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This Metropolis article on bringing design and urbanism excellence to Syracuse is enough to make me feel that more New York transplants should return to the Rust Belt cities from where they came, and apply there all the energy and ideas that they've accumulated.

International Public Space Library

I love the idea of leaving books around a public space for others to enjoy and share (something I have always done when I've traveled - train seats, park benches, beach hammocks). So here it is, an official Ex Libris to formalize an International Public Space Library brought to you by the self-described secretive Momentech.

Not so secretly, I do wish the logo was nicer, but I'll take the concept. People, you can easily share your books without the label - but I guess formalizing it motivates people to pay it forward.

Conversation about Planning Corps

The fabulous people at MIT's Colab Radio asked us to write a short bit about the evolution of Planning Corps. Here it is. If you've never visited the site, you'll really enjoy the firsthand experience of planners trying their hand at all types of innovations to make our cities better.

Speaking of which, Planning Corps is having another working session Thursday, October 28. Join us!

A Love Letter to Syracuse

A beautiful collaboration of a project, A Love Letter to Syracuse was pulled together by the Near Westside Initiative and Colab, a design collaborative out of Syracuse University. Art by Steve Powers, aka ESPO. Go Cuse!

A tree walk around the block

A few locust trees here, plus a maple, maybe?

Last weekend I went out with Liz Barry and Planning Corps for a test run of the methodology that Liz and a group of other ecologists, mappers, and designers are developing for the 2015 street tree census. As Liz explained to me, street trees are part of our city's urban infrastructure, and the more that we know about them and their mini-habitat, the more that we can develop other systems to complement the existing system, such as bioswales, stormwater management, etc. Makes perfect sense.

Liz and I paired up and started down the block. We were quickly outpaced by the other groups, because it turns out that Liz loves talking to people* and nearly every tree was in more or less in the custody of the building which it fronted. We wouldn't even get to the next tree without a resident coming out to ask us what we were doing. We heard about the love of trees; the love of birds in the trees; the love of the genus of trees, but not of tree stewardship itself; and the ultimate story, requited love of high school sweethearts after 40 years of being apart. And I in turn learned to ID trees, something I used to be able to do but lost along the way.

It was a lovely afternoon. Something about being on the street and physically engaging with it. Something about grabbing hold about the details about the place where you live. We literally had to hug each tree to measure its circumference. Also, I thought a lot about scale and how to engage people to make this tree survey happen. The 1995 (is that the last one?) survey relied on volunteers. What will the 2015 survey entail? How will it dovetail with One Million Trees? I'm sure they're already working on it, but much more to come.

*It turns out that Liz and I might have been fated to meet each other. I realized much later that she was briefly profiled here years ago for one of her earlier projects, Talk to Me.

Planning Corps No. 6 - Queens Boulevard

Grand Boulevard, Barcelona


Champs Elysees, Paris
Both images via Huge Ass City


Queens Boulevard, Forest Hills, looking westward, circa ?


Queens Boulevard, Forest Hills, today

This Thursday, 6:30 PM, hosted by H3, we'll be tackling Queens Boulevard, drawing up potential cross-sections, discussing their viability, coming up workable themes. Bring ideas, sketches. You're encouraged to draw, no judgments on skill. (Haven't you always wanted to give it a try? This is your chance!) You can find base map and other materials here, full details here. Hope to see you there!

Hacking the City

Love this project, Hacking the City, an experimental exhibition curated by Museum Folkwang. Ends September 26, 2010, so check it out now.

Thanks Lisa!

Perceptions of change: streets, buildings, neighborhoods

The water feature in the new plaza in Columbia Heights at 14th St NW and Park St only gets busier as the night goes on.

By some amazing serendipitous twist, I had the pleasure of staying last week with a writer who has worked in the community development, historic preservation, transportation, and public space arena. We got to talking about her neighborhood, Columbia Heights, which has gone through a lot of change in the last few years. A fascinating conversation, in that it underscored just how much context and firsthand experience of living through change informs our lens when deciding the type of change we want with our spaces.

Columbia Heights was recently rezoned, and instead of bundling the parcels for one developer, the local community development corporation decided to put each parcel out so that several developers would have a hand in the corridor. Having lived with the longstanding Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, this strategy didn't sound off any alarms for me. Different developers seemed to reduce the risk of a monolithic perspective dominating the area. Lisa had a another perspective: with so many developers weighing in on the neighborhood, cohesiveness was eroded and the opportunity to contextualize the new developments with the surrounding community was lost. No judgment here, the merits of this perspective are pretty clear.

The second differing opinion had to do with the design of the Dance Institute of Washington's new building. I had walked by it a few times and liked how it allowed pedestrians to see what was going on inside, a greater emphasis of opening up the studio to the neighborhood.


The dance studios for the Dance Institute of Washington are transparent to the users of the street below.


This corner of a rehearsal studio in the redesigned building in Lincoln Center allows passersby to get a glimpse of the dance students.

My positive impression was perhaps largely informed by my habit during college of walking by the performing arts building on my way home after a long day. It was lovely to see the dancers working at the barre after spending hours studying in the stacks. As a mom, Lisa was concerned about the experience of the kids; me without kids, this perspective was simply not available to me.

In spite of our differing opinions, we had a great conversation about the neighborhood. Or perhaps, because of our differing opinions, we did. She helped me understand another way of looking. And it reminded me that we're constantly writing and re-writing the narratives for our neighborhoods.

Next Planning Corps - July 28

photograph by Nina Ahn

Yo yo yo, it's that time again. Planning Corps meets once a month (usually at the end) and is a way for planners to geek out, meet other planners, share a beer, and all in the act of advancing a non-profit's cause. Thank goodness for Planning Corps - a lifeline for me! A chance to apply planning at a local scale, always good for the brain, heart, and soul. We've been working on Queens Boulevard, public plazas, citizen engagement, and mapping neighborhoods. Unless otherwise posted between now and then, the next session will be at the Open Plans penthouse, 148 Lafayette at 6:30, Wednesday, July 28. Check the site for an agenda (should be up soon) and see you there!

New news

"the insistence of distance" by Richard T. Walker via vvork

When I told a friend that I recently joined the Carnegie Endowment, his response was, so you're leaving planning? That's an emphatic NO. (Someone else asked me how I could choose between bike lanes and world peace.)

At face value, I get what he's suggesting. No more sketching out re-designs for street intersections, fewer opportunities to examine maps, plans, surveys, reviewing EIS, and facilitating workshops.

But at another level, I think planning is about chipping away at things and arriving at land use and transportation policies - all part of the larger built environment policy family - that promote better strategies for the way we want to live and for how we can secure a positive future. The issues that concern us as planners are very connected and operate at many scales, including national and global. Does this really need to be said again? More on my project soon, with a project site to be launched this fall. In the meantime, I'll still be posting about public space (big and small) items here, and will also be continuing to work on Planning Corps which you should totally check out in person if you haven't already.

Lots being done...

Very fun going through the index of Project M:

Project M is an intensive summer program designed to inspire young graphic designers, writers, photographers and other creative people that their work can have a positive and significant impact on the world.

Ideas for shifting American Dream

"Housing Development at Different Stages, Las Vegas, NV, March 2005" by Alex Maclean at the jen bekman gallery

...that's right, suburbs! The finalists from Build a Better Burb competition are up, and the People's Choice vote is open till October 4. Love that this competition merges planning and design thinking.

I recently spent some time in suburbs myself and personally dislike (verging on hate) the experience, but am endlessly fascinated by how people LOVE living in that environment. Visiting is one thing, but living? That's all I can think of when we drive through the endless streets of detached houses located a drive away from anything else - people love living like this. It's truly a dream come true for many.

But when you piece together what they go through to live this dream, it seems to be a huge hassle and expensive too. On an individual level, I guess people like choosing the hassles they're willing to live with. On a community level though, the multitude of individual choices just don't mesh well, never mind the long-term problems with supporting developments of this type...and on and on. So these competition ideas each have great potential, each a creative spin on some au courant planning basics. There were only a few out of the 20 odd finalists that dealt more deeply with regionalism.

Postscript: I had a suspicion I've written about the American Dream before, the immigrant experience seems to frame things in a way that's unavoidable for me: how a city in another country thinks about its life dreams, how housing development companies capitalized on the american dream and then on the disillusionment with this dream. Whoa.

Land Use Survey

Greyfield #4 by Michelle Muldrow

Very excited to check out the new show, Land Use Survey, at Jen Bekman Gallery, opening June 30, running through August 14.

The Real (and Raw) Deal with MTA

Below is one of the best messages I've received recently about upcoming transit cuts. It speaks the truth then gives you ways to express yourself. Of course it is from one of my favorite people. Don't let the press dupe you into thinking that the MTA is at fault for our transit cuts. We have the laziest state politicians who cannot be bothered to think about the 2.7 million daily bus riders in New York City. BTW, do you know that we send a significant chunk of money upstate? And that the state politicians are cutting their contribution to the City's general fund this year?

Plus, having good bus lines isn't about convenience - buses are people's way to jobs, schools, and family. They have a huge impact on people's lives.

Dearly beloved transit riders,

Over recent months, we’ve watched Albany steal over $140 million in dedicated transit funding and the City and State shirk their responsibilities to fund student MetroCards. This, on top of state legislators’ failure to enact congestion pricing or bridge tolls yet and a fiscal crisis that has lowered state revenues, has forced the MTA to institute the most drastic cuts to transit service in a generation. As a Transportation Alternatives supporter, you know that we will not take these cuts sitting down!

This Friday, please join us, other advocates, elected officials and subway and bus riders to mourn the passing of the V and W trains and the M6, M18, M27, M30, B23, B37, B39, B51, B71, B75, B77, Q74, Q75, Q79, Q89, Bx14, Bx25, Barretto Park Pool Shuttle (Bronx), S60 and S67 buses. There are four transit funeral on Friday; please see below for details!

Like other funerals, these won’t just be events to mark the passing of something meaningful in our lives, but they will be a time to celebrate the importance of public transit here in New York City! We will gather together and amass our courage to carry on and prepare for the largest transit rider organizing campaign in the history of Transportation Alternatives! This summer and fall is both the MTA’s budget season and an election season for state office, and we will organize transit riders to make sure that those running to represent them in Albany know that they must stand up and fund our transit system.

In the meantime, I hope you can attend one of these (fun) funerals on Friday to meet other public transit fans and show your support for transit and the necessary funding from Albany, City Hall and Washington to keep it running.

Say hi if you catch me in the crowd and stay tuned for T.A.’s biggest transit rider organizing campaign ever!

I hope to see you at one or more of the below events!

Best,
Noah

DATE Friday, June 25
TIME 8:30am
DECEASED W/V trains
SPONSOR Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr.
LOCATION Ditmars Boulevard N/W Station at 31st Street, 22-45 31st Street, Astoria

DATE Friday, June 25
TIME 7:30p
DECEASED W train
SPONSOR T.A.
START Times Square Station, near the last car of the Uptown N/Q/R/W
QUEENS MEET-UP 8:15p, Astoria Blvd Station for rally at Columbus Square
END Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden, 2919 24th Avenue, between 29th & 31st

DATE Friday, June 25
TIME 10p
DECEASED W train
SPONSOR http://www.theawl.com/2010/06/come-along-for-the-w-trains-final-ride
START Astoria-Ditmars Blvd. Station
10:17p Ditmars Blvd
10:19p Astoria Blvd
10:20p 30th Avenue
10:21p Broadway
10:23p 36th Avenue
10:25p 39th Avenue
11:02p Union Square back to Astoria
MORE http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109181082452638

DATE Friday, June 25
TIME 11p-2a
DECEASED V train
SPONSOR NYCentric/Levy’s Unique New York
START 2nd Avenue subway station, Manhattan
END Forest Hills-71st Avenue station
MORE http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=123450697690982&index=1

For inspiration watch the video below. Transit is simply more than transit.

Shifting Jacobsian and Moses views on cities

This must be the most used image on this topic!

Fascinating juxtaposition: a critique of Jane Jacob's mythologized New York City, exemplified by the West Village, and a 1962 Atlantic article written by Robert Moses, criticizing those who say cities are dying. (Thanks NB!) I don't conflate Jane Jacobs with gentrification, but I do think that just as there is Disney-fication, there is also West Village-fication.

Sometimes I have a chance to visit a main street or downtown in another town or smaller city, and I can see why people might think that the West Village model might be good. But there are usually other factors that have been forgotten in the rush to replicate and make money (not that money isn't needed to run a municipality). Sometimes it's figuring out what the actual community assets are first though - imposing another city's model of a village or development is just as bad as turning a main street into a highway.

Metropolis

Metropolis by Rob Carter - Last 3 minutes from Rob Carter.

via The Publics, Of Parking Lots and Automobiles, also worth reading.

Key to the City

Sounds neat.

Key to the City by Paul Ramírez Jonas
A FREE public art project presented by Creative Time in cooperation with the City of New York.
June 3 to 27, 2010
Get your Key in Times Square
Broadway between 43rd and 44th Streets
Open M–F 2p–8p; Sa–Su 12p–8p

OPENING RECEPTION JUNE 3, 2010
6p to 8p

The city is a series of spaces that are either open or closed. Whether one can access these spaces or not is determined by a lock, and those locks are opened by keys. The Key to the City is an opportunity for the public to step back and reflect on this as they travel throughout the five boroughs of New York.

Civic Center

Continue to be blown away by the work of Candy Chang and her collaborators including Red Antenna. Wow. The mission statement of Civic Center? "We create projects that make cities more accessible and engaging."



Looking forward to the release of "Once Upon a Highway," "Artist as Neighbor," and "Neighborland."

De-mapping man

A project of one man and his relationship with Google street view mapping in Binnenhoff, Den Hague.

...paving the way to better living

A few weeks ago, we took NPR's Gregory Warner on a neighborhood walk that turned into an epic urban hike through South Bronx, Randall's Island, and ended in East Harlem. We had just come back from Meg Charlop's service when we met up with Gregory. In some ways, it seemed a fitting way to pay tribute to Meg.

The Marketplace segment is here. Don't you think Javier has a future in media?