The Waterfront Center

A Couple Waterfront Milestones for 2011

2011-02-24T16:03:00.004-05:00

May 1:
3oth Anniversary of founding of The Waterfront Center in Washington, D.C. as a non-profit educational entity recognized by the IRS as a tax-deductible organization.

July 1:
Deadline for postmarks on entries into the Waterfront Center's annual "Excellence on the Waterfront" awards program for built projects in nine categories, comprehensive plans, grassroots citizen efforts and student work.

In other news...

Full Speed Ahead for Urban Waterfronts 2011 - "Thirty Years and Counting"

Program lineup of topics announced on the website: www.waterfrontcenter.org. Persons interested in taking part in the program should e-mail: mail@waterfrontcenter.org and outline what they would contribute to the panel of their choice, their background, etc.

The Finale Speaker has been selected! Details to be announced.

The Gala Dinner will be held Friday evening, October 28, at Battery Gardens Restaurant in a private room, with seating limited to 250. All New York area award-winning efforts over the years will be saluted in a special ceremony. Winners of the 2011 "Excellence on the Waterfronts" will receive special recognition and a champagne toast. The committee and special speaker for this honorary dinner has been determined.

Short News Stories No. 9

2011-01-31T09:42:00.003-05:00

Philly Goes Green
The City of Philadelphia has an ambitious plan to convert fully one third of its asphalt surfaces into green spaces, consisting of wetlands, flood plan restoration, rain barrels, porous concrete and green roofs. The aim is to transform its combined-sewer system. Runoff in this $1.6 billion effort will be filtered with processes mimicking natural systems. The lead force in the program, head of the Watersheds Office in the Water Department, thinks the green approach is more cost effective and sustainable than building underground storage tanks and tunnels. Stream restoration is another component.
Engineering News Record, Dec. 20, 2010.

Saving Fish
A different system of regulating fish catches, going by the name of catch shares, is catching on so to speak in the U.S. Pioneered by New Zealand and British Columbia, and promoted by the Environmental Defense Fund to a skeptical fishing industry, the method has been shown to increase fish populations (by 400 percent over 17 years in a study published in the journal Nature). The key elements are individual accountability and making fishermen the stewards of the fish they depend on. It replaces what's called the command and control approach, where fleets were told when and how to fish, i.e. what the season is and how many pounds could be caught. It led to a virtual fishing derby where boats competed to catch as much as they could, as quickly as they could, and never mind the unwanted fish pulled in accidentally, which died. A catch share system, approved by the Commerce Department, took effect on Jan. 1, 2011, for the Pacific groundfish fishery, covering 90 species and 95 percent of the harvest.
Environmental Defense Fund Special Report, Fall 2010.

Risky But Promising
Even the person in charge of the Treasure Island redevelopment project in San Francisco Bay acknowledges, "It's about as risky a project as there is." Right now 2,000 or so live there but have no school or shops. Also, there's an instability to the island requiring $1.5 billion in improvements including land fill and shoring up a weak sea wall. Plans call for as many as 8,000 homes and a 60-story tower. A major green emphasis will include clustering housing at a planned ferry terminal and trying to limit, but not prohibit, cars. There is to be 300 acres of open space as well as a major mixed-use commercial component. Only a few buildings from the past are to be reused. The most recent past was a Navy base. The Navy agreed in principle to sell it to the city in December 2009, for $55 million, having left in 1997.
San Mateo County Times, January 24, 2010.

Model Map
Anyone looking for an example of a clear, informative harbor map should contact the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore Inc. and seek its Waterfront Promenade Walking Map. In a compact, easy-to-read format it calls out the principal downtown waterfront neighborhoods and describes same. The waterfront promenade that links there neighborhoods is delineated and the walking times from place to place are given. Features along the promenade, numbering nine, are called out and the water tax route is also laid out. The map notes that the Baltimore Waterfront Promenade Committee has been at work since 1984 to push for a continuous pedestrian walkway from Locust Point on the south harbor to Canton on the east. They are getting close. www.waterfrontpartnership.org
Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore Inc., 2009.

Rally Big
Not to be outdone by San Francisco's ambitious plans for Treasure Island (above), a developer in Boston plans a $3-billion minicity in the south waterfront (near the site of the Center's Boston conference in 2007). The master plan by Kohn Pederson Fox Associates was approved last fall by the Boston Redevelopment Authority; more approvals are needed. Construction may begin as early as next fall on the first residential towers, each 500,000-square feet. In all there is to be 6.3 million swquare feet of mixed-use development in 22 buildings. Build out of Seaport Square is put at 10 years. Architects also involved are Studio Daniel Libeskind, HOK, CBT Architects and Hacin+Associates.
Engineering News Record, Oct. 18, 2010.

Greenway Grows
The ambitious East Coast Greenway connecting Maine to Florida grew by over 100 miles last year. New segments as large as 55 miles in Maine on the Downeast Sunrise Trial and the 30-mile M-Path/South Dade Greenway in Dade County, Fla., and as small as .05 mile of New York City riverwalk and one mile in Conventry, RI, became part of the network. The Downeast trail now totals 85 miles, beginning at the Canadian border and runs to Ellsworth, Maine, near Acadia National Park. The greenway alliance reports that fully 25 percent of its trails are off road. A presentation at a Center conference on the greenway project was made a number of years ago. For a copy of the alliance newsletter and free trail maps for New Jersey, New York City and Pennsylvania/Delaware, contact info@greenway.org. The East Coast Greenway Alliance is based in Wakefield, RI at 27 B North Road, 02879, 401/789-4625.
East Coast Greenway News, December 2010.

Short News Stories No. 8

2010-08-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

Things To Do
The Environmental Protection Agency says that about $300 billion is needed over the next 20 years to clean up the nation's water. That's $192 billion for public wastewater pipes, $64 billion to correct combined sewer overflow problems and $42 billion for stormwater management. The report, out in June, represents an increase of 17 percent from its 2004 report, attributed to better reporting, population growth and better water quality standards.
Engineering News Record, June 2010.

Real Mixed Use
A mixed-use project in downtown Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, features condos next to a sewage treatment plant. Dockside Green has docks over a network of ponds and waterways that circulates wastewater from a nearby underground sewage treatment plant. The Water is used for toilets and on the landscape, reducing residents' water bills. Eventually the project is to contain 2,500 residents plus office and retail. Another innovation is a heating plant using local wood waste to generate gas that heats the units and water. The architect is Busby Perkins and Will. The city's aim is to retain Victoria's working waterfront amid the newer development.
The New York Times, July 7, 2010.

Sponge Park
The Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn for years has been a seriously polluted water body, earning it the dubious distinction of landing on the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund National Priorities List. There's now a plan to establish new stormwater absorbing parklands along the shore that would remediate rain water and reduce combined sewer overflows. And provide better public access. Initial funding of $185,000 from the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission has been received. The Gowanus Canal Sponge Park is expected to receive another $938,000 from other sources. The park is the idea of Susannah Drake of diandstudio.
WaterWire, newsletter of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, New York City, August 13, 2010.

Thinking Big
At the juncture of the Yangtze, Jiajiang and Qinhuaixin Rivers near Nanjing is to be established a 460-acre "new town." The SWA Group of Houston, landscape architects, planners and urban designers, has been selected to design the undertaking. It is to serve as a new cultural destination for the city, with an art museum, waterfront activities, an "eco-hotel" plus shopping and office space. The brownfield site will be restored using strips of bio film planted at the water's edge on small floating islands to stimulate plants and provide animal habitat. Nanjiang Hexi New Town Development will occupy seven kilometers along the Yangtze.
Engineering News Record, June 28, 2010.

Jury Completes Deliberations

2010-08-18T15:41:00.004-04:00

A five-person jury wound up assessments in late July of entries in the Waterfront Center's 23rd annual "Excellence on the Waterfront" awards program. Meeting in Cape May, N.J., the jury picked nine projects, one plan document and three grassroots citizen efforts. The winners will be announced on Nov. 5, 2010, at the Center's annual conference, to be held this year at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront, Nov. 4 to 6. The Honor Award winners included entries from Australia, Canada, China and England. The jury was led by Fran Hegeler of AECOM in San Francisco. She was joined by Jane Jacobsen of the Confluence Project, Vancouver, Wash.; Jonathan Goldstick of HALCROW, New York; Peter Brink of Norwich, VT., formerly with the National Trust for Historic Preservation; and Dave Mathewson of the Port of Los Angeles. A press release with the winning entries is available, with a moratorium for release of Nov. 5.

Working Waterfront Revisited

2010-06-30T13:00:00.002-04:00

At least three states are addressing the issue of how to protect working waterfront enterprises -- such as boatyards, fishing operations and marinas -- from higher valued land uses such as condominiums. Maine, Florida and New Jersey are in the forefront in tackling the issue.

New Jersey, for instance, is considering legislation that would establish the "right to fish." Patterned on the state's "right to farm" law, it would give fishing ports, commercial docks and fish processing plants a presumptive right to go about their business, noisy and/or smelly as it might be. The law, passed by the Assembly and pending in the State Senate as of June 2010, establishes that the daily operations of marine businesses are not a public nuisance.

Case in point: condominium development in Ottens Harbor, Wildwood, pushed out a fishing industry. The state now has six active fishing ports.

As with farms when residential development encroaches, county agricultural development boards would mediate disputes about the working waterfront.

The conflict is not new, although some are just discovering it. The Center's co-directors Ann Breen and Dick Rigby produced a monography in 1985 entitled: Caution: Working Waterfront, The Impact of Change on Marine Enterprises, with assistance from the Design Arts Program of the National Endowment for the Arts. Part One discussed four case studies where marine enterprises were threatened. Part Two looked at the other side of the issue, namely promoting public access to working waterfronts.

The displacement cases were:

The Miami River, where tramp freighter operations and boat yards were endangered by spreading commercial and residential development.
The central waterfront in Portland, Maine, where condominiums threatened to drive off the fishing fleet based here.
Marineship in Sausalito, Calif., a funky houseboat community that a nearby office development protested.
Henry Pier on Lake Union in Seattle, where a boat repair operation was in fact driven away by commercial pressures. Interesting here is that a state regulatory agency had to choose between the working waterfront and public access. It picked access.

In the report we cautioned waterfront businesses to clean up a bit as the public was increasingly interested in waterfronts. And that market forces were fully capable of consuming most boatyards, tug firm bases, fishing operations, gear shops and the like.

"In Waterfront Values, A Rising Tide" reported The New York Times on June 6, as if to confirm the threat. Talking about Ocean and Monmouth Counties in New Jersey, the paper reported that for all properties touching water, the average sale price in early 2010 was 35 percent above the previous year. Overall, general real estate in the counties was up just 6.7 percent.

"The numbers are powerful - overwhelming," a real estate analyst was quoted.

Urban Waterfronts 2010 Keynote Speaker

2010-05-05T11:03:00.004-04:00

BALTIMORE, MD. - Keynote speaker at the Waterfront Center's annual conference here will be Bruce Katz, vice president of the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. and founding director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program.

He will present on Friday morning, November 5, and will address the theme of Urban Waterfronts 2010: "The City Resurgent." In a profile appearing in a recent issue of The Next American City, Katz is described this way: "He's made a name for himself by condensing Big Ideas about the potential of cities into easily digested sound bites that policymakers once paid lip service to but now are actually speaking." He was also called "America's oracle for cities."

Buttressing the idea that cities are experiencing a comeback are recent U.S. Census estimates. Among cities shown to have grown between 2000 - 2008 are Atlanta, 416,474 to 537,958; Boston, 589,141 to 609,023; Columbus, Ohio, 711,470 to 754,885; Los Angeles, 3,694,820 to 3,833,995; New York, 8,008,275 to 8,363,710, and Washington, D.C., 579,112 to 591,833.

The policy program Mr. Katz runs at Brookings seeks to redefine the challenges facing cities and metropolitan areas by publishing cutting-edge research on major demographic, market, development and government trends. He focuses particularly on reforms that promote the revitalization of central cities and older suburbs and enhance the ability of these places to attract, retrain and grow the middle class.

The Waterfront Center's 28th annual international conference will feature 33 presenters in four simultaneous tracks grouped under economic development, design and policy issues. Included are panels on Innovative Planning, International Updates, Waterfront Zoning and Community Boating. The conference is preceded by an all-day workshop on the Baltimore waterfront aboard the Lady Sarah (extra feed required).

For more information, see the Center's Web site: www.waterfrontcenter.org/conference. For a copy of the conference program, e-mail mail@waterfrontcenter.org.

Short News Stories No. 7

2010-03-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

Treasure Island Makeover
The 400-acre landfill site in the middle of San Francisco Bay is about to undergo a massive makeover in one of the largest waterfront projects around. The U.S. Navy agreed recently to sell most of it and a portion of the natural Yerba Buena Island for $55 million to San Francisco. From the present 2,000 residents ambitious plans call for an "eco-savvy" (if is SF after all) neighborhood of 20,000. There are also plans for a waterfront hotel, retail center and something called a tourist draw. First must come major remediation to shore up the sea wall and build up the soil. Then comes infrastructure. The initial tab is $1.5 billion.
San Mateo County Times, January 24, 2010.

Working Waterfronts Wakeup
Another state has joined pioneers Maine and Florida in trying to save elements of the working waterfront from being developed out of existence. Now we don't want to appear smug about this, but we did put together a monography in 1984 entitled "Caution: Working Waterfront - The Impact of Change on Marine Enterprises." We sounded the alarm that small marine buisinesses could easily be swept away. North Carolina put up $20-million for the Waterfront Access and Marine Industry Fund. But, so far it was a one-time action in 2008 with no follow-up in 2009. Florida provides financing and technical assistance to revitalize working waterfront installations (boatyards, marinas, and the like) and Maine has a Working Waterfront Access Program with an emphasis on the fishing industry.
Lisa Stifler, Research Associate, Community and Economic Development Program, University of North Carolina, January 6, 2010.

Big Dig West
Four teams have picked to compete for the $1 billion tunnel in Seattle to replace the damaged Alaskan Way viaduct. Washington State Department of Transportation will make the award in late 2010. The replacement is to be a four-lane, two-mile-long double-deck tunnel, taking an estimated five years. Competing are Dragdos USA, Florida and HNTB, Kansas; S. A. Healy Co., Illinois, FCC Construction, Spain, Parsons Transportation Group, Washington, D.C. and Halcrow Inc., N.Y.; Vinci Construction, France, Traylor Bros Inc., Indiana, Skanska USA, N.Y. and Arup, U.K., and Kiewit Pacific Co., Washington, Bilfinger Berger Germany and AECOM Technology Corp., N.Y. With the viaduct gone, the opportunity is presented to totally redo the central Seattle waterfront. Stay tuned.
Engineering News Record, December 28, 2009.

Walkability Works
You know you're in the U.S. when people make a big deal out of walkable neighborhoods. Where you could, the example states, walk to a bookstore (while we still have them!) and then to an ice cream shop and kids could walk to school unescorted. CEO's For Cities has published a study of home values in the 40 largest cities and gave them a Walk Score. Housing with a high Walk Score commanded a premium, as much as $30,000 for the same property in Charlotte, San Francisco and Sacramento. And the winner is: our own Washington, D.C., where the White House neighborhood scores a 97.
The New York Times, January 10, 2010.

2010 Conference Update

2010-02-27T09:00:00.000-05:00

The latest on the Waterfront Center's annual conference, which will be held November 4-6, 2010 in Baltimore, Maryland at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront.

Name Change
The conference is now called "Urban Waterfronts 2010: The City Resurgent," the 28th annual conference on urban waterfront planning, development and culture. Previously it was known as "Urban Waterfronts 28."

Speakers
Approximately 10 of the total 33 presenters that will be featured at the conference have currently signed up.

Details and Brochure
As of March 1, the full particulars about conference sponsorship, support and advertising opportunities will be availabe on our website (http://www.waterfrontcenter.org/) under the Conference section. Benefits include a link to our busy website.
March 15 is the cutoff date to ensure your place in the conference brochure, which is mailed out to approximately 20,000.

Hotel Rates
We have arranaged a special rate of $189/night at the Marriott - a large, fairly new hotel located right on the burgeoning Inner Harbor East neighborhood, a resurgent city precinct if there ever was one! Deadline: OCTOBER 13

Registration
The cutoff date to save $150 on conference registration ($100 for government employees) is OCTOBER 4. Early registration is $550 ($385 for government employees).

Short News Stories No. 6

2010-01-18T18:20:00.001-05:00

RFP's Sought in Syracuse
Request for Proposals to develop the Inner Harbor on the Syracus, N.Y., lakefront are due March 31,2010. Issued by the Syracus Lakefront Development Corp., the specifications can be found at www.syracus.ny.us/Lakefront_RFP.aspx. Or call Joseph LaGuardia at 315/448-2244. E-mail: jlaguardia@thesyracuselakefront.com

Blurbber Misses
A blurbber for the book Waterfronts in Post-Industrial Cities, edited by Richard Marshall, misses the mark by a mile. They write: "Most books on waterfronts deal with a relatively narrow collection of cities and projects; one might describe them as the 'top ten' list of waterfront revitalisation projects." As authors of two of the relative handful of comprehensive waterfront titles, we can say that the blurbber is unfamiliar with the literature or is willing to distort in order to promote a book. From one of our books, The New Waterfront: A Worldwide Urban Success Story (London, Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1996, 224 pages, illustrated) we list some of the case examples included to see if you think they are "top ten": Pacifico Yokohama, Japan; Aker Brygge, Oslo, Norway; Asia and Pacific Trade Center, Osaka, Japan; Quayside, Newcastle, UK; Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa -- and that's just chapter one. Case rested. Google waterfronts picked up this mischievous blurb recently even though the book being promoted is dated 2001. Included in it are Boston, Sydney and Vancouver, like nobody's heard of them?

UW 27 Opening Speaker Recognized
Alex MacLean, the opening plenary speaker at the Waterfront Center's 2009 conference in Seattle, has been recognized for his most recent book, OVER: The American Landscape at the Tipping Point. The work received the CORINE International Book Award, likened to what the Oscars are for film. The awards were subject of a major TV gala last November in Munich, Germany. The awards are made under the patronage of the Bavarian Minister-President. Said the committee in making the award to MacLean: "Never before has a photographer made us shudder with such aesthetically beautiful pictures."
MacLean can be reached at Landslides Aerial Photography, 23 Conant Road, Lincoln, Mass. 01773.

Coney Island Comeback
The City of New York has finally wrested seven acres at the heart of the bedraggled resort of Coney Island from a developer and plans a year 'round destination. Instead of the planned Las Vegas-style hotel and condominiums, there are to be a mix of rides, games and attractions to join an existing ballpark and Cyclone ride. The city will seek competing proposals from operators. It was reported to have paid $95.6 million for the property, which runs along Coney Island's famed boardwalk. While the core will be strictly for amusements, the city has zoned adjoining territory for housing, allowing up to 4,500 apartments on one site alone.
The New York Times, Nov. 12, 2009.

Olympic Impact
The Winter Olympics will not leave much of physical residue on host Vancouver, B.C. by using existing facilities -- with one notable exception. A major addition to the convention center was opened last spring, filling in a leftover piece of central waterfront with an expansion containing 338,000 square feet. The community pushed for public access to the site, resulting in throughways, a park and streetfront retail that connect with the city's perimeter walkway system. The outstanding feature is Canada's largest green roof, covering six acres. The design was by LMN Architects of Seattle with the Canadian firms of Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership and DA Architects and Planners. The latter two firms did the original convention center built for the 1986 World's Fair, with the Zeidler Roberts Partnership. It contains 133,000 square feet under a distinctive tensile roof structure.
Architectural Record, July 2009.

Urban Waterfronts 28 Taking Shape

2010-01-13T09:21:00.004-05:00

The Waterfront Center's annual conference will be held Nov. 4 to 6, 2010, at the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront Hotel, located directly on Baltimore's storied harbor, amid the burgeoning Inner Harbor East Neighborhood created in the last ten years or so. It inspired this year's conference theme: The City Resurgent. Inner Harbor East is a humming mixed-use neighborhood with living spaces, officers, hotels, markets and shops, restaurants and cultural features. The harbor is never far from view. The program topics are being considered now, with a deadline of Jan. 15 for submitting suggestions. After the 12 session topics have been decided, candidate presenters will be sought. Preceding the conference that runs all day Friday Nov. 5 and half Saturday, Nov. 6, is an all-day workshop featuring the Baltimore waterfront in its entirety.

A local committee has already met once to plan the itinerary and is having another session this month. Serving on the local committee are David Benn, principal, Cho Benn Holback; David Carroll, director of sustainability, Baltimore County; Laurie Schwartz, principal, LS Consulting; Keith Weaver, head, EDSA Baltimore office; and Steve Ziger, principal, Ziger/Snead Architects.

To get a taste of what the Baltimore workshop might be like, visit the Center's website: www.waterfrontcenter.org and click on the conference button. Included here are photos from a comprehensive boat tour of Seattle's waterfront from last year's meeting. The first hotel registrations were made in January!

Awards Deadline June 30
Entries to the Center's annual Excellence on the Waterfront awards program must be postmarked by June 30,2010. The jury, headed by Fran Hegeler, development director, will convene in July in Cape May, N.J., for the better part of two days to select Honor Awards for built projects, comprehensive plans, and grassroots citizen efforts. Student work may be considered in a separate process but if not, will be screened by the regular jury. A new category in projects added last year is Public Works. Work is welcomed from the whole range of waterfront undertakings, with parks and the public realm usually the largest entry category. Preservation and the working waterfront, commercial and mixed-used projects, housing (provided there is public access) and artistic and cultural work are among the other categories. Entry forms for this year will soon be available on the Center's website.

Excellence on the Waterfront Awards: New York City Big Waterfront Winner & The Confluence Project receives Top Honor

2009-11-17T12:11:00.006-05:00

New York City received four Honor Awards in The Waterfront Center's 23 annual Excellence on the Waterfront Awards Program. The four - two built projects, a plan and a zoning ordinance amendment - were selected by an interdisciplinary jury - from 75 entries. Eleven awards were made in all for projects and plans. Buffalo in upstate New York also received an award.

New York City's Winners were:

Photo credit: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

The Port Authority Ferry Terminal at the World Financial Center, New York. Contract: Donald Fram AIA, chief architect, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, 2 Gateway Center, Newark, NJ 07012 Phone: 973/565-7690. E-mail: dfram@panynj.gov

Photo Credit: Barbara Wilks

Photo Credit: Alison Cartwright

West Harlem Piers Park, W. 129th to W. 133rd Sts. and 12th Ave., New York. Contract: Barbara Wilks, W Architecture and Landscape Architecture, 127 W. 25th St./12th floor, New York 10001. Phone: 212/981-3933. E-mail: bwilks@w-architecture.com

Waterfront Zoning T ext Amendment, Department of City Planning, New York. Contact Amanda M. Burden, commissioner, Department of City Planning, 22 Reade St./2W, New York 10007. Phone: 212-720-3320. E-mail: cgrossm@planning.nyc.gov

Brooklyn Bridge Park 2005 Master Plan: A Framework for Design, Brooklyn, NY Contact: Michael Van Valkenburgh, principal, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associations Inc., Landscape Architects PC, 16 Court St./12th floor, Brooklyn, NY 11241. Phone: 718/243-2044. E-mail: michael@mvvainc.com

Fish Cleaning Station, photo credit: The Confluence Project

Top Honor for 2009 was for the Confluence Project at seven historic sites along the Columbia River in Washington State and Oregon. Three of the projects are built and a fourth is to have its ground-breaking shortly. The artist Maya Lin, working with other artists and designers, is striving for public art projects that connect the natural world and the built environment, at sites rich with Native American history, as well as stopping points on the remarkable Lewis and Clark exploration over 200 years ago. Contacts: Jane Jacobsen, executive director, Confluence Project, 1701 Broadway/No. 144, Vancouver, WA 98663. Phone: 360/693-0123. E-mail: jane@confluenceproject.org. Johnpaul Jones, principal, Jones and Jones, Architects and Landscape Architects, 105 S. Main St./No. 300, Seattle, WA 98104-3437. Phone: 206/624-5720. E-mail: jpjones@jonesandjones.com

Aerial view of the Land Bridge, photo credit: The Confluence Project.

Bird Blind, photo credit: The Confluence Project.

Serving the Waterfront Center's 23rd Excellence on the Waterfront jury were

Mike Burke, jury chair, attorney, King Hershey PC and counsel, Port Authority of Kansas city, Kansas City, MO.
Fran Hegler, senior direction/development manager, AECOM, San Francisco, CA.
Jeff Shelden, senior coastal engineer, Moffatt and Nichol, Raleigh, NC.

Short News Stories No. 5

2009-10-13T11:24:00.004-04:00

Excellent Sample Map
A walking map doesn't have to be big or complex to be effective. Take the 8.5-by-11 Walking the Waterfront map of Halifax & Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, with clear, hand-drawn maps of both city waterfronts. Sites are clearly numbered, one to 44, and range from a casino to open space to eating places and docks. A number of vessels make their home here, including deep sea fishing charter boats, a replica of a famous fishing schooner and a research ship of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, which is based in Halifax. The map, prepared by the Waterfront Development Corporation Ltd., is simplicity itself, in two colors, folded into three easy-to-read panels whose title is "Your official cruising guide to the shops and sights, restaurants and museums on the wonderful waterfront." Contact the organization for a sample.

Waterfront Corruption
The FBI seems to have to known what it was doing in targeting city officials in Northern New Jersey with waterfront development projects. Most of the 44 arrests earlier this year were of officials taking bribes from agents posing as developers seeking project approvals. The complaints filed paint a picture of building and zoning departments where influence, connections and payoffs are used to enable developments to proceed smoothly. Otherwise the process is described as dysfunctional. Developers are said to budget for bribes. For a little light reading, try The Soprano State: New Jersey's Culture of Corruption by Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008).
The Press of Atlantic City, Aug. 8, 2009.

New Treatment Plant Technology
In the city of Blaine, Washington, they are putting a new wastewater treatment plant in a waterfront park. Using new odor control technology plus smaller and quieter equipment enables the facilities to be front and center. In fact, when Blaine's plant opens in June 2010, it will house processing underground and have two structures on top: one for administration, the other for public park uses. The reclaimed wastewater will be used to water city land and a golf course. Funding in the form of grants and loans came from local, state and Federal sources. Brown and Caldwell of Seattle did the design of the 23,000 square-foot plant.
Engineering News Record, Oct. 5, 2009.

Bikers vs. Peds: Serious Business
The Battle of Brooklyn Bridge is on. The narrow walkway (remember the bridge dates to 1883) now tries to accommodate growing numbers of walkers and bikers plus more than a few tourists stopping to take pictures. One solution suggested is to make the bikers use the adjoining Manhattan Bridge, which has a secure bike lane. Problem: it doesn't tie well to downtown. Writing in the Sunday Opinion page of The New York Times, author Robert Sullivan, a Brooklyn biker, proposes taking bikes off the walkway in favor of a protected bike lane in the roadway. Separation is the solution being used on a downtown riverwalk under construction now in Des Moines, Iowa. the Center co-directors were given a tour recently by a representative of Principal Financial Services, the major funder, where there will be a pedestrian walk above on lovely blocks and a pathway below along the river itself intended by bikes, bladers and the like. A new pedestrian/bike bridge under construction will tie the paths together and whose graceful arch will be a new icon for the city.
The New York Times, Sept. 27, 2009.

Short News Stories No. 4

2009-10-08T16:30:00.000-04:00

Big Cleanup
Thousands of volunteers took part in Coastal Cleanup Day in the San Francisco Bay area, collecting about 220,000 pounds of stuff in an early tally. Among the items picked from the shore: shopping carts, hubcaps, metal chairs and shingles. In Hayward, the haul included about 50 tires, fire extinguishers, buoys, shoes and thousands of balls of all kinds - tennis balls, basketballs and volley balls. At Candlestick Point Recreation Area, it was "microtrash" - bits of glass, plastic, metal and paper strewn about the shoreline.
San Francsco Chronicle, Sept. 20, 2009.

Urban Meadow in Georgetown
Above the Potomac River in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. sits a rooftop garden on a utility substation. In plain view of a nearby condo on Water Street N.W., the meadow is a magnet for birds, including Mallard ducks, doves, sparrows and goldfinches. Its grasses change colors during the seasons. It is the project of the condo developer Anthony Lanier who wanted dwellers to have a pleasant view toward the Potomac. The green roof was designed by Washington landscape architects Oehme, van Sweden & Associates.
The Washington Post Magazine, Sept. 20, 2009.

Working Waterfront Preservation
A lobster family has placed a permanent easement on a pier in Tremont, Maine, the first under the state's Working Waterfront Access Program, designed to protect commercial fishing properties. The program is funded through the Land for Maine's Future, where property owners sell development rights to the state to preclude other uses such as residential development. This particular action occurred on Davis Wharf on Goose Cove, Mount Desert Island. A ceremony to mark the occasion was attended by over 150 lobstermen/women. The state program has $5 million in voter-approved bond money with which to acquir working waterfront facilities. According to the Island Institute, only 20 miles of commercial waterfront remain along Maine's coast. Center co-directors Ann Breen and Dick Rigby wrote a monograph in 1985 entitled: Caution: Working Waterfront: The Impact of Change on Marine Enterprises, which discussed commercial pressures threatening small marine businesses.
The Working Waterfront/Inter-Island News, Island Institute, September 2009.

The Battle for Southport
Plans by the North Carolina State Ports Authority to build an enormous container terminal on the Lower Cape Fear River in Southport have stirred fierce opposition. The ports authority has acquired 600 acres of waterfront land, for $30 million, and says its facility will create 16,500 jobs. To the 2,500 residents of the area forming No Port Southport, the project will permanently damage the area's ecosystem. The group, joined by the North Carolina Coastal Federation, says the river is inadequate to handle the vessels likely to be used, requiring dredgin, and the road system would have to be expanded through uninhabited areas. The area has 28 marinas and 2,500 slips that would be adversely affected, the opposition notes.
SailMagazine, September 2009.

Directors in Quad City Celebration

2009-10-07T16:52:00.004-04:00

The Quad Cities are Bettendorf and Davenport, Iowa, and Moline and Rock Island, Illinois. Waterfront Center co-directors Ann Breen and Dick Rigby were special guests at the 25th anniversary celebration on Sept. 24th for River Action, Inc., a citizen's organization that has accomplished amazing feats ~ including a bridge lighting, flood wall blockage, retain the rain program and a Ride The River event on Father's Day. Ann gave the final toast to River Action's founder, Kathy Wine, and Dick introduced featured speaker Mayor Joseph Riley of Charleston, S.C. The organization has available a booklet about steps people can take to retain rain. While geared to saving the Mississippi River, it has universal applicability. Contact: email@riveraction.org. Kathy Ewing is a menber of the Center's Advisory Board.

Short News Stories No. 3

2009-09-20T12:02:00.006-04:00

Advocacy Group Proposes Public Space vs. Viaduct
The battle in Seattle is no longer over whether to remove the Alaskan Way Viaduct that severs downtown from the central waterfront. An earthquake in 2001 settled that. The issue is whether a new tunneled roadway should replace it, as the governor plans at $4.2 billion, or a mix of alternatives including public transit and a surface road. The People's Waterfront Coalition, led by urban planner Cary Moon, wants the change the debate from how to replace the highway with how to make a great waterfront and how can Seattle become less car dependent. The group supports public transit and a surface waterfront street, not highway. Voters in 2007 were against the tunnel option and also opposed a replacement overhead roadway.
Next American City, Issue 22.

We're Fat!
Obesity -- that's clinical talk for big fat butts -- has doubled among adults in the U.S. in the last 20 years, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The annual cost is put at $117 billion (how do people figures these things out?) and fatness may account for as many as 300,000 deaths per year. Exercise is engaged in by only 25 percent of the population. The Trust for Public Land is leading the way in promoting urban parks, its "Parks for People" initiative that pushes for building public spaces where people live. TPL estimates that 33 percent of the public in large cities have no access to a park, playground or public space, along waterfront for instance. Newark, N.J., Baltimore and Los Angeles are among its target cities.
Land & People, Trust for Public Land, Spring 2004.

Old Factory Destroyed
It's a familiar but chilling story -- old factory on the river shuts, jobs lost, owners go bankrupt and the decision is made to tear down and not reuse. The case here is from Augusta, Maine, where the American Tissue mill, built in 1903, was the last operating paper factory until it shut in 2001. Its latest owner is serving time for fraud. And what was once a humming, living thing employing as many as 500 people is now demolished, its brick walls strewn about the site on the Kennebec River. There's now talk of a mixed-use development on the nearly one-mile site.
The New York Times, Aug. 10, 2009

Seattle Conference Supportors

2009-09-15T09:48:00.006-04:00

Urban Waterfronts 27
The Waterfront Center wishes to thank the following firms and organizations for their support.

Benefactors
Abel Bainnson Burz, LLP - New York, New York
EDAW/AECOM - San Francisco, California
JJR, LLC - Madison, Wisconsin
J.C. Macelroy - Piscataway, New Jersey
Moffatt & Nichol - Long Beach, California
RRM Design - Sausalito, California
Reid Middleton - Everett, Washington
Sasaki Associates - Watertown, Massachusetts
SF Marina Systems USA - Gloucester, Virginia
Tetratech - Irvine, California
Waterfront Center - Washington, DC

Supportors
AIA/Seattle - Seattle, Washington
J.A. Brennan Associates, LLC - Seattle, Washington
City of Seattle - Seattle, Washington
Bruce Dees & Associates - Tacoma, Washington
EDSA - Fort Lauderdale, Florida
GGLO - Seattle, Washington
Makers - Seattle, Washington
Miller/Hull Partnership - Seattle, Washington
Mithun - Seattle, Washington
Parks and Recreation, City of Seattle - Seattle, Washington
Read Wagoner, LLC - Seattle, Washington
SRG Partnership - Seattle, Washington
Urban Land Institute Seattle - Seattle, Washington
Wallace Roberts & Todd - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Walker Macy - Portland, Oregon

Advertisers
Argosy Cruises - Seattle, Washington
Beyer Blinder Belle - New York, New York
The Forks North Portage Partnership - Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Halcrow - New York, New York
Marriott Seattle Waterfront Hotel - Seattle, Washington
Port of Seattle - Seattle, Washington
Seattle Art Museum - Seattle, Washington
Bing Thom Architects, Inc. - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Information about this year's conference in Seattle, Washington can be found on our website: www.waterfrontcenter.org.

Recommended Book

2009-09-09T12:59:00.001-04:00

Book on Governor's Island Issued

A lavishly illustrated hardback tracing the rich history of Governor's Island in New York Harbor has just been released by Syracuse University Press. Written by Ann L. Buttenwieser, founding member of the Waterfront Center and board member emeritius, the volume covers a history that dates to the 1700's when it was a British Fort to its more recent uses as a U.S. Army and Coast Guard base and now as an increasingly popular park. Its evolution is treated as a reflection of historic events in New York City and the larger world.

Specfications: 288 pages, 271 color illustrations, bibliography and index, 9 x 11 1/2, $60.00, ISBN 978-0-81560936-0. Web site: www.SyracuseUniversityPress.syr.edu. Order by phone 315/443-2597 or 1 800/365-8929.

Award Jury Meets

2009-09-03T09:05:00.003-04:00

The Waterfront Center’s awards jury completed its deliberations in Cape May, N.J., on Saturday, July 29, picking 12 projects and plans from 74 entries. The range and caliber of the portfolios entered this year impressed the jury. Also recognized were four citizen volunteer efforts, to receive Clearwater Awards, and two students. The Clearwater Award is named for the citizen’s group working to clean up the Hudson River, spearheaded by Peteq Seeger. The winners will be announced during the Center’s annual conference, to be held in Seattle on October 22 to 24, 2009. The announcement, always a highlight of the annual meeting, is followed by a champagne reception honoring the winners (sponsored this year by EDAW/AECOM) and a gala dinner (optional) to be held at the Seattle Art Museum’s Sculpture Garden Pavilion. Serving on this year’s jury were:
• Mike Burke jury chair, attorney, King Hershey PC and counsel, Port Authority of Kansas City, Kansas City, Mo.
* Fran Hegler, senior director/development manager, EDAW/AECOM, San Francisco, Calif.
• Jeff Shelden, senior coastal engineer, Moffitt and Nichol, Raleigh, N.C.
• Harris Steinberg, executive director, Penn Praxis, the clinical arm of the School of Design, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Penn.
• Michel Trocme, partner, Urban Strategies Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Short News Stories No. 2

2009-08-26T11:19:00.011-04:00

Waterfronts: Front Line on Climate Change
Waterfront Center Advisory Board Member Bonnie Harken makes the case in the August/September issue of Planning magazine that urban waterfronts are where the challenges posed by climate change should be tackled. Writing in the "Viewpoint" column, Harken notes coastal cities face rising sea levels. Already there is wetland loss, shore erosion and saltwater intrusion, among other issues. She makes the sensible case that urban planners can lead the way in synthesizing the different scales involved and the multiple disciplines that will have to be employed.
Planning, August/September 2009

Kids and Prairie Plants
The managers of the North Point Marina in Wintrhop Harbor, Ill., took time out from getting ready for the summer boating season to work with students on an Earth Day project. Students from nearby Waukegan planted a natural prairie garden, part of an effort by the state to get school kids involved in environmental projects. The state-owned marina is a component of a state park. The sixth graders transformed a mud pile into a beautiful garden and planned to visit this summer to see how it was faring. The marina managers took the occasion to talk about the importance of protecting the waters of Lake Michigan.
Marina Dock Age, July/August 2009

Retail Success
The pattern for North New Jersey waterfront redevelopment has been to have first-floor retail under residential towers. With the recession and lower retail sales across the country, this approach faces a challenge. Developers report, however, some sucesses in landing tenants, more than they had hoped. Toll Brothers is opening a second tower of a Maxwell Place complex in Hoboken with 367 units and has successed in filling three quarters of 35,000 square feet of ground floor space, while still looking for a restaurant, as one example. All are providers of services rather than goods, like banking, child-care, hair salon and massage service. Port Imperials, all two miles of Weehawken waterfront, plans an 80,000 square foot retail promenade spread among three apartment buildings. It is 80 percent leased. Who said there was a recession?
The New York Times

Hamilton Thinks Big
Hamilton, Ont., Canada is upgrading its wastewater treatment facility to the tune of $550 million. To take five to seven years, the "bioreactor" installation will be three times as big as any such facility in the world. It will contribute to a cleaner Lake Ontario harbor. CH2M Hill, with AECOM, is the project designer.
Engineering News Record, Aug. 10, 2009

Short News Stories No. 1

2009-08-20T12:10:00.004-04:00

To keep up with the dynamic world of the urban waterfront, you'll want to check our Waterfront Center blog. Every few days we'll post short news stories covering the full range of activity: recreational, residential, commercial, industrial, artistic, you name it. We'll always cite our sources so you can follow up. And we'll never insult your intelligence by pretending to rate the "best" and worst" waterfronts.

Bridge Design Contest.

The University of Akron is sponsoring a contest this fall for a pedestrian bridge joining two parts of its campus. The kicker is that the use of titanium is specified. The hope is that by showing the feasibility of titanium use, demand will rise and its high price will come down. Co-sponsor of the contest is the Defense Metals Technology Center of North Canton, Ohio, a Defense Department unit. The bridge will cross a heavily-used rail line.

Engineering News Record, Aug. 17, 2009

For The Birds

The Lake Erie wetlands are sources of food for migratory birds that each year make a 9,000-mile journey from the Arctic to South America. Shorebirds like yellowlegs and sandpipers pause in Northern Ohio to feed on the insects,, crustaceans and invertebrates that inhabit the wetlands, shorelines, fields and mudflats whose existence are vital to their survival. The Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge is a favorite viewing spot. Others making the trek are dowitchers, plovers, snipe and killdeer.

Cleveland Plain Dealer, Aug. 10, 2009 (from H2O newsletter)

Who Watches Watchdog?

The New York State inspector general said in a recent report that Waterfront Commission for New York Harbor is as corrupt as the gangsters it was supposed to pursue. Instead, the state found, it employed the same tools of the mob on the docks: dividing spoils, helping cronies evade the law and thwarting security provisions. The commission, with an $11-million annual budget, went to court to block the report's release. Instead, nearly the entire executive staff was dismissed. Said the inspector general: "It was an utter disaster when we stepped in...a continuation of the old waterfront."

The New York Times, Aug. 12, 2009

Undaming the Dams

The 1950's and 1960's were the era of dam-building in the U.S. -- one went up every six minutes! To generate electricity, provide irrigation and to protect against floods, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Now, they're coming down, 430 so far since 1999, says American Rivers (www.americanrivers.org). Typical of the new era is the Sandy River east of Portland, Ore. Once blocked by the Marmot Dam, a hydroelectric project that created a two-mile long reservoir. Now kayackers and canoeists can enjoy the free-flowing river as it runs between Mount Hood and the Columbia River. The Marmot Dam came down in 2007.

The New York Times, Aug. 9, 2009

Waterfronts Today

2009-08-12T15:14:00.007-04:00

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Photo courtesy of Sasaki Associates

• "The River Common" Dedicated in Wilkes-Barre. A handsome public park and garden now line the downtown portion of the Susquehanna River where continuous flood walls would have been erected. During a Waterfront Center community planning workshop in Wilkes-Barre in 1999, townspeople became aware that in Augusta, Ga., the Army Corps of Engineers allowed a flood gate in that city's flood wall. The gate, kept open except during floods, allowed citizens access to the river, where a handsome public park was built. This inspired the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority to seek a similar approach. Two 60-foot gateways were established, with a levee wall walkway bridging each. The park was dedicated in June 19, 2009, part of the Wyoming Valley Levee Raising Project.

The Times Leader, June 20, 2009.

• Miami River/Working Waterfront Dispute. A classic clash of values along the Miami River – residential uses vs. working port – is headed to mediation in October. Triggering the fight was a decision by the Miami City Commission to change the river’s designation from “ Port of Miami River ” to “Miami River Element” in the city’s plan document. The Planning Advisory Board objected, as did the Miami River Marine Group, the industry/port trade association. If mediation fails, the case goes before an administrative judge. Changes in the city’s land use plan in 2007 allowed for large-scale residential development along the river. This clash was foretold in a chapter on the Miami River in “Caution: Working Waterfront, the Impact of Change on Marine Enterprises” written and published in 1985 by the Center’s co-directors, Ann Breen and Dick Rigby, available to members for $6.00, non-members $12.00.

www.miamitodaynews.com, July 22, 2009

This is also from our Summer 2009 newsletter found on our website.

Center News and Important Deadlines

2009-08-12T14:47:00.003-04:00

Seattle Marriott Hotel on the Waterfront

Photo Courtesy of Marriott Hotel

This is from our Summer 2009 newsletter which can be found on our Web site: www.waterfrontcenter.org

• Conference Deadline: September 22. Register by this date to get a $100 savings on the conference fee! September 22 is also the deadline for a very special hotel rate at the Seattle Waterfront Marriott; register directly with the hotel at 1 800/455-8254 or 206/443-5000; be sure to mention the Urban Waterfronts 27 conference.

• Conference Sponsorship Opportunities. Deadline to be included as a supporter/advertiser in the conference Final Program is September 11.
• Book Offer Extended Indefinitely. A half-price book offer on all Waterfront Center publications for members only has been extended. Anyone joining the Center for annual dues of $100 is entitled to the special offer; check the Membership button on the Center's website: www.waterfrontcenter.org. And members will also soon to be listed as special "Friends of the Center" on the Center's website.

Our Mission Statement

2009-08-12T14:41:00.003-04:00

This explains who we are, what we do and the principles we advocate. Note that these are not prescriptive and do not attempt to tell communities how to proceed. Waterfronts are too varied for such.

The Waterfront Center: “Champions of Waterfront Excellence.”

WATERFRONT CENTER VISION STATEMENT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The full text of the Center’s Mission Statement is featured on the Center’s Web site under its own button on the home page, www.waterfrontcenter.org/Mission. It was prepared by a subcommittee of the Center’s Board of Advisors’ Executive Committee. This summary was prepared by the Center co-directors.

Our Vision. Enhancing, protecting and preserving our waterfronts, and recognizing those who work to make this possible, is the primary purpose of the Waterfront Center, a non-profit educational corporation founded in 1981.

Our Values. These are the principles we embrace. They are not a series of steps to be taken but rather attributes to be adapted to the uniqueness of each waterfront place. Every community must be true to itself, and it is in this spirit that these values are put forward to be employed as appropriate.

· Authenticity. Waterfront planning should embrace the unique, authentic features of each waterfront: its history, culture, uses including industrial and the working waterfront, visual characteristics and environmental qualities. Formulas are to be avoided. Each waterfront plan should reflect the essence of its special place. Education, we feel, is key to helping the public protect their waterfront resources. Waterfronts represent unparalleled opportunities for education and interpretation, including distinctive public art.

· Accessibility. We believe in the inherent public interest in waterfronts and have advocated for public accessibility to and along waterfronts since our inception. We also stress the importance of visual access. Public access from land to water and from water to land should be the guiding objective.

· Inclusiveness. Meaningful community participation on a continuous basis should be a hallmark of waterfront planning and development, from inception forward. The planning process should reflect the dynamism of the marketplace, economic feasibility, indigenous design approaches, historic preservation and sustainable development practices.

· Sustainability. We must honor and protect our natural waterfronts, and as well recognize that they are part of an interconnected watershed. We are the custodians of these vital resources.

· Adaptability. Waterfront redevelopment has the potential to contribute to the long-term viability of neighborhoods and larger urban areas. Its planning should be responsive, responsible and adaptive to changing circumstances. Long—range planning, looking forward 25 years or more, is desired; shortsighted action that can cause long-range damage is to be avoided.

Our Programs.

• Education. The Center has sponsored an annual international conference on urban waterfront planning, development and culture since 1983, the leading such event in the world. It is preceded by an intensive, all-day mobile workshop in the host city.

The Center makes illustrated presentations drawing from its unequalled collection of 25,000+ waterfront images, gathered since 1975.

• Facilitation. The Center employs a unique community participatory planning process that dates to 1985. Spot consulting by the Center co-directors is also offered.

• Publications. The Center co-directors have written the two definitive hardcover illustrated books on urban waterfronts, one published by McGraw-Hill, the second by Thames & Hudson of London. The Center distributes an electronic newsletter including the popular feature “Waterfronts Today.”

• Celebration. The Center conducts an international annual awards program entitled “Excellence on the Waterfront,” begun in 1987. A distinguished interdisciplinary jury selects Honor Award winners from submitted entries, presented at the annual conference. An illustrated summary publication of the winners is produced each year.