WPB has had great success with our Time Out neighborhood guide partnership, now in its second year. However, my original vision for the map was to have it installed permanently around the neighborhood. Seems that SSA #27 up in west Lakeview has beaten us to the punch on that, with these informational community kiosks, complete with block by block maps of local businesses.
Chokepoint
I’ve been even more vexed lately by the lack of adequate east-west connections across the chasm introduced between the North Branch of the Chicago River and the Kennedy Expressway. (Webster doesn’t work to/from Logan Square, since there’s no way out of the Bermuda Triangle of one-ways between Western, Fullerton, and Milwaukee.)
In particular, the recommended route that most people take — Logan Boulevard to Diversey Parkway — keeps thwarting me, particularly headed westbound. I’ve highlighted all the conflict points where I’ve been nearly sideswiped over the past few attempts to use this route.
Luckily, I don’t have much reason to go to Lincoln Park or Lakeview these days. To get to the near or far north side, I can use one of the more reasonable, more frequent river crossings north or south of me:
Kinzie 400N: A-
Grand 510N: C+
Chicago 800N: C-
Division 1200N: C-
North 1600N: D
Cortland 1900N: B+
Webster 2200N: B-
Fullerton 2400N: F
Diversey 2800N: C
Belmont 3200N: C+
Addison 3600N: D
Irving Park 4000N: F
Montrose 4400N: B-
Wilson 4600N: A
Lawrence 4800N: B-
Argyle 5000N: A
Foster 5200N: F
[A = relaxing, C = woah watch out, F = suicidal; includes quality of approaches on either side]
Quick links
- Recently attended a presentation about the Sustainable Sites Initiative and I-LAST, two new attempts at green rating schemes developed largely by (respectively) ASLA and Illinois highway engineers. Ultimately, I’m certainly glad to see that other groups are paying attention to the need for sustainable practices, and appreciate the challenges that many areas face in taking just the first step in that direction. However, I can’t help but feel that these efforts will result in unfortunate greenwashing, at the expense of more rigorous systems like LEED-ND. SSI awards more points for native plant use than for infill and transit-oriented locations; I-LAST allows project managers to skip over sustainable practices (even basics like complying with local comp plans or doing perfunctory public involvement) that “aren’t applicable” without even trying. FHWA is rumored to be creating its own sustainability rating scheme; let’s hope that it not only sets a rigorous standard but also can make or break a project’s funding decisions.
- “Farmers in Northern Illinois who only a few years ago were making plans to move their operations Downstate or closer to Iowa now have a rare opportunity to reclaim land sold to developers, at a fraction of the price the homebuilders paid… With a resumption of exurban homebuilding years away, corn and soybean farms will continue to dot the outer fringes of metro Chicago, making the woes of homebuilders and banks a source of opportunity for local farmers who want to bulk up and cheering critics of suburban sprawl.” [Steve Daniels in Crain’s]
- “Holiday Inn… commissioned less than a dozen of these circular high-rise hotels in the 1960s.” [Jefferson City, Missouri – Landmarks] Strange, I could have sworn there were more — or maybe they just figure prominently in my memory, owing to what’s now the Clarion Hotel in downtown Raleigh.
- Alan Durning notes in “the parable of the electric bike” that a transformative electric vehicle boom has been underway — only it involves bicycles in China, not cars in the USA. (Indeed, you really have to be careful to look both ways when crossing either road or footpath in China, since electric bikes will quickly and silently whip out of nowhere.) Citing Chi-Jen Yang at Duke, he notes that this phenomenon was a market reaction to a policy stick: a crackdown on motorcycle pollution displaced demand over to e-bikes. Systems don’t change, markets don’t adapt to gentle pressure. New inventions for urban mobility won’t change the way we get around overnight, unless there are equally huge changes in how we build the places we get around. (He also makes a good point that we cyclists shouldn’t turn up our noses at e-bikes in our quest to human-power everything; we’re just falling for the same “our vehicles, ourselves” trap that makes drivers thumb their noses at cyclists.)
Once and forevermore
[From Flickr]
This street was lined with herbalist shops: both the older buildings at right and, strangely, the entire ground floor of the new building at left as well. Eventually, the block on the right will get redeveloped, the shops will come back like hermit crabs, and the market will continue as it has for another 100 years — with no physical memory of what it once was. Just like mini-malls in Southern California, where a generic envelope contains gosh knows what. Pragmatic, perhaps, since the existing buildings probably aren’t that rooted in their place, either — yet still disappointing.
Jane Jacobs highlights “the need for aged buildings” as a generator of diversity and vibrancy; in the U.S., the developers of the new building would seek to fill their retail spaces with high-rent “credit” (i.e., chain) tenants. Not so in China. (One could argue whether block after block of tiny shops all selling the same herbs really constitutes diversity, though.)
Crossing borders
Pass it now
I was sufficiently alarmed by word that my Congresscritter planned to vote no on health insurance reform that I wrote the below letter and dropped it off at his office (conveniently, about a block away). Within a few hours, though, the news changed, and he announced his intention to vote yes: colleague Jose Serrano pointed out the obvious (as I did): “I’ve been a legislator for 35 years… Once you have a law on the books, you can amend it as time goes on.”
(Oh, and I’ve been quite amused to see how the current bill compares with the Nixon and Chaffee-Dole plans from 1974 and 1993, respectively. As usual, today’s Republicans have drifted far over into what was the lunatic fringe.)
Dear Mr. Gutierrez:
As your constituent, I was upset to find out that you plan to vote against the health care reform package advancing through the House this week. I find it absolutely incredible that you can show such disregard for the needs of the nearly one-third of your district (the 15th highest in the country!) which lacks health insurance, and the thousands of Fourth District residents (like me) who have health insurance but fear for it every day — here in a state where thousands have their health insurance policies disappear every year due to unfair industry practices like recession.
I am particularly insulted, as the son of immigrants, to find that you plan to use your vote on this crucial matter in order to complain to the President about the separate matter of immigration. Surely you understand how our political process works: that in order to pass legislation on crucial matters of national importance like health care reform requires that we sometimes put aside differences in the interest of the nation. I have my own reservations about this bill, and differences with the President on where priorities should be set — but would not wish for these differences to stop absolutely necessary reforms to our country’s ruinous health insurance system. Great tasks like health insurance or immigration reform cannot be accomplished alone; we Democrats need to work together to accomplish them.
I plead with you: be reasonable. Consider the interests of your constituents, your district (72% of whom are U.S. citizens and will directly benefit from this bill), and your nation, and please vote for health care reform.
Pass go
Several techniques have been used to address the dual market for transit service to the airport, separating air travelers (time sensitive but price insensitive) from airport employees. In St. Louis, San Francisco, and Newark, cash fares to/from the airport station are high but monthly passes are accepted. In Indianapolis and Hong Kong, completely separate, premium-fare express routes run alongside local routes with standard pricing.
Now Montreal comes by with an added innovation, incorporating the ridership gains associated with selling day passes to visitors: the STM’s new airport express bus will only accept passes. The base cash fare of $7 is the same price as a day pass, and includes a day pass. Even if the pass goes unused, it’s still a bargain for the air traveler — it’s half the cost of the current private-franchise shuttle bus, and 80% cheaper than a cab.
Axis of warmth
At a seminar this weekend, I heard from political consultant John Neffinger that “charisma = strength + warmth.” Warmth is the dimension that separates Dick Cheney from Bill Clinton — or, as I was thinking, Robert Moses from arch-nemesis Jane Jacobs. That’s the juxtaposition that makes “Boozy,” wherein Jacobs snarls and Moses tap-dances his way to success, such a brilliant inversion of history.
Anyhow, another key takeaway is that true charisma wears a peculiar expression: angrily-lidded eyes with a broad smile. (My attempt at constructing such a face sent a room into peals of laughter.)
“No recipe for urban funk”
Common Ground in a Liquid City: Essays in Defense of an Urban Future by Matt Hern
This book offers a rare viewpoint: a thoughtful inner-city leftist who understands both New Urbanism and capitalism (and apportions the blame correctly), Vancouver and the world, direct action and policy prescriptions. A useful tool for focusing my own thoughts on density and diversity, and how they combine to create interesting, humane places. (Some, like architect Neal Payton*, add a third D of design, but sometimes I think that enough of the first two can counterbalance even the worst design.)
* Not my namesake, even though by strange coincidence I was named in LA, where he lives. His last name was anglicized generations ago.
Hearing things
I spent a good part of Saturday whistling “Somewhere,” a melancholy note for lovely spring day thanks to the R142 subway trains rolling over Queens Boulevard. It turns out that even Tony Kushner enjoys this bit of coincidence, although his mechanical explanation is mistaken: it’s the electrical inverters, not the brakes, that make the sound.
I’d always been told that the distinctive (and rather more triumphal) tune on a certain generation of Montréal Metro cars (which turn up as the opening to “Il Fait Beau Dans le Metro“) were made by the air brakes, but it turns out that they, too, are made by the electrical equipment.
The CTA’s new AC-propulsion trains, although also built (like the R142 series) by Bombardier, don’t have a distinctive sound as they leave the station.
Remembering an inspiration
Jan Metzger, my neighbor and colleague on the WPB commission, died yesterday after a long struggle with cancer. Gin and Michael have shared some of their thoughts on their blog.
I’m proud that we, as commissioners of WPB, created a lasting legacy. We walked into a deeply divided room — which she walked out of as chair! She had faith in planning, urging me along to get the planning process rolling even while other commissioners were skeptical of the whole idea. When it came time to do the major public involvement for our then-in-process WPB plan, I almost felt afraid that whatever we came up with wouldn’t pass muster with her. After all, her passion for community engagement is legendary, and admittedly I sometimes prefer no-muss technocracy to the oft-dirty business of democracy. Yet her experience with leavening planning guided our successful approach.
From that rocky beginning, WPB now has lots of momentum behind numerous aspects of our plan, regardless of the personnel (commissioners, aldermen). Soon I’ll be proud to fulfill my last promise to Jan: to have one of our volunteers go to her favorite city, New Orleans, to accept an award for excellence in public involvement.
Misallocation of capital
Joe Stiglitz on Worldview just now: “financial sector innovation” sucked up capital; that had an opportunity cost, in that “boring industries” with lower returns were starved of capital. (Echoes of Tom Geoghegan writing about unlimited interest in Harper’s last year. Somehow, I didn’t trust him then, but it makes more sense now.)
If our banks had been boring, like the Canadian banks, maybe we’d actually be in a better place right now. And what did all of this capital thunder towards? A huge volume of it poured into fundamentally unproductive (even counter-productive) suburban sprawl. Way to go.
As Kunstler said, “our suburbs… represent the greatest misallocation of resources in the history of the world.”
west north 