGRBmPriJbysKTXYFHK7rPump2nlMkcA/s320/53591959137_bd81c71217_h.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i><a href="https://www.klydewarrenpark.org/">Klyde Warren Park</a> over Woodall Rodgers Freeway, Dallas (<a href="https://www.klydewarrenpark.org/about-the-park/our-story.html">History</a>).</i><p></p><p><b>Noise/Freeway decking/capping</b>. To deal with aesthetics, noise, and opportunity, I have a crazy idea to deck/cap the freeway section like Klyde Warren Park in Dallas or the Big Dig in Boston. </p><p>Many cities are pursuing such projects ("<a href="https://www.inquirer.com/news/i-95-cap-waterfront-park-philadelphia-delaware-river-south-street-20230615.html">Philly’s other big I-95 project to start: A cap with an 11.5-acre waterfront park, South St. pedestrian bridge</a>," <i>Philadelphia Inquirer</i>, "<a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/2024/03/feds-grant-450-million-toward-i-5-freeway-caps-in-north-portlands-albina-district.html">Feds grant $450 million toward I-5 freeway caps in North Portland’s Albina district</a>," <i>Portland Oregonian</i>," "<a href="https://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-city-life/2024/02/i-5-interstate-lid-downtown-seattle-explainer">Interstate 5 in Downtown Seattle: Put a Lid on It?</a>," Seattle Met).</p><p>Because the section next to the park (it was part of the park before the freeway was built) is so big--40 acres--it presents better opportunities compared to most other cities. It would cost hundreds of millions and take at least a decade to plan and build.</p></div><div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv7Ks14Kgx0TLGyc-fy0tlzAxeAizeXK8tGG6XfX25xe1G6jYY7ovlMSXEdz2pThYDNFbLriUs4j1wapfS_9UKZPra8C8MCpylePc5Keys3PJfvLncBfBjx7DUico9G_E50M6Tajojy6xyWxfofJKN6ZofTEPUOg77agBbr_E1MFk3CRKptWgdwg/s800/53566118962_86a0015120_o.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv7Ks14Kgx0TLGyc-fy0tlzAxeAizeXK8tGG6XfX25xe1G6jYY7ovlMSXEdz2pThYDNFbLriUs4j1wapfS_9UKZPra8C8MCpylePc5Keys3PJfvLncBfBjx7DUico9G_E50M6Tajojy6xyWxfofJKN6ZofTEPUOg77agBbr_E1MFk3CRKptWgdwg/s320/53566118962_86a0015120_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><b>Climate change effects on park visitors</b></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Hubert H. Humphrey Memorial Park, Pacoima, California. Thermal radar shows the differences in heat on a basketball court after reflective paint coatings were applied. </i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><div><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Sun and heat</b>. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Parks need to acknowledge heat and climate as issues that can suppress park use. For example, brutal heat in July and August means kids probably stay inside. </span></div><div><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-style: normal;">We have an open basketball court at Sugar House Park, and last summer I went up to some teens and asked them questions about what they thought about the amenities.</span></div></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: normal;">They mentioned shade was an issue commenting how they liked the trees that were there. I came back with suggestions like an additional (perhaps temporary) small shade structure, misters, and adding more trees as shade devices--we can take out a bit of asphalt and add trees. They also mentioned their desire for a water bottle filler at the nearby restrooms. </span></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: normal;">-- "<a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/climatechange/upload/NPS_visitation_climate_brief-508compliant.pdf">Warming Temperatures Likely to Alter Visitation across the National Park System</a>," NPS</span></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span><b>Reflective paint to reduce thermal effects</b>. Special reflective paints are a way to reduce the effect of heat on roads--the park loop road includes separated walking and biking lanes, concrete pads, courts and other facilities </span>("<a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-09-08/heat-waves-los-angeles-reflective-coating-streets-cool-pavement">As heat waves increase, Los Angeles is coating some streets with ‘cool pavement’</a>,"<i> Los Angeles Times, </i>"<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/reflective-payments-cooling-heat-latinos-california-rcna141458">This L.A. neighborhood's 'cool pavements' help it beat the intense heat</a>," NBC)<i>.</i></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Shade screens and misters</b>. </span>A park in South Salt Lake, Fitts Park, has a shade screen over their playground, and it makes a significant different in heat between shade and sun. Surprisingly, shade screens are few and far between. </div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWw97t1U0PNXvb8WW1NKMBEBBM5HQoXV5X-rxwI-THxv2usZDvQOf873XNyRalBAX6ZPuQ5iGSBlmGNOrKTSVeFjdV7qfZnV0vZi3HSK1HWyGGMKwM248YdPz0NLdsw6CK2QQjlPSUy5GwZvGLAd6P2CZcePKI-NYBg4akCGt_9ffgbZQj93cNUQ/s2048/53044462990_81bce4ad89_k.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWw97t1U0PNXvb8WW1NKMBEBBM5HQoXV5X-rxwI-THxv2usZDvQOf873XNyRalBAX6ZPuQ5iGSBlmGNOrKTSVeFjdV7qfZnV0vZi3HSK1HWyGGMKwM248YdPz0NLdsw6CK2QQjlPSUy5GwZvGLAd6P2CZcePKI-NYBg4akCGt_9ffgbZQj93cNUQ/s320/53044462990_81bce4ad89_k.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Phoenix and some other cities have developed community shade plans with parks and open spaces being key to responding to the challenges presented.<p>-- <a href="https://keep.lib.asu.edu/system/files/2022-05/pks_forestry_tree_and_shade_master_plan_0.pdf">Tree and Shade master plan</a>, Phoenix</p><p><b>Playground equipment gets super hot in the sun</b>. The <i>Washington Post</i> had a great article, "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/14/hot-playgrounds-burn-kids-shade/">Kids getting burned on swings and slides? Here’s how to fix it</a>," about research on heat and playgrounds.</p><p>-- <a href="https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws:60046">Guide to Climate Friendly Playgrounds</a>, Western Sydney University<br />-- "<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360132322007314">Outdoor playgrounds and climate change: Importance of surface materials and shade to extend play time and prevent burn injuries</a>," <i>Building and Environment</i> (2022)<br /></p><p>Shade screens can make a 20° or more difference between shade and direct sunlight.</p><p><b>Hydration</b>. An issue. Should we have more water stations? It turns out over 80% of the park's budget is spent on utilities including "culinary water."</p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUaC1rbHNngVb3iZtSO9_vejjoiQFoI9CjCcGyfwYRzYvWknzvYxM0VyQZzc3bstiplrohkUXN-S0WXgjYtPDhdPnCmtDyPxTxIcpUmfW3wypAbgZ5eSAlhk9fb6L1cL8Vzy_aOuUQof8uiEqs0sk82VYgQ8jg2PnreC5BgvpECDfBLidQBr0zA/s919/53581501210_9ca6f872c5_b.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="919" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUaC1rbHNngVb3iZtSO9_vejjoiQFoI9CjCcGyfwYRzYvWknzvYxM0VyQZzc3bstiplrohkUXN-S0WXgjYtPDhdPnCmtDyPxTxIcpUmfW3wypAbgZ5eSAlhk9fb6L1cL8Vzy_aOuUQof8uiEqs0sk82VYgQ8jg2PnreC5BgvpECDfBLidQBr0zA/s320/53581501210_9ca6f872c5_b.jpg" width="261" /></a></div><i>Kurt Amuedo, a third grader at University Park Elementary in Denver, Colorado, displays poster protesting air pollution for Earth Day. Denver Post.</i></div><div><b><br /></b><div><div><b>Climate change as an opportunity for civic engagement within parks and parks systems</b><p></p><p><b>Sustainability education</b>. Dealing with climate change as it effects a local park is the opportunity for teaching and learning about the environment. </p><p>Repositioning environmental issues around sustainability leads to renewed interest and innovative approaches to issues.</p><p> When I worked in Baltimore County in 2009/2010, I was struck by the rise in interest and involvement in sustainability. At the time many communities were creating sustainability plans, <a href="https://www.aashe.org/">colleges and universities</a> and other institutions renewed their environmental initiatives around sustainability, communities like <a href="https://www.baltimoresustainability.org/about/commision-on-sustainability/">Baltimore</a> created sustainability commissions. There was definitely a participation boost.</p><div><p>We can categorize participation as external or internal:</p></div><div><p></p><ul><li><u>External</u>: "ambassador" programs that engage with patrons, treating the park campus as an outdoor classroom and holding workshops for students, events like Montgomery County's <a href="https://montgomerycountygreenfest.org/">GreenFest</a> </li><li><u>Internal</u>: planting trees, doing park clean ups, conducting citizen science projects like measuring water quality in Parley's Creek</li></ul></div><p>Sugar House Park has a "Garden Center," that has been under-active. We can reposition it around Gardening and the Environment, add a slew of activities and programs, making it a leading node within a network of top notch outdoor education centers in the Salt Lake Valley. </p></div></div></div></div></div>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-70140188266772157542024-03-12T18:34:00.002-04:002024-03-15T06:35:51.734-04:00Community Gardens as Community Building and Neighborhood Stabilization in Weak Markets<p>Empty buildings and lots are a revitalization issue in weak real estate markets. As a preservationist, I prefer not to tear down buildings. </p><p>But when you don't have enough people to populate your empty housing, buildings deteriorate and people advocate for demolition, not recognizing in a weak market that improving an empty lot is even harder than fixing an empty house. By contrast, in strong markets there is demand for alternative uses.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZHwT3JWGap14sVepsPmG5-b_RSKH7j8hyHic6SaNr_cvHjTlFj5Tx4Muinf65JpDhgvcmFa5zmHpQPips7FJFjBmAKLm_oKuWB41Idck1HuXzNUjef7DQ9nK3Jqisxg6L6H6Ey77WPkuRBYnp4BDfXyyjmckYHnKycF_vxKde2lCdxR9K0Ynvw/s700/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(7).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZHwT3JWGap14sVepsPmG5-b_RSKH7j8hyHic6SaNr_cvHjTlFj5Tx4Muinf65JpDhgvcmFa5zmHpQPips7FJFjBmAKLm_oKuWB41Idck1HuXzNUjef7DQ9nK3Jqisxg6L6H6Ey77WPkuRBYnp4BDfXyyjmckYHnKycF_vxKde2lCdxR9K0Ynvw/s320/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(7).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>Philadelphia Land Bank Managing Director Adam Thiel walks past an empty lot with trash piling up from illegal dumping and littering along 29th Street in Strawberry Mansion on Feb. 23.
Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer, Philadelphia Inquirer.</i><p></p><p><a href="https://phsonline.org/programs/community-gardens/services-for-community-gardens">Philadelphia Horticultural Society</a> has been a leading light in neighborhood stabilization for 20+ years. </p><p>To address the problem of empty lots, they've created community gardens, ideally getting those lots held in trust, or sold to abutting property owner.</p><p>Research has found that community gardens helps stabilize blocks and neighborhoods, including a measurable reduction in crime ("<a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1718503115">Citywide cluster randomized trial to restore blighted vacant land and its effects on violence, crime, and fear</a>").</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.ngtrust.org/">National Garden Trust</a> does the same thing on a much smaller scale. They've found that the <a href="https://phdcphila.org/">Philadelphia Land Bank</a>, a government agency, hasn't been effective with support for these kinds of garden-creating initiatives.</p><p>Other groups operate in this space too. I've always thought cities like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Baltimore have had stronger sets of active creative revitalization organizations because they have no choice but to be innovative and creative.</p><p>-- <a href="https://phsonline.org/programs/community-gardens/green-resource-centers">Philadelphia Horticultural Society Green Resource Centers</a>
In close collaboration with community partners, PHS operates five Green Resource Centers (GRCs). The GRCs are local community hubs where PHS propagates and distributes thousands of organic vegetable seedlings for community gardens and production sites enrolled in our programs. The GRCs also serve as spaces for workshops, volunteering and much more. </p><p>-- <a href="https://groundedinphilly.org/">Grounded in Philly</a> A resource ecosystem for urban agriculture in Philadelphia that provides access to data on vacant land throughout Philadelphia and offers resources to individuals interested in starting or preserving community-based vacant land projects.</p><p>-- <a href="https://groundedinphilly.org/gardening-without-ownership/">Gardening without ownership</a></p><p>-- <a href="https://phsonline.org/programs/tree-programs">Philadelphia Horticultural Society Tree Tenders</a> A program that teaches the basics of tree planting, tree care and how to gather communities around the importance of trees.</p>
-- <a href="https://phsonline.org/uploads/attachments/cl3bpve4elmhd9zra66mj4hdu-landcare-nicetown-tioga-3yr-plan-v6.pdf">Nicetown and Tioga Love where you live Greening Plan</a>, public space cleaning, greening and stabilization plan for two Philadelphia neighborhoods <div><br /></div><div>-- <a href="https://www.phillyorchards.org/">Philadelphia Orchard Project</a> . A nonprofit organization that works with community-based groups and volunteers to plan and plant orchards of useful and edible plants. </div><div><br /></div><div>-- <a href="https://www.phillyorchards.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Copy-of-POP-Community-Organizing-Toolkit.pdf">Community Organizing Toolkit</a></div><div><br /></div><div>-- <a href="https://soilgeneration.org/">Soil Generation</a>. A coalition of brown and black gardeners, famers and community members working to ensure how land is used, address community health concerns, grow food and improve the environment. </div><div><br /></div><div>-- <a href="https://www.communitygarden.org/">American Community Gardening Association</a>. A national nonprofit working toward increasing and enhancing community gardening and greening. <a href="https://www.communitygarden.org/resources">Resource guides</a> provides discounts, a public forum and other publications and tools. </div><div><br /></div><div>-- <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220130104716/https://pubintlaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/land_toolkit_webrev.pdf">Vacant Land 215</a>. A comprehensive self-guide for gardeners looking to maintain or create community spaces on resource from out vacant land. </div><div><br /></div><div>-- <a href="https://pubintlaw.org/">The Public Interest Law Center</a>: Garden Justice Legal Initiative
Provides pro bono legal support, policy research and advocacy, and community education and organizing to community gardeners and market farmers.
</div><div><br /></div><div>-- "<a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/jrnl/2017/nrs_2017_heckert_001.pdf">Can "cleaned and greened" lots take on the role of public greenspace</a>," <i>Journal of Planning Education and Research</i></div><div>-- "<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23188553/">More than just an eyesore: local insights and solutions on vacant land and urban health</a>," <i>Journal of Urban Health </i></div><div><i>-- "<a href="https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/news/historically-redlined-neighborhoods-are-more-likely-lack-green-space-today-study">Historically Redlined Neighborhoods Are More Likely to Lack Green Space Today: Study</a>,"</i></div><div><br /></div><div>===</div><div>In Salt Lake there is a community garden on the Sugar House Park campus. And we are hoping to get a grant to have Utah State University Extension to put in a garden for their senior nutrition food security program, although with developing a fruit tree growing program and a small outbuilding for workshops.</div><div><br /></div><div>===</div><div><a href="https://wearewilder.co.uk/the-wilder-mile">Wilder Mile</a> project, Southwark, London</div><div>"Wilder’s goal is to wild one square mile in Southwark, central London by creating a network of people, projects and companies all committed to improving biodiversity. This could be anything from transforming a concrete space into a wildlife garden to putting up a bird box or building a pallet planter and filling it with butterfly friendly plants. No intervention is too small."</div>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-66929673918059242512024-03-11T06:10:00.220-04:002024-03-18T13:51:45.124-04:00Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Two | Academic Research as Guidance <p> <b>Gaps in park master planning frameworks</b></p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-master-planning-part-one.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part One | Levels of Service</a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/parks-2.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Two | Academic Research as Guidance</a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-master-planning-part.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Three | Planning for Climate Change/Environment</a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-mater-planning-part-four.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Four | Planning for Seasonality and Activation</a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-master-planning-part.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning, Part Five | Art(s) in the Park(s) as a program </a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-master-planning-part.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Six | Civic Engagement</a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-mater-planning-part-four.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Seven | Park Architectural (and Landscape Design) History</a>" <br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-master-planning-part_0858186970.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Eight | Second stage planning for parks using the cultural landscape framework</a>" </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGv_jWpkG_VdkuWCneObDush9QHqSms7P2BWarrmaeJCDxgPLLHkoyOMKP3z7lp4p3TYeYrVPL8OfP1cahWF_Uadsjo7Hf8RH6RZDlaQypnSBps6P13rrmNMpPlXqmDpyq70XamLuLJZsGDf-xSyVCRYEHVd2VojHcKwbPSE3iBl9vgycTzSyumg/s755/Untitled.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="428" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGv_jWpkG_VdkuWCneObDush9QHqSms7P2BWarrmaeJCDxgPLLHkoyOMKP3z7lp4p3TYeYrVPL8OfP1cahWF_Uadsjo7Hf8RH6RZDlaQypnSBps6P13rrmNMpPlXqmDpyq70XamLuLJZsGDf-xSyVCRYEHVd2VojHcKwbPSE3iBl9vgycTzSyumg/w226-h400/Untitled.png" width="226" /></a></div><br /><i>CDC image. <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/activepeoplehealthynation/strategies-to-increase-physical-activity/index.html">Strategies to increase physical activity</a>.</i><p></p><p><b>Using academic research for evidence-based objective guidance.</b> When parks master plans don't have specific guidance about facilities or what to do, I think we can and should reference evidence-based academic research, focusing on those studies with findings that demonstrate in practical ways for engaging people in outdoor recreation and fitness activities.</p><p>That way decisions are made on an objective, informed basis--rather than responding to current expressed needs like pickleball or adding a splash pad without thinking through the issue(s) in a time consuming, more complicated manner.</p><p>(Coordination of resources is important too. SHP is basically a 110 acre dog park, but not officially. Some people want there to be a dog park. OTOH, there is a city regional park a few blocks away with a beautiful 2.5 acre dog park. We don't need to duplicate.)</p><p>The studies, "<a href="https://www.ajpmonline.org/action/showPdf?pii=S0749-3797%2816%2930079-4">The First National Study of Neighborhood Parks Implications for Physical Activity</a>," <i>American Journal of Preventative Medicine</i> (2016) and <a href="https://www.nrpa.org/uploadedFiles/nrpa.org/Publications_and_Research/Research/Papers/SOPARC-Report.pdf">System of Observing Play and Recreation in Communities</a> (SOPARC) identified particular facilities as key to getting people to visit and be active in their local parks:</p><p></p><ul><li>basketball hoops</li><li>dog parks</li><li>playgrounds</li><li>restrooms</li><li>recreation and senior centers (indoor facilities)</li><li>splash pads.</li></ul><div>By focusing on increasing usership and participation, greater physical activity and individual improvements in health should result.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-WRXWbD0dIcTXI4MnVEcxj7KSqUi0Ri7Uk72VhWo0y44L5WOA_H_jDM7Npjeb3ckA4ExKLo5mePTctHiKlzjQf1J7Rgu8572uvgL69Gcu0Fu73f4PxAH69BQxlliEZiqoI_jQDR2nARW5jZWrI-zQOrHdQFAjPzosbFQ3Y0GDWPA-Q608X7Mzcw/s800/35090824055_e53854d87d_o.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="800" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-WRXWbD0dIcTXI4MnVEcxj7KSqUi0Ri7Uk72VhWo0y44L5WOA_H_jDM7Npjeb3ckA4ExKLo5mePTctHiKlzjQf1J7Rgu8572uvgL69Gcu0Fu73f4PxAH69BQxlliEZiqoI_jQDR2nARW5jZWrI-zQOrHdQFAjPzosbFQ3Y0GDWPA-Q608X7Mzcw/s320/35090824055_e53854d87d_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>Planners at Salt Lake County Parks say adding a splash pad to a playground makes it festival-like, with hordes of users. Columbia Heights, DC.</i></div><div><br />The Trust for Public Land ParkScore® measure uses this list of facilities as part of their ratings of park systems.</div><p>
-- "<a href="https://www.ajpmonline.org/action/showPdf?pii=S0749-3797%2816%2930079-4">The First National Study of Neighborhood Parks Implications for Physical Activity</a>, <i>American Journal of Preventative Medicine</i> (2016)<br />-- <a href="https://www.studioludo.org/our-bookshelf">Resources on playgrounds</a> Studio Ludo, <br />-- <a href="https://americanfitnessindex.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023-American-Fitness-Index-Summary-Report_FINAL-20230629.pdf">American Fitness Index</a><br />
-- <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/activepeoplehealthynation/index.html">
Active People, Healthy Nation</a>, CDC<br />-- <a href="https://thebentway.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Play-Provocations-by-The-Bentway-Daily-tous-les-jours.pdf">Play Provocations: What play can do for a city</a>, Bentway Toronto<br /> -- "<a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4661#">Playground Design: Contribution to Duration of Stay and
Implications for Physical Activity</a>," <i>International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health</i> (2023)</p>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-58480568642036760912024-03-10T08:17:00.002-04:002024-03-11T03:03:05.385-04:00Designing spaces (sticky spaces) for use, flexibility: park benches, picnic tables<p>See the <i>Boston Globe</i> article, "<a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/11/17/opinion/urban-planning-community-spaces-combat-loneliness/">'Sticky' places are urban planning lifelines</a>." From the <i>Guardian</i> article "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2017/jul/07/the-power-of-the-picnic-bench">The power of the picnic bench</a>":</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgC3AbB7kWwdUOYhv6RsbxC29LCNDGXj67q7539ODBXwbrkYzNWGu_qzXww3aFZmG_PWXrr1GC5f4JKJmsUuBN9JXr2IWGtIut-NIuojPGCpAgnolJGUm0khSklMbK1_E_zhxr5D3huvGOqLrsyh5kgA3fPVF_ypk3sLjmrtG8Qk6pQsg_KSpGfA/s800/53576926627_bcb8318edd_c.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="800" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgC3AbB7kWwdUOYhv6RsbxC29LCNDGXj67q7539ODBXwbrkYzNWGu_qzXww3aFZmG_PWXrr1GC5f4JKJmsUuBN9JXr2IWGtIut-NIuojPGCpAgnolJGUm0khSklMbK1_E_zhxr5D3huvGOqLrsyh5kgA3fPVF_ypk3sLjmrtG8Qk6pQsg_KSpGfA/s320/53576926627_bcb8318edd_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>A picnic table, meanwhile, can be the place for a meeting, a spot to host a party, or even just somewhere to eat your lunch with relative ease and comfort. More than this, they can involve a community in their space and give them a personal stake in it. If this sounds like fanciful, highfalutin stuff, then let me tell you about one picnic bench in particular. <div><br /></div><div>One day a picnic table appeared outside Pembroke House, a community space in Walworth, south London. It had been left over from a nearby party which had spilled onto the grass outside. Mike Wilson, Pembroke House’s manager, tells me that shortly after the table arrived, things began to happen: “Dog walkers who had passed each other every day without speaking started to sit down at the table for a chat. People waiting for events in Pembroke House to start would sit down to wait together.” After seeing what a difference it made, the bench’s original owner decided to leave it there for everyone to use.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Pembroke House team now regularly hold their meetings at the picnic table, and rarely get through one without being interrupted by someone stopping to say hello and find out what’s going on. When being interviewed by consultants about their success in the community, Wilson showed them the picnic table, and immediately a neighbour interrupted to tell them what a difference Pembroke House and this table had made to him. The final testament to this extraordinary piece of outdoor furniture is from the local tenants, who were so impressed with the “bench effect” that they secured funding from the local council’s Cleaner Greener Safer project to install more street furniture around the local area. </div><div><br /></div><div>The humble picnic table may not be trendy, and may even look a little naff, but it’s cheap, and with today’s disappearing budgets that can only be a good thing. The discerning landscape architect, cautious of their aesthetic can install a designer alternative, but the cheap and cheerful traditional wooden version can’t be beaten. Try it as an easy addition to your local green space or community garden and see what a difference it makes.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXowDD8XeVLNg4ZDe6lXARD8Hx0jzgPSULNnAPMKVlmAESxqHVBaSQCq8ogBq5BvRiiMUzJNthRyuDaJ-y2AIuDbuSU1TAnGARa-QLQ09TMOh0uAAqNciIX1fUCZOQX_2XdAYDwELy1yZZfgBvYnciBbc1XvRBE1Y-doxEVMKM869koP_oHrsqxQ/s800/52897613262_17599f5bd0_c.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXowDD8XeVLNg4ZDe6lXARD8Hx0jzgPSULNnAPMKVlmAESxqHVBaSQCq8ogBq5BvRiiMUzJNthRyuDaJ-y2AIuDbuSU1TAnGARa-QLQ09TMOh0uAAqNciIX1fUCZOQX_2XdAYDwELy1yZZfgBvYnciBbc1XvRBE1Y-doxEVMKM869koP_oHrsqxQ/s320/52897613262_17599f5bd0_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>A park bench is for reading a book, resting halfway up a hill, or contemplating the view.</div>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-86118656166483969672024-03-09T11:24:00.012-05:002024-03-18T13:52:01.361-04:00Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part One | Defining Levels of Service for individual parks<p> <b>Gaps in park master planning frameworks</b></p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-master-planning-part-one.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part One | Levels of Service</a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/parks-2.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Two | Academic Research as Guidance</a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-master-planning-part.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Three | Planning for Climate Change/Environment</a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-mater-planning-part-four.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Four | Planning for Seasonality and Activation</a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-master-planning-part.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning, Part Five | Art(s) in the Park(s) as a program </a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-master-planning-part.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Six | Civic Engagement</a>"<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-mater-planning-part-four.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Seven | Park Architectural (and Landscape Design) History</a>" <br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/gaps-in-parks-master-planning-part_0858186970.html">Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Eight | Second stage planning for parks using the cultural landscape framework</a>" </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJEzowt6SSeMiGJcZ-mC4uS3_JQMAlMuXjnO_0bOsv11zolWWYvqqVbeygD_o1O4EwEIcJUOY1xCptZAECDm6RsiadejGcx2apIwmu01UgUEOn7TCQKK5Czh_kJJL68saCI5NJlpx5M1RyrZt5cBHO8Cc6dHb0kV04yzrIsd0pO_vp8GRCuJJCQ/s2048/52396089685_fadb0d9414_k.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJEzowt6SSeMiGJcZ-mC4uS3_JQMAlMuXjnO_0bOsv11zolWWYvqqVbeygD_o1O4EwEIcJUOY1xCptZAECDm6RsiadejGcx2apIwmu01UgUEOn7TCQKK5Czh_kJJL68saCI5NJlpx5M1RyrZt5cBHO8Cc6dHb0kV04yzrIsd0pO_vp8GRCuJJCQ/s320/52396089685_fadb0d9414_k.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />While covid kept me somewhat quiescent in terms of civic involvement in Salt Lake after first moving here, eventually I ended up getting involved in parks (and other development matters). I am on the board of Sugar House Park, which is owned by both the city and county, so it has some interesting intergovernmental issues. <p></p><p>Working on revitalization in DC, where the National Park Service runs many of the "local" parks, general federal-local government issues, and being on the board of Eastern Market public market for 13 years definitely prepared me for the issues present here. </p><p>-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2017/05/revisiting-trust-for-public-lands-park.html">Revisiting Trust for Public Land's Park Score® methodology</a>" (2017)<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2013/10/federal-shutdown-as-another-example-of.html">Federal shutdown as another example of why local jurisdictions should have more robust contingency and master planning processes</a>" (2013)<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2012/03/testimony-agency-performance-oversight.html">Testimony: Agency Performance Oversight, DC Department of Parks and Recreation</a>" (2012) </p><p>One problem with the board is that the city and county haven't invested in board development, and for the most part over the years, the board has taken a back seat to the executive branch members of the board--there are seven "lay members" and one each from city and county parks.</p><p>My background in planning, including parks planning, gives me/the board a knowledge base they didn't have access to before. </p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2017/08/sounds-familiar-recommendations-from.html">Sounds familiar to me: recommendations from a guy who visited every park in Boston</a>" (2017):<b> </b></p><p>There is tension between being a more active or a more passive board. Lack of investment in board development, and real complications in planning and capital budgeting between city and county have led to some problems.</p><p>Fortunately there are a couple of other "new members" who are super go getters too. We have so much to do. Without them though, I'd just be an old guy yelling into the wind. But, like my brief planning job in Baltimore County proved I could do great work and work within a system--despite the lack of a degree in planning, I am helping to transform parks practice in Salt Lake City.</p><p>One thing that's interesting given how much I advocated for parks in DC and all the parks master plans I've read over the years, is identifying a number of gaps in the master plan frameworks for parks, more generally. A bunch of items I just didn't think about until I had to.</p><p>This seven-part series covers the gaps I've identified so far.</p><p><b>Level of service </b>a<b>s a public administration term</b></p><p>The term <a href="https://t4america.org/community-connectors/what-they-mean/level-of-service/">Level of Service</a> is typically thought of as a transportation term referring to vehicle throughput, functioning of intersections, etc. </p><p>It turns out that there is an International Standard (ISO 55000) for asset management, which defines levels of service as: </p><p></p><blockquote><p>…parameters, or combination of parameters, which reflect social, political, environmental and economic outcomes that the organization delivers. These parameters might include metrics such as: </p><p></p><ul><li>Safety </li><li>Customer expectations and satisfaction </li><li>Quality </li><li>Quantity </li><li>Capacity </li><li>Reliability </li><li>Responsiveness </li><li>Environmental acceptability </li><li>Availability </li><li>Cost</li></ul></blockquote><p><b>Levels of Service defined at the scale of a park system</b>. LOS is a term used in park planning at the scale of the system ("<a href="https://www.planning.org/pas/reports/report194.htm">Standards for Outdoor Recreational Areas</a>," American Planning Association) and it's used to measure the amount of space and facilities available to residents at a gross-grained scale. </p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfiM_wiNTmN6Em-SNyRVH3Ugry1ozkF_jCHxxkPXAKw2jUJJmmhI7HMa8GNUgeaJ-40Pzu0UgpkIWj2e5zDvVU_obqASdG3mExf4rRiTPn0rc0xZ5XtkdAF9DD0DI2JjU_vpt5SOFjvMkpUENchttA2yX0mYTBS6oPE-sYyMRbHKiYPxgVqfN1Jw/s2048/3180969134_69c88d23eb_k.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfiM_wiNTmN6Em-SNyRVH3Ugry1ozkF_jCHxxkPXAKw2jUJJmmhI7HMa8GNUgeaJ-40Pzu0UgpkIWj2e5zDvVU_obqASdG3mExf4rRiTPn0rc0xZ5XtkdAF9DD0DI2JjU_vpt5SOFjvMkpUENchttA2yX0mYTBS6oPE-sYyMRbHKiYPxgVqfN1Jw/s320/3180969134_69c88d23eb_k.jpg" width="240" /></a></b></div><b>Special levels of service demands for business districts and park</b>s. LOS as a term isn't used that often at the micro scale in discussions about "parks conservancies" and business improvement districts, even though providing a LOS higher than a city can typically afford is exactly why such organizations have been created.--and they collect special monies to pay for it. <p></p><p>For either a BID or a conservancy extra services are likely to include security, sanitation, capital improvements and marketing and for BIDs, economic development activities. </p><p><b>Conservancies and BIDs as special service districts</b>. NYC is well known for its park conservancies, starting with Central Park. </p><p>-- <a href="https://www.tpl.org/sites/default/files/files_upload/ccpe-Parks-Conservancy-Report.pdf">Public spaces/private money: The Triumphs and Pitfalls of Urban Park Conservancies</a>, Trust for Public Land<br />-- "<a href="https://www.nrpa.org/parks-recreation-magazine/2013/october/creating-a-park-conservancy-that-fits/">Creating a Park Conservancy that Fits</a>," NRPA</p><p>Discussions for creating a <a href="https://www.centralparknyc.org/">conservancy for Central Park</a> started in the 1970s and came to fruition in the early 1980s. The city agreed to provide a certain level of personnel and budget, with transfer of active management of the park to the third party nonprofit, which raised additional monies for staff, maintenance and improvements.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihVBKnsaCX9F-u_hSqXBE6X0TISHUj0NwDBTeIkVNvAuj4qQ2QW7KoA6CAwCrNXdN1BwP9cGK9GIIJfk_nAjSqG6Mu1_NdhQF-3_YqUuDHg5D6Kdi6OwRYlPXI65jhNA7UCkRXoUg5cpOv6KV8yC6k8qXWvzhMp-lrMcfnhjLsWTONi_sdnSdXmQ/s648/9781978802438.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="432" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihVBKnsaCX9F-u_hSqXBE6X0TISHUj0NwDBTeIkVNvAuj4qQ2QW7KoA6CAwCrNXdN1BwP9cGK9GIIJfk_nAjSqG6Mu1_NdhQF-3_YqUuDHg5D6Kdi6OwRYlPXI65jhNA7UCkRXoUg5cpOv6KV8yC6k8qXWvzhMp-lrMcfnhjLsWTONi_sdnSdXmQ/s320/9781978802438.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>New York City has since developed many such groups for parks and and business districts. Brooklyn's <a href="https://www.prospectpark.org/">Prospect Park Alliance</a> was created in 1987 and the <a href="https://madisonsquarepark.org/">Madison Square Park Conservancy</a> in 2003.<p></p><p><b>The <a href="https://bryantpark.org/">Bryant Park Conservancy</a> was created in 1980 and its revitalization is a well known story in planning circle</b>s ("<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150221113637/https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/transformation-bryant-park-article-1.1043433">Inside the transformation of Bryant Park</a>," <i>New York Daily News</i>, "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/nyregion/splendor-in-the-grass.html">Splendor in the Grass</a>," <i>New York Time</i>s, <a href="https://centercityphila.org/uploads/attachments/cjlf4pwu4009t7gqd6t8xnpn2-bryant-park.pdf">Bryant Park case study</a>, "<a href="https://bryantpark.org/blog/life-of-bryant-bryant-parks-transformation-into-the-center-of-midtown">Life of Bryant: Bryant Park’s Transformation Into the Center of Midtown</a>" "<a href="https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/lessons-from-bryant-park-must-guide-jwj-park-redesign/">Lessons from NYC’s Bryant Park must guide James Weldon Johnson Park’s redesign</a>" Jaxson, "<a href="https://bryantpark.org/blog/a-place-is-better-than-a-plan-revitalizing-urban-areas-is-best-done-through">A Place Is Better Than a Plan: Revitalizing urban areas is best done through small improvements, not grand designs</a>,:" <i>City Journal</i>, "<a href="https://www.pps.org/article/mgmtbryantpark">Bryant Park, NY: Publicly Owned, Privately Managed, and Financially Self-Supporting</a>" Project for Public Spaces) and is a good model for other communities--although New York City has an advantage because of its great wealth-- because the park is smaller, only 10 acres, compared to large scale parks like Central Park or Prospect Park.</p><p><b>Criticism of conservancies and BIDs as privatization of the public space and civic commons. </b>Note that these kinds of initiatives can be controversial both locally and in the academic literature. These are legitimate criticisms. At the same time if you want better places, it costs money and this method may be the only way a community can provide the LOS in terms of management, operations, and capital improvements it wants for its key/anchor/signature civic assets.</p><p>-- "<a href="https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1483&context=clr">Stewarding the City as Commons: Parks Conservancies and Community Land Trusts Community Land Trusts </a>" City University of New York Law Review<br />-- <a href="https://media.rff.org/documents/RFF-IB-14-01.pdf">Private Funding of Public Parks Assessing the Role of Philanthropy </a>, Resources for the Future<br />-- "<a href="https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/our-parks-are-not-for-sale-from-the-gold-coast-of-new-york-to-the-venice-biennale">Our Parks Are Not for Sale: From the Gold Coast of New York to the Venice Biennale</a>," Dissent<br />--" <a href="https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/65986850/j.1540-6210.2008.00985.x20210312-25557-1v0lmkz-libre.pdf?1615565404=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DLooking_a_Gift_Horse_in_the_Mouth_Challe.pdf&Expires=1710001975&Signature=bRxpXgwbjz4eJLNM7umof00Gm0HPoo8Ns3IDidf1Ip3F71DQzgcTmyjle4YcciIQrTv2S1rXBwE8exJezAD4dvKC0nbWbntOcQvc3sh615KMk5b6ak9Svk0MHhd6AKbvb8hPATM9u4qT0hSlqugdDnMDaNPmCwMO5k2fC20znBQB8uEJPOeDFCG-9nMt3kurW3rPPGCTrx~qwerWSWGQR~U9~LARJfgfxpMYWcT4pLKFhHUMAqh1rtQ~laWdMPriDQetO5H2J5OsFikgIxq~ESz-lXGFJTav0C7UQwEgcbZOGrB9HHhX7NZAIPPPGhJ83oYxN9nMABeesTIRaWCMKQ__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA">Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth: Challenges in Managing Philanthropic Support for Public Services</a>," Public Administration Review<br />-- "<a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=rea-DgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA73&dq=creating+park+conservancies&ots=3Ugrbzc0FF&sig=ri_FQ9S2JX33RYZDGonAIP1nXLc#v=onepage&q=creating%20park%20conservancies&f=false">Park (in)Equity</a>," Deconstructing the High Line: Post Industrial Urbanism and the Rise of the Elevated Park</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZHLBKcWMcdNxKjpwG_7wMHK7b37Cb_ewe54dPlycGk9Bj9zYB4chxNcfvQsYVmRueVqlVEwqdmp_lGPQh5APX55cIxRRsF_FnRx-4doEeD5NE6gBryq2B71n6fxrmvTduEPWlRZJaXylRZTUp_RvDudfU4aBCwf5w5ufGvhWORp0IQOpe-NxSUw/s788/12665415_89ee1ab3bf_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="788" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZHLBKcWMcdNxKjpwG_7wMHK7b37Cb_ewe54dPlycGk9Bj9zYB4chxNcfvQsYVmRueVqlVEwqdmp_lGPQh5APX55cIxRRsF_FnRx-4doEeD5NE6gBryq2B71n6fxrmvTduEPWlRZJaXylRZTUp_RvDudfU4aBCwf5w5ufGvhWORp0IQOpe-NxSUw/w400-h270/12665415_89ee1ab3bf_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><b>Sugar House Park is a conservancy</b>. Technically. But it hasn't created the innfrastructure and capacity to take advantage of this status. Plus, Salt Lake City, unlike NYC, isn't full of wealth, although there are plenty of philanthropic opportunities that the park can seek out. </p><p>To my way of thinking, from the standpoint of <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Social-Psychology-Organizations-Daniel-Katz/dp/0471023558">Social Psychology of Organizations</a></i>, the group is on the cusp of moving from a more ad hoc structure to one that is more organized and active. (A move from a stage one organization to stage two.)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiExZUkWbv-lIvhQ3PqoB3tt0Q8eOl2S1i9urj0acQYRyhd-_gfIviibAucpB8lCRPHqT8kIG-1IKPzuXWFEuGuTlC02v2pEJgkqah2DecVZvJal4ZJd5RqOei9dhvRw55Oqb6Vd8s65-VxGNuM0j1ajxfHAW89Cka5mIECzPKvQzMJafiOJlompQ/s800/53476500623_0c414e20c4_c.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="361" data-original-width="800" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiExZUkWbv-lIvhQ3PqoB3tt0Q8eOl2S1i9urj0acQYRyhd-_gfIviibAucpB8lCRPHqT8kIG-1IKPzuXWFEuGuTlC02v2pEJgkqah2DecVZvJal4ZJd5RqOei9dhvRw55Oqb6Vd8s65-VxGNuM0j1ajxfHAW89Cka5mIECzPKvQzMJafiOJlompQ/s320/53476500623_0c414e20c4_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>Uncleared sidewalks from 1300 East to Sugar House Park.</i><p></p><p><b>Levels of Service at the scale of an individual park is </b>an issue with Sugar House Park. </p><p>It's an urban park, a regional park serving all of the County, but it's also heavily used by city as well as neighborhood residents. The neighborhood is pretty densely populated, leading to even higher use.</p><p>But the County, which is contracted to maintain the park, and provides key administrative and planning support, mostly doesn't manage parks in center cities, with all the issues that such park locations may have-- security, homelessness (<a href="https://popcenter.asu.edu/content/dealing-crime-and-disorder-urban-parks-0">Dealing With Crime and Disorder in Urban Parks</a>, ASU POP Center) and other issues like snow clearance to maintain winter access that are not typical of suburban parks .</p><p>Finding the money to provide the necessary level of "extra service" is difficult because we have to get agreement from both the city and the county, and as park systems, because Sugar House Park is simultaneously part of both, and yet separate, not part of either system, this can be a long process.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-j71L-jY-mXENiw_GMTvZQI64k5KmBoxh4_abK6TE2kCiYefSiMs41vDxED9xtS82tL5GrkcVbs90uvJuzLStsiPZrttwPubDx4T5aa7cXGJb20qfIyHYD9o1Gyp7b8T24g0n7olXS7mJScA8IVClDer6V4hyphenhyphen7xw98Urwt8dRA0NlBCx4mBI0w/s800/52414344598_5574e0e1c8_c.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-j71L-jY-mXENiw_GMTvZQI64k5KmBoxh4_abK6TE2kCiYefSiMs41vDxED9xtS82tL5GrkcVbs90uvJuzLStsiPZrttwPubDx4T5aa7cXGJb20qfIyHYD9o1Gyp7b8T24g0n7olXS7mJScA8IVClDer6V4hyphenhyphen7xw98Urwt8dRA0NlBCx4mBI0w/s320/52414344598_5574e0e1c8_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>At the scale of parks master planning, it's important to come up with a LOS typology for individual parks/parks at the micro scale, and provide the desired LOS as needed.<p></p><p>And that's what I'm in the process of trying to do with Sugar House Park. </p><p>"Why is our meager budget earned from pavilion rentals paying for security?" or "why can't the City Public Utilities agency help pay for dredging the pond since it is part of their watershed?" or "why don't we have better snow clearance?" are the kinds of questions that I've been asking and should lead to significant changes over time.</p><p><b>Developing a LOS dashboard</b>. I don't manage the park. The County is developing a dashboard for the park system and individual parks, focused on state of good repair. To address the issue of differentiated level of service requirements, we need a checklist/chart/dashboard. That's the best way to justify the recommendations, decisions and choices you make, based on demand for quantity and quality of particular services. It would include items such as:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Security services</li><li>Restroom services</li><li>Maintenance standards/State of Good Repair</li><li>Ornamental plantings</li><li>Lighting (morning, night, winter)</li><li>Types of street furniture</li><li>The array of programming offered</li><li>The type and operation of facilities</li><li>Special facilities like bike share stations</li><li>Snow clearance practice</li><li>Hours of operation</li></ul><p></p><p></p><div><br /></div><div>-- <a href="https://sfrecpark.org/DocumentCenter/View/18951/SFRPD-Park-Evaluation-Standards-FY22">SF Park Evaluation Standards</a>, 2022-</div><div>-- <a href="https://bouldercolorado.gov/safe-and-managed-public-spaces-operations-dashboard">Safe and Managed Public Spaces Operations Dashboard</a>, Boulder</div><div>-- <a href="https://bouldercolorado.gov/media/11263/download?inline=">Safe and Managed Public Spaces Action Plan 2023</a>, Boulder</div><p></p>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-26179030634992819642024-03-08T14:06:00.005-05:002024-03-10T03:29:21.877-04:00Electric vehicles as next generation asphalt nation: Car Harm paper<p> -- "<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692324000267">Car harm: A global review of automobility's harm to people and the environment</a>," <i>Journal of Transport Geography</i></p><p><b></b></p><blockquote><b>Abstract:</b>
Despite the widespread harm caused by cars and automobility, governments, corporations, and individuals continue to facilitate it by expanding roads, manufacturing larger vehicles, and subsidising parking, electric cars, and resource extraction. This literature review synthesises the negative consequences of automobility, or car harm, which we have grouped into four categories: violence, ill health, social injustice, and environmental damage. We find that, since their invention, cars and automobility have killed 60–80 million people and injured at least 2 billion. Currently, 1 in 34 deaths are caused by automobility. Cars have exacerbated social inequities and damaged ecosystems in every global region, including in remote car-free places. While some people benefit from automobility, nearly everyone—whether or not they drive—is harmed by it. Slowing automobility's violence and pollution will be impracticable without the replacement of policies that encourage car harm with policies that reduce it. To that end, the paper briefly summarises interventions that are ready for implementation.</blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpSYoukQRyDJBeFG9QkHrES3flNTGOQcVRFTz43e5_-v-iDilJp-yyXf0ajf9DhxxBH-BsiNpa3snDWxupA3xwSePqwRpOSU87pa4A5ljG9smvJyokbb4oCIG2HUNgQSRMHqLZBVlfIEHAHpx9yov-BSgSiyqaalUmsS9_VbCGFYA_oC2qZiPGPQ/s1024/53464212349_ca9804db9d_b.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="483" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpSYoukQRyDJBeFG9QkHrES3flNTGOQcVRFTz43e5_-v-iDilJp-yyXf0ajf9DhxxBH-BsiNpa3snDWxupA3xwSePqwRpOSU87pa4A5ljG9smvJyokbb4oCIG2HUNgQSRMHqLZBVlfIEHAHpx9yov-BSgSiyqaalUmsS9_VbCGFYA_oC2qZiPGPQ/w189-h400/53464212349_ca9804db9d_b.jpg" width="189" /></a></div><i>In the early 1960s, gasoline station companies had a campaign promoting asphalt (made from oil) road pavements. Atlantic Imperial Washington DC Metro Baltimore Road Map, 1964, back panel.</i><div><br /></div><div>Also see the Bloomberg article "<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-07/evs-can-t-fix-a-global-epidemic-of-car-harm-study-finds">EVs Can’t Fix a Global Epidemic of ‘Car Harm,’ Study Finds</a>." The report concludes: <p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>In 2019, 43% of people killed by motor vehicles were walking, using a wheelchair or riding a bike. </li><li>Motor vehicles kill more than 700 children a day. </li><li>Traffic deaths occur at the highest rates in Africa and Southeast Asia, and, in the US and Brazil, crashes disproportionately kill Black and Indigenous people. </li><li>SUVs, which make up nearly half of car sales globally, are eight times more likely than traditional cars to kill children. </li><li>Traffic-related air pollution is linked to circulatory and heart disease, lung cancer, asthma and, according to a cited study, “acute lower respiratory infections in children.” </li><li>Other car harms include drunk driving, drive-by shootings, carbon monoxide poisoning and, in the US, traffic stops that “are a setting for police violence against Black, Latine/x, and Indigenous people,” they write. </li><li>Access to oil has played a role in a quarter to half of wars between countries since 1973. </li><li>The electric car, a juggernaut of the energy transition, “fails to address a majority of the harms,” they write, including crashes, sedentary travel, inequality and cities designed more for cars than people.</li></ul><p></p><p>=====</p><p>-- "<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-05-08/la-rolita-electric-bus-company-prioritizes-gender-equit">Colombia’s Women-Led Electric Bus Fleet Is Reshaping Bogotá’s Public Transit</a>" <i>Bloomberg</i><br>-- "<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-25/women-bikers-need-more-bike-lanes-and-culture-change">US Cities Are Failing Their Female Cyclists</a>,"<i> Bloomberg</i><br>-- "<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-05/european-cities-are-making-transport-systems-more-gender-neutral">The Gender Divide in Transport Is Starting to Crumble</a>,"<i> Bloomberg</i></p></div>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-44823133836181891052024-03-07T06:54:00.002-05:002024-03-10T01:38:19.152-05:00Department stores are an "urban technology" built for walking not driving<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrRg8iKPDYw9mK99UwSSo4nWbENIjKgQhKjJELCxq5Admt5YU57-boZgN6umYiTdKJddrqHg_njvJFJOs9IIiePC1mFxszRH1aKM3HjGvnnJcwtec2WSX5sW3RwdF2SREFOoNoGE4wbbXLpd0odQCbcMceOA40kwI8P42eWNxhR6Kxkq1cQMedog/s840/53567187656_a196512bd3_o.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="741" data-original-width="840" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrRg8iKPDYw9mK99UwSSo4nWbENIjKgQhKjJELCxq5Admt5YU57-boZgN6umYiTdKJddrqHg_njvJFJOs9IIiePC1mFxszRH1aKM3HjGvnnJcwtec2WSX5sW3RwdF2SREFOoNoGE4wbbXLpd0odQCbcMceOA40kwI8P42eWNxhR6Kxkq1cQMedog/s320/53567187656_a196512bd3_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>State Street Shopping District, Chicago, 1984, Chicago Sun Times photo.</i><p></p><p>There is a letter to the editor in the <i>Post</i> "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/03/06/macys-department-stores-save-europe/">Save an endangered species: The American department store</a>," responding to the article "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/03/06/macys-department-stores-save-europe/">Macy's and other department stores are an endangered species</a>," opining about the difference between department stores in European cities like London and Paris. </p><p>It completely misses the point. Those are walking cities. For the most part we don't have walking cities in the US. We have car cities.</p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2023/03/responding-to-retail-decay-in.html">Responding to retail decay in Friendship Heights (DC/Montgomery County, Maryland)</a>," 2023<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2020/09/friendship-heights-and-production-of.html">Friendship Heights and the production of retail decay</a>," 2020<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2011/11/urban-decay-and-sprawl-one-communitys.html">Urban decay and sprawl: one community's gain at the expense of another's</a>," 2011<br /> -- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2007/06/brief-lesson-in-incentivizing.html">A brief lesson in "incentivizing" supermarkets and department stores</a>," 2007 <br /> -- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2007/05/why-its-okay-to-give-tax-increment.html">Why it's okay to give tax increment financing to department stores but you still need to think long and hard about where you put your money</a>," 2007 <br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2012/06/turnabout-is-fair-play-why-topher.html">Turnabout is fair play: why Topher Matthews/GGW is wrong about TIF incentives for a departmentun store in Georgetown</a>," 2012</p><p>Plus center city downtowns in the US aren't the same kind of shopping draw as they were 50+ years ago, at least for larger cities--lots of smaller cities in the US and Europe are seeing their retail districts decimated. For the most part, suburbanites are content shopping near home.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimfEhSXkx1-0fKEJKr7tsM1oldLkge0IR0nyxtkcAPOTxqaa63JNYOk9aHJMz0dLN-5MPvBGOFoMlcnid3KCFV9hzDuOMtNb_YmNR5gJnVIT3RJucsp7Q3iJvO33z7wQvA1MRPHRx_gqOzqjvHSOKEEq4LbZ74Naipt5rY_GAgJHFGg3kYD0buBw/s299/53567187656_a196512bd3_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="169" data-original-width="299" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimfEhSXkx1-0fKEJKr7tsM1oldLkge0IR0nyxtkcAPOTxqaa63JNYOk9aHJMz0dLN-5MPvBGOFoMlcnid3KCFV9hzDuOMtNb_YmNR5gJnVIT3RJucsp7Q3iJvO33z7wQvA1MRPHRx_gqOzqjvHSOKEEq4LbZ74Naipt5rY_GAgJHFGg3kYD0buBw/s1600/53567187656_a196512bd3_o.jpg" width="299" /></a></div><p>But what a difference between a downtown store and suburban mall location in terms of quality store offering. </p><p>The DC Downtown Hecht's was a grand store. And it paled by comparison to Macy's in Herald Square in Manhattan or in Union Square in San Francisco or in Downtown Chicago. Or the city-based stores, like Hudson's in Detroit, from our youth.</p><p>Suburban mall stores tend to be dingy.</p><p>====</p><p>From the <i>San Francisco Chronicle</i>, "<a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/union-square-macys-18693950.php">Union Square once was the center of San Francisco. Now it’s off the map</a>," </p><p></p><blockquote><p> The terrain in the retail zone centered on the actual Union Square, an area that, for decades, was the busiest downtown retail district outside New York and Chicago, is in sorry shape.</p><p>... There’s been ample attention to the empty spaces within the no-longer-Westfield shopping mall, from the former Nordstrom on down, and the numbing procession of “for rent” signs along Powell Street that offer a bleak welcome to cable car riders. To me, though, the 200 block of Sutter Street tells a story even more grim. </p><p>Of the 15 retail spaces on the block, 12 are vacant. Two “store closing sale” signs are taped near the door of one shop front, and judging from the emptiness within, they’ve been there awhile. Across the way, there’s a “support small business” sign in the window of a falafel shop with the slogan “Where food takes flight.” Indeed it has; the space sits empty. </p><p>.. The numbers downplay the sense of desolation. One vacant space that Banana Republic occupied from 1997 until last year stretches for nearly half a block.
This isn’t a precarious fringe block, either. Nearly all the buildings are gorgeous masonry, built in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake. Banana Republic’s former flagship with its arched grandeur began life as the White House, a department store that opened in 1908 with a design by architect Albert Pissis and closed in 1965. </p><p>... San Francisco has changed immeasurably since “everyone” visited Union Square on a semi-regular basis, whether they were looking for a night on the town or a place to buy the basics. Now the happening neighborhoods are Hayes Valley or Dogpatch or the Mission, depending on your inclination. Tourists are as likely to visit Haight-Ashbury or the Castro as Fisherman’s Wharf. </p><p>Presidio Tunnel Tops and Crane Cove Park offer connections to the bay that would have been inconceivable in the 1990s — when the arrival of Yerba Buena Gardens, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and an expanded convention center prompted another planner to comment to the Chronicle how the changes along Mission Street and directly south “will really shift the center of gravity.”</p></blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhotqq2X_nRaZGyztU5oFR4BGuiIBiTAb2wvM_liW0gA6fvMlokss2cDsZep090_maKqZm_iaOVSJjphJlGk115OpsqnFnbnFQlcCpV09c0-2DCyFgkxj8NyfqIIYgSgrJgi0lXQYSfLCntLWBpAZI6a_mVOy2W0eEUGJUALvC8ooL1WimT2EeUxg/s274/download%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="184" data-original-width="274" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhotqq2X_nRaZGyztU5oFR4BGuiIBiTAb2wvM_liW0gA6fvMlokss2cDsZep090_maKqZm_iaOVSJjphJlGk115OpsqnFnbnFQlcCpV09c0-2DCyFgkxj8NyfqIIYgSgrJgi0lXQYSfLCntLWBpAZI6a_mVOy2W0eEUGJUALvC8ooL1WimT2EeUxg/s1600/download%20(2).jpg" width="274" /></a></div>Also see "<a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/s-f-macys-closure-union-square-18690336.php">Behind the Macy’s closure: ‘This is a Union Square problem. Not a San Francisco problem’</a>" <p></p><p></p><blockquote><p>“Union Square doesn’t need to exist in the modern framework of local consumer demand,” said Christopher Thornberg, an economist and founder of Beacon Economics. He said with fewer people going downtown for work in San Francisco’s urban core, big shopping centers like Union Square don’t make economic sense. </p><p>“This is a Union Square problem. Not a San Francisco problem,” Thornberg said. He said San Francisco’s low unemployment rate, and hyperactive venture capital sector, mean “it’s a great economy. It’s just that this economy doesn’t need a Union Square.” </p><p>More broadly, he said, the same market forces that brought down Sears and JCPenney were now converging on Macy’s bottom line, delayed only by the “crazy surge in post-pandemic spending” once social distancing and other restrictions were lifted.</p></blockquote><p></p><p></p>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-27261481901115146652024-03-07T05:44:00.002-05:002024-03-07T06:33:04.388-05:00DC Artomatic is a big arts exhibition: but not oriented to building the arts and culture ecosystem long term<p> -- "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/03/05/artomatic-dc-2024/">Artomatic is back, if not quite bigger than ever Inbox Richard Layman <rlaymandc@gmail.com> 2:25 AM (1 hour ago) to me Artomatic is back, if not quite bigger than ever</a>," <i>Washington Post</i></p><p>From the article:</p><p></p><blockquote><p><a href="https://www.artomatic.org/">Artomatic</a> was born in 1999 at 14th and Florida in the former Manhattan Laundry, conceived as a massive, un-curated, open-entry art exhibition — open to all comers — with a twofold mission, according to Koch: “to build community among artists and build an audience for art.” Since then, there have been 10 more shows... </p><p><b>The work is not curated. Is it any good? </b></p></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP223L3xnv71rFAaiU6WHEbuiKOG1qslGVooG8qVpAX0FNy6TPCQIlKleG9nQoTGi0chZ2SEOE277sfCozMoQILZfDDO55p4dbQm0TgpB3xwlwqRzpFPCeCc705_LzzgWD24walDI-itubc5PX1-gWMS2PEbIaG3uuF5knRQ1CsjM7XlZEgBS-mA/s500/Salt-Lake-City-Logo.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="500" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP223L3xnv71rFAaiU6WHEbuiKOG1qslGVooG8qVpAX0FNy6TPCQIlKleG9nQoTGi0chZ2SEOE277sfCozMoQILZfDDO55p4dbQm0TgpB3xwlwqRzpFPCeCc705_LzzgWD24walDI-itubc5PX1-gWMS2PEbIaG3uuF5knRQ1CsjM7XlZEgBS-mA/s320/Salt-Lake-City-Logo.webp" width="320" /></a></div><blockquote><p>Despite <a href="https://www.artomatic.org/">Artomatic</a> playing host to — and in some cases advancing the careers of — many amazing, well-respected artists, there’s a long history of the event being trashed by the art-reviewing press, often unfairly, because it has no bar to entry. Koch acknowledges as much, but makes an excellent point about what hard-looking can ultimately teach the viewer. “You go into Artomatic and you say, ‘Oh, I like this, I like this, I don’t like that, I don’t like that, I don’t like that.’ What’s really happening to the visitor is they’re starting to develop their own curatorial skills,” he says. “If I go to a gallery or museum, somebody has selected everything for me. When I go to <a href="https://www.artomatic.org/">Artomatic</a>, I’m making my own decisions.” In other words, stiffen your spine and take the plunge.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>My problem with it is that they focus on the temporary, while to build an arts as production ecosystem, you need sustained efforts. And while it's very important to focus on building the community of artists, at the sa.me time that becomes internally focused rather than outward</p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2019/04/what-would-be-transformational-projects.html">What would be a "Transformational Projects Action Plan" for DC's cultural ecosystem</a>," 2019<br>-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2015/10/building-arts-and-culture-ecosystem-in.html">Building the arts and culture ecosystem in DC: Part One, sustained efforts vs. one-off or short term initiatives</a>," 2015<br> -- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2019/01/reprinting-with-slight-update-arts.html">Reprinting with a slight update, 'Arts, culture districts and revitalization'</a>," 2009/2019<br> -- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2018/12/events-and-programming-in-systematic.html">Events and programming in a systematic manner</a>," 2018</p><p>I still think it's cool. But it doesn't have the kind of impact it could, were it to have a different organizational focus.</p>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-11933432586293498602024-03-06T21:52:00.002-05:002024-03-07T06:34:05.829-05:00WMATA "Fleet of the Future" exhibit on the National Mall<p>For years I've argued WMATA needs to rebuild the regional consensus on transit. It's only more of a need given how WFH has cut transit ridership in half.</p><p> -- <a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2009/11/st-louis-regional-transit-planning.html">St. Louis regional transit planning process as a model for what needs to be done in the DC Metropolitan region</a>," 2009<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2014/02/wmata-40th-anniversary-in-2016-as.html">WMATA 40th anniversary in 2016 as an opportunity for assessment</a>," 2014<br /> --"<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2015/04/what-it-will-take-to-get-wmata-out-of.html">What it will take to get WMATA out of crisis continued and 2016's 40th anniversary of WMATA as an opportunity to rebuild</a>," 2015</p><p></p><blockquote><p>From March 20 to April 3, you can see a replica of the 8000 Series rail cars at the “<a href="https://www.wmata.com/about/news/The-future-of-transit-is-near-Metro-invites-public-to-see-its-new-trains-and-buses-on-the-National-Mall.cfm">Fleet of the Future Expo</a>” at the National Mall in D.C. </p><p>“We took best practices from all over the world — open gangways, more space, better digital screens for real-time information, enhanced video systems to improve safety, a more sustainable aluminum shell, and eye-catching design — and put them in this train,” Metro General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke said in a statement. </p></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFj3dly317YtUu1j8C9oryb2pH33VIxUKMhvuLV3J4_ntV9_ITXeyjdU06Ng7RJy7Iuwm0APp6kg1Fho_maJSeY8u_wp9pNqs-5iknVOrCz1LBcFe6h3hm-AaA9yEQY0-pQuITtnSbcA5HO-VaH2thCyNuft1qtSuRSzzDnxI-ADCkcToEjfpGg/s799/53572420996_2aeef49abd_c.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="325" data-original-width="799" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFj3dly317YtUu1j8C9oryb2pH33VIxUKMhvuLV3J4_ntV9_ITXeyjdU06Ng7RJy7Iuwm0APp6kg1Fho_maJSeY8u_wp9pNqs-5iknVOrCz1LBcFe6h3hm-AaA9yEQY0-pQuITtnSbcA5HO-VaH2thCyNuft1qtSuRSzzDnxI-ADCkcToEjfpGg/s320/53572420996_2aeef49abd_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><blockquote>
While not a full-sized replica, the mock-up lets you experience what it would be like to ride the new train.
The 8000 series will feature the transit agency’s “first open passageway design for moving between two cars,” Metro said in a news release. Eight-car trains will be made up of four sets of two-car pairs, and six-car trains will be made up of three sets of two-car pairs.
There will also be seating along the walls, which Metro said will allow for more standing room for passengers and more space for people who use mobility devices. The new rail cars also boast flexible spaces for bikes, strollers and luggage, as well as larger digital information screens and heated floors, Metro said. </blockquote><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCvAh4zHr3xXieA6OaA5wGxMumPOWTqJ1d59e2Dh9QN0i5th1SjKyyPUH6bR3P7L4MAKnIOrkBnD26YZX3XsS43svGq07ojD01Hhohd2_q_5BoXjVFCqeUVOhV5eEFQdKIC3y8XTApVDgyD01aVnncbF6Rfofgaj8lAMGL5t3nxwJLVMIHr65NA/s2560/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(2).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1689" data-original-width="2560" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCvAh4zHr3xXieA6OaA5wGxMumPOWTqJ1d59e2Dh9QN0i5th1SjKyyPUH6bR3P7L4MAKnIOrkBnD26YZX3XsS43svGq07ojD01Hhohd2_q_5BoXjVFCqeUVOhV5eEFQdKIC3y8XTApVDgyD01aVnncbF6Rfofgaj8lAMGL5t3nxwJLVMIHr65NA/s320/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>A prototype of the 1000-series Metro train on display on the White House Lawn in the 1960s. (Courtesy Metro)</i></div><div><blockquote><blockquote>The exhibit is not the first time riders got the chance to see new Metro trains before they went into service. In 1968, Metro built and displayed prototypes at the White House Lawn, the National Mall, Prince George’s Plaza and L’Enfant Plaza.</blockquote></blockquote></div>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-32587262986680767792024-03-06T20:03:00.001-05:002024-03-07T00:17:39.801-05:00‘Replace short haul flights with high speed rail’ say citizens around the world<p> Press release</p><p><b>Global survey of public transport attitudes shines light on demand for green travel </b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Around the world, 64% support banning air travel where high speed rail alternative exists and 56% support air taxes to fund new high speed rail lines </li><li>New Hitachi Rail commissioned survey of 12,000 people in 12 global cities also finds over one-third of people expect to travel more by train in next five years </li><li>Within cities, 72% would use public transport more if it was better connected, with shorter journey times the biggest factor for growing usage globally. </li></ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTcb3uiWdf-PVP8vKIyGc9DDsWLFJaZOeG6yxmmObHbc8h2zNNS6BGiwHr2fZsuxbVkQbdPOSxZqfrcYAMNrafqa1gLceCaI66nS3XAxi93DVGssKXeBYeEH7uP-uaMLKzfOHROXlOLCnvNjY1BjeLsUDEruB7Ub5GCoPDL_SnwG_H1w7szu8bPA/s290/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(2).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="290" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTcb3uiWdf-PVP8vKIyGc9DDsWLFJaZOeG6yxmmObHbc8h2zNNS6BGiwHr2fZsuxbVkQbdPOSxZqfrcYAMNrafqa1gLceCaI66nS3XAxi93DVGssKXeBYeEH7uP-uaMLKzfOHROXlOLCnvNjY1BjeLsUDEruB7Ub5GCoPDL_SnwG_H1w7szu8bPA/s1600/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(2).jpg" width="290" /></a></div><i>Hitachi train.</i><div><br />Two-thirds (64%) of people around the world back banning air travel where high speed rail alternatives exist, according to a major report commissioned by Hitachi Rail.
The survey, carried out by SavantaComres, collected data from 12,000 people in 12 different cities around the world: Berlin, Copenhagen, Dubai, London, Milan, Paris, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney, Toronto, Warsaw and, Washington D.C. <div><br /></div><div>This is the second year in a row that Hitachi Rail has commissioned such research.
The study offers policymakers, operators and transport planners, powerful insights into what motivates a person’s transport decisions within and between cities. </div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTpgSdn0UBCNvJwvOoINGx_EPecgeanJ9UluLjAGITNKau8Na8f3KzzSJajLCd550PzrOi1gcqK79yF57uiBEVj6T_jy5QjSmDFU4IYxaWtyZ9zz6HK2GHQfLLRSwfS5yoyi1I7WTlei1uXRyb-mnXnzxJ5CE7x88vh6ekydGCTWBmZSz4u1vXLg/s2000/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(3).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1380" data-original-width="2000" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTpgSdn0UBCNvJwvOoINGx_EPecgeanJ9UluLjAGITNKau8Na8f3KzzSJajLCd550PzrOi1gcqK79yF57uiBEVj6T_jy5QjSmDFU4IYxaWtyZ9zz6HK2GHQfLLRSwfS5yoyi1I7WTlei1uXRyb-mnXnzxJ5CE7x88vh6ekydGCTWBmZSz4u1vXLg/s320/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(3).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>Hitachi tram (light rail), Turin, Italy.</i></div><div><br /><b>Growing demand for green long-distance travel</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>Globally, peoples’ default choices for long distance travel (2.5 hours or more) is made up of 46% choosing to drive, 34% traveling by train and 16% flying. How people travel is not set in stone though and respondents believe that their travel habits will change in the next five years. Globally, <b>over one-third (35%) expect to travel more by train</b>, while 6% believe they will travel more by plane and 17% by car. When it comes to questions around funding more green travel, <b>56% support raising air taxes to finance new high speed rail, with only one third against the idea. </b></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Wy2LIiD4YiX-EJCIrAotu2tc2ZLriHXgSgkn_QehGFR8Kboa9iF_fXG5oKJ3EV6m16KHoyur1zFQmNbDNud9f9psn7wqhPuEsd5TBJqTjU91VDoCmdQxlcocMG3cXebYb_dJIyYHR0gFHbSVQVp9LFMuLM6db0Oh7OdQjt96C019I-9GQ6o1UA/s268/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(2).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="188" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Wy2LIiD4YiX-EJCIrAotu2tc2ZLriHXgSgkn_QehGFR8Kboa9iF_fXG5oKJ3EV6m16KHoyur1zFQmNbDNud9f9psn7wqhPuEsd5TBJqTjU91VDoCmdQxlcocMG3cXebYb_dJIyYHR0gFHbSVQVp9LFMuLM6db0Oh7OdQjt96C019I-9GQ6o1UA/s1600/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(2).jpg" width="188" /></a></div><a href="https://islandpress.org/books/designing-megaregion#desc"><i>Designing the Megaregion: Meeting Urban Challenges at a New Scale</i></a></div><div><br />Growing green long-distance public transport usage is critical to hitting carbon emission reduction targets and meeting global Net Zero requirements, and the research highlights how to achieve this modal shift. Of the respondents whose default long-distance travel mode was car or plane, <b>63% would switch to traveling by train if it was an hour quicker</b> <b>and 75% would switch to traveling by train if it was cheaper</b>. </div><div><br /></div><div>While sustainability factors may not drive how people travel – only an important factor to 14% – the research does show that respondents back green legislative interventions. A<b> significant majority (64%) of respondents stated they would support banning short-haul flights where high-speed rail alternatives exist</b>. With governments increasingly exploring legislative interventions to encourage green travel, it is notable that respondents in France – where a similar policy was enacted last year – were the most supportive of this proposal (75%) out of anywhere globally. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1cpxlLnWlvHfhRW6ovg2gl9cIjq_8Pf8VgB_LunqHl30q2j2eOAHrLrIKDBionlvV8zukugms5NoGAJKps6KOnkPJlrQ3P8OjSULNLTqoLDGzTtKZpIQT3S6c2whb826CqxUnrOldVVhd8LnePQ244JlSVlJk7UNBqVRU7YFy32cpQjbp194XyQ/s962/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(2).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="962" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1cpxlLnWlvHfhRW6ovg2gl9cIjq_8Pf8VgB_LunqHl30q2j2eOAHrLrIKDBionlvV8zukugms5NoGAJKps6KOnkPJlrQ3P8OjSULNLTqoLDGzTtKZpIQT3S6c2whb826CqxUnrOldVVhd8LnePQ244JlSVlJk7UNBqVRU7YFy32cpQjbp194XyQ/s320/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>From "<a href="https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/business/17500999.hitachi-built-east-coast-main-line-trains-enter-service-may/">Hitachi-built East Coast main line trains to enter service in May</a>," Northern Echo.</i></div><div><b><br />Growing Urban public transport </b></div><div><br /></div><div> When travelling within cities, driving remains the most likely mode of transport for the majority of people, but other modes of transport are increasingly important, with train and bus ridership increasing by around one-third over the past year as part of a post-Covid revival. For commuters, 60% of journeys involve a car, and 60% involve another mode of transport. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, what barriers need to be circumnavigated to boost public transport usage? Crowding remains the single biggest barrier to people using public transport,(49%, up 1% from last year’s research); however, one of the issues associated with crowding – Covid-19 concerns – is no longer perceived as a major barrier (falling from 42% to 16%). In this context, 78% would be more likely to use public transport if they could avoid crowding. Interestingly, this factor becomes consistently less relevant with age (84% for 18-24yr olds versus 63% for 65+ age bracket).
There is also a demand to use public transport more in the future, <b>with 72% saying they would be more likely to use public transport if it was better connected</b>. This support ranges from as high as 87% in Dubai and 85% in Milan and Warsaw, to lower levels in Washington D.C. (56%) and Copenhagen (57%). Globally, a<b>lmost half (49%) would still support the idea of a better connected public transport system even if it were more expensive</b>. </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnCP5ilgLccyOjYYh-l86cKfMEvl0OC60A_6EjZZdJM5w22BOH29T0IO-v4LSC9862gRAuYrB2sq_jmOZIj676MQBM7ARGAl7F1f6Z8RE_DBhGLHt8c63xRr7ruknoyYJmWW7tosaiIeOtxMbb23aW1e1kgmx3R-ACekYSKupESfg_hHQN4wbeA/s1528/Untitled.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1154" data-original-width="1528" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnCP5ilgLccyOjYYh-l86cKfMEvl0OC60A_6EjZZdJM5w22BOH29T0IO-v4LSC9862gRAuYrB2sq_jmOZIj676MQBM7ARGAl7F1f6Z8RE_DBhGLHt8c63xRr7ruknoyYJmWW7tosaiIeOtxMbb23aW1e1kgmx3R-ACekYSKupESfg_hHQN4wbeA/s320/Untitled.png" width="320" /></a></div><i>Hitachi was awarded the contract to build the next generation subway cars for Washington DC's Metrorail.</i></div><div><br />Giuseppe Marino, CEO of Hitachi Rail, said: “Policy makers and transport operators must take note of the high demand for better connected public transport. Almost two-thirds of people are prepared to see short haul flights banned where high speed rail alternatives exist, and 56% of people also back increased air taxes to fund high speed rail. </div><div><br /></div><div>“Our new research shows that there is a genuine demand for more green travel. Over one-third of people expect to travel more by train in the next five years and 72% would use better connected urban transport even more. The challenge now as an industry is to continue to grow seamless and sustainable rail travel at pace to meet this global demand.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Hitachi Rail is helping to deliver seamless, sustainable transport within and between cities around the world. The company is an expert in every part of the railway. It is able to use its manufacturing and digital signalling expertise to deliver urban transport solutions such as its cutting-edge autonomous metros in Milan and Copenhagen. The company pioneers high-speed solutions such as the iconic Shinkansen Bullet train in Japan and the ETR1000, which is providing seamless, sustainable travel for passengers across Italy, Spain and France. </div><div><br /></div><div>An in-depth overview and analysis of the data can be found here:</div><div><br /></div><div>-- <a href="https://www.hitachirail.com/better-connected/">Better Connected What Motivates Global Travel Decisions</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>====</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPBHd64j7RCfHBCzIy9HE1N6kAxYyK4fORg8f-udSqDgYCfcOJ-uLc-Oxw7JzcCVxwb9ECpH62oRdGiGrah1CeW5NoFkb5p87caccI3S4522ylZZLtc4RMHxlgr_A1tOxJMY0cKp92rfs71K3G0TCvMmODXHEcpG4Yz_ZAv-_OP-9sbJUv3R-KLw/s1440/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(9).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="1440" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPBHd64j7RCfHBCzIy9HE1N6kAxYyK4fORg8f-udSqDgYCfcOJ-uLc-Oxw7JzcCVxwb9ECpH62oRdGiGrah1CeW5NoFkb5p87caccI3S4522ylZZLtc4RMHxlgr_A1tOxJMY0cKp92rfs71K3G0TCvMmODXHEcpG4Yz_ZAv-_OP-9sbJUv3R-KLw/s320/2QTQEW4HG5A57AFEVC77H2XKTQ-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(9).jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div>Those damn airline lobbyists...</div><div><br /></div><div>-- "<a href="https://scholar.smu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1383&context=jalc">Southwest Airlines v. High-Speed Rail: More Powerful Than a Locomotive Locomotive</a>," <i>Journal of Air Law and Commerce</i>, 1995<br />-- "<a href="https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/2020/03/17/strong-case-faster-trains-serving-megaregions">A strong case for faster trains serving ‘megaregions’</a>", CNU Public Square</div><div>-- "<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a3034099-4389-48dd-b836-d2fd65c477f9">Favouring trains over planes may be smart for legacy airlines</a>," <i>Financial Times</i></div><div>-- "<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-09/high-speed-rail-now-rivals-flying-on-key-global-routes">Watch Out, Airlines. High Speed Rail Now Rivals Flying on Key Routes</a>," <i>Bloomberg</i></div><div>-- "<a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w27475">Competition and Quality: Evidence from High-Speed Railways and Airlines</a>," National Bureau of Economic Research</div><div>-- "<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/b5591361-7e10-4926-ae90-851fb5c1520d?desktop=true&segmentId=0e5502c2-a654-17b7-29eb-3bb1c22ff1ba">Can Europe’s trains compete with low-cost airlines?</a>," <i>Financial Times</i></div></div>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-69705180756793064152024-03-06T07:17:00.004-05:002024-03-08T22:12:08.132-05:00ULI report: The Case for Open Space Why the Real Estate Industry Should Invest in Parks and Open Spaces<p>-- <a href="https://americas.uli.org/wp-content/uploads/ULI-Documents/ULI-Case-For-Open-Space_Electronic.pdf">The Case for Open Space Why the Real Estate Industry Should Invest in Parks and Open Spaces</a> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_xL1BEgknaMM-Xc7Cf24cc520MwJMmRA5M-T3pOd8kwgng23tEku89fFXj7I33V7s_LZVIYAps0JfWp1HByuAObrtPXDuuIODGGas_QluUMukEQma9q5eGhLFzsA1ncEmzZcN_-MAXiRosTdwoSZKSq2m23cSgRgyIs7VbFgJ3zy_Vam0_zyfg/s799/53571223057_b989f5bab8_c.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="799" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_xL1BEgknaMM-Xc7Cf24cc520MwJMmRA5M-T3pOd8kwgng23tEku89fFXj7I33V7s_LZVIYAps0JfWp1HByuAObrtPXDuuIODGGas_QluUMukEQma9q5eGhLFzsA1ncEmzZcN_-MAXiRosTdwoSZKSq2m23cSgRgyIs7VbFgJ3zy_Vam0_zyfg/s320/53571223057_b989f5bab8_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>Levy Park, Houston.</i><p></p><p>The report isn't that scintillating, but it features brief descriptions and awesome photos from what we might call signature activity-gathering parks.</p><p>While there is a standard typology for types of parks, and such parks would be termed "regional" in that typology, I wonder if like my concept for "Signature Streets and Plazas" we should redefine such parks as "Signature" as opposed to regional, combining space, urban design, activation, programming, etc.</p><p>-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2020/09/extending-signature-streets-concept-to.html">Extending the "Signature Streets" concept to "Signature Streets and Spaces"</a>," 2020<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2020/06/from-more-space-to-socially-distance-to.html">From more space to socially distance to a systematic program for pedestrian districts (Park City (Utah) Main Street Car Free on Sundays)</a>," 2020<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2020/08/why-doesnt-every-big-city-in-north.html">Why doesn't every big city in North America have its own Las Ramblas?</a>," 2020<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2020/09/diversity-plaza-queens-pedestrian.html">Diversity Plaza, Queens, a pedestrian exclusive block</a>," 2020<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2019/09/planning-urban-design-improvements-at.html">Planning urban design improvements at the neighborhood scale: Dupont Circle, DC</a>," 2019<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2019/09/more-about-making-17th-street-between-p.html">More about making 17th Street between P and R a pedestrian space on weekends</a>," 2019<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2021/07/planning-for-placeurban.html">Planning for place/urban design/neighborhoods versus planning for transportation modes: new 17th Street NW bike lanes | Walkable community planning versus "pedestrian" planning</a>," 2021<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2022/06/pedestrianization-of-newark-avenue-in.html">Pedestrianization of Newark Avenue in Jersey City</a>," 2022</p><p>"<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/47375644_Green_and_open_space_planning_for_urban_consolidation">Green and open space planning for urban consolidation – A review of the literature and best practice</a>" states that the plaza form--gathering places--is under-studied.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rllayman/53575403004" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1385" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN80zEnNgCGP8sHKcm3kUucAE4lPVBOwHQTTBXTJg-7UdLeXEEPXHLIQwZ4di8Dsom1OZbPBmqtyZZu-2Zx2FH-Naj9dt180QPtfJYLKhIo2tGDz0QYieCe0dWgSTNsJsZ3KU7xT1upAQF-bhiJqUKtqZEGoCvN8xyXAfdkS7Ch0Hw0M5HwwZQFQ/w270-h400/53575403004_ffffb7a978_k.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAl5WYq8TNz-zo_4vCq9Sj3hPzciuCc_C2vL1csXjHUDHppGPfoIMaR8k0e8KJ5BJYtyJguag4GjL20_meo-PB0eSf56adtgSrjTA-gJFuujsIBzE7DvChz0uIENw3lzHYyXgMP6_fPiyx15Jy9ObolyWXcPLPG2EdpoTN_W1zKwy36uviD72buA/s800/53572540445_e9c06717ff_c.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="800" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAl5WYq8TNz-zo_4vCq9Sj3hPzciuCc_C2vL1csXjHUDHppGPfoIMaR8k0e8KJ5BJYtyJguag4GjL20_meo-PB0eSf56adtgSrjTA-gJFuujsIBzE7DvChz0uIENw3lzHYyXgMP6_fPiyx15Jy9ObolyWXcPLPG2EdpoTN_W1zKwy36uviD72buA/s320/53572540445_e9c06717ff_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>Splash pad at night. Guthrie Green, Tulsa.</i><p></p><p>This is the park space typology from Atlanta's <a href="https://livablebuckhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Greenways_Trails1.pdf">Buckhead Collection</a> plan, which is more focused on the provision of neighborhood/district park spaces:<br /><br />• <a href="http://livablebuckhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Plaza-Board1.pdf" target="_blank">Plazas</a><br />• <a href="http://livablebuckhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Central-Gathering-Space.pdf" target="_blank">Central Gathering Space</a><a href="http://livablebuckhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/400trail-after.jpg"></a><br />• <a href="http://livablebuckhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Community-Park-Board.pdf" target="_blank">Neighborhood Parks</a><br />• <a href="http://livablebuckhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Community-Greens-Board1.pdf" target="_blank">Community Greens</a><br />• <a href="http://livablebuckhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Conservation-Parks-Board.pdf" target="_blank">Conservation Parks</a><br />• <a href="http://livablebuckhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Greenways_Trails1.pdf" target="_blank">Greenways & Trails</a><br />• <a href="http://livablebuckhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Historical-Cultural1.pdf" target="_blank">Historical & Cultural Resources</a><br />• <a href="http://livablebuckhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Arts-Board.pdf" target="_blank">Public Art</a><br />• <a href="http://livablebuckhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Dog-Park-Board.pdf" target="_blank">Dog Parks</a></p><p>The Central Gathering Space (squares, plazas) depending on size, activities and programming would be what I'm bow calling a Signature Park.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQHBAcMeW-5ZkpsUTorcefzg47_BGG_GuPtRSKpT1o2NDiPKo-xkuYz3GF3mPc3x0FAdL9EwZaRlqk_VPnzSdx5luyg1KObT8bB-JTPRI0EnuIt-ipre_49vlro5tceYalLheBKru6DiIYcNBGFEsYF5RTGOtgj4Dn0UKDrHH7NjNQudcH81vfyg/s500/Salt-Lake-City-Logo-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="500" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQHBAcMeW-5ZkpsUTorcefzg47_BGG_GuPtRSKpT1o2NDiPKo-xkuYz3GF3mPc3x0FAdL9EwZaRlqk_VPnzSdx5luyg1KObT8bB-JTPRI0EnuIt-ipre_49vlro5tceYalLheBKru6DiIYcNBGFEsYF5RTGOtgj4Dn0UKDrHH7NjNQudcH81vfyg/s320/Salt-Lake-City-Logo-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><i>Public Realm as an Interconnected system, Slide from presentation, Leadership and the Role of Parks and Recreation in the New Economy, David Barth</i></p>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-85946449836872789992024-03-05T22:05:00.003-05:002024-03-05T22:05:35.876-05:00Television station license challenges: Fox, Sinclair<p> For a few years I suggested that Fox terrestrial broadcast licenses be challenged, based on the idea that the way they run Fox cable assets are counter to the public interest, making them unworthy of the privilege of using the public airwaves ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2021/08/australian-broadcasting-corporation.html">Australian Broadcasting Corporation documentary on the Murdoch media empire and Trump</a>".). Fox cable television programming is severely unbalanced ("<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/05/why-fox-news-pundit-may-not-have-heard-bad-news-about-trump/">Why a Fox News pundit may not have heard bad news about Trump</a>," <i>Washington Post</i>).</p><p>Finally, the license in Philadelphia is being challenged ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2023/09/fox-television-station-license-being.html">Fox Television station license being challenged in Philadelphia, on character grounds</a>"). I attempted a submission myself, but the docket for FCC comments is pretty unwieldly and I never finished.</p><p>Sinclair Television ("<a href=" https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/16/sinclair-broadcasting-conservative-media-trump/">Sinclair’s recipe for TV news: Crime, homelessness, illegal drugs</a>," <i>Washington Post</i>) licenses should be similarly challenged. From the article:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Every year, local television news stations owned by Sinclair Broadcasting conduct short surveys among viewers to help guide the year’s coverage. A key question in each poll, according to David Smith, the company’s executive chairman: “What are you most afraid of?”</p><p>... The answers are evident in Sinclair’s programming. Crime, homelessness, illegal drug use, failing schools and other societal ills have long been core elements of local TV news coverage. But on Sinclair’s growing nationwide roster of stations, the editorial focus reflects Smith’s conservative views and plays on its audience’s fears that America’s cities are falling apart, according to media observers, Smith associates, and current and former staffers who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal company matters. </p><p>... Sinclair’s local network of 185 stations across the country makes it an influential player in shaping the views of millions of Americans, especially at a time when local newspapers are rapidly being gutted — or closed altogether. </p><p>As Sinclair increasingly fills the void, it offers its viewers a perspective that aligns with Trump’s oft-stated opinion that America’s cities, especially those run by Democratic politicians, are dangerous and dysfunctional.
“Sinclair stations deliver messages that appeal to older, White, suburban audiences, and they play up crime stories in a way that is disproportionate to their statistical presence,” said Anne Nelson, a journalist and author of “Shadow Network: Media, Money and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right.” </p><p>All of it is fearmongering and feeds into a racialized view of cities.”
Sinclair’s large network of local stations tends to cover societal problems in similar ways, experts say. A 2019 study by researchers at Stanford and Emory universities showed that a Sinclair acquisition of local stations resulted in “substantial increases in coverage of national politics at the expense of local politics” and “a significant rightward shift in the ideological slant of coverage.” </p><p>Nelson, who has spent decades studying conservative media and political propaganda, said that local TV news reports traditionally cover local crime stories, but Sinclair’s programming does it “more than usual, and with a particular message.” She said that the lack of local papers has changed the role of local TV news. </p><p>Sinclair’s large network of local stations tends to cover societal problems in similar ways, experts say. A 2019 study by researchers at Stanford and Emory universities showed that a Sinclair acquisition of local stations resulted in “substantial increases in coverage of national politics at the expense of local politics” and “a significant rightward shift in the ideological slant of coverage.”</p></blockquote><p></p><p>-- "<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/local-news-and-national-politics/C8EEA488A777C37C7987964F8F85AEB5">Local News and National Politics</a>," <i>American Political Science Review</i></p>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-5913984949056814732024-03-04T11:28:00.002-05:002024-03-04T11:28:10.371-05:00Tax incentive programs underfund schools<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9In-9ZbIoDg6uNaeGR1cqloSafpZbu_Ol81CiSVgkmr-S9uGm-bZg63A4DywH65PyE9mZQuuUGYgpoPAEAU6a0HO1lRRo_oZKf8AjydbFHYLhii8rogwFEDEuKGYOMkiD9LM6P-hLIsDJHB0F2GdShRRJ8CoJCI0pN9Ai9_3eqJQenQlm05pZqw/s776/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="776" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9In-9ZbIoDg6uNaeGR1cqloSafpZbu_Ol81CiSVgkmr-S9uGm-bZg63A4DywH65PyE9mZQuuUGYgpoPAEAU6a0HO1lRRo_oZKf8AjydbFHYLhii8rogwFEDEuKGYOMkiD9LM6P-hLIsDJHB0F2GdShRRJ8CoJCI0pN9Ai9_3eqJQenQlm05pZqw/s320/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>One of the biggest sources of funds for urban revitalization is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_increment_financing">tax increment financing</a>. Governments impute a likely increase in property value and tax revenue from a new development, but direct that increase to the developer as a source of finance, inducement, etc.<p></p><p>But that is all the taxes--city, county, schools, special districts, etc.</p><p>The argument can be made that the tax abatement shouldn't be total, that it should be more measured, especially when it comes to funding local schools ("<a href="https://theconversation.com/students-lose-out-as-cities-and-states-give-billions-in-property-tax-breaks-to-businesses-draining-school-budgets-and-especially-hurting-the-poorest-students-222940">Students lose out as cities and states give billions in property tax breaks to businesses — draining school budgets and especially hurting the poorest students</a>," The Conversation). From the article:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>At James Elementary in Kansas City, Mo., principal Marjorie Mayes escorts a visitor to a classroom with exposed brick walls and pipes. Bubbling paint mars some walls, evidence of leaks spreading inside the aging building. </p><p>The district would like to tackle the $400 million in deferred maintenance needed for its 35 schools, but it doesn’t have the money. The lack of funds is a result of tax breaks Kansas City lavishes on companies that do business there. The program is supposed to bring new jobs but instead has starved schools. Between 2017 and 2023, those schools lost $237.3 million through tax abatements, according to the Kansas City Public Schools. </p><p>That city is hardly an anomaly. An estimated 95% of cities provide incentives to woo corporations. A 2021 review of 2,498 financial statements from schools across 27 states revealed that in 2019 at least $2.4 billion was redirected for tax incentives, according to the academic research that appeared in Community Development. </p><p>Yet that downplays the magnitude: Three-quarters of the 10,370 districts did not provide any information on tax abatement agreements.
Abatements have long been controversial, pitting communities against one another in beggar-thy-neighbor contests. Yet their value is unclear: Studies show most companies would have made the same location decision without subsidies. </p><p>... In Kansas City, for example, nearly $1,700 per student was redirected in 2022 from poorer public schools, while between $500 and $900 was taken from wealthier schools. Other studies found similar demographic trends elsewhere, including New York state, South Carolina, Texas, and Columbus, Ohio.
The funding gaps often force schools to delay needed maintenance, increase class sizes, lay off teachers, or close. </p><p>All told, tax abatements can harm a community’s value, with funding shortfalls creating a cycle of decline. Researchers agree that a lack of adequate funding undermines educational outcomes, especially for poor children.</p></blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSuZitWl0zN44-e3sF7OSYto4tVTNeBsqvzKBf7T56xnovZUtCn22XSODkOn_x-pHd9_Oi07SmmJ9ww0FHtBUx9E2i5zoIMvi7PE0eKekMNMmasw9cHHVjsC0UY2j5bO-9YCC6Ax2fzJ67xfstsfpRv9jdhVFh1G-1LtJrLCRfHY5Nh4m08OFJLA/s1171/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="1171" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSuZitWl0zN44-e3sF7OSYto4tVTNeBsqvzKBf7T56xnovZUtCn22XSODkOn_x-pHd9_Oi07SmmJ9ww0FHtBUx9E2i5zoIMvi7PE0eKekMNMmasw9cHHVjsC0UY2j5bO-9YCC6Ax2fzJ67xfstsfpRv9jdhVFh1G-1LtJrLCRfHY5Nh4m08OFJLA/s320/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>Aerial view from the west of a stadium-anchored redevelopment master plan proposed by the Chicago Bears. (Courtesy Hart Howerton/Chicago Bears)</i><p></p><p>In Chicago, the Bears football team wants to move to the suburbs, to the site of an old race track. But there is contention with the local governments and school districts about how much the property is worth, and how much tax incentive would be provided ("<a href="Bears, suburban school districts $100M apart in valuations of Arlington Heights site">Bears, suburban school districts $100M apart in valuations of Arlington Heights site</a>," "<a href="https://www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/the-chicago-bears-battle-over-arlington-heights-property-taxes-explained/3154133/?amp">The Chicago Bears' Battle Over Arlington Heights Property Taxes, Explained</a>," NBC Chicago). The team says the property is worth much less than the local government. </p><p>-- <a href="https://arlingtonpark.chicagobears.com/">Arlington Park project</a>, Chicago Bears<br />-- "<a href="https://www.archpaper.com/2022/09/chicago-bears-tentative-plans-mixed-use-development-arlington-heights-domed-stadium/">Chicago Bears reveal tentative plans for mixed-use development in Arlington Heights anchored by domed stadium</a>," <i>Architect's Newspaper</i><br>-- "<a href="https://www.evanstonian.net/opinion/2023/03/15/opinion-bears-move-to-arlington-heights-will-positively-impact-chicagoland/">The new Chicago Bears Arlington Heights stadium will benefit Chicagoland</a>," Evanstonian</p><p></p><p>From the <i>Chicago Tribune, </i>"<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/2023/04/18/bears-stadium-development-could-hinge-on-tif-money-a-financial-tool-thats-had-varying-success-in-arlington-heights/">Bears stadium development could hinge on TIF money</a>":</p><p></p><blockquote><p>For decades, TIFs have been used in Chicago and across the suburbs to help develop real estate. They have been criticized by some as a “slush fund” for municipalities to use as they wish, while diverting money from schools and other taxing bodies. </p><p> And they have been praised by officials of towns large and small as economic engines that bring jobs, development and an improved tax base.
TIFs work by using any increase or “increment” in property tax revenues in the TIF district for the municipality to redevelop that site, typically by building infrastructure such as roads and utilities. </p><p>Other taxing bodies, such as schools, parks and libraries, typically get only the same amount of property taxes as when the TIF took effect, with no increased revenue during the 23-year duration of the TIF. </p><p>The Bears’ say they will pay to build a new stadium, but would only proceed with their planned $5 billion mixed-use development if they get tax “certainty” and public funding for infrastructure such as roads, utilities and stormwater management. Apartments, condominiums and other development planned for the site would be built by private developers — and could mean the added expense of more students for local schools.</p></blockquote><p></p><p><b>I argue that TIFs should be more targeted, and school tax revenue streams not be included.</b></p>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-63898788838941113202024-03-03T20:05:00.012-05:002024-03-07T05:45:44.886-05:00Crain's Chicago Business: Crain's Forum on Rebranding ChicagoNot as scintillating as the <i>Boston Globe</i> series ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/blueprints-for-downtown-boston-boston.html">Blueprints for a downtown Boston | Boston Globe</a>"), but at least the business community is concerned about reputation and brand and identity management. <div><br /></div><div>One of my earliest pieces "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2005/02/town-city-branding-or-we-are-all.html">Town-City branding or "We are all destination managers now"</a>" (2005) was later expanded into the concept of a city's elected officials and stakeholders are its brand managers in commercial district revitalization framework plans I wrote in 2008 for Cambridge, Maryland, and Brunswick, Georgia. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>From destination managers to city brand managers to community asset managers.</b> What I wrote about "destination managers" and "brand managers" can be rewritten to encompass the civic asset network:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Just as the study team believes that “we are all destination managers now,” elected and appointed officials in particular and in association with other community stakeholders serve not only as a community’s “brand managers,” they also function, either by commission or omission, as a community's "asset managers"—whether or not they choose to think of their roles in this manner. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">That means that decision-making on land use and zoning, business issues, infrastructure development (roads, sewers, water, utilities, transit), technology (broadband Internet, etc.), the natural environment (open space, rivers, tree cover, watershed, etc.), and quality of place factors (arts, culture, historic preservation and heritage, education, public schools and libraries, urban design, etc.) must be consistent and focused on making the right decisions, the decisions that collectively achieve and support the realization of the community’s desired vision and positioning in terms of quality of life/placemaking, economic health, and the stewardship of physical assets and the built and natural environment.</blockquote></div><div>"<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2015/10/town-city-management-we-are-all-asset.html">Town-city management: We are all asset managers now</a>" (2015) is a further extension of these ideas, in part around risk management ("<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2020/05/where-is-risk-management-approach-to.html">Where is the risk management approach to police misconduct and regularized killings of citizens?</a>," 2020).</div><div><br /></div><div>Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and DC are taking big reputational hits because of crime, homelessness, general disorder and other issues--abetted by the constant playing of these issues in conservative media. </div><div><br /></div><div>OTOH, having lived in DC in the 1980s and 1990s when things hit bottom, I am anti-disorder to the nth degree. </div><div><br /></div><div>I don't understand when elected officials don't appreciate how important getting public safety under control was to inward investment and population growth in the 2000s. My lesson from the bad times is that it's very easy for disorder to get out of control. </div><div><br /></div><div>In DC, the social justice push to ease treatment of criminals has been counter productive. Elected officials saw their actions as a way to address structural racism and other issues. While perpetrators looked at these measures as a cue to commit more crime. (DC has other issues in addressing crime too.</div><div><br /></div><div>An extremely lenient approach to crime committed by juveniles--which these days ends up with rampant car jacking, weapon-assisted robberies and assaults, and murders--and prosecution by a special unit of the Department of Justice, which can be somewhat disconnected from responding to the need for crime suppression.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://dccrimefacts.substack.com/">DC Crime Facts</a> is a great e-letter on these issues.</div><div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoeny4RAM3iOhNDZ_-pXDqxBfDoldVt9GWV6Tx-_Ag3RyQa_J3guqjbm_Mx0W73l4QWmEjCbU8qrDgmzZ64h0qid-Fe1CqOu8hgs2ZCNHBgvCiOWYqeA5hVygdicIbDS1OMSAAXYs3xShXVCPd5a9D_WezbrogkGBxDcTX9hh4zRQfOZKg07OrNw/s1000/9780300235784-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter%20(1).webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="693" data-original-width="1000" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoeny4RAM3iOhNDZ_-pXDqxBfDoldVt9GWV6Tx-_Ag3RyQa_J3guqjbm_Mx0W73l4QWmEjCbU8qrDgmzZ64h0qid-Fe1CqOu8hgs2ZCNHBgvCiOWYqeA5hVygdicIbDS1OMSAAXYs3xShXVCPd5a9D_WezbrogkGBxDcTX9hh4zRQfOZKg07OrNw/s320/9780300235784-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter%20(1).webp" width="320" /></a></div><br />From "<a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/crains-forum-rebranding-chicago/how-chicago-can-rebuild-its-reputation">What does Chicago need next? A rebranding</a>":</div><div><blockquote>With the Democratic National Convention coming to town this summer, Chicago has a rare opportunity to regain its swagger and reposition itself as a global city at the top of its game, a city second to none as a place to live and work. <p></p><p>Chicago did it before, nearly 30 years ago, by giving itself a makeover for the 1996 Democratic National Convention that continued with the creation of Millennium Park. </p><p>But this time, the city is approaching its moment in the spotlight without a CEO at the helm of World Business Chicago or its convention and tourism promoter, Choose Chicago. </p><p>Chicago can counter the narrative that its best days are behind it by focusing on the strategic advantages that it’s always had as an affordable big city that attracts a deep pool of educated talent. </p><p> “The Chicago brand remains strong for fundamental reasons,” says Mike Grella, founder of site-selection consultant Grella Partnership Strategies in Atlanta. “It’s the third-largest metro area and a top 20 global economy. It has tremendous talent and some top colleges and universities. Those fundamentals aren’t going to change. </p></blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNbZIRG9XTFGYrQRJs4mjF8W2-tKAY-WrG-N2PsUGrS3W3kdiGwZF-_QIZSRMK6fAe4-AMEYb8lBDW3y8Cr2SZ7wzsR-ZvwfPJ_Q_VIgmT_YEo105ldyxGHc8iuV9njTcWlcXQ9254d5UkoBu1o-MxZMg1A39DZutQioreHLeRCm8dxpVze0tiDg/s1600/53562542737_0c8daf4dc7_h.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1025" data-original-width="1600" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNbZIRG9XTFGYrQRJs4mjF8W2-tKAY-WrG-N2PsUGrS3W3kdiGwZF-_QIZSRMK6fAe4-AMEYb8lBDW3y8Cr2SZ7wzsR-ZvwfPJ_Q_VIgmT_YEo105ldyxGHc8iuV9njTcWlcXQ9254d5UkoBu1o-MxZMg1A39DZutQioreHLeRCm8dxpVze0tiDg/w400-h256/53562542737_0c8daf4dc7_h.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><blockquote><p>”Chicago getting a bad rap, and are we making ourselves too easy a target by not putting our best foot forward to change the narrative? The nation’s third-largest city is still a city that works, but it also has a growing list of very real challenges, topped by crime, that must be addressed. </p><p>“We are fighting perception, and you have to be aggressive, or it takes on a life of its own,” says Andrea Zopp, who was CEO of World Business Chicago, the city’s public-private partnership for corporate recruiting, from 2017 to 2020. </p><p>... “It would be a serious mistake to move major entertainment venues to the suburbs,” Florida says. “The downtown of the future has to be an entertainment center, and sports are part of that.”
He points to Detroit as an example. “Before, I would have said Detroit went too far with the casino, the stadia, the arena. . . .What we’ve learned post-COVID is that stuff is necessary. In a reduced office environment, attractions and visitation are so key. This is what Miami and Las Vegas figured out.”</p></blockquote><p></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>"<a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/crains-forum-rebranding-chicago/how-chicago-can-rebuild-its-reputation">What does Chicago need next? A rebranding</a>"</li><li>"<a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/crains-forum-rebranding-chicago/university-toronto-professor-discusses-chicagos-standing">Chicago can recover from its 'reputational hit'</a>"</li><li>"<a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/crains-forum-rebranding-chicago/what-do-chicagos-peer-cities-have-going-them">WHAT DO CHICAGO'S PEER CITIES HAVE GOING FOR THEM?</a>" (data)</li><li>"<a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/crains-forum-rebranding-chicago/chicago-marketers-make-their-pitches-promote-city">Chicago marketers make their pitches to promote the city</a>"</li><li>"<a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/crains-forum-rebranding-chicago/chicagos-reputation-deserves-be-rehabilitated">Harris Poll: Chicago's flaws shouldn't overshadow its beauty and grandeur</a>"</li><li>"<a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/crains-forum-rebranding-chicago/chicago-can-become-city-solutions-opinion">Commentary: Chicago in a position to claim a new title: 'City of solutions'</a>"</li><li>"<a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/crains-forum-rebranding-chicago/strong-partnerships-are-chicagos-superpower-opinion">Commentary: Forging partnerships with clear objectives is Chicago's superpower</a>"</li></ul><div>===</div><div>Interesting point comparing to Detroit, and the city as an entertainment machine--something criticized for years by suburban partisan Joel Kotkin ("<a href="https://www.govtech.com/magazines/gt/joel-kotkin-the-renaissance-of-cities.html">The Renaissance of Cities</a>," <i>Government Technology</i>, "<a href="https://grist.org/cities/joel-kotkin-the-man-urbanists-love-to-hate/">Joel Kotkin: The man urbanists love to hate</a>," <i>Grist</i>, "<a href="https://www.newgeography.com/content/0041-perspective-chicago-from-city-big-shoulders-entertainment-machine">PERSPECTIVE ON CHICAGO: FROM CITY OF BIG SHOULDERS TO ENTERTAINMENT MACHINE?</a>" New Geography). From the last article:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>It is this more gilded, elegant Chicago – home of arguably the nation’s and even the world’s greatest collection of 20th Century high-rise structures – that foreshadows the current city. The success of Millennium Park, the powerful if now fading condo boom, the city’s newfound celebratory culture (think Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama), its growth in fine restaurants, nightclubs and other entertainments has persuaded some observers like the University of Chicago’s Terry Nichols Clark to declare that Chicago is indeed the model city of the future. </div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipzW5azDHU3kLPK-r494Q6Dk8SuXASzp9opyDnF7ia6DROQLlprT9WojXUdaW3r4-FOSQEEx07Gwt87GkftedeBM3OVvWPDSLmAlTylHJ45cqbKq2nO_8Wxr1i0nCs560xwDipXVTXF4bgBnW-fWOKDuCqnVX2yN3VK7-jXoTY17S1Ot8_Fv9vwg/s1024/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipzW5azDHU3kLPK-r494Q6Dk8SuXASzp9opyDnF7ia6DROQLlprT9WojXUdaW3r4-FOSQEEx07Gwt87GkftedeBM3OVvWPDSLmAlTylHJ45cqbKq2nO_8Wxr1i0nCs560xwDipXVTXF4bgBnW-fWOKDuCqnVX2yN3VK7-jXoTY17S1Ot8_Fv9vwg/s320/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><blockquote><div>Clark’s new urban vision sees a city that marries upper crust with proto-bohemian elements, providing a spectacle for the well-to-do and distracted. Such cities may no longer serve as a vehicle for class mobility, but as an “entertainment machine” for the privileged. For these elite residents, the lures are not economic opportunity, but rather “bicycle paths, beaches and softball fields,” and “up-to-the-date consumption opportunities in the hip restaurants, bars, shops, and boutiques abundant in restructured urban neighborhoods.”</div></blockquote><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQEpIBemXVKE3vEBv4DFOhTdpj8h_5CiAMKyD7Tl9NpRvNEDWRJkHktc1T7sZs4X1kBFOiYA3JP7HCTFrhUd9nteXrdbMTjEypi-iWiMar-0WBooVpL0OIISIrVXJEcR9k9hJzzpScftkhpsScbOG_Hg-ulM619XIqAbrUde71Nq7XO0ojp3mtbQ/s500/53008160906_2b57a41e5f_k.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="410" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQEpIBemXVKE3vEBv4DFOhTdpj8h_5CiAMKyD7Tl9NpRvNEDWRJkHktc1T7sZs4X1kBFOiYA3JP7HCTFrhUd9nteXrdbMTjEypi-iWiMar-0WBooVpL0OIISIrVXJEcR9k9hJzzpScftkhpsScbOG_Hg-ulM619XIqAbrUde71Nq7XO0ojp3mtbQ/s320/53008160906_2b57a41e5f_k.jpg" width="262" /></a></div>And I have to temper my thinking about this too. </div><div><br /></div><div>One of the most important books I read in the late 1980s, pre-Internet, was <i>Maximarketing</i>. Its basic point was that you have to focus on all channels, not just some, selectively. </div><div><br /></div><div>Another good book was the <i>Marketing Imagination</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's where cities are. Needing to maximize all opportunities. </div><div><br /></div><div>And the legacy cities still have advantages in terms of cultural institutions, professional sports teams, colleges and universities, parks and other civic assets, public space investment. Transit.</div><div><br /></div><div>When such institutions are created in the suburbs, the reality is that they are suburban, less cosmopolitan, often less diverse, less likely to challenge the status quo ("<a href="https://hatliegroup.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Deanna-Galati_Creative-Hubs-in-Suburban-Communities.pdf">Creative hubs in suburban communities</a>," "<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/06/03/the-suburbs-take-their-place-in-the-cultural-sun/">Suburbs take their place in the cultural sun</a>," <i>Chicago Tribune</i>, 1990, "<a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/vancouvers-suburbs-fertile-ground-for-cultural-infrastructure/article4513463/">Vancouver's suburbs fertile ground for cultural infrastructure</a>," <i>Toronto Globe & Mail</i>).</div><div></div><blockquote><div>Suburban – or so-called "edge" cities – are developing cultural infrastructure that, if not necessarily on par with what is downtown, is bound to impress. As they grow to view themselves less as bedroom communities and more as cities with cultural identities, these municipalities are focusing on the arts as a way to help them grow, and to demonstrate their maturity. </div><div><br /></div><div>... Dr. Baeker points to Vaughan, Ont., north of Toronto. He developed Vaughan's cultural plan guided by two questions: "One was how do we stop being a suburb? And how do we use cultural facilities and amenities and opportunities to create a sense of this being an urban centre, not a suburban area?" </div><div><br /></div><div>... "I think the suburbs are changing. I think there's a much more urban audience in and around Metro Vancouver than has historically been the case," says Mr. Shier , who points out urban epicentres are developing in cities such as North Van, Burnaby, Surrey and Richmond . " That demographic is shifting expectations. The expectation is that people can have this type of amenity in those urban cores, rather than having to travel to Vancouver to get it."</div></blockquote><div>Although the drop in tourism, the increase in work from home and the impact of e commerce are decimating urban retail ("<a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/san-francisco-centre-valuation-18605584.php">S.F.’s biggest mall lost nearly $1 billion in property value after retail exodus</a>," <i>San Francisco Chronicle</i>, "<a href="https://abc7news.com/macys-san-francicso-union-square-closing-shopping-closure-impact-sf-store/14477539/">How will Macy's closure impact SF's Union Square? Experts offer clues</a>" and "<a href="https://abc7news.com/san-francisco-union-square-sf-stores-closing-nordstrom-westfield-mall-nordstroms-store/13296157/">These are the businesses thriving in SF's Union Square</a>," SF ABC7,"<a href="https://www.inquirer.com/business/retail/macys-to-close-150-stores-bloomindales-blue-mercury-20240227.html">Macy’s to close 150 namesake stores as sales slip, pivot to luxury with new Bloomingdale’s locations</a>," <i>Philadelphia Inquirer</i>).</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://unionsquareshop.com/"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://unionsquareshop.com/"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwAMfb_kcST5uVRU-W_-bhm57qkSIjMTaEuCfmuqI0F2dqYYBi6fhtzE9oQxI_aJDD1A5zY-XOZo-1qmrzOCjNN1WS7k1JIfFdiuVZ6Q0nLc6Xgz06_zC0pEngb6NnPzlcrFrecLm3En_3KPD7CQwVm7qcv38BhgH-yGe5Dhyphenhyphenhaz4J6Ft4tW1Iqw/s275/53008160906_2b57a41e5f_k.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwAMfb_kcST5uVRU-W_-bhm57qkSIjMTaEuCfmuqI0F2dqYYBi6fhtzE9oQxI_aJDD1A5zY-XOZo-1qmrzOCjNN1WS7k1JIfFdiuVZ6Q0nLc6Xgz06_zC0pEngb6NnPzlcrFrecLm3En_3KPD7CQwVm7qcv38BhgH-yGe5Dhyphenhyphenhaz4J6Ft4tW1Iqw/s1600/53008160906_2b57a41e5f_k.jpg" width="275" /></a></div><i>Union Square in SF, like shopping in Manhattan, and some time ago on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, was special. </i></div><div><br /></div><div>Still maintained its relevance despite the move of retail to the suburbs in various forms. No more.</div><div><br /></div><div>And cities suffer disproportionately from homelessness and drug issues and disorder problems. And cities have limited budgets and many priorities.</div><div><br /></div><div>But there are plenty of us who still prefer to live in such an environment.</div><div><br /></div><div>The challenge will be to get disorder under control. Schools--an issue in cities like Chicago and DC. Revive retail. And make downtowns more balanced, more like neighborhoods. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyULks3DqynRtNN1VuNYXomtLpNYjnP7w-ImhrkGkA-FzjuCr7rPZZ8GmqSp5mATTS7MSmstVU91raO9gVl6gcw2jI9STgUKikJAb0k6sCf3Jw0N-LH0wXL2hIqT8fghQ1MVOu-MhJ6C0Gm_zUEfk_0TMmDIBEi9HQiVlyq72njoWf2DLXxqYPHg/s1260/53008160906_2b57a41e5f_k.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1260" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyULks3DqynRtNN1VuNYXomtLpNYjnP7w-ImhrkGkA-FzjuCr7rPZZ8GmqSp5mATTS7MSmstVU91raO9gVl6gcw2jI9STgUKikJAb0k6sCf3Jw0N-LH0wXL2hIqT8fghQ1MVOu-MhJ6C0Gm_zUEfk_0TMmDIBEi9HQiVlyq72njoWf2DLXxqYPHg/s320/53008160906_2b57a41e5f_k.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>While fixing transit ("<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/ensuring-the-intertwined-post-pandemic-recoveries-of-downtowns-and-transit-systems/">Ensuring the intertwined post-pandemic recoveries of downtowns and transit systems</a>," Brookings) and a myriad of other issues.</div><div><br /></div><div>-- <a href="https://transitistheanswer.org/files/RTA-StrategicPlan-FullDocument-ForWeb-230208-2-vb-sm.pdf">Transit is the answer</a> plan, Chicago</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Advocacy Agenda Detail </b></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Secure increased funding for transit operations</li><li>Develop a funding structure that is less reliant on rider fares,
but instead focused on expanding access to opportunity</li><li>Build a coalition around the value transit brings
to the Chicago region</li><li>Support communities’ efforts to improve the area
around their transit stations and stops and pursue equitable transit-oriented
development</li><li>Engage with communities in an inclusive and transparent way
about how transit dollars are spent in the Chicago region</li><li>Secure increased funding for transit infrastructure</li><li>Partner with roadway agencies to build more transit-friendly streets and advance bus rapid transi</li></ol></div><div>It comes down to the asset investment approach, be it social urbanism, revitalization, or a wide range of investment in key infrastructure projects like Oklahoma City:</div><div><br /></div><div>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/01/updating-best-practice-elements-of.html">Updating the best practice elements of revitalization to include elements 7 and 8 | Transformational Projects Action Planning at a large scale</a>," (2024)</div><div>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2022/08/what-is-place-for-post-covid-city.html">What is the competitive advantage for the post-covid city? Doubling down on place values</a>" (2022)</div><div>-- "<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/251700105_Defining_place-keeping_The_long-term_management_of_public_spaces">Defining place-keeping: The long-term management of public spaces</a>," <i>Urban Forestry and Urban Greening</i> (2011)</div><div>-- "<a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/06/15/business/now-push-bring-more-culture-connection-kendall-square/">Now, a push to bring more culture — and connection — to Kendall Square</a>," <i>Boston Globe, </i>2022, (public space, access improvements, culture additions)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy9glu7AvK3PPbXQcrfE4C5ybDfGzH-0O7fARGQTRTgX0tAZQlcljq1-HLJSnZZn3W709Td1zStjbO8nSu_3r0MPWAa-eApG-Mlp949nh-qu-cy3YntXUhr-IaypEXNV3LvJaPNyQ1YJXC7pQ9-FFU5TMVytM8jv9ghhplygiK4Y-NqMqtkR_4Ng/s275/53008160906_2b57a41e5f_k.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="183" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy9glu7AvK3PPbXQcrfE4C5ybDfGzH-0O7fARGQTRTgX0tAZQlcljq1-HLJSnZZn3W709Td1zStjbO8nSu_3r0MPWAa-eApG-Mlp949nh-qu-cy3YntXUhr-IaypEXNV3LvJaPNyQ1YJXC7pQ9-FFU5TMVytM8jv9ghhplygiK4Y-NqMqtkR_4Ng/s1600/53008160906_2b57a41e5f_k.jpg" width="183" /></a></div><a href="https://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/abs/10.1596/978-0-8213-9650-6"><i>The Economics of Uniqueness: Investing in Historic City Cores and Cultural Heritage Assets for Sustainable Development</i></a><div><br /></div><div>DC ("<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/02/26/dc-downtown-action-plan-bowser/">Bowser, business leaders pitch $400M plan to fix D.C.’s ailing downtown</a>," <i>Washington Post</i>) and other cities ("<a href="https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-downtown-loop-state-street-things-to-do/14479816/">Chicago leaders announce committee to revitalize downtown area, including State Street</a>," WLS-TV/ABC, "<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/state-street-downtown-vacancy-rate">State Street downtown has highest vacancy rate ever, but experts say there is hope</a>," CBS2, "<a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2024/02/29/mayor-brandon-johnson-chicago-loop-business-downtown-improvements">Mayor Brandon Johnson outlines vision for downtown revitalization</a>" <i>Chicago Sun-Times</i>, "<a href="https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/editorials/2024/03/03/downtown-golden-triangle-office-residential-conversion-lerta/stories/202403030063">Downtown's next act: Converting offices to residences is the best hope for the Golden Triangle</a>" and "<a href="https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2024/03/04/allegheny-county-assessments-downtown-mayor-ed-gainey-pnc-even-hotel-11-stanwix/stories/202403040023">All hands on deck': 5 more Downtown properties get big assessment cuts as woes deepen for city</a>," "<a href="https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2024/03/06/pittsburgh-downtown-council-bobby-wilson-office-buildings-conversions-gulf-tower/stories/202403060118">As foreclosure risks rise, nearly half of Downtown Pittsburgh office space could be empty in 4 years, report shows</a>," <i>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</i>) have announced initiatives to refocus on improving Downtowns-their central business districts. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm pretty down on the capacity of DC's planning function though. From the article: </div><div></div><blockquote><div>Among the plan’s wide-ranging proposals: recruiting more universities to fill up excess office space, simplifying regulations to attract new small and international businesses, and creating a “history triangle” between Farragut Square, Franklin Park and Lafayette Square that would draw visitors from the Mall. </div><div><br /></div><div>... Still, city officials say that a more extensive, detailed version of the Downtown Action Plan will not be ready until May. For now, it takes the form of a summary of recommendations and broad spending priorities that the report’s authors say, if fully funded and realized, will help mitigate the negative trends threatening the viability of downtown and the city’s overall financial health. </div><div><br /></div><div>Downtown brings $2.3 billion in revenue to the city’s coffers each year, which represents about one-fourth of the city’s total local revenue annually. The report says annual tax revenue generated from downtown has declined by $243 million since 2019, and if current conditions are left unabated, could decline by an additional $193 million over the next five to 10 years. </div><div><br /></div><div>Office vacancy rates downtown have crept up to a record high of at least 21 percent so far in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, according to data provided by the DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID). </div><div><br /></div><div>... Other investment recommendations focus on transportation, increasing retail opportunities, enhancing downtown’s parks and open spaces, and providing $2.5 million for a “dedicated team and marketing efforts to facilitate the transformation of Downtown D.C. into a global learning hub.” </div><div><br /></div><div>... In the realm of public safety, the plan’s short-term recommendations include a lighting assessment and an increased budget for a newly launched program to create “Safe Commercial Corridor” hubs to keep neighborhoods safe and clean through a combination of efforts from public safety and human services agencies. The first hub opened in Chinatown two weeks ago. </div><div><br /></div><div>The plan also focuses on making downtown more friendly to small businesses by simplifying licensing and permitting regulations and in April, launching a soft-landing program to attract international companies and start-ups. </div><div><br /></div><div>And to accelerate the number of housing conversions downtown — the plan notes there are now fewer than five units of housing there for every 100 employees — it suggests streamlining construction and building permitting processes while offering a 10-year suspension of the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), a law that gives tenants a first right of purchase, for new housing projects that are not replacing existing housing.</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Plus DC's central business district improvement districts are a bit less capable than those of NYC or the Center City District in Philadelphia.</div><div><br /></div><div>-- <a href="https://www.reimaginedowntowndc.com/">DC Downtown Action Plan</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Plus, change takes time. A decade is just a start. And DC may take a further blow if the professional basketball and hockey teams do leave the city for suburban Virginia.</div><p></p></div>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-39251886380038643132024-03-03T02:16:00.005-05:002024-03-04T05:43:15.636-05:00Blueprints for a downtown Boston | Boston Globe<p>
Almost all of Boston is booming and recovering well from the pandemic, but not downtown, where empty offices and vacant storefronts are adding up to a lot of wasted opportunity. </p><p><a href="https://apps.bostonglobe.com/opinion/ideas/graphics/2024/02/reimagining-downtown-boston"></a></p><blockquote><a href="https://apps.bostonglobe.com/opinion/ideas/graphics/2024/02/reimagining-downtown-boston">In a special issue of Globe Ideas</a>, we're proposing several big ideas for turning things around. Our premise: The financial district and surrounding area need a new identity that will make the area more dynamic, more appealing, and more economically resilient. </blockquote><p></p><p>Read more from this special issue: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/02/28/opinion/why-downtowns-matter/">Why Downtowns Matter</a></li><li><a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/02/28/opinion/boston-empty-offices-manufacturing/">Turn empty offices into little factories</a> (a restatement of the Jane Jacobs point about cities needing a large stock of old buildings to seed innovation, without acknowledging JJ)</li><li><a href="https://archive.is/DowX7">Downtown needs an infusion of artists</a> (nice discussion of property acquisition models)</li><li><a href="https://archive.is/FXwqi">Give Quincy Market an unsentimental reboot</a> </li><li><a href="https://archive.is/wip/VF6LM">Make Downtown a great place to raise a family</a> (more balanced development, creating neighborhoods instead of exclusively office districts*)</li><li><a href="https://archive.is/IN79D">What Boston can learn from other cities</a> (discussion of how the role of transit is changing in cities as more people work from home)</li><li><a href="https://archive.ph/OvkaC">Forget the doom loop: American's downtowns are coming back</a></li><li>The art of seduction for urban planners (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rllayman/53564746864">cartoon</a>)</li><li><a href="https://archive.is/Dc6mI">By the numbers: Downtown Boston’s pandemic recovery</a></li><li><a href="https://archive.is/wip/7DL9J">Reader ideas</a> (not scintillating)</li></ul><div>* -- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2022/08/what-is-place-for-post-covid-city.html">What is the competitive advantage for the post-covid city? Doubling down on place values</a>," 2022</div><div><br /></div><div>====</div><div>In 2022 the Globe published a similar series, "<a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/ideas/next-big-dig/">The Next Big Dig</a>," making the point that undergrounding the freeway through Central Boston was a big deal, and the city has been timid since. The thing is that the federal, state and local governments ambitions to do has been dashed in a number of ways.</div><div><br /></div><div>First, the 1970s oil crises shocked the system, which turned away from innovation that had marked the federal government since the 1930s. Second, all along there was sentiment by conservatives against big government action--even though a number of New Deal measures had been first proposed by progressive Republicans. Third, the adoption of neoliberalism as an organizing philosophy of government meant that the private sector was venerated over government action. Fourth, big projects often have problems and cost overruns, and officials get excoriated over it. Fifth, constant focus on cutting taxes starves government of the resources it needs to be innovative. Sixth, people are bad at decision making even in good times. Seventh, government in these conditions is more about system maintenance than improvememt.</div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>"<a href="https://apps.bostonglobe.com/ideas/graphics/2022/06/the-next-big-dig/reclaiming-our-ambition">Reclaiming our ambition</a>"</li><li>"<a href="https://apps.bostonglobe.com/ideas/graphics/2022/06/the-next-big-dig/we-have-go-bold-on-housing-how-about-new-city">We have to go bold on housing. How about a new city?</a>"</li><li>"<a href="https://apps.bostonglobe.com/ideas/graphics/2022/06/the-next-big-dig/fixing-t-is-not-enough-we-need-massive-expansion">Fixing the T is not enough. We need a massive expansion</a>"</li><li>"<a href="https://apps.bostonglobe.com/ideas/graphics/2022/06/the-next-big-dig/rising-seas-are-coming-for-boston-lets-lift-city">Rising seas are coming for Boston. Let’s lift the city</a>"</li><li>"<a href="https://apps.bostonglobe.com/ideas/graphics/2022/06/the-next-big-dig/only-sweeping-school-reform-will-do">Only sweeping school reform will do</a>"</li><li>"<a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/ideas/next-big-dig/">More transformative ideas</a>" from readers including:</li><li>"<a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/06/21/opinion/government-doesnt-take-enough-risks-lets-change-that/">Government doesn't take enough risks. Let's change that</a>" (interesting points about "public entrepreneurship")</li><li>"<a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/06/21/opinion/we-can-help-people-make-new-connections/">We can help people make new connections</a>" <i> </i>(makes the point that we should be investing in infrastructure using a broader social justice lens)</li><li>"<a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/06/21/opinion/next-big-dig-shouldnt-be-dig/">The next Big Dig shouldn't be a dig</a>"<i> </i>(makes the point that we should be investing in infrastructure using a broader social justice lens)</li><li>"<a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/06/21/opinion/an-obvious-project-that-weve-just-got-do/">‘An obvious project that we’ve just got to do’</a>" (link North and South railroad stations)</li></ul></div><p></p>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-91607177560583677572024-03-01T13:25:00.024-05:002024-03-10T07:30:55.573-04:00Revisiting the 11th Street Bridge Park project as an opportunity rather than a folly: a new revitalization agenda for East of the River, DC<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_jtAlM4PKJ85REoCzw_LByRA4kbVHF5dPymDB5pJTdrLOIl8nNLK7LmVRW-iAkm8vm_YhhcOwrqYhauWm4iYfTk_Tp_FZOeqbCHY9-HM2OQiKuRpJwfdxzo7n3v2d86r8ib6BaVYipgVYtnUeTKh_f5hF0vbSEp5megStIjapJLrXQL3kg9Ojgw/s275/11640557123_67ffccede9_o.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_jtAlM4PKJ85REoCzw_LByRA4kbVHF5dPymDB5pJTdrLOIl8nNLK7LmVRW-iAkm8vm_YhhcOwrqYhauWm4iYfTk_Tp_FZOeqbCHY9-HM2OQiKuRpJwfdxzo7n3v2d86r8ib6BaVYipgVYtnUeTKh_f5hF0vbSEp5megStIjapJLrXQL3kg9Ojgw/s1600/11640557123_67ffccede9_o.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>The other day, I was interviewed by a graduate student about this project, which aims to create the <a href="https://bbardc.org/project/11th-street-bridge-park/">11th Street Bridge Park</a>, somewhat modeled after the High Line, and similar projects, connecting both sides of the Anacostia River, to Capitol Hill and Historic Anacostia.<p></p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/02/a-look-at-final-designs-for-dcs-11th.html">A Look At The Final Designs For DC's 11th Street Bridge Park</a>," 2024</p><p>I was involved in the Design Oversight Committee on this project in 2014. But even before that I went back and forth on it. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiftEJ2F27I68cyslAMXWbSGIcjpcekGxFgyHeQkLHSVzmLLDlVn3h_HE6OFa_eibMINHv3GX3IWeo0a48JIfNLbnbDrvxa7ZSkKG83gzvJ74b5pHie5GqqleW-LY2QpMPOgxjEw23GJs548UhL5BStcCTw0JkfCTOnM6t-5Ve6IDk3ZQLGJhEvYw/s1400/9780300235784-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="1400" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiftEJ2F27I68cyslAMXWbSGIcjpcekGxFgyHeQkLHSVzmLLDlVn3h_HE6OFa_eibMINHv3GX3IWeo0a48JIfNLbnbDrvxa7ZSkKG83gzvJ74b5pHie5GqqleW-LY2QpMPOgxjEw23GJs548UhL5BStcCTw0JkfCTOnM6t-5Ve6IDk3ZQLGJhEvYw/s320/9780300235784-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter.webp" width="320" /></a></div>Was it merely DC trying to copy other unusual creative infrastructure endeavors (at the same time there was an attempt to create a similar bridge in London, under then Mayor Boris Johnson, "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/17/absurd-vanity-project-for-our-age-boris-johnson-garden-bridge">An absurd vanity project for our age – Boris Johnson’s garden bridge</a>," <i>Guardian</i>).<p></p><p>I'd say yes. And lots of times when people try to do this, they don't understand why the original project was successful and subsequently they fail. A good example is Bilbao.</p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2017/10/why-cant-bilbao-effect-be-reproduced.html">Why can't the "Bilbao Effect" be reproduced? | Bilbao as an example of Transformational Projects Action Planning</a>," 2017</p><p>But I have to say that the student "inspired me" to rethink of the bridge park as an opportunity to reshape revitalization planning and practice in Anacostia. I wrote a bunch of articles at the time about such opportunities. </p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2022/08/dcs-11th-street-bridge-park-project.html">DC's 11th Street Bridge Park project</a>," 2022<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-anacostia-river-and-considering.html">The Anacostia River and considering the bridges as a unit and as a premier element of public art and civic architecture</a>," 2014<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2014/07/dc-has-big-garden-festival-opportunity.html">DC has a big "Garden Festival" opportunity in the Anacostia River</a>," 2014<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2014/08/a-world-class-waterenvironmental.html">A world class water/environmental education center at Poplar Point as another opportunity for Anacostia River programming (+ move the Anacostia Community Museum next door)</a>," 2014<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2014/08/saving-south-capitol-bridge-as.html">Saving the South Capitol Bridge as an exclusive pedestrian and and bicycle bridge</a>," 2014<br /> -- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2012/03/wanted-comprehensive-plan-for-anacostia.html">Wanted: A comprehensive plan for the "Anacostia River East" corridor</a>," 2012<p>But after the design selection process was over, I was no longer involved </p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesahttps://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2014/09/11th-street-bridge-park-design-finalists.htmlndspaces.blogspot.com/2014/09/11th-street-bridge-park-design-finalists.html">11th Street Bridge Park finalists</a>," 2014</p><p>But DC is so weak when it comes to creative planning that such opportunities--it's been 10 years!--I forgot the opportunity and just became negative, failing to realize that much of my writing is about seizing opportunity and trying to maximize the greatest potential benefit from even half-baked infrastructure initiatives.</p><p>Like the point that I make in transit writings, that new infrastructure should be leveraged to drive complementary simultaneous improvements across the transit network, the same goes for the Bridge Park.</p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2018/06/revisiting-purple-line-article-series.html">Revisiting the Purple Line article series after one year: Part 1 | a couple of baby steps</a>," 2018<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2017/04/using-silver-line-as-priming-event-what.html">Using the Silver Line as the priming event, what would a transit network improvement program look like for NoVA?</a>," 2017</p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">How to seize the opportunity despite the city's planning ineptitude</span></b></p><p><b>This mostly focuses on "East of the River" opportunities, with a touch at the end on "West of the River" opportunities centered on the RFK campus</b></p><p><b>Disconnected and uncongenial location</b>. For me, the biggest problem with the bridge concept is it isn't centrally and integrated locationally. </p><p>Sure it will cross the river, but it will be far from Capitol Hill, and from Anacostia. People will have to make a special trip to get there, and it won't be convenient. No parking.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmYBHLTXVMoLDOBr3TYCnLasVJswXkqLXMxvIXSCSWoWhVypN-M5CAx5j6j0DhqbJ6-a07jqNu6GKij7Buq78TH8zdGqMmlVZ8fS392fBV7aELLvx7EKaApXdalV82n2GxD1mFul3_wMBFr7q81i7I7-4nh7z96QA4V_0XQ55JSZws8bdfbRr97w/s800/11640557123_67ffccede9_o.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="648" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmYBHLTXVMoLDOBr3TYCnLasVJswXkqLXMxvIXSCSWoWhVypN-M5CAx5j6j0DhqbJ6-a07jqNu6GKij7Buq78TH8zdGqMmlVZ8fS392fBV7aELLvx7EKaApXdalV82n2GxD1mFul3_wMBFr7q81i7I7-4nh7z96QA4V_0XQ55JSZws8bdfbRr97w/s320/11640557123_67ffccede9_o.jpg" width="259" /></a></div>That's what people don't get about the High Line. (I need to write out a typology, including other efforts like Promenade Plantee, Bentway, 606 Trail in Chicago, Indianapolis Cultural Trail, etc.)<p></p><p>It's embedded in an already successful neighborhood, and even though it is seemingly disconnected from the urban fabric in reality it abuts it very closely in ways that promote new building construction and business development ("<a href="https://ny.curbed.com/maps/nyc-high-line-construction-map">The High Line's transformative real estate boom, mapped</a>" Curbed NY, <a href="https://ecommons.cornell.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/202086b2-b75c-4657-b481-1a7d3d7d8b10/content">THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE PRESERVATION AND ADAPTIVE REUSE OF RAIL TRACKS, THE HIGH LINE IN NEW YORK CITY: REGIONAL IMPACT ANALYSIS AND PROPERTY VALUE CHANGE ANALYSIS </a> Cornell thesis).</p><p>So it's generated billions in new development ("<a href="https://www.bdcnetwork.com/blog/high-line-effect-placemaking-economic-development-engine">The High Line effect: Placemaking as an economic development engine</a>," <i>Building Design and Construction</i>) in a manner that can't happen with the Bridge Park, which is bracketed by the walled off Washington Navy Yard, excepting the riverfront trail alongside and a freeway bridge.</p><p>Freeways generate lots of particulate matter that is unhealthy ("<a href="https://www.lung.org/blog/highway-air-pollution-and-your-health">Highway Air Pollution and Your Health: Six Things You Need To Know</a>," American Lung Association) and they are f* noisy ("<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4358829">Residential Exposure to Traffic Noise and Health-Related Quality of Life—A Population-Based Study</a>"). Who wants to hang out by a freeway?</p><p><b>Equitable development plan. </b>A big concern about the park concept is that it will spur displacement and gentrification. </p><p>While I am hugely in favor of inward investment of all types ("<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2019/11/yes-public-and-nonprofit-investments-in.html">Yes, public and nonprofit investments in the city spur further reinvestment and change: is this a bad thing or a complicated thing?</a>," 2019, "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2011/07/rethinking-community-planning-around.html">Rethinking community planning around maintaining neighborhood civic assets and anchors</a>," 2011), this is an issue, except for poor placement of the facility makes living by the bridge not so attractive.</p><p>The student asked me about the <a href="https://bbardc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Equitable-Development-Plan_09.04.18.pdf">equitable development plan</a>, which I wasn't involved in developing</p><p>It has a bunch of points. <b><i>First is workforce development</i></b>. I talked about this during the design process, and now that I am on the board of a park, I am proved right. There just aren't that many jobs. And my park is 110.5 acres.</p><p><b><i>The third is preserving housing</i></b>. Good goal. Should have been addressed for decades. Plus the real problem in Anacostia is a broken micro-economy. They need a lot more residents (in multiunit buildings) to support revitalization of the local business district. To its credit the Bridge Park has helped develop a land trust, but I don't see it doing that much ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2023/09/scattered-site-buying-of-houses-in-high.html">Scattered site buying of houses in high cost neighborhoods doesn't seem to be a good way to develop scale for a community land trust</a>," 2023).</p><p>-- <a href="https://douglassclt.org/">Douglass Community Land Trust</a></p><p>-- "<a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-03-03/california-sofi-stadium-inglewood-los-angeles-black-gentrification-alison-saar-calida-rawles">Will ‘all that glitters’ turn L.A.’s last solidly Black city white?</a>," <i>Los Angeles Times</i><br />-- "<a href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/02/26/puerto-rico-town-other-chicago-cultural-districts-can-get-millions-for-preservation-efforts/">Puerto Rico Town, Other Chicago Cultural Districts Can Get Millions For Preservation Efforts: Organizations from Rogers Park to South Chicago and Humboldt Park now can apply for $3 million in state funds to protect cultural communities</a>,<i>" </i>Block Club Chicago</p><p><b><i>The fourth is using the bridge to leverage arts and culture</i></b>. YES!!!!!! A lot more about that below.</p><p><b>Economic multiplier effect: there won't be much. </b><b>The second element of the plan is</b> <b style="font-style: italic;">promoting business development </b>on the bridge through kiosks and popups, and entrepreneurship development in the adjoining Anacostia commercial district, which by the way has had a Main Street commercial district revitalization program for 20 years. I laughed. </p><p>Of course, I would recommend a commercial district revitalization framework plan, and all kinds of initiatives. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150905142824/http:/www.cambridgemainstreet.com/uploads/file/MarketAnalysisfinalsept09.pdf">Even my old plan for Cambridge, Maryland is relevant</a> as it's a river community too.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi09FKlSk1GlwSMJyUSdwt5deCqJ26CB-BsLInjgxIeELz1YYVBxiou3rXcQfS2FCGWdRvze-DboNYTboSkJSEXul1_CJ6oWGUtHFOUKtpGbSaT-8Op2sNJMxHT43CuWS0BBGwrmH2IaxgKcMrtxqHeMyRTM9BjrH2R0irsX-2wBGh-CzSQG2ZfIg/s1200/Untitled.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi09FKlSk1GlwSMJyUSdwt5deCqJ26CB-BsLInjgxIeELz1YYVBxiou3rXcQfS2FCGWdRvze-DboNYTboSkJSEXul1_CJ6oWGUtHFOUKtpGbSaT-8Op2sNJMxHT43CuWS0BBGwrmH2IaxgKcMrtxqHeMyRTM9BjrH2R0irsX-2wBGh-CzSQG2ZfIg/s320/Untitled.png" width="240" /></a></div>The reality is that "local parks" as opposed to botanical gardens and arboreta and destination parks like National and State Parks don't have a big economic effect. "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2013/03/garden-tourism.html">Garden tourism</a>" is different.<p></p><p>But here there won't be a charge to enter the park. </p><p>And if there is a lot of kid visitation, well kids don't spend money. They often bring their own food, etc. (<a href="https://www.nrpa.org/contentassets/f568e0ca499743a08148e3593c860fc5/economic-impact-study-full-report.pdf ">The Economic Impact of Local Parks: An Examination of the Economic Impacts of Operations and Capital Spending on the United States Economy</a>, National Recreation and Parks Association). Mostly the economic benefit from local parks comes in neighborhood stabilization and property value increases.</p><p>There are parks with food service and concessionaires, restaurants, but they aren't huge money makers. The chain Shake Shack started as a kiosk in Madison Square Park in Manhattan, but it's an outlier ("<a href="https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/041615/story-behind-shake-shacks-success.asp">The Story Behind Shake Shack's Success - Investopedia</a>," Investopedia).</p><p></p><blockquote>Shake Shack began as a small hot dog stand operating out of Madison Square Park in New York City in 2001 and grew into a gourmet fast-casual restaurant with more than 377 locations both domestically and internationally.</blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijdAOglSVUtgokblLNDekUc9A6TY6hR8rpOpRWRbET_0BNx2Ms4uC-l1fhhzUt3L3bK55DhPPZ0gZB4hCrcmzCQnRDsgRHtmn9JrmaIbgu5G90D4pOc75-VtUcMdWnFR7Kut2sYFP7DkHrLqWSLu02smzrgwM_HYaD91DYzenbYDMQo7H19GwBDA/s506/4195348704_7b1d0812b8_o.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="506" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijdAOglSVUtgokblLNDekUc9A6TY6hR8rpOpRWRbET_0BNx2Ms4uC-l1fhhzUt3L3bK55DhPPZ0gZB4hCrcmzCQnRDsgRHtmn9JrmaIbgu5G90D4pOc75-VtUcMdWnFR7Kut2sYFP7DkHrLqWSLu02smzrgwM_HYaD91DYzenbYDMQo7H19GwBDA/s320/4195348704_7b1d0812b8_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Although maybe Marriott would be willing to license a revival of Hot Shoppes as a retro business venture.<p></p><p><b><i>National Park Service <a href="https://www.nps.gov/nature/customcf/NPS_Data_Visualization/docs/NPS_2022_Visitor_Spending_Effects.pdf">visitor economic impact studies</a></i></b>. An important distinction they make is between in region and out of region visitation. (This extends to other public lands.)</p><p>Out of region visitors spend on lodging, food, and transportation. But spending by in-region visitors, spending per party--not per person--is $42 per day. That's not a lot of money.</p><p>The paper "<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921800921000185">Evaluating the economics of park-tourism from the ground-up: Leakage, multiplier effects, and the enabling environment at South Luangwa National Park, Zambia</a>" <i>Ecological Economics</i>, 2021, argues that simple surveys can collect this type of information. But again, the effect of visitors on parks that are destinations is completely different.</p><p><b><i>Americans for the Arts economic impact analyses of arts patrons</i></b> ("<a href="https://www.broadwaynews.com/americans-for-the-arts-releases-new-findings-about-the-arts-impact-on-u-s-economy">Americans for the Arts releases new findings about the arts’ impact on U.S. economy</a>" <i>Broadway News</i>)./ </p><p></p><blockquote>Nationwide, attendees spent an average of $38.46 at arts and culture organizations; attendees at institutions specifically serving a community of color spent an average of $38.29. This shows that spending by locals is nearly identical across the board.</blockquote><p><span>In short, there will be some spending generated but not all that much. And now that I think about it I don't think we were ever presented with visitor projections.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Leveraging the Bridge Park to create a</span></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"> new revitalization agenda for Anacostia</span></b></p><p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R6Shv8yFcp4/YWHock8c7kI/AAAAAAAAapo/SZRQ-kG1fJwqSar7acuOkFqjCkUvrb3XACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/5068304282_8648cbf07f_w%2B%25288%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="400" height="297" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R6Shv8yFcp4/YWHock8c7kI/AAAAAAAAapo/SZRQ-kG1fJwqSar7acuOkFqjCkUvrb3XACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h297/5068304282_8648cbf07f_w%2B%25288%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></p><p><i>Once again, the integrated public realm framework (David Barth, AECOM) is relevant to the concept of investing in a network of civic assets.</i></p><p><b>Mobility improvements</b></p><p><b>First, address the crappy location:</b><i> </i><b>Urban design and transit connection<i>s</i></b>. One of the elements in the equitable development plan is better connections between the two sides of the river and the physical location of the Bridge Park. </p><p>During the design process we did discuss better transit connections. But I guess they've been too busy over the past 10 years to do anything.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcp9RGdfTa7GnAl7wQL9La_UqB8Fj3HGS-_fkaF-hZnHMjL_lRpo5yXsOi000qkzSKdvndCqipv0P7wGZ3YMo6Sv98mrDBfNVtOcwDKQr6XdXSGSSps-uOWI7z7yLeJOV-Ixgz8MaUZoUbhBEfoIlqe36Y7euYL9M7QusBWVrTvLHiVhUAKzyZYg/s275/29151633577_9731bf39ed_c%20(2).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcp9RGdfTa7GnAl7wQL9La_UqB8Fj3HGS-_fkaF-hZnHMjL_lRpo5yXsOi000qkzSKdvndCqipv0P7wGZ3YMo6Sv98mrDBfNVtOcwDKQr6XdXSGSSps-uOWI7z7yLeJOV-Ixgz8MaUZoUbhBEfoIlqe36Y7euYL9M7QusBWVrTvLHiVhUAKzyZYg/s1600/29151633577_9731bf39ed_c%20(2).jpg" width="275" /></a></div>As mentioned the site will be hard to get to. It's more than a mile from either the Anacostia or Eastern Market transit stations. <div><br /></div><div>From the Capitol Hill side, the Navy Yard is surrounded by a wall. And there are lots of interstitial empty spaces. Same from Anacostia. <div><br /></div><div>I can't think of a worse walk. Especially pushing baby carriages, walking with dogs, etc.<p></p><p>In the short term I'd set up a shuttle bus. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqq6wVFGtJtqnzZTzyZe7hMK5Bn8PyegvWMFkyRFaqkY5Ue-fH3IUhrloG9GXt6eOfpNhXpxKTteKVw_3cYMjDA2MzVUFd8_Noy9KIQQo40VJ5-0zppvGK8vUwFBbg3rU86AN9Iim_hkz1R5VbO76YEjKG0gyRprXGdqX4diM-oNkfr3-pswGC0Q/s576/119971915_f6f472debc_o.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="576" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqq6wVFGtJtqnzZTzyZe7hMK5Bn8PyegvWMFkyRFaqkY5Ue-fH3IUhrloG9GXt6eOfpNhXpxKTteKVw_3cYMjDA2MzVUFd8_Noy9KIQQo40VJ5-0zppvGK8vUwFBbg3rU86AN9Iim_hkz1R5VbO76YEjKG0gyRprXGdqX4diM-oNkfr3-pswGC0Q/s320/119971915_f6f472debc_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>But what I prefer is a heritage streetcar operation between the Anacostia and Eastern Market Metrorail stations, ideally run it, at least on weekends, in association with the National Capital Trolley Museum. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Toronto Transit Commission runs vintage streetcars on their waterfront lines in the summer. That will add to the activation-specialness-fun element of the concept of the Bridge Park.<div><br /></div><div>Also see "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-national-mall-focused-heritage.html">A National Mall-focused heritage (replica) streetcar service to serve visitors is a way bigger idea than a parking garage under the Mall</a>," 2013.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWvCQZKga-R7AcRDQXXgbvUHjldgR1yBWwscNhZrFXBIP7pWq7XOUZDS540_DNX_18mVpGFKudJrtqPWWyZz58eGHkJGZk-HkTYc5WfoQyh7LIB3gy_DwaFGCB8GfMnWCzVD_dFSFNkzENapnUBLYImfYpFBhu5uhuwJOkWevIBFDVdHSF7gwmrw/s1024/27164769706_39f875601f_b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWvCQZKga-R7AcRDQXXgbvUHjldgR1yBWwscNhZrFXBIP7pWq7XOUZDS540_DNX_18mVpGFKudJrtqPWWyZz58eGHkJGZk-HkTYc5WfoQyh7LIB3gy_DwaFGCB8GfMnWCzVD_dFSFNkzENapnUBLYImfYpFBhu5uhuwJOkWevIBFDVdHSF7gwmrw/s320/27164769706_39f875601f_b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.iowaarchitecture.org/ci/tour/view?id=970b8ea4a829264"><i>High Trestle Art Bridge, Madrid, Iowa</i></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Make the walking/biking environment on the 11th Street roadway bridge awesome</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZdHsyAux3lpAqxsvurl3lxi1QvZUJWocZXhDtC2_5V0yhkzWvd00pKoFbAPUcaI3Wp_Ma0zxP9lK9NNqrnzeL4MSrdOzCVs0l0Ae2OsyYZU2QUnctxwntFEJ878pGhgDDD2b7yQ_lK96WBuwNQlYAXtJqGOj4TvNT3jGYWwgoo9IKGFT6jRJfkw/s1024/14385940837_a5a4e398f2_b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="1024" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZdHsyAux3lpAqxsvurl3lxi1QvZUJWocZXhDtC2_5V0yhkzWvd00pKoFbAPUcaI3Wp_Ma0zxP9lK9NNqrnzeL4MSrdOzCVs0l0Ae2OsyYZU2QUnctxwntFEJ878pGhgDDD2b7yQ_lK96WBuwNQlYAXtJqGOj4TvNT3jGYWwgoo9IKGFT6jRJfkw/s320/14385940837_a5a4e398f2_b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibsHgIzTyTew9OMqOE_WMGVOWwpKA5RYXI4jTLcVBCaqYWLL_TNQVXYS3Xa9isUzCg0u9byC5NDp85Ps4qqPiqoiyJBxHDaKXEfcRD5wW9F3pxzRr-I1UsqZXPH3gxDyXzdY5fkhbdzm9ZNqwwLe4Q6mpbioviDg0zHCQMkO33QaFT3aaJdLD0OQ/s956/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="956" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibsHgIzTyTew9OMqOE_WMGVOWwpKA5RYXI4jTLcVBCaqYWLL_TNQVXYS3Xa9isUzCg0u9byC5NDp85Ps4qqPiqoiyJBxHDaKXEfcRD5wW9F3pxzRr-I1UsqZXPH3gxDyXzdY5fkhbdzm9ZNqwwLe4Q6mpbioviDg0zHCQMkO33QaFT3aaJdLD0OQ/s320/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Another thing would be to change the urban design conditions on the regular bridge, to make it great, to have better crossings at the entrances and exits, etc. It's grim now.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3swOupRDzcGIheDPCHGcfdsgkaE8Z5LVACBZx6haBYhnv8Ifa0Ln4rpLlz5woxyvKHay4Y12ixa5lMfHsT4kuOEq3H3M2251br21LtQ0VTwvcI0xVQYmOC4RLCbKSsrsGQ9Y3cp22IcaA8fF6w5JS658dHmVZi20LwZidyxLGbrHX1XkV_CnHPQ/s1200/9780300235784-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="807" data-original-width="1200" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3swOupRDzcGIheDPCHGcfdsgkaE8Z5LVACBZx6haBYhnv8Ifa0Ln4rpLlz5woxyvKHay4Y12ixa5lMfHsT4kuOEq3H3M2251br21LtQ0VTwvcI0xVQYmOC4RLCbKSsrsGQ9Y3cp22IcaA8fF6w5JS658dHmVZi20LwZidyxLGbrHX1XkV_CnHPQ/s320/9780300235784-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter.webp" width="320" /></a></div><i>Andrea Bowers’ text installation instills messages of unity and democracy in the glass walls of the Historic Broadway Station’s entrance pavilion. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times), "<a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2023-06-17/metro-new-regional-connector-underground-subway-art">For L.A.’s newest underground art experience, head down to the Metro Regional Connector</a>," Los Angeles Times.</i><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrHHpeQ-OJuQ9WxvIs6ImN9yDy8Ig29KBm5zAFlN5PieFUgT6DFLCr72MJ6GCANGnR2Die_tIc0ppe_exVFc7QBxwAP-TNiNBjGRaxlDfFxQlB33xJM5CG0FJCqz1BdYXhUYmDBO_XsyoAkhTWHVNa9Z43kpB_vQjz1PZ8z0xxzfFiOzR1g-D7Gw/s2048/46438382955_b899243005_k.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrHHpeQ-OJuQ9WxvIs6ImN9yDy8Ig29KBm5zAFlN5PieFUgT6DFLCr72MJ6GCANGnR2Die_tIc0ppe_exVFc7QBxwAP-TNiNBjGRaxlDfFxQlB33xJM5CG0FJCqz1BdYXhUYmDBO_XsyoAkhTWHVNa9Z43kpB_vQjz1PZ8z0xxzfFiOzR1g-D7Gw/s320/46438382955_b899243005_k.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><b>Second, transit station improvements</b>. Unfortunately, the Metrorail station system wasn't designed to provide much in the way of neighborhood place value ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2013/09/transit-stations-and-placemaking.html">Transit, stations, and placemaking: stations as entrypoints into neighborhoods</a>," 2013). </div><div><br /></div><div>Instead it was designed as a kind of structured whole, using the brutalist style ("<a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/is-the-washington-metro-brutalist-part-1_b_595a7147e4b0f078efd98bbb">Is the Washington Metro “Brutalist”?</a>," "<a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/is-the-washington-metro-brutalist-part-2_b_595bbb80e4b0c85b96c6649b">Part 2</a>," HuffPost). </div><div><br /></div><div>Many of the stations haven't aged well. The Anacostia station is tired, old and disinvested. Invest in improvements.<p>Separately, I've suggested adding a visitor center and other amenities to the Eastern Market station.</p><p><b>Third, Freeway capping and undergrounding</b>. Similarly, DC 295 and 695 scar the East of the River neighborhoods ("<a href="https://ggwash.org/view/81903/both-route-295-and-railroads-divide-neighborhoods-in-northeast-dc">How DC Route 295 isolates neighborhoods in Northeast DC from the rest of the city</a>," Greater Greater Washington). </p><p>Black communities have been separated by the construction of urban freeways for a long time ("<a href="https://www.kqed.org/news/11943263/americas-highway-system-is-a-monument-to-environmental-racism-and-a-history-of-inequity">America's Highway System Is a Monument to Environmental Racism and a History of Inequity</a>," KQED/PBS). Underground those roads. Like the Big Dig in Boston.</p><p>And this is being discussed, even if I don't think the city has the planning capacity and verve to pull it off ("<a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/dcs-major-infrastructure-plans-include-moving-i-295-underground-redesigning-north-capitol-street/3212071/">DC's Infrastructure Plans Include Moving I-295 Underground, Redesigning North Capitol Street</a>," NBC4, 2022).</p><p><b>Social urbanism/equity planning</b>. My primary focus in revitalization is investing in communities, using all kinds of methods, some outlined in these pieces on St. Louis</p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2021/08/st-louis-what-would-i-recommend-for.html">St. Louis: what would I recommend for a comprehensive revitalization program? | Part 1: Overview and Theoretical Foundations</a>," 2021<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2021/09/st-louis-what-would-i-recommend-for.html">St. Louis: what would I recommend for a comprehensive revitalization program? | Part 2: Implementation Approach and Levers</a>," 2021<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2023/03/revisiting-st-louis-revitalization.html">Revisiting St. Louis revitalization planning in the face of population shrinkage</a>," 2023</p><p>plus:</p><p>-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2017/12/an-outline-for-integrated-equity.html">An outline for integrated equity planning: concepts and programs</a>," 2017<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2020/07/equity-planning-update.html">Equity planning: an update</a>," 2020<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2021/10/social-urbanism-and-equity-planning-as.html">Social urbanism and equity planning as a way to address crime, violence, and persistent poverty: (not in) DC</a>," 2021 <br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2021/12/black-community-economic-and-social.html">Black community, economic and social capital: the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago/Chicago</a>," 2021<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2022/01/pontiac-michigan-lagging-african.html">Pontiac Michigan: a lagging African American city in one of the nation's wealthiest counties</a>," 2022</p><p>-- "<a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/06/21/opinion/next-big-dig-shouldnt-be-dig/">The next Big Dig shouldn't be a dig</a>"<i> </i>(makes the point that we should be investing in infrastructure using a broader social justice lens)<br />-- "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/01/arts/design/mexico-border-architecture-canales.html">An Architect Builds Toward the Future on Mexico’s Border</a>," <i>New York Times</i></p><p>The basic point is to invest in both people and place. DC invests, half heartedly in people, not in place. Social urbanism and equity planning aim to do this with a wide range of civic investments, from better transit and urban design, to new schools, libraries, and parks. Medellin is one of the best examples world wide. Such investments led to a 90%+ decrease in murder.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJuQsu2vl4j5BNi_7jkuC05F1ta8cD_43YMKeksCgS4WrcqzGLkly2WSp0eXCNSRDUlq_SFA6HxdGxdtlAak6Z_m7LaOXvbed0soLaigZhnGm4iNNxv9SSgX-rBI42W_Qi3cYfpVJwgY8ACxTy2SMHPUL459hiq5xHjnwznWeZWjOqR21wEneUA/s650/Anacostia-Library-3_exterior.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="650" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJuQsu2vl4j5BNi_7jkuC05F1ta8cD_43YMKeksCgS4WrcqzGLkly2WSp0eXCNSRDUlq_SFA6HxdGxdtlAak6Z_m7LaOXvbed0soLaigZhnGm4iNNxv9SSgX-rBI42W_Qi3cYfpVJwgY8ACxTy2SMHPUL459hiq5xHjnwznWeZWjOqR21wEneUA/s320/Anacostia-Library-3_exterior.jpg" width="320" /></i></a></div><i>"<a href="https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/7483-anacostia-library-by-the-freelon-group">Anacostia Library by The Freelon Group</a>," Architectural Record.</i><p></p><p><b>Crappy leveraging of city-civic assets</b>. The more I learn about revitalization the more I am focused on concentrating rather than deconcentrating assets and efforts.</p><p>The replacement Anacostia Library is in a location that has zero positive spillover benefits. The building is pretty, but as the Sex Pistols said, "vacant" from the standpoint of connectedness.</p><p>Like Tower Hamlets' IdeaStores ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2019/03/update-neighborhood-libraries-as-nodes.html">Neighborhood libraries as nodes in a neighborhood and city-wide network of cultural assets</a>," 2019), it should have been placed in the commercial district.</p><p>And while not in a commercial location, the Frances Gregory Library on Pennsylvania Avenue SE deeper in the community backs up to a park BUT HAS ZERO connection to that park other than some picture windows. What a waste of an opportunity (which is repeated by the Woodridge Library in NE next to Langdon Park).</p><p>Note other places are bad at it too. I am still working out an entry to explain this issue in Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County. They build great civic assets, but don't leverage them to better create mixed public-private community hubs--centers.</p><p><b>Treat the East of the River parks as a network/create an Anacostia River National Heritage Area?</b>. I briefly worked on an effort called the Anacostia River Trust. They had the wrong approach, but understood that the National Park Service controlling most of the land along the Anacostia River is counter productive in terms of serving the local community.</p><p>-- "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-biggest-missed-opportunity-in-dc/2016/09/16/93993ed8-79e1-11e6-bd86-b7bbd53d2b5d_story.html">The most wasted space in D.C.</a>," <i>Washington Post</i>, 2016<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2019/08/defining-national-park-service.html">Defining National Park Service installations in DC as locally or nationally serving</a>," 2019</p><p>From the <i>Post</i> op-ed:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Nearly a century old, larger than New York City’s Central Park and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, sitting at the foot of Capitol Hill on a gentle estuary with outstanding natural biodiversity, Anacostia Park ranks among the biggest wasted opportunities in the nation’s capital. This National Park Service property is sadly underinvested, almost entirely unprogrammed, toxic in several places and simply barren in others. Yet its potential to contribute to the District and the nation is stunning. More than 21 million people visit the District each year. Some would seek out a great Anacostia Riverside National Park and bring their disposable income to spend in the eastern part of the District. </p><p>What if the park sponsored daily educational enrichment activities for the young people in nearby neighborhoods? What if a section of the park were similar to Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, with programs oriented to more contemporary urban music? What if the park had a permanent interpretive display of Washington's vibrant African American communities of the mid-20th century?</p></blockquote><p>The Park Service is tough. They don't ever want to give up an inch of land. But at the same time they have restrictions on what they can do which makes it difficult to do great park activation in the urban context, particularly when you aren't serving national audiences.</p><p><b><i>But why not use the Bridge Park as a way for the city to do a specialized parks master plan for East of the River. Somehow get a memorandum of understanding with NPS.</i></b></p><p>Many of the views from NPS parks are incredible, and parks like Anacostia do serve the community reasonably well, even if somewhat haphazardly (more recreational elements are already run by the city). Get the parks working together and coordinated. </p><p>Interestingly, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/brief/473741/akiima-price">yesterday's PBS News Hour featured a brief interview with Akima Price, executive director, of Friends of Anacostia Park</a>.</p><p></p><p>Imagine coordinating the Bridge Park, Anacostia Park, Poplar Point (transferred from NPS to the city, and abutting the Bridge Park), small community parks ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2021/07/five-examples-of-failure-to-do-parks.html">Five examples of the failure to do parks and public space master planning in DC</a>," 2021), Fort DuPont (where the city hasn't helped much in revitalizing a hockey rink there, "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/02/23/fort-dupont-ice-arena-dc-hockey/">The ice is melting for the skating kids of D.C.</a>," <i>Post</i>), one of the most extensive sets of Civil War fort parks in the city, bike and walking paths, and historic sites.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylR5VKV-zSzHjQhaK5t436Mla1ZHDvFlHsm_AuuSFoQkG6UziFwY3QPHWjEgwFktNVhWuTqKqeWKXAttuadFIYiQhycv_7XZsfQACVTZtPWf6NiLQRusSj1_6ndrdTWBs6BRqIFa8h9C_xn0D7OmdNFxyeY2PimWyawhYEbEOGLdqEjauoasXoQ/s3300/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylR5VKV-zSzHjQhaK5t436Mla1ZHDvFlHsm_AuuSFoQkG6UziFwY3QPHWjEgwFktNVhWuTqKqeWKXAttuadFIYiQhycv_7XZsfQACVTZtPWf6NiLQRusSj1_6ndrdTWBs6BRqIFa8h9C_xn0D7OmdNFxyeY2PimWyawhYEbEOGLdqEjauoasXoQ/s320/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>Maybe the National Park Service <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-I29-PURL-gpo75762/pdf/GOVPUB-I29-PURL-gpo75762.pdf">Urban Agenda: A call to action initiative</a> (2015) can help facilitate this, but I am not holding my breath. <a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/03/revisiting-11th-street-bridge-park.html">Another link to the report</a>.<p></p><p></p><blockquote><p>The Urban Agenda centers around three main principles: </p><p><b><i>Be Relevant to All Americans</i>: </b>Creating meaningful connections with the American public propels the work of the Urban Agenda. Relevancy is critical Service-wide but especially in urban areas. The <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/urban/upload/2017NPS_UrbanLights_web_8-15-17.pdf">Urban Lights publication</a>, Model City vignettes, and Community Liaison Position Description offer tools for increasing NPS relevancy to all Americans. </p><p><b><i>Activating One NPS</i></b>: The NPS consists of 417 diverse park units and 54 programs serving communities across the country. The Urban Agenda calls for the unprecedented alignment of the entire agency by linking the work of national parks and programs to advance conservation, education, recreation, and economic development in urban areas. The Directory of NPS Community Assistance Programs is a resource for identifying programs to advance community needs. </p><p><b><i>Nurture a Culture of Collaboration</i></b>: The successful deployment of these principles requires a culture of collaboration, as the NPS cannot go it alone, especially in urban areas. The Culture of Collaboration Handbook offer several practical tips for bolstering collaborative efforts.</p></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_kHRzT-qgAZt58XONi9qaOmp1cVH71KVcJ4FHxVG1SPFnHsI20u01FAoBU-tr1_zz42imQEgTsD7TM0nGFUmKkTHUFChkbSfKtic3L4F_QK2XQ9dCvKQb6MPqPcYqCWEg_zLYzszicCkVwiiLWVGboWCeOpMrLBZMqFMO6bKzTDMAsTc2q7_IYg/s1024/53563598063_cf0326d9db_b.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="1024" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_kHRzT-qgAZt58XONi9qaOmp1cVH71KVcJ4FHxVG1SPFnHsI20u01FAoBU-tr1_zz42imQEgTsD7TM0nGFUmKkTHUFChkbSfKtic3L4F_QK2XQ9dCvKQb6MPqPcYqCWEg_zLYzszicCkVwiiLWVGboWCeOpMrLBZMqFMO6bKzTDMAsTc2q7_IYg/s320/53563598063_cf0326d9db_b.jpg" width="320" /></a></i></b></div><b><i>Create a National Heritage Area as a way to break silos</i></b>. There are two different approaches that could break the logjam, one would be the designation of this area as a <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/heritageareas/upload/Final-printed-NHA-unigrid-2021-55-areas-508-L.pdf">National Heritage Area</a>, where NPS helps to coordinate a variety of federal, state, local and private assets in an integrated fashion. <p></p><p>Many states including Maryland and Pennsylvania also have a local form of this. </p><p>-- <a href="https://mht.maryland.gov/Pages/MHAA/heritage-areas.aspx">Maryland Heritage Areas</a> program</p><p>Maryland's <a href="https://anacostiatrails.org/">Anacostia Trails heritage area</a> is just across the border in Prince George's County. Better links with ATHA would be a nice complement to this idea. And ATHA does some great programming, signage systems, and visitor services.</p><p><span>For years I've argued that DC should manage itself as a heritage area with or without designation. </span><a href="http://www.npshistory.com/brochures/balt/undated1.pdf">Baltimore started as a state heritage area and is now nationally designated</a><span>.</span></p><p><span>-- "<a href="https://www.academia.edu/5989272/Management_of_Historic_Centres">Management of HIstoric Centres</a>"</span></p><p><span>Work with all the parks along the River, inclulding the USDA National Arboretum and the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. The parks in Prince George's County too like Greenbelt including the <a href="https://www.pgparks.com/parks_trails/bladensburg-waterfront-park">Anacostia Riverfront Park</a> in Bladensburg. In short, don't limit the concept of an Anacostia River National Heritage Area to DC. Include Maryland</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikMS0q1o9eCPMVzowc_vskTABZHf73sgws6ZDE3-EQmdGFTpiENQv6tGUwigNGh1xN1VCZ9evgN9vIbQNx7p-gIC8hohmzt9JCnXaGTWH-kSSK7bvoM7IhsLNvqZOA5LnUwQAbkENt-iVUdIxLv-cNl0C-Lf2sxkJR8QCn9UDKHSnBPGDKG6_bew/s2048/52389929207_f8282e32ff_k.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikMS0q1o9eCPMVzowc_vskTABZHf73sgws6ZDE3-EQmdGFTpiENQv6tGUwigNGh1xN1VCZ9evgN9vIbQNx7p-gIC8hohmzt9JCnXaGTWH-kSSK7bvoM7IhsLNvqZOA5LnUwQAbkENt-iVUdIxLv-cNl0C-Lf2sxkJR8QCn9UDKHSnBPGDKG6_bew/s320/52389929207_f8282e32ff_k.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><b>National recreation area concept/the Anacostia River</b>. Another could be the creation of a "<b><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_recreation_area">national recreation area</a></i></b>" which again, coordinates park resources across multiple agencies and organizations. <p></p><p>NRAs are oriented to the water, and the Anacostia Watershed Society has produced a water-oriented park map and history, using the NPS <a href="https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/brochures/unigrid/index.htm">unigrid brochure graphic design format</a> although it's not an official NPS publication. </p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2019/08/engaging-citizens-in-dcs-rivers-and.html">Engaging citizens in DC's rivers and waterfronts as a way to drive improvements in water quality</a>," 2019</p><p>But the heritage area makes more sense ("<a href="https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi">A Park for Everyone: The National Park Service in Urban America A Park for Everyone: The National Park Service in Urban America</a>," <i>Natural Resources Journal</i>, Winter 2016). Organizing around the water is too limited given the myriad issues.</p><p>That being said, a swimmable Anacostia River is on the horizon, there are marinas on the river, and I have a great concept for how the RFK Campus can leverage its waterside location (technically a west of the river location).</p><p>Related to either the NRA or an NHA/state heritage area would be the creation of a River Towns/Trail Towns economic development initiative along the River, leveraging the opportunities presented by tourism.</p><p>The way that Pennsylvania does this along the Great Allegheny Passage trail is a model. Which does include sites in Maryland and West Virginia.</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.trailtowns.org/tools/">Trail Towns program</a>, Progress Fund</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIRYL5XZkH5ibDDJa6r3peNd8kP5fFom25_h0bHv29I7e-2XccIV2ULd7bT1hbNULrtD3dK61Od6hZ53ULFuraThf9WOorPZ5_rtDyIg4-GnP08RP-T3Vh5Mp30YGdhIiYJOIWsQdOoY1x45LSVBySFIuDeRNwRbuldqzdvmmlr-x4v0lGZdSKZA/s500/9780300235784-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter.webp" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="500" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIRYL5XZkH5ibDDJa6r3peNd8kP5fFom25_h0bHv29I7e-2XccIV2ULd7bT1hbNULrtD3dK61Od6hZ53ULFuraThf9WOorPZ5_rtDyIg4-GnP08RP-T3Vh5Mp30YGdhIiYJOIWsQdOoY1x45LSVBySFIuDeRNwRbuldqzdvmmlr-x4v0lGZdSKZA/s320/9780300235784-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter.webp" width="320" /></a></b></div><b>Bring the Garden Bridge/the public garden into the community</b>. The big thing is to leverage the Bridge Park as a way to reshape the community around "letting the gardens" in, sustainability and beauty. <div><br /></div><div>As opposed to it being a separate structure apart from the community.<p></p><p>In short, "make the Bridge Park" a shaping force within the neighborhood and as an augur of revitalization rather than the other way around.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYsEgJZfUsQ-VM-D1wAvW7DSFUW048M86pf_m_kwOQ3zQpGVZiT2576SZIlfh5p9znH15wtM1CrwTVsGHz26k0g9Cz5UbbCFGxNy_N_pgxmhNtjg8259zWcXTL2TPwi_68v8GjPky0mI-tNOsKaxtmNVaGsyeVQxGFiutnW-lAuf0DUOCB4AyfSQ/s2048/53577970836_ca35ef1c19_k.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1444" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYsEgJZfUsQ-VM-D1wAvW7DSFUW048M86pf_m_kwOQ3zQpGVZiT2576SZIlfh5p9znH15wtM1CrwTVsGHz26k0g9Cz5UbbCFGxNy_N_pgxmhNtjg8259zWcXTL2TPwi_68v8GjPky0mI-tNOsKaxtmNVaGsyeVQxGFiutnW-lAuf0DUOCB4AyfSQ/w283-h400/53577970836_ca35ef1c19_k.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><p>The basic idea is investment in public spaces, comparable to a parks conservancy, using the Garden Festival approach.</p><p>The Garden Tourism efforts in Buffalo, New York are a great example on building this in terms of programming. </p><p></p><p>-- <a href="https://www.gardensbuffaloniagara.com/garden-walk-buffalo">GardenWalk Buffalo</a></p><p>An even better example is the now sadly defunct "Dig the City Garden Festival" that used to be held for a week in the summer in Manchester, UK ("<a href="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/dig-city-youll-love-ultra-4885742">Dig the city? Then you’ll LOVE these ultra urban garden ideas for Manchester</a>," <i>Manchester Evening News</i>).</p><p>It presented events in the city center, as well as throughout the city, where "gardening takes over the city" in incredibly creative ways.</p><p>The Bridge Park concept of specialty gardening can infuse the Anacostia commercial and residential district the same way Dig the City did, especially in terms of creativity.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MO9dHLvU2qU/VqY2272pMdI/AAAAAAAAPJU/zCRTbU7Dptw/s1600/New-Oberpfalz.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MO9dHLvU2qU/VqY2272pMdI/AAAAAAAAPJU/zCRTbU7Dptw/s320/New-Oberpfalz.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>Outdoor patio at the New Oberfalz craft brewery. The Downtown has a mix of specialty stores like a guitar shop and restaurants." <a href="http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20160115/ISSUE03/160119887/how-griffith-ind-turned-around-its-downtown">How to Save Downtown</a>," in Crain's Chicago Business about the revitalization of Griffith, Indiana <br /></i><p>Use the idea to drive beautification and plant-related creative efforts across the community. </p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2014/06/european-garden-festivals-as-model.html">European Garden Festivals as a model urban planning initiative for Detroit and other US cities</a>," 2014<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2014/07/dc-has-big-garden-festival-opportunity.html">DC has a big "Garden Festival" opportunity in the Anacostia River,</a>" 2014</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHeZmcG0gbjuMhUC-rXrPXEtYYYn0Vm0IhaJ0R8KZJw6j5fvahp9KHL1JWKo5wOwAna7R4zAVDLC3xRYIShRZO4DAAxqUXRRn2pzewNrlk05a3kB9rAtu1slQ5xqqDwijkXJ4TPTJ_nYvzvXuYTnm1dQpVopkmJzB2zI4yRewj8ULBtVdFJYdH6Q/s275/52389929207_f8282e32ff_k.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHeZmcG0gbjuMhUC-rXrPXEtYYYn0Vm0IhaJ0R8KZJw6j5fvahp9KHL1JWKo5wOwAna7R4zAVDLC3xRYIShRZO4DAAxqUXRRn2pzewNrlk05a3kB9rAtu1slQ5xqqDwijkXJ4TPTJ_nYvzvXuYTnm1dQpVopkmJzB2zI4yRewj8ULBtVdFJYdH6Q/s1600/52389929207_f8282e32ff_k.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>One example of the garden escaping the Bridge Park is a kind of sculptural work Diana Balmori did in Bilbao many years ago ("<a href="https://www.balmori.com/portfolio/the-garden-that-climbs-the-stairs">The Garden That Climbs The Stairs</a>").<p></p><p>Ideas abound. Ephemeral sculpture public art projects, the kinds of landscape initiatives in Montreal, the creative public space approaches of Claude Cormier. </p><p>Basically updating the City Beautiful approach for the 21st Century.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLsAc27Xch6vG7y_JpLVy8YXIPiNT6BBz9ktw2FNuXlGG84lPr4rExebmJ78oU_Ql66HNy2QAr6IikuNoDTraAfwHNxMEWHifjaUDbrVUzC1DKm04gYl44xKyDi6BcX_-yshvuYLpVjeU640Id4jabcqVKjrqvprstw_iHmxn95LF39aCjDnlJMQ/s2048/53577091477_85427ed09b_k.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1173" data-original-width="2048" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLsAc27Xch6vG7y_JpLVy8YXIPiNT6BBz9ktw2FNuXlGG84lPr4rExebmJ78oU_Ql66HNy2QAr6IikuNoDTraAfwHNxMEWHifjaUDbrVUzC1DKm04gYl44xKyDi6BcX_-yshvuYLpVjeU640Id4jabcqVKjrqvprstw_iHmxn95LF39aCjDnlJMQ/w400-h229/53577091477_85427ed09b_k.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Model Eleanor Davies wears a dress made from flowers by florist Lisa Dickinson of Venus to launch Dig The City Garden Festival, Manchester, UK</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAL5miDjTz7viIe5y2y54MnfikPG1xY0d9CGs9IYkf1J3glkTy2qlUAbdu6oLy8uk7BbbhoQVVOesMftHqlStEY3CxI22joHhb3HwHlewHQtt6tFVENRQCXNgEl_oxZINWyhQxucfQIwt0uzHvnpnbi1blTuagtfWIJFUTE6Z0IzJwq7rYaxsCg/s800/29151633577_9731bf39ed_c%20(2).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="800" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAL5miDjTz7viIe5y2y54MnfikPG1xY0d9CGs9IYkf1J3glkTy2qlUAbdu6oLy8uk7BbbhoQVVOesMftHqlStEY3CxI22joHhb3HwHlewHQtt6tFVENRQCXNgEl_oxZINWyhQxucfQIwt0uzHvnpnbi1blTuagtfWIJFUTE6Z0IzJwq7rYaxsCg/s320/29151633577_9731bf39ed_c%20(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Bus shelters and bus stops and other types of street furniture can be green.<p></p><p></p><p><b>Leverage the public garden element for cultural tourism</b>. From the standpoint of great places/cities don't just take, they give, the Bridge Park should join the <a href="https://www.publicgardens.org/">American Public Gardens Association</a> and try to bring area gardens into a garden tourism consortium. In short, extract the economic value that is possible.</p><p>There are a bunch of public gardens in the area--Hillwood, Dunbarton, Tudor, Brookside (Montgomery County), University of Maryland, US Botanic Garden (federal), National Arboretum (USDA) that are members. Kenilworth Gardens (NPS) is not. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVuvkQ15hI0VZa7eHjxsDTTKx4nJALMB7nW9OM2okhHDGH9-wFbyTGQFdmBfSSA4opIaL0HjN7pb0cGBMI6MlbyQvPqyA3sJReqw5eBGkN0dCNXqB2IxcNwLyhiF33Z0v3PhOHnfeIdU-bAiMEuGeP4Xi4EYGpGAOe1touP3OefwhPMRCd6k63Xg/s1300/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="1300" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVuvkQ15hI0VZa7eHjxsDTTKx4nJALMB7nW9OM2okhHDGH9-wFbyTGQFdmBfSSA4opIaL0HjN7pb0cGBMI6MlbyQvPqyA3sJReqw5eBGkN0dCNXqB2IxcNwLyhiF33Z0v3PhOHnfeIdU-bAiMEuGeP4Xi4EYGpGAOe1touP3OefwhPMRCd6k63Xg/s320/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Plus historic sites, like <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/cedar-hill-frederick-douglass-rustic-sanctuary.htm">Cedar Hill, the last home of Frederick Douglass</a>.<p></p><p>At the macro scale, gardens can have big economic impact, even if they don't generate a lot of micro economic activity for local businesses. From "<a href="https://www.dailylocal.com/2021/04/23/lawmakers-longwood-gardens-hearing-public-gardens-create-jobs-help-economy">Lawmakers’ Longwood Gardens hearing: Public gardens create jobs, help economy</a>" <i>Daily Local News:</i></p><p></p><blockquote>“What a great opportunity to lift up the important role of nature, plants, and the great outdoors,” Roy said. “The 37 Philadelphia-area member gardens that make up America’s Garden Capital generate substantial benefits for the region with more than 1,500 jobs, support to local businesses, increasing nearby property values, and a collective economic impact of about $256 million per year. During this pandemic, with the heightened stress and anxiety, the respite provided by simple things like a walk in these gardens have proved to be more important than ever. Let’s not forget the important role these spaces play in our lives when we reach the other side of this.”</blockquote><p><i style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95VGjUNcFeGFCzw6lEcm3cLLWD0-oFXgqqp4PEbXY3EZMOzvLIppsERVGv7KPMDzhOPe7vebM3JOFr4dTNGrOvDh0bX2zHDxt34z4UuF-mj8Q-TIym6xx4fhi1EvHmZbeF4q_uw5PQeunF-MARpdt8QMIXMAl6kPa2z83O8eKh4nGuwyyiloSQQ/s320/5ZRDVJ3KH5BD5EIU662ZKM2A74.jpg" width="320" /></i></p><p><i>The award-winning orchid curtain in the Exhibition Hall at Longwood Gardens' 2015 Orchid Extravaganza. Photo: CAROL DeGUISEPPI</i></p>According to the study, <a href="https://econsultsolutions.com/the-economic-impact-of-greater-philadelphia-gardens/">The Economic Impact of Greater Philadelphia Gardens</a> (Ecoconsult Solutions, 2017), about 30% of visitors to gardens in Greater Philadelphia are out of towners, spending about $145 per day, while the rest are in-region, spending about $36 per day.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://longwoodgardens.org/visit"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://longwoodgardens.org/visit"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGxIEoHr6r_Cjg3whwf8Sn04dMuTAlp-KMD5GruWuHEQjnZ2gC_8F5_HxbBTBLItmzFltN01RWevHKzc8kMCprPLrBFlrNoMhNW6fo8CBaHrTb2g111VkJiQwtVgbPIECXoDfgc97QNF5dAXg8ooVyluZo2NcDWQxxZIKZ4PLVJXaktprQiClOw/s945/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="945" data-original-width="722" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGxIEoHr6r_Cjg3whwf8Sn04dMuTAlp-KMD5GruWuHEQjnZ2gC_8F5_HxbBTBLItmzFltN01RWevHKzc8kMCprPLrBFlrNoMhNW6fo8CBaHrTb2g111VkJiQwtVgbPIECXoDfgc97QNF5dAXg8ooVyluZo2NcDWQxxZIKZ4PLVJXaktprQiClOw/s320/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>Admission to Longwood Gardens--incredibly beautiful--is $25. Many of the gardens identified here are free to enter. </div><div><br /></div><div>But there is still a way to capture some spending from some consumer segments. However, it will have to be cultivated, it won't be trickle down. </div><div><p></p><div>When I proposed the creation of a "Capitol Hill Destination Development Management and Marketing Plan/District" in association with Eastern Market ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2023/11/eastern-market-dcs-150th-anniversary.html">Eastern Market DC's 150th anniversary last weekend | And my unrealized master plan for the market</a>") the idea was to have a day's worth of places people could visit via tour bus. </div><div><br /></div><div>This concept can be extended to the very least to the Bridge Park, Kenilworth Gardens, other parks in Anacostia, the National Arboretum, the US Botanic Garden, Congressional Cemetery, Eastern Market, even over a couple days. To generate some garden tourism/cultural tourism activity.</div><p><b>Economic development in the commercial district</b>. Obviously the hundreds of thousands of words I've written on commercial district revitalization are relevant here. Promoting POC businessh development, creative business structures that reduce the demand for capital, investment, etc., is necessary.</p><p><b><i>New types of business organization are required to seed retail in emerging commercial districts</i></b>. In addition to supporting businesses willing to operate in such places, to widen the array of what's available, and in addition to the types of regional and national chain retailers focused on serving this demographic, to create more opportunities for the development of locally owned and operated businesses, it's necessary to foster different kinds of business organization--business co-operatives, market incubators, and social entrepreneurship retail ventures by nonprofit organizations, in addition to pre-existing businesses.<br /><br />Examples from elsewhere include farmers markets and public markets more generally, the <a href="http://www.portlandmercado.org/">Mercado</a> in Portland, Oregon and the Thai Town Marketplace in Los Angeles, the various food incubators that have popped up in DC, the <a href="http://4thstreetmarket.com/">4th Street Marketplace</a> in Santa Ana, the Housing Works store and care in NYC, among others,</p><p>Some businesses have opened, but a big issue is that they need more residents capable of spending money.</p><p>-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2020/02/basic-planning-building-blocks-for.html">Basic planning building blocks for urban commercial district revitalization programs that most cities haven't packaged: Part 1 | The first six</a>," 2020<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2020/02/basic-planning-building-blocks-for_25.html">Basic planning building blocks for urban commercial district revitalization programs that most cities haven't packaged: Part 2 | A neighborhood identity and marketing toolkit (kit of parts)</a>," 2020<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2020/02/basic-planning-building-blocks-for_26.html">Basic planning building blocks for urban commercial district revitalization programs that most cities haven't packaged: Part 3 | The overarching approach, destination development/branding and identity, layering and daypart planning</a>," 2020<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2020/02/basic-planning-building-blocks-for_27.html">Basic planning building blocks for "community" revitalization programs that most cities haven't packaged: Part 4 | Place evaluation tools</a>," 2020</p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2016/01/ground-up-commercial-revitalization.html">Ground up commercial revitalization and the Skyland Town Center project</a>," 2016</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid2wdXjhyphenhyphencTtDIdxfkJCriHY6m9M9ZFxERHKH8pXOyU55DpmnmuaknRKNVVipGUU2F4OunWWGHMOHLKCfsRK36ps5z6gZvySl8OZCq2ijmYpP2eg_5YYUuLuaP7Wf7lHFh1tFF9s-CDRQYBqYjKS5KH19M6w1SsASOPQ0ewUEAwBo_ytK4d0e9oQ/s550/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="550" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid2wdXjhyphenhyphencTtDIdxfkJCriHY6m9M9ZFxERHKH8pXOyU55DpmnmuaknRKNVVipGUU2F4OunWWGHMOHLKCfsRK36ps5z6gZvySl8OZCq2ijmYpP2eg_5YYUuLuaP7Wf7lHFh1tFF9s-CDRQYBqYjKS5KH19M6w1SsASOPQ0ewUEAwBo_ytK4d0e9oQ/s320/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><i>Reunion Square will will include the city's new Department of Health headquarters, a 120-room hotel, a 132-unit affordable senior building, another 481 residential units, a new home for the Anacostia Playhouse, and 140,000 square feet of retail. Note that 140,000 sf. of retail space is insane.</i><p><b>Office development/limited multiplier effect</b>. The <i>Post </i>reports, "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/03/01/dc-health-equity-anacostia-economy/">DC Health moves to Anacostia with high hopes for community impact</a>," about a new revitalization effort by the city, bringing the Department of Health and its 600 employees to Anacostia. From the article:</p><p></p><blockquote>Administration officials see the influx of workers as an economic boost and part of a broader effort to scale up critical health infrastructure in a place where life expectancy and health outcomes lag behind neighborhoods to the west. While the department doesn’t provide direct medical services on-site, DC Health does focus on making federal dollars work for city residents, funding nonprofits and community groups working with people who need public health resources.</blockquote><p></p><blockquote><p>... The city is paying about $1 million per month to lease space in the 250,000 square feet building owned by Four Points, LLC, according to the Department of General Services. The city will continue to pay $1.46 million per month at North Capitol Street, which will be renovated to make space for other D.C. government offices, DGS said. </p><p>The parts of the building open to the public are on the ground floor where Vital Records and Licensing office staff will help with birth and death certificates and licenses for health professionals including nurses, pharmacists and dentists, and barber and beauty shops, although most of those tasks can be completed online. </p></blockquote><p></p><p></p><p>Note these are two very different issues, health outcomes and revitalization. And as far as health outcomes go, I outlined a brilliant approach (see below) that the city ignored.</p><p>I've written about relocation of DC government agencies over the years as a misguided economic development strategy ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2011/10/reeves-center-myth-re-revisited.html">The Reeves Center Myth Revisited</a>," 2011, "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2005/08/office-buildings-wont-save-anacostia.html">Office Buildings Won't Save Anacostia</a>," 2005). It's not that the idea is bad per se, just from a numbers standpoint it doesn't have much effect, and comes at the expense of transit efficiency. Especially in secondary and tertiary business districts.</p><p>First, office workers don't support much retail. The old rule of thumb was1.5 sf. per person on convenience goods (think CVS) and 3.5 sf. per person on quick service food (sandwich shops, etc.). So 600 workers = 3,000 sf., of retail support which is a couple storefronts. </p><p>Second, work from home further minimizes the impact Third, so does e-commerce. It's hard now to seed retail around office development because of this. </p><p>Fourth, while I haven't seen studies on DC government workers per se, a definitive study on federal workers in the L'Enfant Plaza area found about 65% of workers brought their lunch--which is why the food options there are so paltry.</p><p>In short, not a solution.</p><p>WRT the larger number of total retail space in the Reunion Square project, again old, not taking into effect e commerce effects--so many companies now are shutting stores, is that the average resident supports 7.5 sf. of retail. You need at least 20,000 residents with decent incomes to support that amount of retail. Still, Reunion Square looks like an important addition to the community and its rebuilding efforts.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuSa5Ypxul5F5uwa_aISpAOah06_WZZpXz1tLipWq1zLmlc5vYal4Es_cfJW8ZFFTdI3BcIfn07_ohl1mv2lGCBxV3Vbaa9QL22TJCRMoWmj0WRcbsOTMr32pksd0FC_TKsqsl9lTzoH-S8xYcE9EJyh0LAADTDq_uEMESkUHfjbO3Te2VYe9oJw/s275/29151633577_9731bf39ed_c%20(2).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="184" data-original-width="275" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuSa5Ypxul5F5uwa_aISpAOah06_WZZpXz1tLipWq1zLmlc5vYal4Es_cfJW8ZFFTdI3BcIfn07_ohl1mv2lGCBxV3Vbaa9QL22TJCRMoWmj0WRcbsOTMr32pksd0FC_TKsqsl9lTzoH-S8xYcE9EJyh0LAADTDq_uEMESkUHfjbO3Te2VYe9oJw/s1600/29151633577_9731bf39ed_c%20(2).jpg" width="275" /></a></b></div><b>Leimert Park, Los Angeles as a model of a POC centric commercial district</b>. Many years ago Leimert Park in Los Angeles was featured in the <i>Washington Post</i> as a black-business district ("<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/travel/2006/03/19/los-angeless-black-pride-span-classbankheadtaking-in-the-retro-vibe-of-leimert-parkspan/adcecfa5-5465-4980-acfb-893e376e89ff/">Los Angeles's Black Pride: Taking In the Retro Vibe of Leimert Park</a>," <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/travel/2006/03/19/details-leimert-park/ac5814e8-b8fc-4624-9742-1300d5946ad6/">places</a>, 2006). <p></p><p>I visited it back then and wasn't impressed. But that can be the model. Especially with amped up investment. The issue back then was disinvestment, not the concept.</p><p>-- "<a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-07-27/gentrification-leimert-park-black-owners-buy-building-generational-wealth">How a gentrifying Leimert Park is ending up in Black hands</a>," <i>Los Angeles Times</i><br />-- "<a href="https://lastandardnewspaper.com/index.php/business/1058-purchasing-power-leimert-park-merchants-come-together-to-buy-their-building.html">Purchasing power: Leimert Park merchants come together to buy their building</a>,"<i> Los Angeles Standard</i><br />-- "<a href="https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/departures/leimert-park-art-village-the-struggle-with-a-sense-of-place">Leimert Park Art Village: The Struggle with a Sense of Place</a>," PBS SoCal</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA_snlQ9JV9JxsIUa5SUURjKZ2lcYZO4iyYX24UfU0K706GsK4a5nuHDmkY9PeSaVNBusP9zhRxAnPOVgzWmKRKQQL1r8xfqxMTzfsJsOVmOHy8e9Fyq0nIdyYi0n-JhjCSl5lw7mkcX5Mtu2XOkReDP_TK-wNQMiKALvuG9ym-3gEbYJRzLyguQ/s300/29151633577_9731bf39ed_c%20(2).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA_snlQ9JV9JxsIUa5SUURjKZ2lcYZO4iyYX24UfU0K706GsK4a5nuHDmkY9PeSaVNBusP9zhRxAnPOVgzWmKRKQQL1r8xfqxMTzfsJsOVmOHy8e9Fyq0nIdyYi0n-JhjCSl5lw7mkcX5Mtu2XOkReDP_TK-wNQMiKALvuG9ym-3gEbYJRzLyguQ/s1600/29151633577_9731bf39ed_c%20(2).jpg" width="300" /></a></div>Since 2007 when I saw it, there has been a lot of new investment in the district, not just adding <a href="https://kline.metro.net/about-leimert-park/">rail transit service</a>, but in revitalizing what had been an old theater into a multifaceted cultural center.<p></p><p>In Anacostia, there is a remnant theater on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard there. </p><p>Make an arts center to complement the other arts assets the community, like the Anacostia Playhouse. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lC2U3a03YnU/VqZRkHzkjvI/AAAAAAAAPKQ/ttoqN4fYiD0/s1600/lp-vt-guy.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lC2U3a03YnU/VqZRkHzkjvI/AAAAAAAAPKQ/ttoqN4fYiD0/s320/lp-vt-guy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><i>The Vision Theater in Leimert Park Village will be a cultural anchor and will bring new customer segments to the commercial district throughout the day and into the evening, <a href="https://horizonskyline.wordpress.com/2015/08/20/losing-a-world-of-inspiration/">Photo from Horizon and Skyline blog</a>. </i></p><p><i>Also see "<a href="http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/leimert-park/leimert-theater-envisioning-a-neighborhood-landmark.html">Leimert Theater: Envisioning a Neighborhood Landmark</a>," KCET. </i> </p><p>Leimert Park is decently organized, and successfully campaigned for a more directly accessible transit station as part of a new line being developed to serve their area. Also see "<a href="http://intersectionssouthla.org/story/leimert-park-plays-to-its-own-beat/">Leimert Park plays to its own beat</a>," USC, and "<a href="http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/leimert-park/leimert-park-where-does-it-go-from-here.html">Leimert Park: where does it go from here?</a>," KCET--the latter article discusses how since the approval of the transit station, an unknown buyer has purchased many properties in the district.<br /><br />Key to the revitalization program has been the retention of existing businesses and the incorporation of new arts and culture anchors (<a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-1207-banks-leimert-village-20131207-column.html">Leimert Park's World Stage hopes to keep the music playing</a>" and "<a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-leimert-park-vision-theatre-play-festival-20140828-story.html">Play festival heralds impending revival of L.A.'s Vision Theatre</a>," <i>Los Angeles Times</i>) into the mix, along with park refurbishments, streetscape improvements, and other public space improvements.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJN25JZy7GB047jmUy8cJlj9sGiehQJWqcL735Rd26puCXiUIZMSNmFiXERYoLv98ghQ6X_BnqpTQ2NKUW_vWyx9CabjYXlmE-KbOIlKCFii_tbZtCMKfz_b_Y0Y3fs4W2BgGBtvcM0i16jvOn4K-1_VXGEezAieXoV0MMkH59y83mm9-HKeYFuQ/s600/9780300235784-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJN25JZy7GB047jmUy8cJlj9sGiehQJWqcL735Rd26puCXiUIZMSNmFiXERYoLv98ghQ6X_BnqpTQ2NKUW_vWyx9CabjYXlmE-KbOIlKCFii_tbZtCMKfz_b_Y0Y3fs4W2BgGBtvcM0i16jvOn4K-1_VXGEezAieXoV0MMkH59y83mm9-HKeYFuQ/s320/9780300235784-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter.webp" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Berczy Square, Toronto, </i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>"<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/08/arts/design/claude-cormier-dead.html">Claude Cormier, Landscape Architect With a Playful Eye, Dies at 63</a>," </i><i>New York Times.</i></div></i><p><b>Focusing on Anacostia as a cultural center and arts as production</b>. Develop programs focusing not just on presentation or consumption of the arts, but arts production too. </p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis_Cultural_Districts">Indianapolis created a system of arts districts</a> in the late 1990s. <a href="https://www.in.gov/arts/programs-and-services/training/creative-community-pathway/step-4-cultural-district-application/">Later so did the State of Indiana</a> ("<a href="https://www.in.gov/arts/programs-and-services/partners/cultural-districts/">About Indiana Culture Districts</a>"). And Maryland has arts districts, albeit more focused on some tax advantages for arts as production ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2021/10/arts-district-planning-in-arlington.html">"Arts district planning" in Arlington County | Many communities don't know the difference between arts as production and arts as consumption</a>," 2021).</p><p>Austin, Texas has the <a href="https://www.sixsquare.org/">6 Square District</a>, marketed as Austin's Black Cultural District.</p><p><b>Characteristics of cultural quarters</b><br />(from Montgomery [2003], "<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120907110458/http://halliejones.com/Resources/CulturalQuarters.pdf">Cultural Quarters as Mechanisms for Urban Regeneration. Part 1: Conceptualising Cultural Quarters</a>," <i>Planning, Practice & Research,</i> 18:4)<br /><i>slightly revised and reordered</i></p><p></p><ol><li>Cultural venues at a variety of scales, including small and medium. </li><li>Availability of workspaces for artists and low-cost cultural producers.</li><li>Small-firm economic development in the cultural sectors.</li><li>Managed workspaces for office and studio users.</li><li>Location of arts development agencies and companies.</li><li>Arts and media training and education.</li><li>Art in the environment.</li><li>Community arts development initiatives.</li><li>Stable arts funding.</li><li>Identity, image development, branding and marketing support.</li><li>Complementary day-time uses. </li><li>Complementary evening uses.</li></ol><div>A few years later, I learned about the Arabianranta arts district in Helsinki, which also has more of a business tinge, arts as production focused, anchored by an arts and designed focused college and businesses which located there, attracted by proximity to the college ("<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256460640_Developing_Creative_Quarters_in_Cities_Policy_lessons_from_Art_and_Design_City_Arabianranta_Helsinki">"Developing creative quarters in cities: policy lessons from 'Art and design city' Arabianranta, Helsinki</a>,"<i> Urban Research and Practice</i>, 6:2 [2013]).</div><p>Anyway, most US "arts districts" efforts aren't so nuanced that they understand the difference between arts as production and arts as consumption. </p><p>I argue that cultural infrastructure is comprised of at least five elements: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Artists </li><li>Place </li><li>Space and facilities </li><li>Cultural organizations and support networks </li><li>Cultural-creative businesses; </li></ul>and we should differentiate between hard (buildings/the physical), squishy (organizations) and soft (people) infrastructure. These five elements—artists, place, space, organizations, and businesses—are the components of cultural clusters or cultural quarters.<p></p><p>-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2019/01/reprinting-with-slight-update-arts.html">Reprinting with a slight update, "Arts, culture districts and revitalization" from 2009</a>," 2019 <br />-- "<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20231120021420/https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.514.6271&rep=rep1&type=pdf">Cultural Quarters as Mechanisms for Urban Regeneration. Part 1: Conceptualising Cultural Quarters,</a>," John Montgomery, <i>Planning Practice and Research</i>, 2003<br />-- "<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120215155652/http://www.creativecity.ca/se-newsletters/special-edition-5/index-e.html">Cultural Infrastructure: an Integral Component of Canadian Communities</a>," Creative City Network, Canada<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2021/06/social-infrastructure-in-liberty-city.html">Social infrastructure in the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami</a>," 2021</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPvZN-oFaXTaqw-n5ZN0h8k0DBMY5svaqWAymfF7zKZsfRgzvYOtuZAYXh90ayFSTyybOBwz7CAYTNw3EJFWOxzTBR5XUcIhGTcDFpbkWAd6g0fk4wIsAUSDnhvzhk-UDcGjx8nNeiALhjN3BwWVurxv5JQRmjThDFVUTPdC0ZYR7ubvBZsjaQeA/s384/9780300235784-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="384" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPvZN-oFaXTaqw-n5ZN0h8k0DBMY5svaqWAymfF7zKZsfRgzvYOtuZAYXh90ayFSTyybOBwz7CAYTNw3EJFWOxzTBR5XUcIhGTcDFpbkWAd6g0fk4wIsAUSDnhvzhk-UDcGjx8nNeiALhjN3BwWVurxv5JQRmjThDFVUTPdC0ZYR7ubvBZsjaQeA/s320/9780300235784-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter.webp" width="320" /></a></div>There is an article about a 1970s POC arts initiative in DC ("<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/02/28/new-thing-exhibit-american-university-museum/">A new look at the New Thing, a critical part of D.C.’s Black arts scene</a>," <i>Post</i>). Those junks of groups need to seed the East of the River.</div><div><br /></div><div>There was the Harlem Community Arts Center during the Depression, and other institutions that grew out of it that are models on how to develop such critical arts infrastructure.<br /><p></p><p>There are initiatives for teens in Roxbury, Boston and Atlanta ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2016/08/museum-of-design-atlanta-announces-free.html">Museum of Design Atlanta Announces FREE Membership Program for Kids: equity and access in museum and cultural planning</a>"). A theater could show August Wilson plays. </p><p>A super duper maker space. Provide the infrastructure so people can do. Etc.</p><p>Why isn't there a POC focused "neighborhood design center" East of the River? ("<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90540241/meet-the-black-design-collective-reimagining-how-cities-get-built">Meet the Black design collective reimagining how cities get built</a>," <i>Fast Company</i>). </p><p>Or years ago, I suggested Morgan State should have relocated its architecture school to the Station North Arts district in Baltimore. </p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2014/08/morgan-state-university-should-move.html">Morgan State University should move their architecture and planning school to Downtown/Station North Arts District</a>," 2014</p><p>Howard could do something similar. Other architecture schools and urban design centers do have urban locations separate from the main campus.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxpnZPFrUxeu-7d8T0z4tNx9rf2tGO1bK7l5LgR8W-ad2SlXQ-dnrZtGYODCaX0AoiUQS4Wq06MO3toNAyB7ypvAomuNQtHvEkZ3BtlefHLMZMvgYlYTKYksDLz9Xd6YRXDQZablIhRBjQ5Js54MNP8ieP2niiGFtZsfyh7TtMnQgEcidTGkkCXQ/s275/29151633577_9731bf39ed_c%20(2).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxpnZPFrUxeu-7d8T0z4tNx9rf2tGO1bK7l5LgR8W-ad2SlXQ-dnrZtGYODCaX0AoiUQS4Wq06MO3toNAyB7ypvAomuNQtHvEkZ3BtlefHLMZMvgYlYTKYksDLz9Xd6YRXDQZablIhRBjQ5Js54MNP8ieP2niiGFtZsfyh7TtMnQgEcidTGkkCXQ/s1600/29151633577_9731bf39ed_c%20(2).jpg" width="275" /></a></div><i>When it was in the commercial district. "<a href="https://wamu.org/story/17/09/26/d-c-s-least-visited-smithsonian-anacostia-community-museum-preparing-gentrification/">D.C.’s Least-Visited Smithsonian, The Anacostia Community Museum, Is Preparing For Gentrification</a>" WAMU/NPR, 2017. (They're still waiting.)</i><p>A big miss for me is the <a href="https://anacostia.si.edu/">Anacostia Community Museum</a>. It's small. They have decent exhibits, and it grew out of the 1960s "ecological museum" movement where big institutions, in this case the Smithsonian, developed more community focused museums. </p><p>But it's no longer on MLK Blvd. but in an invisible piss poor location in the neighborhood. Bring it back into the commercial district.<br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7oMgpuyx6tqgWUUmxPmGTSwSiEm4YLWAjUOzcntR-lmO6BoAnBitKisci4lbMZkN1-uLjlf773-tWPTfXx0wJEHJ4kWU88eM6NFAgEBlHK0S0LxEE5itYIMARVuZEnlcCNl8CDc6EBec8alW11aOVr2loBNd7bwDwSsj0gcmWs5uyMWyyP-KdLA/s1800/file-20220815-25-gddnz5-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7oMgpuyx6tqgWUUmxPmGTSwSiEm4YLWAjUOzcntR-lmO6BoAnBitKisci4lbMZkN1-uLjlf773-tWPTfXx0wJEHJ4kWU88eM6NFAgEBlHK0S0LxEE5itYIMARVuZEnlcCNl8CDc6EBec8alW11aOVr2loBNd7bwDwSsj0gcmWs5uyMWyyP-KdLA/s320/file-20220815-25-gddnz5-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter.webp" width="213" /></a></b></div><b>Food too as an element of arts and culture </b>("<a href="https://www.latimes.com/food/list/black-owned-businesses-crenshaw-boulevard-destination">8 Black-owned spots that define the Crenshaw corridor</a>," "<a href="https://www.latimes.com/food/list/a-community-centered-renaissance-is-brewing-at-black-owned-coffee-shops">A Black-owned coffee shop renaissance is brewing in L.A. 25 cafes with all the vibes</a>," "<a href="https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2024-02-22/worldwide-tacos-leimert-park-window-hours-wait">Customers wait hours for tacos from this Leimert Park window. They’re worth its</a>," <i>Los Angeles Times</i>). Crenshaw-Leimert Park as another example of how to expand the definition of an arts district,<p></p><p></p><blockquote><p>“We have a high concentration of Black residents and businesses right along the boulevard,” says Jason Foster, president and chief operating officer of <a href="https://destinationcrenshaw.la/">Destination Crenshaw</a>. “We have cultural references from music to movies, and people who are actually driving the culture, like Issa Rae and Ava DuVernay, who got their grounding right here on Crenshaw.” </p><p>Intent on reducing displacement, <a href="https://destinationcrenshaw.la/">Destination Crenshaw</a> aims to transform Black L.A.’s main thoroughfare with community investment, green spaces and public art commissioned from more than 100 Black artists. The years-long project is expected to be unveiled later this year, and Foster’s hope is for Crenshaw to live in public consciousness as “a Black place,” similar to Harlem’s 125th Street, which has been a center for Black arts and culture since the early 20th century.</p><p>But don’t disregard the storefronts that aren’t as flashy. There’s plenty to discover along Crenshaw Boulevard, from murals honoring neighborhood rap icon Nipsey Hussle to the <a href="https://www.tasteofsoulla.com/">Taste of Soul</a> festival that draws more than 350,000 attendees for a one-day celebration of Black food and culture. This guide serves as a primer for getting to know the Black-owned businesses in this district, including a long-standing barbecue joint, a community-minded cannabis club and much more.</p></blockquote><p></p><p><b>Create a higher education hub</b>. This idea is focused on creating an education hub focused on underserved communities with a lower level of higher educational attainment, making over public libraries into broader community educational anchors through expansion into larger facilities with spaces for colleges to offer classes, delivery of workforce education, etc.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HgUhSTx0y78/YZauv58f5OI/AAAAAAAAa3o/uYp9oZ6FbLEQ8yHQKMbMzosHLEBEI8QHwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/20211117_115843%2B%25281%2529.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="640" height="212" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HgUhSTx0y78/YZauv58f5OI/AAAAAAAAa3o/uYp9oZ6FbLEQ8yHQKMbMzosHLEBEI8QHwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20211117_115843%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In part, this is modeled on the Idea Store concept from Tower Hamlets borough, London.<div><br /></div><div>There, public libraries have been combined with workforce education delivery, and relocated to highly visible and architecturally startling buildings in popular commercial districts ("<a href="http://designinglibraries.org.uk/documents/Idea_Stores_next_generation.pdf">Idea Stores Ten Years On: The next generation</a>," Designing Libraries, “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2004/jul/11/art2">When is the Library not a library? When it is the Idea Store</a>,” 2004, <i>Guardian</i>).<p></p><p>Other examples are where multiple colleges offer programs from the same location. Models include how the University System of Maryland supports the "<a href="https://shadygrove.umd.edu/">Universities at Shady Grove</a>" initiative where 80 academic degree programs are offered by nine different Maryland state universities in a location in Montgomery County--the state's wealthiest county--which has no four year colleges based there ("<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/nine-universities-on-one-small-campus-its-real-its-here-and-it-could-be-higher-eds-future/2016/05/14/89eba08a-184b-11e6-924d-838753295f9a_story.html">Nine universities on one small campus? It’s real. It’s here. And it could be higher ed’s future</a>," <i>Washington Post</i>).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fpuJD4nyaOo/YZaxBLN4V-I/AAAAAAAAa3w/gWxPlBVtUrs1Q_hbWKvoQmvZ4DKjo8OaACLcBGAsYHQ/s555/USGcover%2B%25281%2529.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="555" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fpuJD4nyaOo/YZaxBLN4V-I/AAAAAAAAa3w/gWxPlBVtUrs1Q_hbWKvoQmvZ4DKjo8OaACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/USGcover%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="173" /></a></div>And how the Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State University, and the University of Colorado Denver share a campus ("<a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2021/11/17/executive-voice-michelle-marks.html">Chancellor Michelle Marks leads CU Denver to 'equity-serving' future</a>," <i>Denver Business Journal</i>). </div><div><br /></div><div>Or how Indiana and Purdue Universities have a joint campus in Indianapolis. </div><div><br /></div><div>And I wouldn't limit access to public universities. Any university wanting to participate should be welcome to do so.</div><div><p></p><p>The idea was to do this from the standpoint of <a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2020/07/equity-planning-update.html">equity planning</a> and revitalizing communities, as a way to expand access to educational opportunities as an element of social urbanism and creating stronger networks of social infrastructure and civic assets.</p><p><b>Medical education campus at St. Elizabeths</b> I suggested this as part of a series on an innovative strategy for public health and wellness programming East of the River as part of building a replacement hospital for the United Medical Center.</p><p>Obviously it was too ambitious for DC, and maybe the biotechnology business development element is a stretch. But the medical and allied health professional elements are still relevant. Start with moving certain elements of UDC like the nursing program and add programs over time. So many schools are creating new medical schools.</p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2018/04/ordinary-versus-extraordinary-planning.html">Ordinary versus Extraordinary Planning around the rebuilding of the United Medical Center in Southeast Washington DC | Part One: Rearticulating the system of health and wellness care East of the River</a>," 2018<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2018/04/ordinary-versus-extraordinary-planning_30.html">Part Two: Creating a graduate health and biotechnology research initiative on the St. Elizabeths campus</a>," 2018<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2018/05/ordinary-versus-extraordinary-planning.html">Part three: the potential for donations around an expanded program</a>," 2018</p><p><b><i>A medical high school</i>.</b> Separately, Bloomberg Philanthropies is supporting the creation of health-curriculum oriented high schools in association with hospital systems. One is in association with Northwell Health in New York City ("<a href="https://www.northwell.edu/news/the-latest/northwell-school-of-health-sciences-announced">Northwell, NYC Public Schools announce Northwell School of Health Sciences: New York City joins Bloomberg Philanthropies first-of-its-kind initiative that connects students to job opportunities with family-sustaining wages in 10 communities across the U.S.</a>"). That would be a good addition to this concept, as a way to stoke school improvement and workforce development.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyT5xUKWVCnXlhSMhLJpnLUlPXwK9nOAeyrNlwUyyPxToKtLzYsIufZIB16z3eQ9o0V71aEQYxhkQwLwUCAzYcqpafcfqSJHty28cQATKxgwPv9aAW2bvdShohGqgW_uGABi6GfcMGaJXDIlLbfYCssuHSE0GWm8K49spqHSqiPxre-tgycDy5BQ/s2048/53008160906_2b57a41e5f_k.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyT5xUKWVCnXlhSMhLJpnLUlPXwK9nOAeyrNlwUyyPxToKtLzYsIufZIB16z3eQ9o0V71aEQYxhkQwLwUCAzYcqpafcfqSJHty28cQATKxgwPv9aAW2bvdShohGqgW_uGABi6GfcMGaJXDIlLbfYCssuHSE0GWm8K49spqHSqiPxre-tgycDy5BQ/s320/53008160906_2b57a41e5f_k.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>The RFK campus touches the Anacostia River and is nominally under control by DC Government, not the federal government.</i><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">"West of the River" opportunities centered on the RFK campus</span></b></p><p>The blog entry "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2012/03/wanted-comprehensive-plan-for-anacostia.html">Wanted: A comprehensive plan for the "Anacostia River East" corridor</a>" (2012), focuses on the Anacostia River as a corridor, and discusses the RFK campus and the old PEPCO power station on Benning Road as major redevelopment opportunities. </p><p>As discussed, most of the land along the Anacostia River is controlled by federal agencies, and so it's difficult to harvest revitalization opportunities. </p><p>DC has invested in a trail system along the River, which is great, and connects to the trail system in Prince George's County. The Bladensburg Waterfront Park, and separately Anacostia Watershed Society offer boat tours of the River. But the National Arboretum, run by USDA, doesn't connect too much to the NPS facilities.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3MAJdY_r2JEq2U2yN02-UUBpbXLrcqybMz70tLA8PM5p1GSZuqC6EMrekWhra45jWtx9RRSuaf9PEA4EO-u0YIfPs844CKYeZiCkADSbLfL8akHBsWVFV9Gnu4glsdFbGWHVaOlhMMIkbQCRH0Swum9mgNaiAWtXgckEzVhyphenhyphen6qZqSftUbBYsaRA/s1400/9780300235784-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="780" data-original-width="1400" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3MAJdY_r2JEq2U2yN02-UUBpbXLrcqybMz70tLA8PM5p1GSZuqC6EMrekWhra45jWtx9RRSuaf9PEA4EO-u0YIfPs844CKYeZiCkADSbLfL8akHBsWVFV9Gnu4glsdFbGWHVaOlhMMIkbQCRH0Swum9mgNaiAWtXgckEzVhyphenhyphen6qZqSftUbBYsaRA/s320/9780300235784-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter.webp" width="320" /></a></b></div><b>The RFK campus</b>. I forgot how in 2003 I argued that H Street Main Street should have a housing development strategy and that the RFK campus (and Hechinger Mall) should be the primary focus. </div><div><br /></div><div>Because you need more residents to support a viable shopping district.<br /><p></p><p>The parking lots are a tremendous opportunity for redevelopment ("<a href="https://www.washingtonian.com/2018/01/08/rfk-site-matters-think/">What Should We Do With the RFK Site? It Matters More Than You Think It's one of our few remaining opportunities for smart redevelopment. Let's not mess it up.</a>," <i>Washingtonian Magazine</i>).</p><p>But this was hung up by the lease with the federal government, which limits the site to "recreational use" and desire in some quarters to bring the NFL football team back to the site--the team played there until the late 1990s.</p><p>It turns out that after decades of inaction, Congress is on the verge of extending the site lease ("<a href="https://rollcall.com/2024/02/28/house-passes-rfk-stadium-site-bill/">House passes RFK stadium site bill, boosting dreams of wooing Commanders back to DC</a>," <i>Roll Call</i>). From the article:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>The bill would allow the city to transform the roughly 174-acre campus — which currently consists mostly of parking lots, sports fields and the decaying stadium — from “acres of asphalt” into a vibrant commercial and community space, said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., who championed the proposal. </p><p>“Absent congressional action, this land in our nation’s capital will remain unused, with ongoing maintenance costs and environmental liability remaining the full responsibility of the National Park Service — an ongoing burden for the American taxpayer,” Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer, the bill’s lead sponsor, said from the House floor Wednesday. “This economic development will help revitalize the RFK stadium campus, creating new jobs and tax revenue for district residents.” </p></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih4y8ymsVG4dWjz0KagLnGDpTlmEDSXVSGk4B7A6lhUBWvsd2itq11LciORmyLFtY45Yh6dp0282oIRGUeQY7hm640C9e8I2k0V7HAKh4iKS9AbH-HQxWX-xXWlLZIthvzOiTnl_efvMjcxnjxswsVMTtnqn2Vg3kTtllPa9YmcAIxXijn7YiYQQ/s277/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="277" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih4y8ymsVG4dWjz0KagLnGDpTlmEDSXVSGk4B7A6lhUBWvsd2itq11LciORmyLFtY45Yh6dp0282oIRGUeQY7hm640C9e8I2k0V7HAKh4iKS9AbH-HQxWX-xXWlLZIthvzOiTnl_efvMjcxnjxswsVMTtnqn2Vg3kTtllPa9YmcAIxXijn7YiYQQ/s1600/6984451835_2056b88332_o.jpg" width="277" /></a></div><blockquote><p>The bill, which would transfer control of the stadium campus from the Department of the Interior to D.C. at no cost for 99 years, could give the District a competitive edge over its neighbors in Maryland and Virginia in a bidding war for the Commanders. It comes in the wake of a recently announced deal that could move the Wizards and Capitals from downtown D.C. to Virginia, increasing pressure on local leaders to bring the NFL team back to the city.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>A few years ago Events DC did a plan for the campus, and hidden within it was the suggestion that the Wizards and Capitals arena could relocate there ("<a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2018/04/from-gray-to-green-sports-fields-to-kick-off-transformation-of-rfk-stadium-area/">From gray to green: Sports fields to kick off transformation of RFK Stadium area</a>," WTOP radio).</p><p>Just before the proposal to move these teams to Alexandria, I suggested that an alternative would be to relocate them to the RFK campus.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio5sBocO6E9LzChu5vCUYc0pFUeuo-UH3IGw43WPoRUsU3ZTjKWpF2b6xqgld6NrXSJ24lGDICrgFeQ0SBQCpoWNXXDaC8n_IT3fiNZgqH-bG7oJypWCczT0cd6BbwScQZc38HSEiPCO4utccluo5mf8pZv7TH7-O8TWuDiHvvsaaqKCvQ7UqJdA/s300/53008160906_2b57a41e5f_k.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio5sBocO6E9LzChu5vCUYc0pFUeuo-UH3IGw43WPoRUsU3ZTjKWpF2b6xqgld6NrXSJ24lGDICrgFeQ0SBQCpoWNXXDaC8n_IT3fiNZgqH-bG7oJypWCczT0cd6BbwScQZc38HSEiPCO4utccluo5mf8pZv7TH7-O8TWuDiHvvsaaqKCvQ7UqJdA/s1600/53008160906_2b57a41e5f_k.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><i>Fans line up outside the arena before the opening night game between the Washington Capitals and the Boston Bruins at Capital One Arena on October 12, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) </i><p></p><p>From a transit perspective it wouldn't be ideal. But even I have to acknowledge the importance of the teams to city branding and identity ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2018/06/more-sports-sports-anchored.html">More sports: sports-anchored entertainment districts and LA Live</a>," 2018). </p><p>It took me many years to accept the positive impact of the now named Capital One Arena on the success of Downtown Washington. While I still believe that I am right that the area would have revitalized eventually (and actually there are problems with the development decades years later, because of problems with the urban design) there is no question that it: </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbH-e0sim0Q1UytB9EFu8J6mUDukIFW2U_r9THKcXjqwGQzSj3J5QULzIWfoTpCO7PMlULnEyf0448oyUwYLvaxWwY3RtGvIn4O8dJ-7nYBXpoFh3m3ncjF1HMkBp8uQ0NZfDf4oNynCY-GjvO9hdbd8Esj7lbPjS48mn7agg31dww0Iy2TNhD9A/s1080/9780300235784-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter.webp" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="1080" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbH-e0sim0Q1UytB9EFu8J6mUDukIFW2U_r9THKcXjqwGQzSj3J5QULzIWfoTpCO7PMlULnEyf0448oyUwYLvaxWwY3RtGvIn4O8dJ-7nYBXpoFh3m3ncjF1HMkBp8uQ0NZfDf4oNynCY-GjvO9hdbd8Esj7lbPjS48mn7agg31dww0Iy2TNhD9A/s320/9780300235784-ezgif.com-avif-to-webp-converter.webp" width="320" /></a></div>(1) accelerated improvements much more quickly than had the development process been more organic and slow <p></p><p> (2) draws and re-introduces suburban residents of the metropolitan area to the city, and contributes more positively to the image of DC within the metropolitan landscape for commerce and residential choice.</p><p><b><i>We can think of redevelopment of the RFK campus as a "west of the river" side revitalization effort to complement the "east of the river" strategy outlined above.</i></b></p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2023/12/capital-one-arena-wizards-and-capitals.html">Capital One Arena, Wizards and Capitals may move to Alexandria | Why not the RFK campus?</a>"</p><p>The problem again, is the desire to bring the NFL football team back to the city and the site. The Mayor and others want it bad ("<a href="https://www.washingtoninformer.com/excitement-contention-surround-d-c-s-rfk-stadium-proposal-residents-voice-concerns-over-noise-pollution-traffic/">Excitement, Contention Surround D.C.’s RFK Stadium Proposal; Residents Voice Concerns Over Noise Pollution, Traffic</a>," <i>Washington Informer</i>). From the <i>Post</i>, "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/03/01/colbert-king-washington-commanders-rfk-site-question/">Does D.C. want a Commanders homecoming?</a>":</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Now that legislative progress is well underway, and prospects of Senate passage seem bright (so long as the measure continues to include no federal funds to upgrade and maintain the land), it’s time for the District to turn full attention to the pesky details of how to use the defunct RFK campus — based solely on what’s in the city’s best economic interests. </p><p>Bowser’s concerns are quite clear. She wants to bring back the Landover, Md.-based Washington Commanders football team to the home that it abandoned — while named the Washington Unmentionables — nearly 30 years ago.</p><p>Bowser, in a statement, hailed House passage of the bill as “a significant step forward in our efforts to unlock the full potential of the RFK Campus — for our residents and visitors, the community, and DC’s Comeback.” But she clearly sees the legislation as a means to erect a new NFL stadium. There certainly are plenty of D.C-based Commanders fans who want the team back in town. Whether they speak for the city as a whole is another question. Fans have every right to pay the team’s owners for a product they value. But all taxpayers would shoulder bills for hundreds of millions for the infrastructure and land redevelopment needed for a new stadium. </p><p>... There’s no getting around it. The question must be joined: Is siting a football stadium at the RFK complex the most economically and socially beneficial use of the land? </p><p>On behalf of District taxpayers, city leaders need to sort this out among themselves before entertaining serious discussions of the matter with the Commanders. “Don’t promise what you can’t deliver” is a piece of advice that often gets tossed around when it comes to negotiations. Nostalgia has its place. But so, too, mixed-use development with both upscale and affordable housing, thriving retail, jobs and parks — a livable community on Anacostia’s shores. </p></blockquote><p></p><p>The reality is that football stadiums in particular is don't generate much activity--maybe 25 events per year, when an arena with multiple teams, concerts and other events, generates 100s of days of activity. Prince George's County would make zero off the Washington Commanders without an admissions tax on tickets. And the area around the stadium is grim.</p><p>Putting the arena there--which might be possible because of lack of consensus in Virginia to provide major subsidies ("<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virginia-glenn-youngkin-washington-sports-arena-c1b8fe38718a2560feef6baee7207faf">Top Virginia Senate Democrats deal setback to legislation to relocate Washington Capitals, Wizards</a>," AP)--isn't ideal as it doesn't have the premier transit connections of the Downtown location. But you can add intra-campus streetcar service, underground the Orange Line, add another transit station on the edge of the campus, build housing and other stuff.</p><p>But if the site is dedicated to a football stadium, mostly it will be a wasted opportunity. And that's evident from current stadiums across the country. Mostly their urban design conditions suck, they are surrounded by parking lots, and there is minimal positive spillover development.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLzM0qM6IRdYueHNdgEbZPfb21xpEJJyJ-S1dYiqr27OcikPtcYd8wYiBbXW0wSGM4aCvnDHgFnaCg8Vw_Ir_QCxnmDgPRApvwA7Oxb4Cdd30XAMCo73hWZAfxpVFQ4KNz1wrJ0eoLCHQWQcUW8phX4kGOeRX9ly9qql_R1mQZ6fk3gCEpHpKScg/s1024/53008160906_2b57a41e5f_k.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLzM0qM6IRdYueHNdgEbZPfb21xpEJJyJ-S1dYiqr27OcikPtcYd8wYiBbXW0wSGM4aCvnDHgFnaCg8Vw_Ir_QCxnmDgPRApvwA7Oxb4Cdd30XAMCo73hWZAfxpVFQ4KNz1wrJ0eoLCHQWQcUW8phX4kGOeRX9ly9qql_R1mQZ6fk3gCEpHpKScg/s320/53008160906_2b57a41e5f_k.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>Recreation opportunities from the River</b>. The Events DC plan focused on recreation, given the terms of the lease at the time.</p><p>Somewhere I have a memo outlining how the RFK side of the river can be used to allow people "to touch" the river with all kinds of year round activities including a beach, winter sauna, etc., to leverage the concept of the river as a recreational asset and something fun and active.</p><p><i>In the summer, Paris organizes lots of activities along the River Seine (Paris Plages) including dropping sand to form a kind of urban beach.</i></p><p></p><p><b>Other development opportunities</b>. As mentioned the PEPCO site, which is 19 acres ("<a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2023/12/26/pepco-prologis-benning-road-power-plant.html">Pepco sells former Benning Road power plant to logistics giant</a>," <i>Washington Business Journal, </i><a href="https://washington.uli.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2016/02/ULI-TAP-Report-Pepco.pdf">Powering Progress on Benning Road</a>, ULI study). Currently much of the rest of the site, 77 acres, is still used for utility purposes.</p></div><p>Hechinger Mall. Bladensburg Road. The possibility of a Metrorail extension of H Street NE from Union Station, streetcar extension, revitalization of the Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road corridors. Adding a Metrorail station to serve the north side of the RFK campus.</p><div><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b></b></div></div></div></div>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-66976420169448730772024-02-28T07:43:00.001-05:002024-02-28T07:43:42.260-05:00Little Free Bakery, Seattle<p>The <a href="https://littlefreelibrary.org/">Little Free Library</a> initiative has spawned a number of extensions including Seed Libraries, Community Refrigerators and Pantries, dog toy sharing (at least in Salt Lake), etc.</p><p>FWIW, I thought the norm for LFLs would be a default to schlock fiction, but I've found plenty of good nonfiction and schlock fiction that I like. I try to save magazines and such that I don't rip up to provide people with an opportunity for a second read.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ZQL5Cy4ETrVBvblF6dqCOUnYpkxrROzoFRa35dUSQ6y54EDXJcOSWBxj0-RyR3Cgz9DxZdzRo88jTrmWqIPu9MDQIC8qrCc6SMwffhLvjJRjUPVWq_HhriZVABmmCZECeBBeN-lZDp5sCty9ooWWIq6GpxF96s_jpnkQfIUfXdQ7HSkLBT0uKA/s851/Salt-Lake-City-skiing-01.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ZQL5Cy4ETrVBvblF6dqCOUnYpkxrROzoFRa35dUSQ6y54EDXJcOSWBxj0-RyR3Cgz9DxZdzRo88jTrmWqIPu9MDQIC8qrCc6SMwffhLvjJRjUPVWq_HhriZVABmmCZECeBBeN-lZDp5sCty9ooWWIq6GpxF96s_jpnkQfIUfXdQ7HSkLBT0uKA/s320/Salt-Lake-City-skiing-01.webp" width="289" /></a></div><p><i>Occasional contributions from the Columbia City neighborhood include unsold day-old pastries from a nearby cafe. (Jill Lightner)</i></p>In Seattle, has created a Little Free Bakery to share baked goods ("<a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/these-brownies-are-a-huge-hit-at-taste-writers-little-free-bakery/">These brownies are a huge hit at Taste writer’s Little Free Bakery</a>," <i>Seattle Times</i>). <p></p><p>I like to bake--pies, cakes and bread (GO! no knead bread recipes) but my cancer treatment has messed up my taste buds big time and I am not much into this stuff now. I do wonder about savory breads more, but even then, it just doesn't seem that appealing.</p><p>It's a shame because I have lost massive amounts of weight.</p><p>From the article:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>After too many months of this nonsense, my friend Lanne Stauffer came up with the perfect solution. When she opened her Little Free Bakery in Magnolia — picture a Little Free Library, but giving away baked goods instead of books — it took her about 10 minutes to convince me to open one, and about half that for my spouse to offer to build the box as his contribution. Hers will turn 3 this year, and mine has its second anniversary this week. There’s a scattering of them around town (mainly north of the Ship Canal; mine stands alone in the South End), and a thriving box in North Carolina, along with some pending in Pennsylvania and California. Type “littlefreebakery” into Instagram’s search, and you’ll find the list. </p><p>Because I fill the box on a random schedule and live near the Columbia City business district, I’ve met dozens of employees who staff counseling services, restaurants, food pantries and schools, along with those who live in the neighborhood. When my neighbors were looking for a new roommate, the bakery box was a selling point. Kids bring their friends when they’re walking home from school. It turns out that all sorts of people appreciate home-baked treats, whether they know the baker or not.</p></blockquote><p></p>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-39118647348327518772024-02-28T07:30:00.011-05:002024-03-09T23:30:50.156-05:00Third place issues<p>Third places are what we might call community hubs. It's a term popularized by Ray Oldenburg in a book of the same title.</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/third-places-as-community-builders/">Third places” as community builders</a>, Brookings<br />-- "<a href="https://courier.unesco.org/en/articles/third-places-true-citizen-spaces">Third places, true citizen spaces</a>," UNESCO</p><p><b>Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone</b>. There is a documentary out, "<a href="https://putnamdoc.com/">Join or Die</a>," featuring Robert Putnam, who has been writing about this for decades ("<a href="https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/02/join-or-die-documentary/">A Forthcoming Documentary Examines How Civic Life in America Is a Matter of ‘Join or Die’</a>," Colossal).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtodKRd80nkx3_JWzvnNXvZGtrFJK83KzYBAJdEDk1MRoo-4Y7_hhS055C8Heq8-AAvhhkHgzz8OGDgpdn4rH8C-TVWrYnDypOXZVNjrg3SP2lnvoTULeFGRPPEkSyZEqyThzTbLWbUHJrEmlR49IYJOVwS_QwXebTyiYT5cxYTNj8MgH4IvzBw/s445/Salt-Lake-City-skiing-01-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(9).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="293" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtodKRd80nkx3_JWzvnNXvZGtrFJK83KzYBAJdEDk1MRoo-4Y7_hhS055C8Heq8-AAvhhkHgzz8OGDgpdn4rH8C-TVWrYnDypOXZVNjrg3SP2lnvoTULeFGRPPEkSyZEqyThzTbLWbUHJrEmlR49IYJOVwS_QwXebTyiYT5cxYTNj8MgH4IvzBw/s320/Salt-Lake-City-skiing-01-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(9).jpg" width="211" /></a></div>A lot of the time they are commodified spaces, places where you have to spend money to participate. Notably examples are England's pubs ("<a href="https://plunkett.co.uk/community-pubs-campaign/">Community pubs campaign</a>," Plunkett Foundation, "<a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2024-01-31/uk-pubs-struggle-survive-many-closing-down">U.K. pubs struggle to survive as work, leisure habits shift</a>," <i>Los Angeles Times</i>), Viennese coffee shops, and neighborhood cafes in France especially Paris. <div></div><blockquote><div>“There’s a true sense of community that falls away when pubs disappear,” she says. “You lose a sense of history.”
Given the crucial role that pubs have played in local neighborhoods, it’s perhaps no surprise that some communities have stepped in themselves to keep the lights on. </div><div><br /></div><div>When the Step pub in north London closed in 2020, there was an outcry as property developers tried to take it over, leading Dan Jones, a resident of four years, to consider a different solution: “Why don’t we try and buy it as a community?” </div><div><br /></div><div>He began handing out fliers and, in a matter of weeks, “very quickly realized there was a large appetite” to enact his plan. Hundreds of people pledged to invest in a fundraising campaign, and within four weeks, the effort raised $357,000 — far in excess of the $319,000 goal — which was topped up by a government grant of $382,000.
“It took us by surprise, the speed at which we were able to raise the money and the fact that we got over target,” Jones says.</div></blockquote><div><blockquote>... Keeping prices low — a pint of beer costs from $6, compared with $9 at many London pubs — and offering the space for free to community groups and activities including kids’ clubs, Italian classes and local folk musicians has eased concerns about gentrification and fostered new connections, Gadsby Peet says.</blockquote><p>And <b>corner stores</b>, which in the cities like New York, continue on as bodegas ("<a href="https://www.tastingtable.com/1463220/what-new-york-city-store-bodega/">What Makes A New York City Convenience Store A Bodega</a>," Tasting Table).</p><p><b>Social halls</b>. In the US, there were/are some uncommodified spaces like churches, church social halls (where the DC punk movement got its start), old political precincts and ward halls, and ethnic based associations and meeting halls, like German American groups, or the "Chinese associations" in US Chinatowns ("<a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/chinese-family-associations-chinatown-17823068.php">How COVID and anti-Asian hate conspired to gut family associations in Chinatown</a>," <i>San Francisco Chronicle</i>). </p><p>I have written about how many Salt Lake neighborhoods have what I call "neighborliness," with community events like movies in the park, pot lucks, and 4th of July parades, which I think comes from the Mormons and their organizing around their church.</p><p><b>Music places</b> ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2011/06/ground-up-guerrilla-art-2-community.html">"Ground up (guerrilla) art #2: community halls and music (among other things)."</a>," 2011).</p><p><b>Community/recreation centers</b> can do it too. But not usually. Programming is key. Jewish Community Centers are another form. Like the 92nd Street Y in New York City.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7K-H8csh8SSCRHY54vblpP8YIGSOMhBet3DgWrCLc5Fcybh8kFpyPmpGKwpQElb3SsfSvDeCO6N8bSIsyugbAZcM0m82qRryU-dEnHvv8Rsv9zCdnFogakZp1G4jFyvb1eNLwhihXst4SjWosa-QVYtjHbC762ZahoAjfV_A8K87lDcR2F9X3ag/s968/teacher_training_8.17.23_ak_blythe-31_0.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="644" data-original-width="968" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7K-H8csh8SSCRHY54vblpP8YIGSOMhBet3DgWrCLc5Fcybh8kFpyPmpGKwpQElb3SsfSvDeCO6N8bSIsyugbAZcM0m82qRryU-dEnHvv8Rsv9zCdnFogakZp1G4jFyvb1eNLwhihXst4SjWosa-QVYtjHbC762ZahoAjfV_A8K87lDcR2F9X3ag/s320/teacher_training_8.17.23_ak_blythe-31_0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>Photo from "<a href="https://gohomephillyblog.com/2023/03/30/the-pennsylvania-horticultural-society-announces-the-seasonal-re-opening-of-phs-pop-up-gardens-in-manayunk-and-south-street/">The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Announces the Seasonal Re-Opening of PHS Pop Up Gardens in Manayunk and South Street </a>," Philadelphia RowHome Magazine.</i><p></p><p><b>Beer Gardens</b>. The <a href="https://phsonline.org/">Philadelphia Horticultural Society</a>, followed by the city parks system, has been a leader in creating pop up beer gardens as community revitalization levers.</p><p>The <i>Wall Street Journal</i> had a good article on parks, "<a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/cities-message-to-young-families-play-and-stay-1407279639">Cities' Message to Young Families: Play and Stay--New Features Include Parks, Playgrounds and Beer Gardens</a>," (<a href="https://archive.is/1ZZlW">also</a>) and I was struck by the description of what we might call a blending of business and park, specifically food and beverage service, and that "beer gardens" are the most in-demand feature of new parks ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2014/08/commerce-as-engine-of-urbanism-and-parks.html">Commerce as the engine of urbanism and parks</a>," 2014).</p>I guess it makes sense, given the historical connection to beer production, that <a href="http://county.milwaukee.gov/Parks/BeerGardens">Milwaukee County in Wisconsin has beer gardens in some of their parks</a>, and a traveling beer garden park promotion program.<br /><br />This reminds me of the comment by Professor Alex Wall, who wrote a book about Victor Gruen, one of the leaders in the development of shopping malls, which is:<br /><br /><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">"Commerce is the engine of urbanism."</span></i></b><p><b>Union halls and fraternal organizations too (like the Masons)</b>. Also see "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2016/08/back-to-school-2-education-unions.html">Back to school #2: education unions should create multifaceted public education "meeting halls" comparable to AIA chapter "architecture centers"</a>" (2016). Plus veterans and the American Legion and VFW halls ("<a href="https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/32046?show=full">Social organizations and aging: The benefits of VFW membership</a>," KU thesis).</p><p>These kinds of institutions have waned as society has become more individualized and nuclear family focused, but also as the organization of business activity has changed. For example, in once industrial cities like Baltimore or Pittsburgh you had lots of neighborhood bars, not unlike England's pubs, catering to people who did shift work, as plants often operated 24 hours/day. Same with breakfast places/diners.</p><p><b>Membership libraries</b>. Before public institutions like libraries, a number of communities had membership libraries like the Free Library of Philadelphia, and multi-faceted cultural organizations called an Athenaeum in cities like <a href="https://bostonathenaeum.org/join-give/become-a-member/">Boston</a>, Hartford, and Alexandria, Virginia--all are still going strong.</p><p>There was a membership library in DC called <a href="https://provisionslibrary.org/">Provisions</a> that attempted this model. They have since affiliated with George Mason University in the suburbs.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1kSGztgCptWTVljuTq8g2sVbcBwoQCjksSGHktoNCChNUAEbrBR8yzx6UMV-HgYLU5zaN60eUoQSYsDal3UngaeetlKxHTIloPEB1tgGfJ2TwO3PXuSJKtMPMCP3FP6y3dlzZ_xVzl3egV2e-3XzzvvF1ryvocZHgdmwP_DYGDBRP-un1Lp7izA/s800/53556930537_4ae1f24e48_c.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="800" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1kSGztgCptWTVljuTq8g2sVbcBwoQCjksSGHktoNCChNUAEbrBR8yzx6UMV-HgYLU5zaN60eUoQSYsDal3UngaeetlKxHTIloPEB1tgGfJ2TwO3PXuSJKtMPMCP3FP6y3dlzZ_xVzl3egV2e-3XzzvvF1ryvocZHgdmwP_DYGDBRP-un1Lp7izA/s320/53556930537_4ae1f24e48_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Increasingly, regular <b>libraries</b> too are that third place, although few have coffee shops, and there aren't many opportunities for interaction ("social bridge" concepts). You're with people, but alone.<p></p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2022/06/outdoor-library-book-sale-as.html">Outdoor library book sale as an opportunity for "social bridging"/triangulation</a>," 2022</p><p><b>Book clubs</b>.... Some of the libraries in Salt Lake County have <b>cookbook clubs</b>, where people cook a recipe from a chosen book and share the results in a pot luck.</p><p><b>Mixed use civic assets</b>. This article outlines a fair number of mixed use examples of civic assets promoting third place type community building.</p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2019/03/update-neighborhood-libraries-as-nodes.html">Update: Neighborhood libraries as nodes in a neighborhood and city-wide network of cultural assets</a>," 2019</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihC9luajIkxXOMMb31tO_lra7VVjJZ80EpIZoEbeMwv7oowWqO8bUXIMNurQAjNWVdm2Z0fyoB7-zWaF26vinSaIAY-kajsCRM0QpfoxRr7cvUEnfil37Fn37SwY9om4_Ksn9s_5X2txjfgUtABIjWYnuCwacMEBBOartc1fczde0Yv5bHmQ8JsQ/s1920/9780300235784-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter.webp" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1121" data-original-width="1920" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihC9luajIkxXOMMb31tO_lra7VVjJZ80EpIZoEbeMwv7oowWqO8bUXIMNurQAjNWVdm2Z0fyoB7-zWaF26vinSaIAY-kajsCRM0QpfoxRr7cvUEnfil37Fn37SwY9om4_Ksn9s_5X2txjfgUtABIjWYnuCwacMEBBOartc1fczde0Yv5bHmQ8JsQ/s320/9780300235784-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter.webp" width="320" /></a></b></div><b>College student unions</b>. Are great models for community spaces ("<a href="https://krex.k-state.edu/bitstream/handle/2097/17391/LaceySolheid2014.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">Building community in student unions</a>," KSU thesis, "<a href="https://lpadesignstudios.com/playlist/student-unions-are-changing-lives-by-design"> STUDENT UNIONS ARE CHANGING LIVES BY DESIGN!</a>," LPA Design Studios). <p></p><p>Goucher College in Baltimore County calls its an athenaeum too. </p><p>The building combines the college’s main library and student activities center. Besides the campus library, the building has spaces for performances, lectures, and other events, an art gallery, the campus center for community service and multicultural affairs, fitness facilities, meeting and study spaces, and a café..</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_cJHVcsJj78LtK0VxubmeiUXjjsRsxX2_Pp5wriRyDhpyIBg5qx0_lGXMOKqSRQWNtbJU1odX7RdHcOx8whF5Zw3mIjivbkvFUPuEzrkFQ8PQA3xWoioJnpg_hnIzhsLavdskXflgvlmp0kdYb8gRrRpC_hMMM3NY0xRW9mURfG7l5I5qUn3psg/s1200/teacher_training_8.17.23_ak_blythe-31_0.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_cJHVcsJj78LtK0VxubmeiUXjjsRsxX2_Pp5wriRyDhpyIBg5qx0_lGXMOKqSRQWNtbJU1odX7RdHcOx8whF5Zw3mIjivbkvFUPuEzrkFQ8PQA3xWoioJnpg_hnIzhsLavdskXflgvlmp0kdYb8gRrRpC_hMMM3NY0xRW9mURfG7l5I5qUn3psg/s320/teacher_training_8.17.23_ak_blythe-31_0.jpg" width="320" /></a><b></b></div><b>Art Gallery memberships</b>. Same goes for museums. <a href="https://www.phillipscollection.org/membership">Membership has privilege</a>s, people can hang in galleries, etc., like at the <a href="https://www.phillipscollection.org/">Phillips Collection</a> in DC.<p></p><p><b>Social property</b>. Our market system isn't set up well for nonprofit properties, the BTMFBA writings, not withstanding.</p><div>There aren't really institutions around to keep such facilities going although many people do it on a more individualized cooperative type structure, like BloomBars in Columbia Heights, and in Takoma, Electric Maid Community Exchange ("<a href="https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2023/07/26/third-places-strengthen-community-heres-how-we-can-rebuild-them">'Third places' strengthen community. Here's how we can rebuild them</a>," WBUR/NPR), snd the <a href="https://www.rhizomedc.org/">Rhizome</a> art space.</div><div><br /></div><div>In Salt Lake there is the example of the Mestizo Institute of Culture and the Arts, but I think it's slimmed down a lot of those functions. It's still cool conceptually ("<a href="https://www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2024/01/19/artists-create-love-letters-salt/">Artists create ‘love letters’ to Salt Lake City’s west side</a>," <i>Salt Lake Tribune</i>). </div><div><br /></div><div>El Libro Mobile in Santa Ana/Orange County is cool too, with both physical popups and other activities.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>Settlement houses</i></b>. Another type of social property are the old "<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1135.html">settlement houses</a>" that were common to the big cities in the late 1800s into the 1900s. Neighborhood House is a remnant of this movement still active in Salt Lake City.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Alone together: Today's coffee shop is the primary third place, and to a lesser extent the bookstore/cafe</b>. Now, probably the most prominent third place in the US is the coffee shop--over the last 30+ years "coffee culture" has developed, with a big push by Starbucks, in the US in the place of bars. </div><p>But lots of commodification, and a very specific aesthetic, called the <a href="https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Global_Village_Coffeehouse">Global Village Coffeehouse</a>. Still, while there are a lot of chains, and some failed chains, there has been room for independents to make their place within this ecosystem. Most bigger cities have an array of cool places.</p><p>But there's a lot of bad coffee out there too. We're looking at you Starbucks! But they provide the third space.</p><p>Note they have a more bar-ry night-time concept too, ("<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/08/14/evenings-starbucks-coffee-shop-sell-wine-craft-beer-small-plates/31713183/">'Evenings' at Starbucks: Coffee shop to sell wine, craft beer, small plates</a>," <i>USA Today</i>). </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXqf9XJuThXdaTUTPt9IgBrTIxAzUCIee8Nx0hkRF5af1egcEA4u3SfFYzQFDMJn0OYTJR9IriAD3OjtJo1_VYQztAbUl4WRpR3eQ_IjAD2E-u3RMNtaw_N87nBhooneKNvQs4kCXQao6MQhdwz9IFDIZ1CQUbA7biSzsI_LXOm3Xke8L91c0Vjw/s747/teacher_training_8.17.23_ak_blythe-31_0.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="747" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXqf9XJuThXdaTUTPt9IgBrTIxAzUCIee8Nx0hkRF5af1egcEA4u3SfFYzQFDMJn0OYTJR9IriAD3OjtJo1_VYQztAbUl4WRpR3eQ_IjAD2E-u3RMNtaw_N87nBhooneKNvQs4kCXQao6MQhdwz9IFDIZ1CQUbA7biSzsI_LXOm3Xke8L91c0Vjw/s320/teacher_training_8.17.23_ak_blythe-31_0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>Xando's 19th Street, photo: <a href="https://kestan.com/travel/dc/dup_cir/">Keith Stanley</a>.</i><p></p><p>That's what Xando/Cozi did, at least in DC in the 90s. It was cool, they had stores at each end of Dupont Circle, and we made friends with some of the staff, etc. ("<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1997/09/08/coffee-with-a-twist/ce91fa2f-a27b-40af-adab-59918da06d2a/">Coffee, with a twis</a>t," <i>Washington Pos</i>t, 1997, "<a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/1998/08/17/story4.html">New battle brews in coffee war</a>," <i>Washington Business Journal</i>). </p><p>For a long time they had excellent bagels that were square and baked in a wood oven in house. Maybe 10 years ago, they went to regular and the magic was over. But the company never figured out how to manage.</p><p>They had food throughout the day that was better than a regular coffee shop, plus alcohol at night.</p><p>Bookstores are great for hanging and attending events. Not sure about making "social bridges." Bur a lot of Barnes & Nobles have cafes (and books and periodicals!). Fortunately most cities of at least a medium size have some decent independent bookstores that sponsor events, etc.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAAWZMNQ9_-aor0v7QI_G56vvfTFj6YZIjDJWD8I4Zg_oxZtqg_eXRWyXCk-D3qxmNh6UQX5-dX6LyuXhYtaN88gnWUs6lKHgXfq5ODvhtn3ATKAz4bLvbhyphenhyphen3AHamg3G-gyFlQZZK7HOibYnZY5Qne6nyO8T5IioBZGwOIqWnhfSg2Y-H8pNkPTA/s630/Resized_20230709_184304_353892198387446_1706476500751.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="630" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAAWZMNQ9_-aor0v7QI_G56vvfTFj6YZIjDJWD8I4Zg_oxZtqg_eXRWyXCk-D3qxmNh6UQX5-dX6LyuXhYtaN88gnWUs6lKHgXfq5ODvhtn3ATKAz4bLvbhyphenhyphen3AHamg3G-gyFlQZZK7HOibYnZY5Qne6nyO8T5IioBZGwOIqWnhfSg2Y-H8pNkPTA/s320/Resized_20230709_184304_353892198387446_1706476500751.jpeg" width="320" /></a><b></b></div><i>Inside The Cloud Room, a co-working space in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood that is thriving as workers seek a space that is not home and not the office. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)</i><p></p><p><b>WeWork/Shared Spaces/Co-working</b>. The WeWork "hot desk" phenomenon too is an element of creating third spaces, although definitely for a profit. </p><p>People don't always want to be isolated and alone ("<a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2023/even-as-wework-goes-bankrupt-co-working-is-poised-to-survive-and-thrive-in-other-seattle-spaces">Even as WeWork goes bankrupt, co-working is poised to survive and thrive in other spaces</a>," GeekWire, "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ikea-buying-malls-adding-coworking-spaces-2024-2">sIkea is betting you'll come to its coworking space in a mall, then shop at one of its stores</a>," Business Insider).</p><p><b>Project for Public Spaces: <a href="http://www.placemakingchicago.com/about/power.asp">The Power of 10</a></b>. PPS addresses placemaking at multiple scales. One concept is the "power of 10," where places need multiple elements to not only attract people, but to keep them there, and keep them coming back.</p><wework a="" alone="" although="" always="" an="" and="" as="" bankrupt="" be="" co-working="" creating="" definitely="" desk="" don="" element="" for="" geekwire="" goes="" hared="" hot="" in="" is="" isolated="" o-working.="" of="" other="" people="" phenomenon="" poised="" profit.="" spaces="" survive="" t="" the="" third="" thrive="" to="" too="" ven="" want="" wework=""><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDCdisgFLGE6U7uYG98FhstIkhL5zwDfziyrO86GIkso2dqhYzCF7b-WeIucv9trV5WSb2W6zX-yaa5bEHzEL6rIW7ulF8bh5ftjGnkkQAhExAiMUcdJpf_8QiqF9AHhlqZNK6N4iQVkQdi0x0FZJHDEcaqnpPMfSi_7Obh7NMsgvy0m-IYGyHJg/s619/406021737_fa9d7c35e4_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="619" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDCdisgFLGE6U7uYG98FhstIkhL5zwDfziyrO86GIkso2dqhYzCF7b-WeIucv9trV5WSb2W6zX-yaa5bEHzEL6rIW7ulF8bh5ftjGnkkQAhExAiMUcdJpf_8QiqF9AHhlqZNK6N4iQVkQdi0x0FZJHDEcaqnpPMfSi_7Obh7NMsgvy0m-IYGyHJg/w400-h306/406021737_fa9d7c35e4_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></wework><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Third Place issues around the country</b></span></div><div><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB5hFfrCbNBuCFwXwFP4boq8ecGRF8lF9wLEPHkiclsRglC_A4dOeUt1PNgyyQATmWtaLTywaghyjPmIrnpUAw96SSw38ZnFfh58XI7VgBtoFExSi4FMltf60YzIUUQ77debwAWvXvn1aha2l309qVOfdE8x33sRWA5InyGwxy5Em47vRpUWGhfQ/s1024/Salt-Lake-City-skiing-01-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(9).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB5hFfrCbNBuCFwXwFP4boq8ecGRF8lF9wLEPHkiclsRglC_A4dOeUt1PNgyyQATmWtaLTywaghyjPmIrnpUAw96SSw38ZnFfh58XI7VgBtoFExSi4FMltf60YzIUUQ77debwAWvXvn1aha2l309qVOfdE8x33sRWA5InyGwxy5Em47vRpUWGhfQ/s320/Salt-Lake-City-skiing-01-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(9).jpg" width="320" /></a><b></b></div><b>Salt Lake backyard concerts</b>. In Salt Lake, some residents have organized backyard concerts, with small ticket charges to pay the artists. After complaints ("<a href="https://buildingsaltlake.com/a-23-year-musical-neighborhood-tradition-goes-quiet-on-kensington/">A 23-year musical neighborhood tradition goes quiet on Kensington</a>," Building Salt Lake) in one neighborhood ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2021/12/thinking-about-opportunities-for.html">Thinking about the opportunities for success with neighborhood commercial districts: comparing Manor Park in DC to 15th and 15th in Salt Lake</a>," ) the city said it was illegal. <div><br /><div>Instead, the city should have figured out how to make it legal, with mitigation.<p></p><p><b>Washington State corner stores and cafes</b> ("<a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/wa-bill-to-build-community-through-neighborhood-cafes-faces-roadblock">WA bill to build community through neighborhood cafes faces roadblock</a>," <i>Seattle Times</i>). There is an initiative to make zoning at the state level more amenable to corner store legalization to deal with third place issues. But there's pushback.</p><p>FWIW, I learned a lot from a coffee shop in a strip center in West Seattle. That you can have a cool space, even if the exterior is dull. Buildings are envelopes.</p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2013/10/more-thoughts-on-suburban-hipness-its.html">More thoughts on suburban hipness (it's really about commercial hipness generally, not urban vs. suburban)</a>," 2013<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2018/03/btmfba-chronicles-seattle-coffee-shop.html">BTMFBA Chronicles: Seattle coffee shop raises money to buy its building</a>," 2018</p><p>This came up in DC many years ago. There are two problems. You need a few thousand people to make the business work, and most neighborhoods don't have that kind of density. Cost of property is expensive. But there are some in DC still, more remnants of the previous era not new initiatives like Broad Branch Market and Mott's Market in Capitol Hill ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2022/12/revisiting-motts-market-corner-store-in.html">Revisiting Mott's Market corner store in Capitol Hill DC: residents buy the building after all</a>," 2022).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoZVyupuQuEoS_4Jbw1e55OU1wg__Q8Y0Frv7ykQSQR72vcbdfXhY88EwqxWdL4377dzNJCxRl5u6cLwo1FSc_TcOMJt0sJqZs3hlFBVD7ybb39SoFZ8T8NfMr1uY5-SZb600S81zcyalf_eP8q_S4eAaS0wyaToXs60bZd-9u9jS_vbMRWDlMxg/s275/Salt-Lake-City-skiing-01-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(9).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoZVyupuQuEoS_4Jbw1e55OU1wg__Q8Y0Frv7ykQSQR72vcbdfXhY88EwqxWdL4377dzNJCxRl5u6cLwo1FSc_TcOMJt0sJqZs3hlFBVD7ybb39SoFZ8T8NfMr1uY5-SZb600S81zcyalf_eP8q_S4eAaS0wyaToXs60bZd-9u9jS_vbMRWDlMxg/s1600/Salt-Lake-City-skiing-01-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(9).jpg" width="275" /></a></div>Photo: "<a href="https://www.washingtonblade.com/2024/02/06/as-you-are-fundraising-appeal/">D.C.’s As You Are bar issues fundraising appeal to prevent closure</a>," Washington Blade.<p></p><p><b>Gay bars as safe spaces</b>. I am really embarrassed that a few years ago I wrote about the decline of LGBTQ+ third places in terms of assimilation. </p><p> Obviously, Republican states are proving that it can be very difficult out there for people who seemingly are against "the norm" ("<a href="https://19thnews.org/2023/08/house-republicans-anti-lgbtq-measures-federal-spending-bills/">House Republicans are adding dozens of anti-LGBTQ+ measures to must-pass bills</a>," the 19th, "<a href="https://newrepublic.com/post/173747/republicans-winning-war-lgbtq-rights">Republicans Are Winning Their War on LGBTQ Rights</a>," <i>The New Republic</i>, "<a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/02/27/opinion/marriage-equality-rights-supreme-court">Don't take gay marriage for granted</a>,"<i> Boston Globe</i>, "<a href="https://www.sacurrent.com/news/greg-abbott-tells-un-to-go-pound-sand-over-concerns-about-lgbtq-rights-in-texas-33909153">Greg Abbott tells U.N. to 'go pound sand' over concerns about LGBTQ+ rights in Texas</a>," <i>San Antonio Current</i>, "<a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article286396780.html">Voters ban Pride flags on city property in California beach town. ‘It sets a tone’ </a>" <i>Sacramento Bee</i>).</p><p> Safe spaces are needed ("<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/12/10/lesbia-gay-queer-bars-return/">The number of gay bars has dwindled. A new generation plans to bring them back</a>," <i>Washington Post</i>).</p><p>The <i>Post</i> reports, "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/02/14/as-you-are-dc-fundraiser/">D.C.’s ‘queer living room’ was struggling. Then came $150K in donations</a>," how one such bar facing closure on Capitol Hill raised over $150,000 to stay open. From the article:</p><p></p><blockquote><p><a href="https://asyouaredc.com/">As You Are</a>, a combination cafe and bar, has played a unique role for the queer community since it opened on a corner of Barracks Row in March 2022. Unlike many LGBTQ+ entertainment spaces, it focuses on more than just nightlife and emphasizes consent in all interactions. A downstairs area is set up as a coffee shop, with stacks of board games in a corner, while a bar and dance floor upstairs are used for events such as disco nights and karaoke. Some have described the establishment as a “queer living room” where everyone is not only welcome, but actively embraced. </p><p>But the business has faced numerous financial challenges since its opening, including a delayed launch and a slow period last summer. Nearly two years in, Pike and their co-owner and spouse, Jo McDaniel, found themselves with roughly $150,000 of debt. They realized on Feb. 5 that they had to catch up on their tax payments to be eligible for D.C.-administered grants.</p></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZKz6VkOlbkgHASGCHbqdphkhQoJ4N5RzV_eVQMPiRgc79843LKSq0bhzOp3iDLivFLupwEDnKqRhmlO6xgXOHSCd9EWbR3FKmDQvR2CdhJ84YLXt0FegLtvygg3kK4thCoBO_Pjg4TFlaBUSvyQDIuQ7uxInMT_Zwq0P0sZYysmk2RfACCr3fJA/s800/53556930317_35e664c163_c.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZKz6VkOlbkgHASGCHbqdphkhQoJ4N5RzV_eVQMPiRgc79843LKSq0bhzOp3iDLivFLupwEDnKqRhmlO6xgXOHSCd9EWbR3FKmDQvR2CdhJ84YLXt0FegLtvygg3kK4thCoBO_Pjg4TFlaBUSvyQDIuQ7uxInMT_Zwq0P0sZYysmk2RfACCr3fJA/w400-h300/53556930317_35e664c163_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>National Christian Church, Thomas Circle, Washington, DC.</i></div><blockquote><p>... Pike and McDaniel said they asked their landlord to renegotiate their $27,000-per-month rent to be based on sales, but were denied. At one point, they said, their real estate company sent them the wrong account number for a wire transfer. They still have not gotten back $18,000 of the payment they made to that incorrect account, they said. </p></blockquote><blockquote><p>
Rueben Bajaj, their landlord, declined to discuss the details of his interactions with Pike and McDaniel but said his company has had “ongoing conversations” with them and “provided solutions.” Bajaj contributed $500 to the fundraiser because, he said, “I personally want to see As You Are succeed.”</p></blockquote><p>The <i>Washington Blade</i> reports another bar will be opening in a couple months on 14th Street ("<a href="https://www.washingtonblade.com/2024/02/22/new-gay-bar-on-14th-street-to-open-in-april/">New gay bar on 14th Street to open in April</a>"). From the article:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>“This new venue, catering especially to the LGBTQ+ community, offers a cozy, inclusive space that reminisces about the times of record stores and basement hangouts with friends,” the statement says. “In its past life as a music store and radio supply shop, Crush transforms its legacy into a modern-day haven,” the statement continues. “It features top-notch DJ booths, a dance floor and a summer garden, alongside a premium sound system to ensure every night is memorable.”</p><p>Rutstein told the Washington Blade the new bar will have a capacity of accommodating 300 people on its two floors. He notes that the name ‘Crush” stems from the romantic crush that people often have for one another and his and Rutgers’ new bar is aimed at providing a friendly space for people to meet and socialize. </p><p>“We’re looking to be inclusive to everyone,” Rutstein said. “It’s certainly going to be heavy on the LGBT community” because he and Rutgers have been part of that community for many years. But he added, “We want to be inclusive to gays and lesbians being able to bring their friends and allies in along with them and not feel weird about it.” </p></blockquote><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8HqwFtIaePVc2m1M6zDth2htwGlupL6H0jvUzPp7tiLHY6T_AGhCBz9UQWmaMqN6RVaDaCpQnI3TRo-eObrSUi7nsL9b-DWGM6_7EfBwNTSdF5DWJBM1xVifkdY29_v9zTUmDl8-UJivEOKweNmqg4-_THSHWDTd9w2RgUWQCC-08Zq45HQbhDQ/s660/9780300235784-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="660" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8HqwFtIaePVc2m1M6zDth2htwGlupL6H0jvUzPp7tiLHY6T_AGhCBz9UQWmaMqN6RVaDaCpQnI3TRo-eObrSUi7nsL9b-DWGM6_7EfBwNTSdF5DWJBM1xVifkdY29_v9zTUmDl8-UJivEOKweNmqg4-_THSHWDTd9w2RgUWQCC-08Zq45HQbhDQ/s320/9780300235784-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter.webp" width="320" /></a></div><i>Photo: Under the Umbrella</i><br /><p></p><p><b>Which reminds me that an LGBTQ+ book store opened in Salt Lake. </b> </p><p>Again, it's not about assimilation as much as it is that people need supports on that continuum of their journey/age cohort, etc. ("<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2023/11/03/under-the-umbrella-salt-lake-city-bookstore-profile/71438731007/">Why we love Under the Umbrella, Salt Lake City’s little queer bookstore</a>," <i>USA Today</i>). From the article:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>What’s your store’s story? </p><p>Under the Umbrella Bookstore is your local queer bookstore. No other bookstore in the area specifically caters to the queer community, providing a safe space for queer folks of all ages to congregate and celebrate their stories. Under the Umbrella is meant to help bridge the gap between what Salt Lake City currently has and what the city needs by providing a safe, accessible, and inclusive space for everyone. Utah is predominantly white, which means there are even fewer places where the safety and comfort of queer people of color are prioritized.</p></blockquote><p>And a sports bar ("<a href="https://www.sltrib.com/artsliving/food/2023/12/22/locker-room-slcs-first-gay-sports/">The Locker Room: Salt Lake City's first gay sports bar</a>," <i>Salt Lake Tribune</i>). </p><p></p><p></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTfUfKzFyi_jvY3s8x3htMANLsvMUaOB9pjfNz7ddnsdiUwqCm8nQWdGazk782Bp8SfDKBIdQ449wVPjhB3X0KFScmvpC5LZOu5FFLPejeNi20ICK6wfB6dRiE3Bsuh8b9o1WuvtuyqMzUEv-GMTYC20cWtWjnZq5KmkkK7liV-TEuODdIKARnyA/s1476/Salt-Lake-City-skiing-01.webp" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="984" data-original-width="1476" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTfUfKzFyi_jvY3s8x3htMANLsvMUaOB9pjfNz7ddnsdiUwqCm8nQWdGazk782Bp8SfDKBIdQ449wVPjhB3X0KFScmvpC5LZOu5FFLPejeNi20ICK6wfB6dRiE3Bsuh8b9o1WuvtuyqMzUEv-GMTYC20cWtWjnZq5KmkkK7liV-TEuODdIKARnyA/s320/Salt-Lake-City-skiing-01.webp" width="320" /></a></b></div><i>The McDonald's inside Scarborough's Cedarbrae Mall will be closing at the end of February after 18 years.
Andrew Francis Wallace Toronto Star.</i><p></p><p><b>Toronto: Closing of McDonalds stores in neighborhood shopping centers</b>. The <i>Toronto Star</i> writes, "<a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/when-a-neighbourhood-mall-mcdonalds-closes-more-than-food-disappears/article_dcdba4c2-d1a0-11ee-bc5e-871a9a974592.html">When a neighbourhood mall McDonald's closes, more than food disappears,</a>," about how the closure of McDonald's restaurants in area malls inadvertently reduces options for seniors Some letter writers weigh in as well, "<a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/we-need-more-community-spaces-geared-to-seniors/article_c942ee18-d4b4-11ee-ba7d-435c91a74cc3.htm">We need more community spaces geared to seniors</a>." From the article:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>On the surface, it’s not sad news when a multibillion-dollar fast-food conglomerate closes a handful of locations (Scarborough is a culinary paradise, after all). But consider the role these spots located inside neighbourhood malls play in areas lacking places for people to gather, chat and evade freezing temperatures or the blazing sun. </p><p>While I wait for my breakfast, two older men behind me shove coins into each other’s hands, refusing to let the other pay for their coffee. The cashier looks on in amusement, clearly having witnessed this routine before. </p><p>That’s the charm of these neighbourhood malls, characterized by one or two anchor tenants – usually a department store, gym, supermarket or standalone fast-food joint – and non-chain retailers, as well as doctors’ and government offices. These malls aren’t destinations for luxury shopping, Instagram-friendly backdrops and ticketed “immersive experiences,” but rather they’re where local residents run errands and are able to hang out with friends for hours for the price of a $2 cup of coffee, a relatively low barrier in an increasingly unaffordable city.</p><p>... “(There were a lot of) seniors with their coffees sitting for hours,” he recalls, describing the scene at the now-defunct Eglinton Square McDonald’s. “It brings communities together like a coffee shop. It’s a reason to go out and come together when you didn’t have a lot of money. ... Whether you’re in high school or a senior, it’s the place to be. ... With Cedarbrae (Mall), Cedarbrae Collegiate (Institute) is right behind it, so thousands of kids over the years have been to that McDonald’s.”</p></blockquote><p><b>New York City Puerto Rican neighborhood social club</b>. Last year in the food section, the <i>New York Times</i> ran a story on the perseverance of a Puerto Rican social club in the face of a changing neighborhood ("<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/24/dining/williamsburg-nyc-puerto-rican-social-club.html">Her Social Club Isn’t Going Anywhere. Toñita Has No Plans to Quit.</a>").</p><p></p><blockquote><p>In a part of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that has been transformed in recent years by modern apartment buildings and fast-casual restaurants, a nondescript door on Grand Street is the entrance to Toñita’s, one of the last Puerto Rican outposts of its kind in New York City. </p><p>Here, the customers drink $3 beers and play dominoes, or sit around and chat over free plates of food like arroz con gandules.
The walls are crowded with Puerto Rican flags and portraits of the bar’s owner and matriarchal figure, </p></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaqdA_dHVQ3-I_oXmOffPkIA23uHnzVEEnIUtL73Uf65s97xJNKDa_LQCjfZqO4Geg_JZic_tA0ycdMNluva2DLGzFYDvHgT8BgwLYh6GHrvn6hCgILluwGgHLj28FKe-9KblZrAd_Vgt7xwmznpqw1tctq-UcEgSSQfVr4NhlxrA7F3E0euuhjA/s2048/Salt-Lake-City-skiing-01.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaqdA_dHVQ3-I_oXmOffPkIA23uHnzVEEnIUtL73Uf65s97xJNKDa_LQCjfZqO4Geg_JZic_tA0ycdMNluva2DLGzFYDvHgT8BgwLYh6GHrvn6hCgILluwGgHLj28FKe-9KblZrAd_Vgt7xwmznpqw1tctq-UcEgSSQfVr4NhlxrA7F3E0euuhjA/s320/Salt-Lake-City-skiing-01.webp" width="320" /></a></div><p><i>Social clubs like Toñita’s are popular in Puerto Rico and Cuba. Photo: José A. Alvarado Jr. for The New York Times.</i></p><blockquote><p>Maria Antonia Cay, who is more commonly known as Toñita. She opened the place in the 1970s as the Caribbean Social Club, a members-only hangout for the neighborhood baseball team. In 2000, she obtained a liquor license and opened the spot to everyone for cheap drinks and pots of Puerto Rican dishes that she makes in her apartment kitchen upstairs. (She bought the building decades ago.)
“It reminds me of home,” said Djali Brown-Cepeda, an archivist and filmmaker who runs the Nuevayorkinos Instagram account. </p><p>As neighborhoods like Williamsburg gentrify and businesses owned and frequented by people of color close, many of the people who grew up there fear they’ll lose the community outposts where they can speak Spanish, dance and play games. Ms. Cay said she has been offered millions of dollars for the building but will not sell.</p></blockquote><p></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigompQKIEQbUCZ2p__wP0yhSkaZPPTbKWyUxtLw5cCD_GM01lDgV_udZTH4h1H_rG46gTRdrjSb9I91Lfoxn6irxSWnavCTR28Aj4tDMpacPaOzbeX9LaJRP_mL9XYdvElPdda-4tuTiL0Oetyru63B-CtDZNP6EBthbHpC4hyf-F1PWW59utLZQ/s640/Salt-Lake-City-skiing-01-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(9).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="516" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigompQKIEQbUCZ2p__wP0yhSkaZPPTbKWyUxtLw5cCD_GM01lDgV_udZTH4h1H_rG46gTRdrjSb9I91Lfoxn6irxSWnavCTR28Aj4tDMpacPaOzbeX9LaJRP_mL9XYdvElPdda-4tuTiL0Oetyru63B-CtDZNP6EBthbHpC4hyf-F1PWW59utLZQ/s320/Salt-Lake-City-skiing-01-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(9).jpg" width="258" /></a></b></div><i>Reading at the Astin Beer Company.</i><p></p><p><b>Silent book clubs</b>. Is a thing ("<a href="https://triblive.com/local/south-hills/silent-book-club-gains-traction-in-the-pittsburgh-region/">Silent Book Club gains traction in the Pittsburgh region</a>," <i>Pittsburgh Tribune</i>). From the article:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>The rules of Silent Book Club are simple: No assigned reading, no homework and no small talk required. Members are expected to show up at a designated meeting place with whatever title they’re enjoying, sit and read. </p><p>They can share thoughts if they want, but they don’t have to.
The concept has revitalized the idea of joining a book club.
It’s paradise for introverted readers and book vigilantes who don’t like the rules of traditional book clubs.</p></blockquote><p><b>Civic assets as public facing opportunities for civic engagement and promotion of democracy</b>. Am working on this wrt the Park I'm on the board of in Salt Lake in terms of volunteerism and meeting opportunities, as well as a proposal to the City Library to create a combination <a href="https://dallaslibrary2.org/government/cui.php">Dallas Public Library Urban Information Center</a> and technical assistance center, with training opportunities, showing webinars from publications like <i>Chronicle of Philanthropy</i>, etc.</p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2011/04/community-cleanups-and-other-activities.html">Community cleanups and other activities as community building and civic engagement activities," which is somewhat misnamed as it discusses various types of spaces</a>," 2011<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-layering-effect-how-building-blocks.html">The layering effect: how the building blocks of an integrated public realm set the stage for community building and Silver Spring, Maryland as an example</a>," 2012</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-mIE3T4eWdbD6KzWKSZH2tsADp9lPiNMFg8fKpOVhJZUgQKInKpjr1BSXzJNvcNKhvVWPd0iSSGBlPcnnt_fmaNR-b94nQ7RTGUSEnCNRQPu0-iMfsCIh9exOdzi-4JO5AFqU46M8r3-KUwnFQCucL7_I8wFyNkDo4UHfwuqEgXKJFrOiP-gdYw/s500/teacher_training_8.17.23_ak_blythe-31_0.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="500" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-mIE3T4eWdbD6KzWKSZH2tsADp9lPiNMFg8fKpOVhJZUgQKInKpjr1BSXzJNvcNKhvVWPd0iSSGBlPcnnt_fmaNR-b94nQ7RTGUSEnCNRQPu0-iMfsCIh9exOdzi-4JO5AFqU46M8r3-KUwnFQCucL7_I8wFyNkDo4UHfwuqEgXKJFrOiP-gdYw/w400-h296/teacher_training_8.17.23_ak_blythe-31_0.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><i>David Barth, AECOM</i></div><div style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;">Creating places for social interaction/social bridges/triangulation. There's an article, "<a href="https://archive.is/96RY">‘Sticky’ places are urban planning lifelines Shared spaces build community and are key to alleviating America’s loneliness epidemic. Here’s how to create them.</a>," in the<i style="font-style: italic;"> Boston Globe </i>about the design of spaces like parks in ways that foster interaction and connection. From the article:</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;">Connelly leaned on a newly purchased volleyball net, a ball, and a powerful resource: the public park. Public spaces, which served as a lifeline for people during the pandemic, can be more thoughtfully designed to better foster human connection and combat loneliness. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">After corralling friends for a casual volleyball game, Connelly headed to a grassy spot in Lincoln Park, across the street from her apartment in Somerville. Several passersby, observing the group’s overhand serves and obvious camaraderie, asked to join the game. As Connelly, her friends, and their soon-to-be friends cleaned up the net after playing, they started a group chat to coordinate play times, resulting in what is now a group of more than 500 community members, and growing, who get together almost daily to socialize and play volleyball. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">... As an urban designer advocating for more sustainable, livable, and equitable cities, I hear communities express the need for sticky public spaces daily. To create them, I work with people across Greater Boston to transform unused storefronts into temporary vibrant social infrastructure, like community pop-ups that host regular events and serve as communal living rooms. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">These spaces make people feel welcome, represented, and connected to their neighborhoods, and this, in turn, builds social connections between visitors.
Though the Lincoln Park volleyball group formed organically, it was no accident. The park was designed to spur the interactions that allowed the spontaneous group to grow. In 2018, the City of Somerville renovated the park, turning it from baseball fields into a lively space with a skate park, parkour area, basketball court, multiple playgrounds, hammock poles, a community garden, and much more. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In the park’s redesign, these areas flow into one another — for example, the central path cuts through the skate park — creating connections between uses and users. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> ... The park is also well integrated into the dense neighborhood of multifamily homes that surrounds it. On streets that dead-end at the park, the sidewalks continue without gates or other barriers. This confluence of environmental and programmatic design creates a park that is sticky. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> ... Social infrastructure, like physical infrastructure, requires upkeep, investment, and adaptation. All communities deserve to have local public spaces that are designed to be sticky. Just as cities determine which roads and bridges need repair, so should they assess where their social infrastructure is lacking. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">City leaders can start by asking community members to finish the sentence “I wish I had a place to . . . " They can then take what they hear and use whatever space is available — an extra room in a library, a disused municipal building, even a parking lot — to create that place.</div></blockquote><p>-- <a href="https://culturehouse.cc/">CultureHouse</a>, </p><div style="text-align: left;"></div><p></p><p></p></div></div></div></div>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-72693543655896483252024-02-27T18:48:00.000-05:002024-02-27T18:48:02.689-05:00BTMFBA: maintaining arts spaces in the face of rising real estate values | Seattle, New York City<p>BTMFBA is a series of articles about the need to control your real estate if you want to maintain arts uses.</p><p>-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2023/03/new-form-of-btmfba-in-san-francisco.html">New form of BTMFBA in San Francisco</a>," 2023<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-wrinkle-on-btmfba-let-citycounty-own.html">A wrinkle on BTMFBA: let the city/county own the cultural facility, while you operate it (San Francisco and the Fillmore Heritage Center)</a>," 2021<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2021/06/btmfba-baltimore-and-area-405-studio.html">BTMFBA: Baltimore and the Area 405 Studio</a>," 2021<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2016/06/btmfba-best-way-to-ward-off-artist-or.html">BTMFBA: the best way to ward off artist or retail displacement is to buy the building</a>," 2016<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2018/09/revisiting-stories-cultural-planning.html">Revisiting stories: cultural planning and the need for arts-based community development corporations as real estate operators</a>," 2018<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2016/07/when-btmfba-isnt-enough-keeping-civic.html">When BTMFBA isn't enough: keeping civic assets public through cy pres review</a>," 2016<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2016/11/btmfba-revisted-nonprofits-and.html">BMFBTA revisited: nonprofits and facilities planning and acquisition</a>," 2016<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2017/11/btmfba-artists-and-los-angeles.html">BTMFBA: artists and Los Angeles</a>," 2017<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2018/03/btmfba-chronicles-seattle-coffee-shop.html">BTMFBA Chronicles: Seattle coffee shop raises money to buy its building</a>," 2018<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2018/10/dateline-los-angeles-btmfba.html">Dateline Los Angeles: BTMFBA & Transformational Projects Action Planning & arts-related community development corporation as an implementation mechanism to own property</a>," 2018</p><p><br /></p><p> A couple of articles, "<a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/equinox-studios-in-georgetown-a-thriving-arts-community-designed-to-last">Equinox Studios in Georgetown: A thriving arts community designed to last</a>," <i>Seattle Times</i>, and "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/26/t-magazine/new-york-city-artist-studio-buildings.html">Against All Odds, New York's Artist Buildings Have Survived</a>," <i>New York Times</i>, shed light on the ability to maintain arts studios and spaces in the face of extrapolating real estate prices.</p><p>The <i>Times</i> article is more photo essay, but like the Equinox Studios article, has some kernels of wisdom on how properties have been able to remain comparatively low rent. From the article:</p><p></p><blockquote>What’s featured here is not definitive, and perhaps not even fully representative of what it looks like to have an artistic space of one’s own in the city. Artists can and will work anywhere and, like their work itself, they’re limited only by the extent of their imaginations — and their finances. To have a studio at all, one has either to be able to afford to buy or have a gracious and understanding landlord, both rarities in the current real estate market. As of 2024, it’s never been harder for artists to find a place to work. In Manhattan, average rent prices have risen 15 percent from their levels just before the Covid-19 shutdown, and things aren’t much better in the other boroughs. (In Brooklyn and parts of Queens, rent is at least 10 to 15 percent higher than it was in March 2020.) So artists have had to create a kind of whisper network to withstand New York’s unimpeachable forward march, which the art market has, ironically, enabled. Suitable spaces are passed down, sublet, shared in secret. Most of them are temporary fixes before an artist — who’s grown out, or been priced out, of their space — has to move on.</blockquote><p></p><p>Some examples</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>one floor devoted to arts uses in the old Brooklyn Army Terminal Building is rented by the City of New York, which in turn rents to artists at lower than market rates.</li><li>A photographer shares his studio with five others. He can afford it. They can't. Mycella Collective.</li><li>17-17 Troutman Street, Queens, former textile factory, 90 studios</li><li>64 Fulton Street, Financial District, Manhattan, mix of religious and nonprofit organizations and 20 studios</li></ul><div><b>Equinox Studios, Seattle</b>. From the article:</div><div><br /></div><div></div><blockquote><div>THE TYPICAL TRAJECTORY for an urban arts community goes something like this: A couple of creative types set up shop in a neighborhood bypassed by development. The buildings might be run down, but rents are cheap, and more artists follow. Magic ensues for a few years. Then the dancers, sculptors and jewelry-makers get the boot when “progress” arrives, and landlords can cash in by selling to builders or remodeling for a more upscale market. </div><div><br /></div><div>It’s happened over and over in Seattle, pushing local artists out of Capitol Hill, Belltown and Pioneer Square. But one group has managed to hold off the forces of gentrification — and keep growing — for almost two decades. </div></blockquote><div></div><div><blockquote>... The organization calls itself Seattle’s Creative Industrial Complex, which sounds a bit over the top until you consider that the main complex now covers almost an entire block and houses nearly 150 photographers, printmakers, woodworkers, ceramists, stone carvers, blacksmiths and just about any other creative specialty you can imagine. Rents are half to two-thirds market rate and should stay that way because Equinox owns most of the property.</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>Buy the Mother F* Building already.</div><div><br /></div><div>Equinox owns three buildings on the block and rents another, with the aim of purchasing it also.</div><div><br /></div><div>The discussion of Equinox and Brooklyn Army Terminal also covers <b>community building</b> and camaraderie amongst the artists, sharing equipment and help depending on needs, organizing events, etc.</div><div><br /></div><div>The next stage for Equinox is to become more of a nonprofit arts community development corporation, like Jubilee Housing of Baltimore, which does both studio development and housing.</div><div><blockquote>Initially, he turned Equinox into a cooperative, with every tenant holding an ownership stake. More recently, tenants voted to give up those shares and go along with Farrazaino’s latest approach: forming an umbrella nonprofit called Watershed Community Development with the goal of heading off gentrification in Georgetown by building affordable housing for artists and others, and preserving the mix of industry and arts that gives the neighborhood its gritty vibe.</blockquote></div><p></p>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-28217023999679952392024-02-08T22:09:00.002-05:002024-02-09T10:24:23.218-05:00New York City Subway Map, 1951, inset as part of the Esso Gas Station Road Map for New York City, 1951<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNA5Q1XYmRU90JbjvAMRYwPXBtgT9TFo4zyAxccPwPK4IgTYem3uPzhXQEUH_qdLDFBn-Fx17lAImKxZVACN-LjeyOYvOo0YG-_oCHIGgSa8ixHSX2t8bzfhDi3nCTFzNOryulCGEEg2OygQerW-qdqBS3RwPfaipY4bHm9km6u3darXCKpIWWfw/s3357/53518148180_a92d31bea5_o.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3357" data-original-width="834" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNA5Q1XYmRU90JbjvAMRYwPXBtgT9TFo4zyAxccPwPK4IgTYem3uPzhXQEUH_qdLDFBn-Fx17lAImKxZVACN-LjeyOYvOo0YG-_oCHIGgSa8ixHSX2t8bzfhDi3nCTFzNOryulCGEEg2OygQerW-qdqBS3RwPfaipY4bHm9km6u3darXCKpIWWfw/s320/53518148180_a92d31bea5_o.jpg" width="79" /></a></div><p></p><p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rllayman/11030975045">www.flickr.com/photos/rllayman/11030975045">I thought the Esso road map from London was the only "gas station" map that included a subway map</a>. </p><p>It turns out, NYC too. And, I'm going to have to do further research because it's possible that the NYC map with subway information was published earlier than the Esso London map.</p><p>Both produced by Esso's map division, General Drafting Co. </p><p>That division also produced subway exclusive maps for banks and other organizations in New York City.</p><p>It's possible that a gas station map includes rail transit information for Chicago, Paris or Montreal, although the Montreal system didn't open until 1966. I'll research that every so often.</p><p>-- "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/automobiles/collectibles/12MAPS.html">When Maps Reflected Romance of the Road</a>," <i>New York Times</i></p>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-77278013584585076742024-02-08T07:23:00.003-05:002024-02-09T10:33:39.380-05:00A Look At The Final Designs For DC's 11th Street Bridge Park<p><a href="https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/a_look_at_the_final_designs_for_dcs_11th_street_bridge_park/21943"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-kUKEdhJzlK_ALNPXSx4PleOsHqkcSMnlftAR1wSJ9LlO1Wqmde0MOUI5XeZ2QeK9iEvFdQcJaMa5ATLUbkcr5w1FNfRHhhnXd0Cl3NiW1sMzGpFI-zAh2vqks2SKZkfPtmOSrbtokdOVc-BbHqfD8-kPWikaxE_Ci0KTia-ZAbQSwjkQ7Z95Q/s600/il_1140xN.4381098364_klm3.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="600" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-kUKEdhJzlK_ALNPXSx4PleOsHqkcSMnlftAR1wSJ9LlO1Wqmde0MOUI5XeZ2QeK9iEvFdQcJaMa5ATLUbkcr5w1FNfRHhhnXd0Cl3NiW1sMzGpFI-zAh2vqks2SKZkfPtmOSrbtokdOVc-BbHqfD8-kPWikaxE_Ci0KTia-ZAbQSwjkQ7Z95Q/s320/il_1140xN.4381098364_klm3.webp" width="320" /></a></div>From DC Urban Turf.<p></p><p>I was on the design review committee for this initiative back in 2014--10 years ago!. </p><p>I go back and forth with what I think about it.</p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2022/08/dcs-11th-street-bridge-park-project.html">DC's 11th Street Bridge Park project</a>," 2022</p><p>Obviously I'm into the High Line, the Bentway, 606, and the Promenade Plantée in Paris which predates the High Line by decades, parks that take advantage of infrastructure that's otherwise abandoned. </p><p>OTOH, the old bridge couldn't be reused, even the abutments if I remember correctly. So it's an over $125 million project.</p><p>There's lots of talk about how it will connect the two sides of the Anacostia, the black Anacostia neighborhood East of the River, and the white communities west of the river. But I don't think so. It's just not well positioned where people are. People will have to make a special trip to go there. Many will, but it won't connect the city.</p><p>Now I think better value could be had spending the money on other civic investments.</p><p>FWIW, I did write a bunch of great pieces thinking about the River as a network, and potential revitalization initiatives.</p><p>-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-anacostia-river-and-considering.html">The Anacostia River and considering the bridges as a unit and as a premier element of public art and civic architecture</a>," 2014<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2014/07/dc-has-big-garden-festival-opportunity.html">DC has a big "Garden Festival" opportunity in the Anacostia River</a>"," 2014<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2014/08/a-world-class-waterenvironmental.html">A world class water/environmental education center at Poplar Point as another opportunity for Anacostia River programming (+ move the Anacostia Community Museum next door)</a>," 2014<br />-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2014/08/saving-south-capitol-bridge-as.html">Saving the South Capitol Bridge as an exclusive pedestrian and and bicycle bridge</a>," 2014</p><p>This entry predated my involvement in the review committee:</p><p> -- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2012/03/wanted-comprehensive-plan-for-anacostia.html">Wanted: A comprehensive plan for the "Anacostia River East" corridor</a>," 2012</p><p>But after the design selection process was over, I was no longer involved </p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesahttps://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2014/09/11th-street-bridge-park-design-finalists.htmlndspaces.blogspot.com/2014/09/11th-street-bridge-park-design-finalists.html">11th Street Bridge Park finalists</a>," 2014</p><p>===</p><p>To be fair, I have a big hairy audacious concept too, which would cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Next to <a href="http://www.sugarhousepark.org">Sugar House Park</a> in Salt Lake City is I-80. It happens that the freeway section abutting the park--which was part of the park before the freeway was built is about 40 acres. So it could be a huge addition. It would also eliminate the noise problem the freeway causes on the south side of the park.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtPWzy2KKygXnFO9u-mwwescP4RdptwcADM6vs7-hWfWJIyQKQKcrYVyFZ0XoEFnTKHSJgM-pw8x4MoQ3LE_D9phASPxr8xk8wYhie-hHKnF2_x2ZHdeWSwZREEBDp9Py-C3-NTAI-57Y3pB8fUSaEhtu5q1YZIqo5qNbDI9b9vVY9Z1-lkeCy1Q/s800/52978088500_5161d173fb_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtPWzy2KKygXnFO9u-mwwescP4RdptwcADM6vs7-hWfWJIyQKQKcrYVyFZ0XoEFnTKHSJgM-pw8x4MoQ3LE_D9phASPxr8xk8wYhie-hHKnF2_x2ZHdeWSwZREEBDp9Py-C3-NTAI-57Y3pB8fUSaEhtu5q1YZIqo5qNbDI9b9vVY9Z1-lkeCy1Q/s320/52978088500_5161d173fb_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>Philadelphia project.</i><p></p><p>There are freeway deck parks in Dallas, Seattle and other cities. Boston's Big Dig undergrounding of I-95 is topped with the <a href="https://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/">Rose Kennedy Greenway</a>, which is 17 acres, but narrow, with a 1.5 mile length.</p><p>One is being built now in Philadelphia ("<a href="https://www.inquirer.com/news/i-95-cap-waterfront-park-philadelphia-delaware-river-south-street-20230615.html">Philly’s other big I-95 project to start: A cap with an 11.5-acre waterfront park, South St. pedestrian bridge</a>," <i>Philadelphia Inquirer</i>). </p><p>But they are much smaller than 40 acres, which would (restore)/increase the size of the park by not quite 40%.</p><div class="nH" style="color: #202124; font-family: "Google Sans", Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><div class="aHU hx" style="color: #222222; min-width: 502px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><div jslog="20686; u014N:xr6bB; 1:WyIjdGhyZWFkLWE6ci0xODQ0OTkzNDI3NTcyNjQ5NzA2Il0." role="list"></div></div></div>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-89163652208728269642024-02-06T23:22:00.008-05:002024-02-07T11:57:08.931-05:00Four points about presentation of African American History in the context of Black History Month | reprint with an addition about the US Civil Rights Trail (versus the Dixieland Trail)<p><b>February is Black History Month</b></p><p>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/02/transit-equity-day-sunday-2424-in-honor.html">Transit equity day, Sunday 2/4/24, in honor of Black History Month, Rosa Parks, and the significance of transportation history to African-American History</a>," 2024<br />-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2024/02/three-ideas-about-presentation-of.html">Three ideas about presentation of African American History in the context of Black History Month | reprint with an addition about the US Civil Rights Trail (versus the Dixieland Trail)</a>," 2024</p><p>The first two sections were published last year and are reprinted.</p><p>1. <b>Creating state-wide and regional history networks for African-American cultural interpretation</b>. One of the problems with creating African-American history museums is that while it is supported politically, once a museum is created they tend to not be well patronized. Many have had serious budget problems.</p><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rllayman/2294669662/in/photolist-4uLMm3-4uLMkL-4uuckb-4oF1re" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Virginia Civil War Trails directional marker"><img alt="Virginia Civil War Trails directional marker" height="200" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/2219/2294669662_c705fefb0b_w.jpg" width="150" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>When I was doing work with some people in Cambridge, Maryland--where Harriet Tubman lived, and there is a small museum in Cambridge and more recently, the National Park Service created the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/hatu/index.htm">Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park</a>--I came to the conclusion that rather being satisfied with creating one off museums; local history trails; and the like, why not, using the example of the multi-state <a href="https://www.civilwartrails.org/">Civil War history trail</a>, create regional and multi-state African-American history trails, incorporating existing assets.<br /><br />The Civil War multi-state trail program includes more than 1000 sites in Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia--six states. (In fact, DC should participate too.)<br /><br />But states could create statewide African-American trails of sites, museums, places, etc. too.<br /><br /><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rllayman/2294669646/in/photolist-4uLMm3-4uLMkL-4uuckb-4oF1re" title="South Side Station historic marker, Petersburg, VA: Lee's Retreat, Virginia Civil War Trails"><img alt="South Side Station historic marker, Petersburg, VA: Lee's Retreat, Virginia Civil War Trails" height="240" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3180/2294669646_889ee14bb9_w.jpg" width="320" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script><br /><br />I wrote about this in more depth in "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2016/09/6ps-and-cultural-planning-and-failure.html">6Ps and cultural planning and the failure to create a network of African American historic sites across the DMV</a>" (2016) in response to articles spurred by the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.<br /><br />Many local culture professionals argued it would be a boon to other African American history sites and facilities in the area, whereas I thought that it wouldn't happen on a trickle down basis, that an overt network of such assets, facilities, and sites needed to be created.<br /><br />Local <a href="https://www.culturaltourismdc.org/portal/african-american-heritage-trail">DC does have a history trail</a>, <a href="https://baltimore.org/see-do/african-american-history-culture">Baltimore has a variety of relevant sites</a>, <a href="http://www.richmondgov.com/CommissionSlaveTrail/documents/brochureRichmondCityCouncilSlaveTrailCommission.pdf">Richmond has a Slave Trail</a>, there is the <a href="https://www.alexandriava.gov/BlackHistory">Alexandria Black History Museum</a>, among many such resources across the region. Just think how much stronger and more powerful these trails could be linked up as part of a broader system.<br /><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rllayman/2913076317/in/photolist-5UiHeZ-5rqgav-5rqh6K-4ZVd1R-4UPi9H-4UPLq6-4HFvQZ-4G5acF-4UPLq2-4sGYQb-4uAkPy-4qZ66c-4qsKUG-4qsS2b-4nMNPF-4f7MKw-Up2JH-DR7rX-xYgTN-x6Rqz-x6NAQ-8uZSv-p7ogS-p7oPQ-p6Znd-nyQQv-kHmpp-cgDAp-g5h3p-aV2AK-aV2wN-9r4vg-9k73u-bZ38N-6wwBC-6pGvh-5X5bs-5J9ur-5J9DG-5J9FT-5zEFr-5phmZ-5phmc-42GuX-3gL9h-3efer-2XhK6-2EWmE-2wjZ2-bTThg" title="DC African-American Heritage Trail sign, Georgia Douglas Johnson Residence"><img alt="DC African-American Heritage Trail sign, Georgia Douglas Johnson Residence" height="240" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3185/2913076317_9382b6bbfe_w.jpg" width="320" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script><br /><br />2. <b>How about a month long "Doors Open" event during Black History Month</b>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doors_Open_Days">"Doors Open" events were pioneered in Europe</a>, and are when a community's culture organizations band together to provide a coordinated schedule of events, usually over a weekend, where people get free access to various cultural sites and events, many of which are not normally open to the public.<br /><br />In North America, <a href="http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=42eafa2cd4a64410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD">Doors Open Toronto</a> is probably the biggest. The <i>Toronto Star</i> even publishes an event guide. (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120617015949/http://media.thestar.topscms.com/acrobat/e6/b4/053292464aab98a8c9ced82d1b85.pdf">2011 Doors Open Toronto Guide</a>)<br /><br />But <a href="http://www.ohny.org/weekend/overview">Open House New York Weekend</a> is increasingly a big deal. Pittsburgh created <a href="http://doorsopenpgh.org/">Doors Open Pittsburgh</a>.<br /><br />In DC the Dupont-Kalorama Museums Consortium has had a district-specific Doors Open event for many years, as do the art galleries on Upper Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown, but including the participation of AU's Katzen Center for the Arts and the Kreeger Museum. It's not exactly the same, but Georgetown Glow, an outdoor sculpture walk in December and January is growing into a great event.<br /><br />My latest idea is that during February, Black History Month, community cultural organizations should organize a common calendar of events, along the lines of "Doors Open" events, where a community's cultural organization organize a weekend, week, or month of related activities.<br /><br />In the DC context, ideally federal assets like the NMAAHC, the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/frdo/index.htm">Frederick Douglass National Historic Site</a>, and the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/frdo/index.htm">Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site</a> would also participate as well as the area PBS stations, etc.<br /><br />A regional example from Southern California, <a href="http://%28pacific%20standard%20time%2C%20a%20cross-museum%20program%20promoting%20california%20arts%2C%20spearheaded%20by%20the%20getty%20museum%2C%20is%20another%20example.%29/">Pacific Standard Time</a>, a cross-museum program promoting California arts, spearheaded by the Getty Museum, shows how this can be done across jurisdictions.<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwDVHF9yfG3LTbO5DI_IxTVbt9nsA8_URy1ReaA-p5K_Ky_ewZkrv-R7b6BwyyKYR7WQ3WKtkU5qkwFB6W6Aa9-yxK5X759KfMfqWk7CqueC8AueygBCyKURnmzCQXYyyv1HX2vCvtxrWOPVu_yfYbkrbUV4-9_Xbskg0gvr4uZO6RzJC3ggJxw/s279/YE3WKFM4IRHCZICDOUYVPDGDJM-ezgif.com-avif-to-png-converter.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="180" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwDVHF9yfG3LTbO5DI_IxTVbt9nsA8_URy1ReaA-p5K_Ky_ewZkrv-R7b6BwyyKYR7WQ3WKtkU5qkwFB6W6Aa9-yxK5X759KfMfqWk7CqueC8AueygBCyKURnmzCQXYyyv1HX2vCvtxrWOPVu_yfYbkrbUV4-9_Xbskg0gvr4uZO6RzJC3ggJxw/s1600/YE3WKFM4IRHCZICDOUYVPDGDJM-ezgif.com-avif-to-png-converter.png" width="180" /></a></div><br />3. <a href="https://civilrightstrail.com/">US Civil Rights Trail</a> and historiography/critical race theory</b>. I didn't realize that such a multi-state history trail had been created along the lines, until I was doing some ephemera research ("<a href="https://magazine.northeast.aaa.com/daily/travel/air-travel/civil-rights-trail/">Travel the U.S. Civil Rights Trail</a>," <i>AAA World</i>).</div><div><br /></div><div>Long before white supremacists got worked up over "Critical Race Theory" ("<a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-is-critical-race-theory-and-why-is-it-under-attack/2021/05">What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is It Under Attack?</a>," <i>Education Week</i>) I've been interested in the issue of historiography, especially the interpretation of Civil War in terms of "the Lost Cause." </div><div><br /></div><div>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2020/06/decades-ago-in-college-group-of-us-came.html">Monuments as public art, historiography, and change</a>," 2020</div><div>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2020/01/national-archives-photo-retouching-is.html">National Archives photo "retouching" is another example of the tension between National Ideology and Memory and Inquiry in the funding of national museums, archives</a>," 2020</div><div>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2010/12/you-dont-gotta-have-art.html">You don't gotta have art</a>," 2010</div><div>-- "<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2008/11/dancing-with-one-that-brung-ya-and.html">Dancing with the one that brung ya and challenging the dominant narrative</a>," 2008</div><div><br /></div><div>Often this idea of National Myth/National History is termed "civil religion" ("<a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/04/12/985036148/can-americas-civil-religion-still-unite-the-country">Can America's 'Civil Religion' Still Unite The Country?</a>," NPR).</div><div><br /></div><div>I was sad that President Obama didn't avail himself of the opportunity to give a major speech at the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.</div><div><br /></div><div>Where this comes up with the US Civil Rights Trail is that I came an earlier form of the trail, but of Dixieland, and the Dixieland Trail and the promotion of "the unique culture of the South."</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPla79vsxqhIQ300lVLxIXO1rcEbg9Kz2-JFkq_93Ydw7Daw7XhJoBBjrJ6sMIqSn3sXp7NSiJxZIh7wwgpTs7I8bqaorJvpdHHLci5iNxMRC0045DbrFm5MUJm3vRrSx632ZKcpMuw9IraXHmWP8q0MiqBAy7eXOkgOAexwMIoq-1NEbfiE4Mmg/s2560/9780300235784-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2251" data-original-width="2560" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPla79vsxqhIQ300lVLxIXO1rcEbg9Kz2-JFkq_93Ydw7Daw7XhJoBBjrJ6sMIqSn3sXp7NSiJxZIh7wwgpTs7I8bqaorJvpdHHLci5iNxMRC0045DbrFm5MUJm3vRrSx632ZKcpMuw9IraXHmWP8q0MiqBAy7eXOkgOAexwMIoq-1NEbfiE4Mmg/s320/9780300235784-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><i>The Dixieland Trail was an automobile route organized and promoted by the travel divisions and state development boards of Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
This map, featuring artwork by Logan Bleckley dated 1962, was issued by the Tennessee Department of Conservation and shows the manufactured highway meandering about the five participating states. Sixty-five different locations of interest are numbered and labeled and a variety of illustrated vignettes highlight important industries, recreational opportunities, and the natural beauty across the region.</i></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcQewe2eZ_O6NWEfYHEHWbdMi5IxDPNmOlhccGkx30v0wnCm0mROlpMOGybS9acI_hEWYIg7y3tdvLSe6xWbCd5T7wM0NDKYiRLAw_b29czmGeNXjZsOocK2L9mTMkkyRG-o9HzIv4PUxhw-fqWN0m0yQN0PdDxqkBT2sUuDOSu62xFPSJGhv7mg/s960/9780300235784-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="717" data-original-width="960" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcQewe2eZ_O6NWEfYHEHWbdMi5IxDPNmOlhccGkx30v0wnCm0mROlpMOGybS9acI_hEWYIg7y3tdvLSe6xWbCd5T7wM0NDKYiRLAw_b29czmGeNXjZsOocK2L9mTMkkyRG-o9HzIv4PUxhw-fqWN0m0yQN0PdDxqkBT2sUuDOSu62xFPSJGhv7mg/s320/9780300235784-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Another version of the brochure, probably dating to the 1970s.</i></div></i><div><br /></div><div>By contrast, the Civil Rights Trail covers 15 states, and should include more, like DC and Maryland. But talk about different approaches to historiography, and the need to discuss it.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitIoCME-eCIrqMJv6Y8wkQzATuZ_ULFQWZ4B0BE1hr8ZWNcXz-vEQhjfOCh7hjgA7R9H3LKB94JK3SS1PlE51YTWcaVJx5Cx9qqR9hnhq3YiCIp7HtoGQRvPTNfP7He6igPZw6l7Mwdaj4M2vxwEKThMJ2qskHQImbslXyDdIjEf7YzOklQd-Ejw/s310/9780300235784-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="163" data-original-width="310" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitIoCME-eCIrqMJv6Y8wkQzATuZ_ULFQWZ4B0BE1hr8ZWNcXz-vEQhjfOCh7hjgA7R9H3LKB94JK3SS1PlE51YTWcaVJx5Cx9qqR9hnhq3YiCIp7HtoGQRvPTNfP7He6igPZw6l7Mwdaj4M2vxwEKThMJ2qskHQImbslXyDdIjEf7YzOklQd-Ejw/s1600/9780300235784-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter%20(2).jpg" width="310" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><b>4. Some DC stories</b>. I lived in the H Street neighborhood starting in the late 1980s. I followed urban issues but I wasn't involved. Around 2000 I decided if I didn't get involved the neighborhood would continue to languish.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sometime in 2000 or 2001 I went on a road trip with a college friend from Ft. Lauderdale to New Jersey and we stopped in cities known for historic preservation like Savannah and Charleston. I came back thinking my neighborhood was no less beautiful then those, just different.</div><div><br /></div><div>Eventually I got roped into running "a history study" for the neighborhood, with the idea that would lead to creation of a historic district. Instead, I got diverted in Main Street historic preservation based commercial district revitalization. But the study was detailed enough that in some academic treatise I am criticized as a gentrifier. At the same time, I got more interested in DC's local history.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>The Front Page Restaurant, Dupont Circle.</i></b> Shut down when WeWork bought the building. It's decorative claim to fame was a bunch of newspaper pages posted throughout the restaurant, mostly from the now defunct Washington Star. One of the pages was classified ads from WW2, organized in some categories--housing and jobs--by race. I was floored, because at the time that was less than 50 years before.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-S0-1JZJEBrNNfonUcrZzYUFfPgre6N8aHzzkU7f3hNgjpLMIzbrgUWP67upfjfS7WavV0sYcH0KAKdxoNsxHKZa5y1ZeMnfwzwGD4M2-DT2MbzqBt-zgZhoR1nUszIICLnmGfDN4693mXQY_xH9hqbjLhwg_f_yyjAOcvCHWNNaXdDCjIHS2g/s800/70084910_d39abfd10a_c.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-S0-1JZJEBrNNfonUcrZzYUFfPgre6N8aHzzkU7f3hNgjpLMIzbrgUWP67upfjfS7WavV0sYcH0KAKdxoNsxHKZa5y1ZeMnfwzwGD4M2-DT2MbzqBt-zgZhoR1nUszIICLnmGfDN4693mXQY_xH9hqbjLhwg_f_yyjAOcvCHWNNaXdDCjIHS2g/s320/70084910_d39abfd10a_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Uline Arena, E.B. Henderson</i></b>. One of the buildings I helped save was the old Uline Arena, site for professional hockey, basketball and other events. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the process of documenting the building for preservation, we learned that local civil rights activist (and DCPS official) E.B. Henderson coordinated an every event protest for almost two years in the late 1940s, to get the building desegregated ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2016/08/civil-rights-public-accommodations-laws.html">Civil rights, public accommodations laws, and religious belief exceptions</a>," 2016).</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://www.nps.gov/cawo/index.htm">Carter Woodson home</a></i></b>. Woodson taught at Howard University and was the founder of the Association for the Study of African American History and African-American History Month. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXyM9DJeRYeY5i3UYGlBQGbdnsA3HzQx_SkBecdoiucdbPiFZXmM4ABgbmX0Jww9mePUNK_VHJ_varlDx13DDiVSLQDclkTq04VQ6KCGLL-aYp31YhPcMBLFaYZGVYZR25EtFzHY9uSH8yMnhaF_AhRhU0hVGHLhjfb-oRNzV7rqKcOqkgDYYPKA/s800/123791525_13e6bd7a7c_c.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXyM9DJeRYeY5i3UYGlBQGbdnsA3HzQx_SkBecdoiucdbPiFZXmM4ABgbmX0Jww9mePUNK_VHJ_varlDx13DDiVSLQDclkTq04VQ6KCGLL-aYp31YhPcMBLFaYZGVYZR25EtFzHY9uSH8yMnhaF_AhRhU0hVGHLhjfb-oRNzV7rqKcOqkgDYYPKA/s320/123791525_13e6bd7a7c_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>His house was owned by Shiloh Baptist Church which let it rot ("<a href="https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2005/09/losing-my-religion-shiloh-baptist.html">Losing my religion: Shiloh Baptist Church and Neighborhood Destabilization</a>," 2005). The church otoh wanted plaudits for "saving" the building. Eventually the National Park Service bought and restored it.</div><div><br /></div><div>I was talking about it at a community meeting in Shaw once, and made the point that it was a shame that the building was in its sorry state, because that building is significant to American History, not only to "black history." The person was surprised: "I never thought of it that way."</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUeLll4h9xW2mWmnVgHzqFUyzOkT7Q6I7jLDedK4LwN03TUvLzK1MDOjOX-iMKrfhKS6JMUTZiYCEY26zwCmYuBQMr94wPCTyysSeJDbjcps-BMWQ7EmXsdCUjUSP24-xv_Nh5MrWWZNLdNXPoUtTEKDE0WLtLwHXkkDdF_1u5GhD1cgzlCACGNA/s825/123791525_13e6bd7a7c_c.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="825" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUeLll4h9xW2mWmnVgHzqFUyzOkT7Q6I7jLDedK4LwN03TUvLzK1MDOjOX-iMKrfhKS6JMUTZiYCEY26zwCmYuBQMr94wPCTyysSeJDbjcps-BMWQ7EmXsdCUjUSP24-xv_Nh5MrWWZNLdNXPoUtTEKDE0WLtLwHXkkDdF_1u5GhD1cgzlCACGNA/s320/123791525_13e6bd7a7c_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>This company had restaurants in DC and other major cities. It was party to a public accommodations lawsuit that was decided in 1953.</i></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>Public accommodations protesting and organizing in DC</i></b>. In the early 1950s, activists like Mary Church Terrell led campaigns against department stores and restaurants over segregated spaces. Howard University students even led a "counter strike" at restaurants in the 1940s, although it's not well known ("<a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-one-woman-helped-end-lunch-counter-segregation-nations-capital-180959345/">How One Woman Helped End Lunch Counter Segregation in the Nation’s Capital</a>," <i>Smithsonian Magazine</i>).</div><div><br /></div><div>These were among the battles that pushed nondiscriminatory public accommodations laws forward.</div>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9238664.post-15197585632680278622024-02-06T22:19:00.002-05:002024-02-06T23:59:29.542-05:00Scooters, private equity, micromobility and transit<p> (g.d. Blogger keeps destroying the post, although I think it's the connection.)</p><p><a href="https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/spring-2021/02">Micromobility</a> is the fancy term now in transit, looking at how bikes, bike share, electric bikes, scooters and even skateboards complement traditional transit, especially in terms of what is called "the first mile/last mile" problem of getting people from their point of origin to the transit station and from the transit station to their final destination.</p><p>Private equity doesn't do stuff "out of goodness" but to make a profit, and quickly--often much faster than it is possible for a developing business to do. Lots of cool more public good type "businesses" have been destroyed by private equity seeking a quick return or to cash out.</p><p>We've already determined that in the US, because of population density, depopulation of cities, and sprawl, that transit isn't profitable. That's why it's been taken over by the public sector, except in a few rare situations (Asian countries have high population density and transit agencies are more active in high value real estate development so their situation is different).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn6yP86mYQO55_yviyNdyeBi2xlFAJ_-5wZtpUpKLN8NfGm3-eb4q4-z7XWbJZQ0zpzxeZTYxEHXsM6B-8dxQCCBQeu0QDQLdwZ-s4UWVup5X4-hHO-BYJ-FcnejE-FXt6OBPTx8G-rXq87JCdEBwya6whARFOs_D7NusI-Im0qZrh9f0hWV9S2A/s800/32869534187_9816aec502_c.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn6yP86mYQO55_yviyNdyeBi2xlFAJ_-5wZtpUpKLN8NfGm3-eb4q4-z7XWbJZQ0zpzxeZTYxEHXsM6B-8dxQCCBQeu0QDQLdwZ-s4UWVup5X4-hHO-BYJ-FcnejE-FXt6OBPTx8G-rXq87JCdEBwya6whARFOs_D7NusI-Im0qZrh9f0hWV9S2A/s320/32869534187_9816aec502_c.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><i>Isla Vista, California.</i><p></p><p>So I wasn't surprised to see some articles about the bankruptcy of Bird (Superpedestrian), the major player in the electric scooter space ("<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/91005446/e-scooter-companies-are-going-bankrupt-that-should-alarm-you-even-if-you-hate-them">E-scooter companies are going bankrupt. That should alarm you even if you hate them</a>," <i>Fast Company</i>, "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/12/26/bird-scooters-bankruptcy-micromobility-lime-lyft-uber/">Bird's bankruptcy is bad news for scooter commuters</a>," <i>Washington Post</i>). </p><p>The reason first is that transit isn't profitable, especially quickly. </p><p>But the second is that they significantly misunderstood the market. They thought it was transit, it was recreational. Bird launched in Santa Monica, a tourist-beach town, and the scooter users were recreational.</p><p>-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2018/12/what-e-scooter-industry-hasnt-figured.html">What the e-scooter industry hasn't figured out about Santa Monica: It's recreation not transportation</a>," 2018</p><p>Note, ride hailing is a similar issue. Trips cost more than transit, lead to more congestion as they replace transit trips with car trips, and were significantly subsidized by venture capital ("<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/technology/farewell-millennial-lifestyle-subsidy.html">Farewell, Millennial Lifestyle Subsidy</a>," <i>New York Times</i>).</p><p>Then there is the nuisance issue. Many scooter users aren't respectful of the public space and abandon the vehicles at the end of their trip, on sidewalks, in intersections, etc. From the <i>FC</i> article:</p><p></p><blockquote>But those who care about the future of urban life should not indulge in scooter schadenfreude. For all the annoyance they inspire, shared e-scooters have been valuable additions to American neighborhoods, frequently replacing car trips that pose a much greater threat to street safety and clean air. Cities—whose leaders have contributed to e-scooters’ current predicament—would be worse without them.</blockquote><p></p><p>Regardless, I think the premise is wrong. At least in the US, scooter trips don't replace car trips, but transit trips, and they are a lot more expensive than a transit trip. (This was true of initial research on bike share too, but there are advantages to reducing train congestion and getting closer to your final destination.)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPBrK7FIYQe37p9wCdQstiLFrFkq95UsTvkmVoxGsNPQW-sSDTZJUwTGtgo_Bss8GneIGWivUr8VCiYBEhFW2_ytkCJ5c1uVMAnSImVjpnAsXj-NNIuALEN09x-QS8KlrqR_X9yMw9QVGJL10-P0ubKhg5HPOaMU5jphDp7FgHhRCZX6ur7syM1g/s800/39186108274_12219c3666_c.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPBrK7FIYQe37p9wCdQstiLFrFkq95UsTvkmVoxGsNPQW-sSDTZJUwTGtgo_Bss8GneIGWivUr8VCiYBEhFW2_ytkCJ5c1uVMAnSImVjpnAsXj-NNIuALEN09x-QS8KlrqR_X9yMw9QVGJL10-P0ubKhg5HPOaMU5jphDp7FgHhRCZX6ur7syM1g/s320/39186108274_12219c3666_c.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>It wasn't the kind of business that could scale up. Especially to make lots of profit. See the flameout of Chinese bike share and the fact that with a couple exceptions, bike share in the US is not capable of making money.<p></p><p>That doesn't mean bike share isn't valuable, just that it needs to be conceived of in terms of first mile/last mile linked trips with transit. </p><p>In some other countries, the transit agency provides free access to bike share to start or finish a trip, out of access and equity issues. In the US, I think only Columbia Transit in South Carolina does this.</p><p>FWIW, I have no problem with scooters and bike share being integrated into transit systems, as a way to improve customer experience.</p><p>-- "<a href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-problem-when-you-define-every.html">The problem when you define every outcome as a success, you don't learn, and therefore failure is more likely: bike share in Seattle and Los Angeles as examples</a>," 2016</p><p>But it's good at some things, not others. It's personal transit, not mass transit. And it works best in areas with a lot of stations. In terms of off loading parking, security, and maintenance, it's awesome.</p>Richard Laymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765521217875752850noreply@blogger.com1