They seem like a good idea: Covered or enclosed walkways connecting downtown buildings, allowing easy passage between offices and shops when the weather is bad (and even when it's not). But elevated walkways, not unlike elevated highways, can have unintended negative consequences on a neighborhood. "Instead of drawing additional people and retail to a second level, skywalks have left streets lifeless, presenting a cold and alienating environment," Fred Kent, president of Project for Public Spaces, tells Associated Press.
And in fact, AP notes, "While skywalks remain popular in some cold-weather cities such as Des Moines, Iowa, an increasing number of cities have started tearing down some of their walkways or would like to remove them. Planners and others in cities such as Cincinnati, Baltimore, Charlotte, N.C., Hartford, Conn., and Kansas City, Mo., now believe increasing street-level pedestrian traffic will lead to more downtown homes, shops and entertainment."
What I like about the Boston's Copley Place Mall skywalk is that it is often used for pedestrians to more easily get between the mall and nearby neighborhood, helping to bring foot traffic to the nearby Back Bay neighborhood instead of avoid it. And fortunately, nearby Newbury Street and more recently Boylston Street are interesting enough in their own right that they can easily draw mall shoppers. But that's a relative rarity. As I recently posted in The Critical Importance of Street Life, planners need to pay close attention to things that generate foot traffic in a downtown business district as well as avoid things that are likely to kill it. Anyone looking to revitalize a business district needs to be crafting an attractive streetscape with pedestrian appeal.
"Cincinnati City Architect Michael Moore said the difference is striking around Fountain Square since two of the city's original 22 skywalk bridges were removed as part of a renovation to make the square a more welcoming, downtown center," according to AP, telling reporter Lisa Cornwell, "It looks so much larger and brighter."
January 15, 2006
January 10, 2006
The Critical Importance of Street Life
I've just finished reading a couple of interesting articles from the New York Times real estate section. And while they seem to be about widely different things - one, Goodbye Suburbs, about urban dwellers who moved out to raise families but realized they needed to return to Manhattan or Brooklyn; and another on efforts to revitalize Hartford - a common theme emerged: the critical role street life plays in community life.
Now, I'll admit that for those who like more isolated exurban living - McMansions on an acre+ of land, on quiet streets where the only way to get anywhere besides other houses is to climb into your SUV - street life doesn't matter. And that's fine; people like different things.
But if you want to make more compact neighborhoods attractive to people who DON'T long for 2-acre zoning and 3,000-square-foot homes, the vibrancy of life on neighborhood streets is critical.
"It's definitely someone's dream; it's just not our dream," photographer Andrew McCaul said of the $580,000 suburban home he and his wife lived in for a year before returning to the city.
"It's not as easy as being in Brooklyn where you just start talking at the playground and there's always someone to talk to," added his wife, Sarma Ozols. In widely spaced suburbs, it's simply harder to run into people.
Newlywed Sara Mendelsohn, who lived briefly in a Long Island suburb, told the Times: "When we come home and walk from the train to our apartment, there's no one on the street between 7 and 10 p.m. It's just that feeling of being alone. You walk the dog and there's no one there."
Likewise, hearty urban pioneers are coming to still-troubled Hartford because of the possibility of walking to the theater and museums.
Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez told the Times that one goal of a redevelopment project is removing a skywalk that linked downtown buildings. "All that did was turn this into a 9-to-5 office park," he said. "Yes, we saw job growth, but at the other end we sacrificed street life, and we're paying for it in a sense."
This is critically important for town planners to think about if they ever hope to revitalize downtown Framingham. As long as downtown keeps its more compact zoning, the type of newcomers such a district attracts is people who are willing and often eager to swap lots of private space (not to mention quiet) for a bustling, thriving public space out their door.
Keep an unappealing pedestrian environment with nowhere to walk to, and you end up with the worst of all worlds.
Now, I'll admit that for those who like more isolated exurban living - McMansions on an acre+ of land, on quiet streets where the only way to get anywhere besides other houses is to climb into your SUV - street life doesn't matter. And that's fine; people like different things.
But if you want to make more compact neighborhoods attractive to people who DON'T long for 2-acre zoning and 3,000-square-foot homes, the vibrancy of life on neighborhood streets is critical.
"It's definitely someone's dream; it's just not our dream," photographer Andrew McCaul said of the $580,000 suburban home he and his wife lived in for a year before returning to the city.
"It's not as easy as being in Brooklyn where you just start talking at the playground and there's always someone to talk to," added his wife, Sarma Ozols. In widely spaced suburbs, it's simply harder to run into people.
Newlywed Sara Mendelsohn, who lived briefly in a Long Island suburb, told the Times: "When we come home and walk from the train to our apartment, there's no one on the street between 7 and 10 p.m. It's just that feeling of being alone. You walk the dog and there's no one there."
Likewise, hearty urban pioneers are coming to still-troubled Hartford because of the possibility of walking to the theater and museums.
Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez told the Times that one goal of a redevelopment project is removing a skywalk that linked downtown buildings. "All that did was turn this into a 9-to-5 office park," he said. "Yes, we saw job growth, but at the other end we sacrificed street life, and we're paying for it in a sense."
This is critically important for town planners to think about if they ever hope to revitalize downtown Framingham. As long as downtown keeps its more compact zoning, the type of newcomers such a district attracts is people who are willing and often eager to swap lots of private space (not to mention quiet) for a bustling, thriving public space out their door.
Keep an unappealing pedestrian environment with nowhere to walk to, and you end up with the worst of all worlds.
Town-Gown Success: University of Pennsylvania
"Penn is at the forefront of a national trend of urban colleges that are aggressively trying to bridge 'town-gown' tensions by investing heavily in adjacent troubled neighborhoods -- and by making a connection with local civic life," the Washington Post reports. "Since Penn launched its efforts in 1996, officials from more than 100 schools have made pilgrimages to study how it transformed a decaying neighborhood with a thriving drug traffic into a vibrant college community."
I posted on the University of Pennsylvania's West Philadelphia initiatives, discussed at an American Planning Association conference, back in April. But Penn's initiatives deserve another look, because it's pretty amazing that a private institution surrounded by slums successfully invested a billion dollars to help turn around the nearby neighborhood instead of simply throwing up more barricades.
"Today," the Post notes, "Penn is the among the hottest schools in the country -- sitting smack in the middle of a clean and vital retail neighborhood where crime has been reduced by 49 percent in the past decade, and where students swarm the streets. ...
"As a case study, Penn's urban renewal effort is probably the most comprehensive -- targeting every service and institution that makes a community vibrant. The university restored shuttered houses and offered faculty incentives to move into the neighborhood; invested $7 million to build a public school; brought in a much-needed 35,000-square-foot grocery store and movie theater; and offered the community resources such as hundreds of used Penn computers."
It IS possible to turn around crumbling, crime-ridden neighborhoods. But it takes great vision, planning and resources.
I posted on the University of Pennsylvania's West Philadelphia initiatives, discussed at an American Planning Association conference, back in April. But Penn's initiatives deserve another look, because it's pretty amazing that a private institution surrounded by slums successfully invested a billion dollars to help turn around the nearby neighborhood instead of simply throwing up more barricades.
"Today," the Post notes, "Penn is the among the hottest schools in the country -- sitting smack in the middle of a clean and vital retail neighborhood where crime has been reduced by 49 percent in the past decade, and where students swarm the streets. ...
"As a case study, Penn's urban renewal effort is probably the most comprehensive -- targeting every service and institution that makes a community vibrant. The university restored shuttered houses and offered faculty incentives to move into the neighborhood; invested $7 million to build a public school; brought in a much-needed 35,000-square-foot grocery store and movie theater; and offered the community resources such as hundreds of used Penn computers."
It IS possible to turn around crumbling, crime-ridden neighborhoods. But it takes great vision, planning and resources.
January 7, 2006
Miami Makeover
Miami has long had a "glamorous" look and "spectacular setting; but until recently, notes the New York Times, "a drive down among the high-rises at night revealed mostly shuttered office buildings and empty spaces." However, the city is in the midst of a major new development effort, "as developers build spaces where people will shop and play - and live."
Along with private development has come investment in public spaces: the Miami Performing Arts Center slated to open in the fall. And, "along Biscayne Bay, Bicentennial Park is being transformed into Museum Park, home of science and art museums." Nearby, according to the Times article, "Bayfront, an underused 32-acre public park redesigned in the 1980's by Isamu Noguchi, will be redesigned again 'to be more pedestrian friendly,' Mayor Diaz said."
I haven't seen the development plans, but it seems the city is learning some important lessons for a vital downtown: Mixed-use is critical, or your city center will likely be dead at night. Destinations are important. And you've got to design a pedestrian-friendly streetscape, because that's what attracts people looking for an enjoyable experience somewhere with a sense of place. If it's not an appealing streetscape, people might as well head to a mall or a Rte. 9-like series of strip malls.
Along with private development has come investment in public spaces: the Miami Performing Arts Center slated to open in the fall. And, "along Biscayne Bay, Bicentennial Park is being transformed into Museum Park, home of science and art museums." Nearby, according to the Times article, "Bayfront, an underused 32-acre public park redesigned in the 1980's by Isamu Noguchi, will be redesigned again 'to be more pedestrian friendly,' Mayor Diaz said."
I haven't seen the development plans, but it seems the city is learning some important lessons for a vital downtown: Mixed-use is critical, or your city center will likely be dead at night. Destinations are important. And you've got to design a pedestrian-friendly streetscape, because that's what attracts people looking for an enjoyable experience somewhere with a sense of place. If it's not an appealing streetscape, people might as well head to a mall or a Rte. 9-like series of strip malls.
January 1, 2006
Newburyport: A Center That Works
It's always great to visit a town center that works, and Newburyport's definitely does. What makes it a pedestrian-friendly, appealing regional destination?
History and some beautiful architecture help.
So does being near the water, especially since there's a small park with a walkway along the water right next to the main business district shopping area. But there are a lot of other towns along the coast where people don't want to drive 30+ miles to walk around and spend an afternoon.
What else makes Newburyport's downtown work so well? So many things:
* Great mix of retail in the main shopping area. In the key blocks set aside as the main retail center, you don't see medical offices, insurance offices or other businesses not interesting to shoppers -- everything you walk by is either a restaurant/cafe or a store for shoppers. This is absolutely critical for creating an appealing downtown to compete with area malls. You also see few chain stores in Newburyport's downtown; instead, there are mainly locally owned businesses that you can't find anywhere else. This attracts people looking for an "experience," not simply those running errands.
* The streetscape is attractive - interesting buildings, appealing windows, variety of shapes of windows and walls (so there's not one long, flat wall for an entire block, which is less interesting to walkers), ample and well-maintained sidewalks, buffer between sidewalk and street.
* Although there's a lot of traffic in the area, it's not 4 lanes of cars whizzing by; the traffic is "calmed" and goes slowly through the downtown. There's free off-street parking nearby, just on the edge of the main shopping area -- close enough to be convenient, but not actually in the heart of the main shopping streets (which would degrade the pedestrian experience, if people were walking by big parking lots while window-shopping).
Framingham may not be by the sea, and downtown may not have quite the federalist architecture that Newburyport does, but there are still very useful lessons here on how to create a successful downtown retail center - if the town decides someday it wants to try to create a regional destination in part of downtown, the way Waltham has, instead of a local business district.
Note on above photos: Left - Newburyport at night, from the Chamber of Commerce; right, historic pubic library, my photo, which doesn't do any justice to the converted mansion where George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de LaFayette, among others, were entertained.
History and some beautiful architecture help.
So does being near the water, especially since there's a small park with a walkway along the water right next to the main business district shopping area. But there are a lot of other towns along the coast where people don't want to drive 30+ miles to walk around and spend an afternoon.
What else makes Newburyport's downtown work so well? So many things:
* Great mix of retail in the main shopping area. In the key blocks set aside as the main retail center, you don't see medical offices, insurance offices or other businesses not interesting to shoppers -- everything you walk by is either a restaurant/cafe or a store for shoppers. This is absolutely critical for creating an appealing downtown to compete with area malls. You also see few chain stores in Newburyport's downtown; instead, there are mainly locally owned businesses that you can't find anywhere else. This attracts people looking for an "experience," not simply those running errands.
* The streetscape is attractive - interesting buildings, appealing windows, variety of shapes of windows and walls (so there's not one long, flat wall for an entire block, which is less interesting to walkers), ample and well-maintained sidewalks, buffer between sidewalk and street.
* Although there's a lot of traffic in the area, it's not 4 lanes of cars whizzing by; the traffic is "calmed" and goes slowly through the downtown. There's free off-street parking nearby, just on the edge of the main shopping area -- close enough to be convenient, but not actually in the heart of the main shopping streets (which would degrade the pedestrian experience, if people were walking by big parking lots while window-shopping).
Framingham may not be by the sea, and downtown may not have quite the federalist architecture that Newburyport does, but there are still very useful lessons here on how to create a successful downtown retail center - if the town decides someday it wants to try to create a regional destination in part of downtown, the way Waltham has, instead of a local business district.
Note on above photos: Left - Newburyport at night, from the Chamber of Commerce; right, historic pubic library, my photo, which doesn't do any justice to the converted mansion where George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de LaFayette, among others, were entertained.
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