Delightful Density

The Decade of the City

Are cities really on the rise? With Richard Florida making $35K a pop to talk to many of the hardest hit cities in America you wouldn't think so. I believe that with a renewed focus on quality of life, the housing bubble/foreclosures, and the bad economy, folks are going to re-evaluate the way they live their lives starting with where they live.

The proof is simple: Philadelphia. I have posted on this blog and numerous stories lately are talking about how Philly's population has gone up, YES, it has gone up. The city that has more nicknames than any other, seems to have reversed the trend that most struggling cities are trying to fight: population loss. Philly still has a lot of work ahead, but it is encouraging to see 20+ years of revitalization efforts have a impact on the city as a whole.

Robert Steuteville over at New Urban News can't agree more:

Now, I know that tough economic times are hurting cities like every other place. But I predict that the official 2010 Census will reveal a reversal of fortune for many cities in the US. I also predict that this trend will carry forward to the coming decades. Not only will cities gain population — but so will walkable towns and neighborhoods outside of cities. As more people choose to live in these places, other things will inevitably change — like the relative quality of schools and infrastructure compared to drivable suburbs. This last decade was the start of a new urban half-century.

I think of the city I live in now as a great example of a thriving place that only has many more good years ahead. Minneapolis seems to have the best of both the urban and suburban. Yes, we have decent schools, public transit, parks, night life, and even culture. Most people are surprised that you can find a good job and a nice house (with a yard and detached garage)that lets you still save some money for the future. I look at Minneapolis as a future model that we should continue to work on. As with all cities we have our share of problems as well, but I believe our future is bright and Mr. Florida might be writing his next book about us.

Architects, what next?

I think we need to create a new line of work of out of work architects. I know that we have gotten plenty of inquiries from candidates that would not have even bothered contacting my organization a few years back. All this talent, we need to find a solution.

This NY Times article hits home for to many architects:

In fact, Mr. Morefield, 29, is no politician, but an architectural designer looking for work. He was seated at a homemade wooden stand under a sign reading “Architecture 5¢,” with a tin can nearby awaiting spare change. For a nickel, he would answer any architectural question.

In 2008, Mr. Morefield lost his job — twice — and thought he could ride out the recession doing design work for friends and family, but when those jobs dried up, he set up his stand. As someone in his 20s without many contacts or an extensive portfolio, he thought he might have an easier time finding clients on his own.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Mr. Morefield said. “I had no other option. The recession was a real kick in the shorts, and I had to make this work.”

I know a few out of work architects, I just wish I had a good plan for how we could work together on projects and get them paid. There has got to be a way.

Portland's at it again

Portland's Mayor Sam Adams has joined forces with others in sending a letter that a new bridge that is going to connect Portland with Vancouver, WA has to be done right or not at all. It is a bit refreshing these days to have elected officials willing, or at least seem willing, to loose billions in federal funds for a project if it will do more harm than good to the communities and constituents they represent.

From an Oregonlive article:

The main source of unity now is a collective opposition to the current plan, a widening of the six-lane bridge to 10 lanes with the ability to widen to 12, a light rail extension, reconstruction of several highway interchanges and tolls that could be higher during rush hour to reduce congestion.

The four officials say they support "a Columbia River Crossing project," but not the solution state highway engineers have said is the only way to solve a major West Coast freight bottleneck.

"We believe that cost, physical and environmental elements of the project as currently proposed impose unacceptable impacts on our communities," the letter says.

Here is more information about the Columbia River Crossing project.

The New "New" Deal

It seems that we are letting a great opportunity slip on by. With the foreclosure crisis, bank bail outs, and knowing the current climate change issues, we have taken to sitting on our couches and watching it as it all unfolds. While I don't want to put blame on the new administration, it seems that many of the ideas and concepts talked about on the campaign trail was just that, on the campaign trail.

I believe right now is the opportunity to engage the American public on ways that we can fundamentally start changing our lives and the way we live them. While we are stuck in this void, we haven't even been able to vision what the future could and should look like. It seems once again we are doomed to inaction, which will result it little fundamental changes to our lifestyles.

Nancy Levinson has this great article that goes in depth about how we can make those changes and that this administration can create a better future for all:

Yes indeed, today in America we know that something is wrong, and we would like things to be better. Certainly the design disciplines have been energetic in engaging the converging crises of energy, housing, infrastructure, environment, climate change. In his recent essay on Urban Omnibus, Vishaan Chakrabarti, director of the Real Estate Development Program at Columbia, argues passionately for legislation that would produce "a country of cities." Chakrabarti expresses his frustration — shared by many in the design community — that Obama and his advisors have failed to grapple with the root causes of the crises, which is the American way of life, "our profligate consumption," the big house and the wide highway and the exurban spread. And he imagines what might have been a "very different first year for the administration," with the creation of a big new program, the "American Smart Infrastructure Act," or ASIA. "After the $700 billion TARP bailout, in which banks were said to be too big to fail," he writes, "we could have been told that the nation and world were, in fact, too big to fail." Chakrabarti describes his ASIA:

"We will build and rebuild infrastructure that lowers greenhouse gas emissions and encourages urban density, emphasizing high-speed rail, transmission grids from alternative energy sources, national internet broadband, and critical roadway maintenance. We will deemphasize all infrastructure that exacerbates emissions, particularly roadway and airport expansion projects. The government will fund approximately $350 billion (about half of TARP) over three years, solving the nation’s mobility needs while lowering automobile use and censuring the energy devoured by McMansions."

Yes, I agree that the general public knows something is wrong, the real question seems to be, what are we going to do about it?

Beyond the Motor City

If the video is not working for you go here to watch.

Blueprint America: Beyond the Motor City examines how Detroit, a symbol of America’s diminishing status in the world, may come to represent the future of transportation and progress in America. The film debuts nationally on PBS on February 8 at 10 pm (check local listings).

Detroit is the crucible in which the nation’s ability to move toward a modern 21st century transportation infrastructure is put to the test. The documentary shows how investments in the past — beginning with the construction of canals in the 18th century — profoundly shaped Detroit’s physical layout, population growth and economic development. Before being dubbed the Motor City, Detroit was once home to the nation’s most extensive streetcar system. In fact, it was that vast network of streetcars that carried workers to the area’s many car factories. And it was the cars made in those factories that would soon displace the streetcars in Detroit — and in every major American city.

Detroit’s engineers went on to design the nation’s first urban freeways and inspired much of America’s 20th century transportation infrastructure system — from traffic signals to gas stations — that became the envy of the word.

But over the last 30 years, much of the world has moved on, choosing faster, cleaner, more modern transportation and leaving America — and Detroit — behind. Viewers are taken on a journey beyond Detroit’s blighted urban landscape to Spain, home to one of the world’s most modern and extensive transit systems; to California, where voters recently said yes to America’s first high speed rail system; and to Washington, where Congress will soon decide whether to finally push America’s transportation into the 21st century.

Stop texting and save lives

Did you all watch the Oprah show on Monday? If not, she is on a mission to get drivers to pay attention to the road and not the incoming text. In usual Oprah fashion, it was a grim show about lives that were lost because drivers were text messaging. Here is a quote from her website and you can join the campaign:

Millions of people text, talk or e-mail on their cell phones while driving—a recent survey finds that 71 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 49 admit they text or talk on the phone while they drive.If you think you can call, text and drive at the same time, you cannot. That message you can't wait to send could kill. Distracted driving is an epidemic that is sweeping through our country, claiming lives and destroying families.

In September 2008, a Los Angeles commuter train conductor missed a red light while sending and receiving more than 40 text messages. His packed train collided head-on with a freight train, injuring 135 people. The conductor and 24 others were killed, making it the second worst commuter train crash in U.S. history.Weeks later, a school bus carrying 21 students was rear-ended by an 18-wheel semitruck. The bus was pushed more than 200 feet before bursting into flames. Twenty students escaped, but 13-year-old Margay Schee was killed. The truck driver admitted he had been texting and hadn't seen that the bus was stopped.These accidents made national headlines, but so many others have been killed in communities just like yours.

Nearly 500,000 people are injured and 6,000 are killed each year because drivers are talking, texting and e-mailing behind the wheel. "It is my prayer that this show, this day will be a seminal day in your life," Oprah says. "Let it be the end, the end of you using a cell phone or sending a text message when you are behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. And until we as a nation decide we're going to change that, those numbers are only going to go up."

I wonder what would happen if Oprah had a show about giving up your car, riding your bike, or walking around your neighborhood.