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It’s actually dark at night, the leaves are browning and yellowing on the trees, and the snow marches down the mountains toward the city. Must be autumn.
September was a silent month on the blog but a busy month in real life – and October, though busy and starting stressful, will not be similarly silent. Which is to say, I’ll post soon.
And November is conference month! I’ll be in Fairbanks for the APA Alaska Chapter festivities, and heading to Baltimore to throw down some wholesale produce distribution knowledge with the Society of American City and Regional Planning Historians (SACRPH). And in the meantime, frantically tying together the loose ends in my life to make way for some new threads.
Last Warm Days on the Coastal Trail
- Autumn Along the Seward Highway
Better bottle this early morning sunlight soon...
[I’ve been meaning to post this for months.]
During our group project for the CRP New York City workshop, we specifically studied the neighborhood around the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, an old industrial area around a historically-working waterfront, now becoming a mix of warehouse space, unfinished office and craft spaces, a few residential units (in addition to the large housing project on its edge), and an influx of creative activity like artists, performance venues, trendy bars, and randomly a Holiday Inn Express.
Being generally unfamiliar with New York City and very familiar with Chicago, it struck me that the Gowanus area looks and feels (perhaps smells) a lot like the Clybourn/Goose Island industrial corridor two miles northwest of the Loop. Both have a lot of old, messy industrial uses – some of which still exist, others which have left only brownfields – along a formerly working waterfront, in Clybourn’s case the Chicago River.
The forces of gentrification and redevelopment have been at work longer in Clybourn, however, perhaps in part because the river is not a heavily, notoriously polluted Superfund site. While Finkl Steel and a few others have held on in the area, by and large the area along North Avenue and Goose Island has flipped to become retail (and a bit of housing), especially home furnishings like Restoration Hardware, Design Within Reach, and Crate & Barrel. The two most buzzworthy developments were the flagship Whole Foods (May 2009) right along the river on Kingsbury, and the Apple Store and renovated Red Line stop (Winter 2010) at the edge of the industrial development.
Comparing aerial views of the two highlights their similar scale, location near a highway, and situation between two dense residential neighborhoods – Wicker Park and Lincoln Park in Chicago, Carroll Gardens/Boerum Hill and Park Slope in Brooklyn.
Clybourn Corridor and Goose Island, Chicago, view at 1000 ft
Gowanus Canal and Brooklyn, New York City, 1000 ft
More interesting than their shared history and layout, however, is their possibly shared future – specifically, the degree to which the changes in Clybourn portend how Gowanus will develop as the Superfund cleanup moves forward. Both already have a large Home Depot, both will soon have a large Whole Foods with several yuppie-friendly gimmicks: the Chicago store has a lovely riverside patio, a huge food court, and a demonstration kitchen which gets regular use. The Brooklyn store will have a rooftop garden for ultra-local produce, possibly waterfront access, and likely many WF amenities which are possible when building on such a large lot. Both also have a kayaking presence, though the Gowanus Dredgers certainly take on more risk than the rental places along the Chicago River!
While neither area had a large residential community per se, both were home to many industrial jobs, probably for over a century in both cases. And both have those who have some degree of fondness, or at least tolerance, for the messy, smelly, bustling, “wild west” they used to be. In Chicago’s case, the legacy of shady activity along Weed Street comes to mind; in Gowanus’ case, the area still struggles with some drug activity and prostitution, though probably not the “roving gangs of hookers and drug dealers” claimed to exist by one resident. The influx of trendy stores and office lofts represents real change, however, and what Clybourn is now, Gowanus likely will be.
What lessons for Gowanus can be drawn from Clybourn?
First, that change is inevitable – even its reputation as one of the most polluted sites in America will, with the help of the federal cleanup, likely not stop development in the long run. The recession has slowed development city-wide, but New York is an aggressive real estate market, to put it mildly.
Second, that unless told otherwise, developers will probably bring big-box retail as the natural successor to large industrial spaces. While Clybourn is now cleaner and probably safer, it is not very walkable – big parking lots separate building from street, and North Avenue has narrow sidewalks and fast-moving cars (when they aren’t clogged with traffic). Given Gowanus’ proximity to dense and growing Brooklyn residential neighborhoods, more work should be done to make it a natural bridge between the two, not a barrier, by keeping some of the large-format stores from building replicas of what we have in the suburbs.
Third, that it is possible to keep some vestiges of the area’s past life, if only symbolic. Chicago recently finished restoring a small railroad bridge which connects North Avenue with Goose Island, now a pedestrian walking path (but with “Live Rail” signs, which I’m not sure actually mean anything). The Whole Foods and kayak rental places allow access to the water, but the height of the bank makes it clear that this is not another North Avenue Beach. The Goose Island brewery, Smith & Hawken, and several other stores occupy old industrial warehouses which have been retrofitted, though many of the retail buildings (and certainly the NoHo residential tower) are new. Although most of Gowanus’ old industrial buildings might not be worth saving for public health or financial reasons, keeping as much as possible of the old brick and stone buildings can at least maintain the area’s character, which is what has attracted much of the new activity in the first place.
The planner is, of course, going to conclude that Gowanus needs better planning. But in this case, and based on what has already happened along the Clybourn Corridor in Chicago, it seems to be true. Change will happen, and the area will likely not remain industrial, except perhaps at its south end toward the Gowanus Bay. Once the Canal itself becomes a water amenity rather than an environmental liability, it will become a desirable place to be; the large, underused lots are rare in New York and will become prime locations for suburban-style retail, unless more guidelines are put into place ahead of time to create denser, more walkable development which benefits the neighborhood. Taking the good aspects of Clybourn and learning from the bad, Gowanus can perhaps become the same, only better.
… Possibly the most pretentious post title yet!
So it’s officially Week 7 that I’ve gone without a car . . . that is, it’s still in the shop with transmission problems. (The lesson to be drawn from the past two summers’ worth of car problems is, do not buy a Subaru without a good warranty and a steady income!) As a result, I’ve spent a lot of time on public transit going one place or another, and have taken advantage of the lovely service of the public library.
Earlier in the summer I was avoiding “work” reading (planning-related books), in favor of easy fiction and those random books that had been on my list for a while. As I reluctantly realize summer is ending, however, I’ve started turning back to the city books. Rationale: there’s a long list of planning-related things I should read. I won’t want to read them during the school year, because that’s all I’ll be doing anyway; light fiction and some “escapist” stuff (easy to pick up and put down and pass out in the middle of a chapter at the end of the day) will be a better idea. Therefore, better do it now!
One book I picked up (per a friend’s suggestion) is Nan Ellin’s Postmodern Urbanism (Princeton Architectural Press, 1999 rev. ed.). It’s pretty theoretical and there’s a fair amount of academic name-dropping — even some stuff from the old cultural history reading list! Hobsbawm! — but it makes some interesting claims about the goals of (post)modern design, what it’s actually doing, and why it’s ultimately still part of the Modern Project. That is, it might look different than modernist buildings, and it might attempt to return to pre-industrial city form, but it still takes a rational and technocratic approach to achieving its aims. And it inescapably operates within a market-oriented, consumer-based structure which essentially dictates the outcome of design and planning exercises, however inclusive. [Insert lots of David Harvey block quotes here.]
Here are a few things to think about. I still am.
“Recent urban design inarguably advances the modern project because it refuses to relinquish the vast possibilities offered by the new technologies because it is embedded in larger market forces. Despite its prevalent romantic imagery, its mode of production, distribution, and consumption remain highly rational as do the lifestyles of the people who use it (with a few scattered exceptions). In architecture, an abandonment of the products and promises of the modern project would constitute an undeniable regression because its evolution has gone hand in hand with that of new technologies. And a challenge to the modern project on the part of planners would violate the very bases upon which planning rests since the profession emerged during the modern period and is predicated on modernist notions of rationality and progress. It is not surprising, then, that the architecture and planning professions have largely avoided reflecting too deeply on the continued validity of the modern project.
“Pressed to ascertain whether this recent swing of the pendulum in urban design theory and practice has actually posed a challenge to the modern project or whether it has affirmed it, we must concede that as long as architects and planners seek technical and creative solutions to social problems in pursuit of progress, they continue to pursue the modern project. While contemporary urban design may break from the modern project formally and rhetorically, it actually continues it technologically, politically, and economically, perhaps with the exception of a growing sensitivity toward social diversity and toward the environment. Symbolically, contemporary urban design both continues and breaks from the modern project for it suggests to the general public a re-valorization of history, urbanity, the vernacular, and the community, while in fact only cosmetic changes are effected. In sum, while contemporary urban design may constitute a symbolic break from modernism, in actuality, it continues the project, as is revealed by architects’ and planners’ goals, their means for implementing these goals, their products, and their means of assessing the relative success of these products.
Rather than avoid the drawbacks of modern urbanism, then, architecture and planning since the 1960s are guilty of much the same, albeit unwittingly. This is largely because the political economy of advanced global capitalism and the continued prominence of positivistic thinking (despite challenges posed to it) impose constraints that limit its actual divergence. A reality which many architects and planners have preferred to ignore or minimize is that rather than following function, form has increasingly been following finance. The prime mover, particularly in the more liberal economies, is less the architects and planners than the larger economic system in which they work and which functions according to the profit motive. Like the initial claims of modern design to be populist, those of postmodern urbanism have also been subverted, perhaps even more so. But designers are reluctant to acknowledge their ever-growing reliance upon the marketplace for it detracts from their potential for creative expression and for implementing change, not to mention their ability to preserve the legitimacy of their professions.” (212-213)
…
“Superficially, then, we have come full circle. This time, however, the pre-industrial-looking landscapes (some of which are more convincing than others) are the product of hyper-rational efforts. As such, postmodern urbanism might be perceived as dishonest or pretentious for trying to be something it is not. In addition, its complicity with the political economy in which it is embedded often renders its intents unrealizable, or in the interests of capital rather than the larger good. As a result, many contextual intentions are stymied and, even when realized, are judged unsuccessful by users and designers alike. When successful, though, these efforts can result in environments that harmonize with the physical and social contexts and which people appreciate for their non-intrusive quality and formal interest.
“Although the lessons of modern urbanism have yet to be fully assimilated and postmodern urban design theory is inherently flawed, it nonetheless offers certain correctives to its predecessor and has generated some built environments that are widely recognized as superior to those which issued from the tenets of modern urbanism. Most important is the renewed attention to fulfilling non-functional needs and tastes, as manifest in building on a human scale; reintroducing ornament, color, and whimsy; developing a mix of uses in one project; valuing public spaces of many kinds; and valuing experimentation with new typologies, morphologies, and modes of architectural production including various kinds of user participation, computer-aided design, and serial production techniques. Some of this experimentation has undeniably enhanced the lives of its users as well as the shape of the landscape.
“The reconceptualizations of the city and of culture over the last few decades are inscribed within the larger challenge to the modern canon in contemporary Western society. This broadbased challenge is reflected in legitimacy crises in our basic assumptions, ways of knowing, and practice, and it is expressed in the millennial meditations described above. While all indications suggest a threshold, what lies on the other side remains unclear. At its worst, the extreme relativism and disengagement that may result from a distrust of master narratives and expertise can eliminate any possibility for communication, ethics, and democratic practice. With regards to cultural forms of expression, it can detract from any emancipatory and educational possibilities. The result can be an ultra-subjective alienating sense that there is no longer a “real,” and a corresponding obsession with artifice which allows for easy manipulation by the deft imagery of advertising and other forms of persuasion. In some respects, then, the efforts among urban designers to remedy the imagery merely play into the hands of this process, ultimately intensifying rather than combating the prevailing sense of insecurity.” (291-292)
I’m looking at you, New Urbanists!!!
Today was a rainy, cold, up-and-down, good-and-bad day, but most decidedly it was a lesson in patience.
I visited UHC’s Joy Garden for the first time, intending to start work but realizing the rain got in the way. Talked to Nick, the designer/project lead for the garden, who spoke of it as very much a work in progress. He highlighted all the work that had already been done, and that the site had clearly come a long way from being a patch of salty dirt, as it had been when they started. His timeline, however, remained relatively long. By the end of this summer they would hopefully be finished, replacing the existing plants with others as opportunity arose, re-installing pieces as needed, but the salinity of the soil meant that they couldn’t really start growing food (the end goal) until at least two years from now – likely after UHC turns over the garden completely to the school. For me, a volunteer only for this summer, that sounded like a long time; but in the grand scheme of things, it was just a few more seasons for what was meant to be a long-lasting garden. For the students working on the garden, especially, many would likely not see it completed until after they’d graduated. The most important part was not the finished product, but the learning experience.
Then I headed down to the Bridgeport area to visit Bubbly Dynamics, a.k.a. the Chicago Sustainable Manufacturing Center. John, the owner and main rehabber of the building, showed me around from green roof to basement, highlighting various reused materials, the ultra-efficient heating system, the variety of tenants’ activities, and some of the history of the building (much unknown) and the industrial area as a whole. We also talked about The Plant, his next project, which will transform much of an old meatpacking building into an urban farm and light manufacturing space. Assuming all goes well with the closing, he said, “then the next ten years are laid out for me in that building.” He also mentioned another industrial building, undervalued but with great potential, he was keeping an eye on in the hopes of buying someday. Again, I was thinking that it all sounded like such a long time! Having only the summer to lend a hand, I was eager to start doing something – but with a much larger plan and process at work, and with a decade-long time frame, John was (rightly) in no hurry. Rehabbing the building would be a complex challenge, but there was plenty of time to figure everything out.
Because my car apparently hates Chicago (and has developed some mostly-inexplicable problem every time I come back here), the transmission was misbehaving all afternoon, even after an oil change and trans fluid check. So I headed back up north to the nearest Subaru dealer. Traffic along I-94 was terrible from one end to the other: moving about 15 mph the whole time (and that’s if we weren’t stopped), and non-stop rain. It took me about 2 hours to go 10 miles, on. the. highway. But I had nowhere to be in a hurry, and idling along was probably better for the car than having to switch gears constantly on city streets, so I grudgingly rode it out.
The dealer’s service area was closing up for the night, so I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to hear the verdict (and cost). Luckily, I was able to take the bus, or rather two buses, home. More waiting, but the rain had stopped.
And finally, when I arrived home, I had received a couple answers (via Email) that I was hoping would show up eventually.
So today’s lesson is: while time can seem so limited, and life’s small hassles so large when you’re in the midst of them, there is a longer timeline you’re moving along. A bigger goal to work for. A larger world to be a part of. And there is virtue in striving to keep the longer future on your immediate horizon, blocked as it may be by things of the moment. Or, “good things come to those who wait.” So, patience!
Work in Progress
Back on the hill and already hard at work!
Despite my half-hearted intentions, I haven’t gotten around to posting anything new and planny yet. But after poking around on CSPAN to hear the State of the Union last night, I did find an interesting tag cloud generator called “Wordle.” Along with a link to video of Obama’s speech, they had posted a link to a tag cloud of the transcript.
You paste in a block of text, or a link to a blog or other web page, and it will generate a tag cloud. You can then play around with font, colors, general text orientation, etc. It even does other languages, although I didn’t play around with that (presumably it knows not to include words like “the” or “and.”)
To test it out, I used the front-page link to this blog. The result is embedded below. Fun stuff!
All this is to say, I will something soon that was not automatically generated from previous text. But Wordle looks like kind of a fun toy to play with!
Wordle restricts the size of the linked image, so see the full size (hi res) here.
Feeling lately, moreso than usual, in a semi-permanent state of utter mental and personal disorganization. The “Unsorted” photos folder keeps growing. Pulled in many directions, unable to stay on track. Reading comprehension took a big hit. Sleep a necessity, sometimes also an overindulgence. Pretty much everything is put off until December 6, December 10, December 18…
And, conveniently during finals time – i.e. “head down and crank it out” time – a bunch of those big, nebulous, distracting, navel-gazing questions keep asking themselves at inconvenient times. I have work to do, dammit – “mine is not to question why,” etc.
These started out in a Facebook wall conversation with myself, which I realized was a total misplacement of those thoughts in a forum better suited for the “OMG love the new pic!!! O_o” flavor of communication. So they’re going here instead.
Should planning be a science or an art?
How can we make reliable predictions about the future?
If planning teeters on a history of massive failures, how can we develop criteria for success?
Is long-term planning a worthwhile and legitimate exercise, given that people always manage to screw things up anyway?
Do planners ever have sufficient control over their environment to be effective? Or is it all just tweaking and tugging at strings?
How can such a self-reflective field lack any good way to evaluate its own products and determine what will actually work?
What kind of field is this, anyway?
Why is?
“But Mousie, you are not alone | In proving foresight may be vain | The best laid schemes of mice and men | Often go awry” ~ R. Burns
“Meanwhile, I’m going to sit here for days thinking about it, and singing ‘Coming Through the Rye.’ ” ~ frog footman from that TV-movie version of Alice in Wonderland with all the famous people
Just returned from my first official professional planning conference, the APA Upstate New York Regional Conference! I probably wasn’t as “professional” as I should have been, but it was a good time and the department comped most of it.
Most notable here: I didn’t realize how much I missed delapidated city streets until our drives and walks through the area immediately around downtown. I’ve included a couple photos (pre-processing) of my usual super abstract brick-wall-and-a-weed style.
Also, out of idle curiosity I checked out this and the other blogs’ reading stats lately… Stan&Ergo is doing better than I thought! I should post some new ones soon. Also, I found it amusing that almost exclusively, the key words listed to find the other blog were variations of “epic fail.” Good times.
I’ll post the rest on Facebook, until I finally get around to a photoblog format.
Under Construction, Albany
Brick Wall, Albany
City Forward 