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.
Showing posts with label Short News Stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Short News Stories. Show all posts
Monday, January 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Short News Stories No. 8
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.
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.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Short News Stories No. 7
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.
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.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Short News Stories No. 6
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.
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.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Short News Stories No. 5
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.
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.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Short News Stories No. 4
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.
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.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Short News Stories No. 3
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
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
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Short News Stories No. 2
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
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
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Short News Stories No. 1
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
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