MIT Student Eyes Framingham Downtown Revitalization Plans

"For MIT graduate student Jonathan Leit, Framingham is a fascinating case study for downtown revitalization," the MetroWest Daily News reports today about the Department of Urban Studies and Planning student's examination of Framingham for his thesis.

Leit finds Framingham an intriguing choice in part because suburban revitalization plans typically receive less academic attention than those of major urban areas or smaller cities, according to the Daily News. "Leit’s interest in Framingham grew out of a study he co-wrote with two other students in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning on the impact of the Arcade project on the immigrant businesses housed in the Concord Street building," the article notes. "The study’s other authors were Sara Nafici and Brian Cheigh at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology."

Their study of the Arcade redevelopment project is available online.

While the issue of where current business owners fit into the Arcade project is certainly an important one, and the point of that first study, I hope Leit is going to look at some other important issues understandably not mentioned in this particular study's conclusions, such as:

* Is downtown Framingham going to be designed to draw people from all across Framingham and beyond, or primarily residents of nearby precincts? This is an important question, because it affects the kind of businesses you want to attract and streetscape you want to create. I'm not sure Leit grasps that Framingham is physically half the size (in square miles) of Boston. He talks about business districts downtown and on Rte. 9, but completely ignores Saxonville and Nobscot. Downtown, which is not centrally located, is simply too physically far away from some areas of town to be a primary neighborhood commercial center for every area of Framingham. However, it could be more of a "regional" magnet - if it's designed that way. If it's designed primarily for locals, though, some more municipal attention needs to be paid to business districts north of Rte. 9.

* Who is envisioned to live in the new residential units? What kind of people are these new units trying to attract, and what sorts of businesses and streetscape need to be in downtown Framingham in order to appeal to them? Urban professionals, who typically like a lot of shopping, eating and entertainment within walking distance in a pedestrian-friendly streetscape but are being priced out of Boston and Cambridge, could be an attractive target, but they won't want to move downtown without certain additions. The Amazing Things Art Center's plans to move to the Hollis St. firehouse, if the town approves their bid, could be one important factor in appealing to that demographic. Personally, I think those who like a walkable neighborhood with a lot of commercial amenities nearby are a more likely audience for new residences downtown than suburban dwellers who are being priced out of single-family homes in towns close to Boston but still want single-family homes somewhere. Those people are more likely to move out to more affordable exurbs, or condos in less densely populated neighborhoods.

I also fervently hope Leit looks at creating a pedestrian-friendly streetscape in the downtown business district, including a 100%-pedestrian-appealing walking environment between the T station and downtown businesses, and between all the new residential units and downtown businesses.

Crocker Park: Ohio Suburb Creates Large-Scale Mixed-Use Development

The Cleveland Plain Dealer takes an in-depth look at Crocker Park in Westlake, Ohio, "a sprawling, $480 million development that combines retail, residential and office spaces"12 miles from Cleveland.

"I call it My Complex," said a 26-year-old Cleveland native who recently returned from living in Washington, D.C. "I can walk to Trader Joe's, there's a dry cleaning service, and there's a gym that's open to residents 24 hours a day, so I can get a good one-hour workout in even if I don't get home until 8. . . . It's like a little mini-Georgetown outside my window."

Another in the community said he can attract his friends to visit, since theyall can easily head out on foot to a choice of restaurants or bars. "There's a lot going on, and I can be close to everything," a 31-year-old internal medicine resident told the Plain Dealer.

This sort of lifestyle holds great appeal to young professionals who like some aspects of smaller communities (such as affordability and better chance of knowing your neighbors) but not car-dependent, no-nightlife, subdivision living.

These are the types of people a rejuvenated downtown Framingham could appeal to -- IF the downtown could be transformed to include pedestrian-friendly streetscapes throughout, and walkable shopping and entertainment destinations.

New York City Street Renaissance

Here's a brilliant, common-sense and often-overlooked concept: "Streets are more than just car corridors; they are valuable civic spaces and resources that need to be wisely allocated."

Yes! The New York City Streets Renaissance Campaign says it's "building the movement to re-imagine our streets as lively public places" because "New York City's streets are the soul of its neighborhoods and the pathways to some of the world's most in-demand destinations. . . . If we continue planning our streets for cars and traffic we will get more cars and traffic; conversely, if we start planning our cities for people and places, we will get more people and places."

The campaign's Web site includes a gallery of images of NYC streets as they are now, and as they could be redesigned to be more pedestrian-friendly. These photos can give ideas to planners and citizens anywhere who are trying to build pedestrian-friendly, human-scaled design into local developments.

Thanks to Aaron Naparstek for the original link.

Globe Magazine Discovers Smart Growth

Today's Globe Magazine has a fairly flattering story on smart growth, discovering that a lot of people actually want to live in neighborhoods where you don't need a car for every single task in life. In fact, plenty of people find it appealing to live in a suburb but still be able to walk to pick up food, dry cleaning or public transit.

Well, duh. Anyone who looks at the price per square foot in desirable, walkable urban neighborhoods like Boston's Back Bay, Beacon Hill or the North End could figure out that the market has priced residences in those places substantially higher than most "pricey" new exurban McMansions. It's always been a myth that "American consumers" want to live in suburban sprawl. In fact, many do; but many others do not. The problem is that until recently, the vast majority of non-urban zoning has prohibited pedestrian-friendly development.

As Douglas Foy, secretary of Commonwealth Development, told the Globe: "The irony is that Concord, this paradigmatic town, is illegal under a lot of current zoning laws. You couldn’t build a new Concord."

Smart-growth advocates have argued that for years; in fact, I recently highlighted an entire book on this issue called Zoned Out (see Dec. '05 post). It's not market demand that's causing developers to build sprawling subdivisions where it's impossible to walk anywhere. Many are doing so because it's the only thing that suburban zoning allows.

Porches, and Community

"Porches are very valuable to building community. If you're out on your front porch sitting, you're seeing neighbors pass by. They say 'Hello' to you and you say 'Hi' to them, and over time you get to know them, rather than staying in your car, pushing a button, and going into the garage and never seeing each other."
--John Buchino, a professor of pediatrics and pathology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, quoted in the Orlando Sentinel. Buchino "prescribes ["porching"] in liberal doses," the Sentinel article says.

So true. If you're in a neighborhood where homes are up near the sidewalk, and the major feature fronting the streetscape is a porch and not a garage door, it's a whole different feel from an area where homes are set way back from the street, or screened off, or showing big garage doors as the primary streetscape feature.

I've sat on the porch at my parents' house several times last year, reading the paper but still able to look up on watch who was passing by. On Halloween, I sat there and gave out candy, able to chat with parents hovering on the sidewalk as well as to the kids. Last summer, I was sitting out and parents of a childhood friend drove by, saw me and pulled over to stop and say hello. Darn right porches help build a sense of community.