On Mixed-Use Developments

A common social understanding is it's no longer attractive to live in the suburbs where one is geographically isolated from neighbors, services, and cities. People are realizing that urban living and smarter city planning can re-create the successful community layouts of generations past.

From Wikipedia: "Throughout most of human history, the majority of human settlements developed as mixed-use environments. Walking was the primary way that people and goods were moved about, … People lived at very high densities because the amount of space required for daily living and movement between different activities was determined by walkability and the scale of the human body. This was particularly true in cities, and the ground floor of buildings was often devoted to some sort of commercial or productive use, with living space upstairs."

Today, mixed-use developments seem to be the answer when it comes to urban renewal projects, and what's not to love? — Shops, housing, restaurants, green space, and social and cultural interactions makes for an ideal place to live. Isn't that what we're hearing? Are they not the answer to re-urbanization over the next century?

Let's look at some recently completed mixed-use developments and how people are reacting to them:

1. The Piazza at Schmidts, Philadelphia, PA. Developed by Tower Investments
   From VisitPhilly.com: "Since the days of William Penn, Philadelphia’s five original squares have been prized places to rest and relax outside. And now, the Piazza at Schmidt’s — affectionately designed and named after Rome’s famous piazzas — is giving Philadelphians and our visitors a new place to hang out outside. Located in Northern Liberties, the Piazza at Schmidt’s is a 80,000 square-foot, open-air plaza with free events year-round, surrounded by three new buildings including 35 artists’ studios and boutiques and four new restaurants." Comments from Yelp Reviews:
   

   Positive: "I came here during the day on a beautiful Saturday morning to grab some brunch and see what it was all about. First I suppose I should mention that I've never been here, so it is possible I was just caught up in the modernness of it all. I love the look of the place, kind of like a planned neighborhood (like suburbs) but prettier. I'm sure the stores are expensive, but when I was there I really just wanted to see what it was all about. (…) Truly, I thought it was a great time, and a very interesting space to hang out in. I like the idea that if feels so different from Philadelphia, it basically made me want to move to the neighborhood (probably not actually in the Piazza, but a house nearby could be pretty great.) I will definitely be returning in the future to see what it's like at different times and to visit more of the shops." - Mary S
   
   Negative: "I used to live in one of these buildings. First off its way too expensive, secondly you can hear everything! … The other part about this place that bothers me is how artificial everything feels. Aly M. had a good point, why isn't there grass in the middle? … I love Northern Liberties; I've been living there for the past 2 years. There are so many fun things to do here, and the people are awesome. But the Piazza just doesn't fit in, its too fake, and trying way too hard to be cool. Plus the restaurants in there don't even come close to what you'd get at a classic place like Std. Tap (excluding Bar Ferdinand of course)." - Sean M.

2. The DOMAIN, Austin, TX. Developed by UDR
   One of many mixed-use developments cropping up around Austin (others include Triangle, Midtown Commons), the DOMAIN is the spot for high end shopping, chain restaurants, and modern living. I toured these apartments and came away very impressed with the floor plans and amenities. However the lack of a dedicated bus or rail stop that heads to downtown will be a deal-breaker for most, not to mention the restaurants and shops are all nice but expensive, and it has an exclusive feel to it. It lacks that weirdness that Austin is known for and feels like housing built around an outdoor mall. Comments from Yelp Reviews:
   

   
   Positive: "I really like how the Domain is designed. It is kind of like a nice little downtown area, with sidewalks, and I think there are apartments as well. I heard a wine bar will be opening soon, and I know a neat little gourmet grocery just opened and I can't wait to go check it out. … They have some pretty good restaurants. I have not eaten at the Steeping Room, but have enjoyed their coconut iced tea on more than one occasion. Jasper's was pretty good, we had salads and sit on the patio on a nice day for lunch (the fries were a bit saturated in grease, tho). Also love the California Pizza Kitchen. (try the white pizza & Greek salad). There are other restaurants I am dying to try. A great place to go, especially if you have self-control, shopping-wise. I do not. Especially when I go by a Coach store..." - Laura A.
   
   Negative: "The Domain reminds me of a woman who has gotten a lot of plastic surgery. She might be nuveau riche and dripping with diamonds.  She will be wearing the latest fashion.  If you're a guy, she might even be someone you'd consider jumping into the sack with, but don't let her fool you, she is definitely not as put together as she would have you believe.  There is a lot of drama lurking in her cold heart.  Approach this one with caution, she'll take your money and leave you begging for more." - Javier D.

   
   
3. Brewery Blocks, Portland, OR. Developed by Gerding-Edlen
   
   A culmination of many buildings, Brewery Blocks is a five-block shopping and professional district in Portland’s vibrant, post-industrial neighborhood known as the Pearl District. Comments from Yelp Reviews:
   

   
   Positive: "I was skeptical about the Pearl District coming in, and it has room for improvement (both figuratively and, more importantly, literally), but where it is now is already the makings of a great neighborhood. I find it odd saying this, but what it most reminded me of is the Chueca area in Madrid. There are a lot of differences between the two of course, but for some reason that was the vibe I got. And that's a good thing. If the Pearl keeps that path it will continue to be a wonderfully urban neighborhood...." - Eric M.
   
   Negative: "There is the Pearl, and there is the rest of Portland. The two are not the same. At all. Me? I prefer the rest of Portland. (…) Pearl Cons:
   * Shopping: No one needs all this crap. No one. Especially at these prices. Just stop.
   * Tanner Springs Park: I understand wanting to preserve habitat, but it strikes me as more than a little strange that we think that habitat is at its best when surrounded by high-rise condominiums.
   * Concrete Ticky-Tacky: And they (the new buildings) all look just the same.
   The biggest problem with the Pearl is its delusion of being some sort of Faux Portlandia: a mashup of Portland Bohemian with Californian Chic. The result is a scruffy, sandal-wearing, DINK couple who feel a sense of pride in paying $70 or more for their meal before driving back home in their Range Rover to their inner-eastside neighborhood (which has changed SO MUCH since they moved in when it was still a "bad area"), all the while bitching about how the city needs to "do something" about the dive joints in Chinatown." - Aaron R.

Positive Trends: Sustainable features and LEED Buildings. Providing a walkable community on pre-developed land. Located on existing urban transit infrastructure. Introduction of parks and green space. Independent restaurants, shops.
Negative Trends: Expensive housing, restaurants, and shops compared to local neighborhood. Blending of social and cultural classes creates animosity towards project.

Analysis: I find it interesting that private developers are able to create micro-communities within larger urban fabrics which are often encouraging gentrification and creating polarizing environments. By and large, these projects are necessary to move cities in a positive direction. By creating a buzz and getting people involved, these projects keep conversation alive. Because who would want a city where there's nothing to talk about?

This is an endless conversation than can spill over into development, cultural, social, and political issues. I hope this post gave you a understanding of progressive mixed-use projects that are going on today.

If you'd like to spend more time reading up on this topic, here's a few links I would recommend:

• New Mixed-Use, Transit Oriented Development Near Temple
• Mixed Bag: Builders and developers navigate the pros and cons
• Architecture Week: Mixed Use Buildings
• Related: 8 House by BIG
• Related: Modern Living by UDR

Get Your Green at Green Hill Bank

I touched on the studio project a few weeks back: Sustainable Bank of the future. After 8 intensive weeks, our project concluded with a small open house on Monday.

Our team, Green hill bank, was comprised of myself, Cass Corcoran, and Cathy Panas. We were fortunate enough to be balanced in our skill sets, with Cathy having designed banks in the past as well as having the Energy course over the summer, Cass having design knowledge and the willpower to learn Autodesk Revit, and myself knowing branding and graphic design.

The goal of the project was to design a sustainable bank that strived to be carbon neutral and also to be resilient to economic shifts over the next 30 years. More than just a design project, we had to find a way to differentiate our bank and brand from the competition, thinking about practical business practices and strategies to create a successful enterprise.

About Green Hill Bank
Our Vision: To build a healthy community by improving the quality of life utilizing sustainable methods and practices focusing on economics, individual well being, and the environment.
What We Stand For: Green hill bank is a community bank located in beautiful downtown Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania. Our objective is to build a business model and a built environment that supports the community to take a green leap forward in sustainability.

We focused on engaging the customers and tried to educate them by using our building as a showcase. The idea was that we'd have educational kiosks, and signs that speak about sustainable products in plain english, with easy to understand loan options. We also set up a mock web application that would follow their progress and allow them to track their neighbors as well.

Also, 5 other teams from the class presented very different programs and design directions, all of which came out impressive. It was a successful and rewarding project for all of us, and I'm sure we're all sleeping better at night now that it's over.

Thesis Ideas and Other Thoughts

Concepts Need To Be Focused

"Mobile Home" by Antoine Valentim

"Give me your thesis proposals by Thanksgiving"
Asked by professor Fleming last week, it's dawned on me that I'm not ready at all. Not so long ago, I wanted to just be a green builder/developer. It seemed simple enough - but I'm quickly getting interested in the psychology and policy making of urban development and housing projects. Thesis is meant to catapult us out of the MSSD program an into our respective career paths, setting the focus and niche skill-set that will be invaluable in the years to come. I'm similar to a lot of my peers: with a few ideas but need to focus them. Here are my ideas in no particular order:

• Builder focusing on sustainable and efficient homes and apartments. (Which seems the most likely career-path but also the most lame for a thesis project)
• Extremely low-cost LEED certified homes in rural areas. An extension of my position paper from last semester which asked: Can you build at a lower price point and change the surrounding community?
• Develop a modular building for use in disaster relief areas, similar to FEMA trailers. Could be build using existing mobile-home/modular strategies and stored on railcars ready for delivery. 
• Transform an existing modular or building company into a highly-efficient sustainable one.
• Working with neighborhoods or small cities to transform their waste/water/energy systems. Going way above and beyond state/federal requirements.
• Sway perception that space=better homes. Using shared resources (such as laundromats) and smaller urban housing units, moves us towards a more sustainable way of living. (Had a good argument about whether you can make people want to do this, as opposed to forcing them to accept it)

So there's my current thesis ideas. I'm open to other ideas as well, so let me hear it if you can think of anything. 

Other Thought #1:

Have you noticed all the paving projects currently going on? I have been looking for a news article to touch on this but couldn't find any. I know the Fed dolled out billions for infrastructure improvements (which I fully support), but couldn't there have been a stipulation that a percentage of these local-dollars had to benefit public transport? Be it even upgraded bus stops and walking paths along busy streets - I haven't seen anything but black asphalt being put down everywhere! Isn't this like prolonging the changes we know we have to make?

Thought #2:
This article has caught my attention: Obama Administration Rolls Out the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative. It recognizes the failures of other government initiatives, like HUD, and seeks a more comprehensive approach to neighborhood improvement. I'd be interested in working on projects like these if the opportunity presented itself.


Thought #3:

The Annual Green Building Celebration is next week, Thursday, October 21, 2010 from 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Put on by the DVGBC, it's the biggest event and the best green industry networking opportunity of the year and will feature the presentation of their 2010 Leadership Awards. Come if you want to meet some great people and collect a lot of business cards as you drink beer and good food. I'll be working one of the tables for two hours or so, signing people up for either the Emerging Professionals committee or general DVGBC registration. Hope to see some of you there!

Electrical For Espresso Machine

Just a quick update. Last weekend I went over to The Pillar hoping to install an espresso machine. Unfortunately, it didn't come with instructions and this is a BIG problem - it's a very complicated and delicate machine. After doing a bit of research, I found out it's best to give it a dedicated breaker on a 10-2 line (20amp, 220v). I hard-wired the machine in and also gave it a shutoff switch that will be accessible behind the unit.

In addition, I added a few more service GFCI outlets on their own breaker along 12-2. Thinking into the future, they may want to do more accent or spotlighting on the service area and cafe so I hid some extra wire behind the panel. Always plan ahead...



Note that we can now paint and mount shelving on the backsplash and also add accent lighting. A professional recommended by the manufacturer is coming to finish the install, as I'm out of my league on this one.

Studio Project: A Community Bank of the Future

Studio assignment for this semester is to design a Sustainable Bank of the Future on a car dealership lot in Chestnut Hill. It's a huge 20,000 SF building on Germantown Ave. Located in the heart of Chestnut Hill, it's a walkable neighborhood in northwest section of Philadelphia that is a destination for shopping, restaurants and family fun.

Sounds silly, but a bank of the future isn't all that different than current banking practices. However, it's about finding the right match of services and products that position it to be successful for years to come, all while operating under a triple bottom line philosophy.

Triple Bottom Line, also known as "people, planet, profit", captures an expanded spectrum of values and criteria for measuring success: economic, ecological and social. Organizations usually govern themselves within these principles and publish some form of corporate social responsibility report. (You'll notice these appearing on annual reports and company web sites. Understand that many companies jumping on the sustainability bandwagon publish these reports and they lack substantial meaning.)

This bank needs to have a community focus, strive to be carbon-neutral or greater, and profitable (hello, it's a bank!). With the given site I've been thinking of ways to re-introduce green space as well as bringing in the public. I'm leaning towards ripping up all of the asphalt and doing a farming co-op. Space for an adult education center can get citizens involved and excited about residential improvements and opportunities - thus being eligible for home-improvement and other business loans from our bank! Check out my cartoon site plan below.

Our current program:

• Sustainable bank (4,000 SF) in NE Corner of Building.
• Asphalt to green space and farming
• Cafe (2,000 SF) and farmer's market (3,000 SF) in the NW corner of building. 
• Sustainable Children's Playhouse (distract the little ones while you're involved in other on-site activities) (6,000 SF)
• Educational Center/Classroom and Working Shop (5,000 SF)

Current strategies we're going to try to implement:

• Rainwater Harvesting from the huge roof
• Daylighting opportunities through strategic window placements
• Photovoltaic arrays on the…
• White-roof (reflects solar heat gain and collects rainwater faster than green roofs)
• Natural ventilation

An 8-week project, we're just getting started so this is more of an introduction to the project, as well as an arena for discussion about possible direction.

Any ideas you'd like to see here?

Current Projects: Sealing Prep for Fiber Cement Paneling

Just wanted to keep my readership (two or 3 readers) updated on what I've been up to. This past weekend I was working at a friends house in the Germantown area of Philly. The siding is going to be modern-looking fiber cement panels, as seen on local projects by SoLibs and Postgreen Homes, installed by yours truly.

Here's a few early photos of the insulation board, air sealing techniques, and re-used Trex decking composite used for the fiber cement support structure. We're installing 1" rigid foam on the exterior, with taped joints and silicone and tar sealing techniques along the brickwork, widows, and doors. This is going to be our main waterproofing layer so it's imperative that no area is left vulnerable to water penetration.

Once this is secured, I started to build the framework to support the fiber cement panels. You can buy channels and supports of wood or stainless steel, but the recycled Trex is perfect - a material that won't rot or warp.  Usually, you run your supports vertically to allow the water to flow quickly out through the bottom, but in some areas I'm forced to do horizontal supports. In these instances, small water channels were cut to keep water from pooling.

Comments or disagree with my methods? Let me hear it in the comments.

Quick Vid: Copenhagen Car-Free Streets

Here's a short video showing streets where Copenhagen removed the vehicles and in turn created a better place to walk, ride, and live. What would it take to transform streets here into pedestrian friendly havens like this? Copenhagen's Car-free streets & Slow-speed zones from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Also check out this link from TreeHugger About Copenhagen Bike Lanes

A Flawed American Dream

Forget for a minute everything you know about your life and how you live it. Forget your friends and neighbors. Forget about politics and economy. Forget your bills and your job... Now picture a place where people live together, friends, family, neighbors, strangers. They share good ideas and experiences, growing up and raising each other as a community and without competition. Peaceful, friendly, utopian.

Now add the American Dream. def Wikipedia: The American Dream, sometimes in the phrase "Chasing the American Dream," is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of prosperity and success. In the American Dream, first expressed by James Truslow Adams in 1931, citizens of every rank feel that they can achieve a "better, richer, and happier life."

The problem is how we define that better, richer, and happier life. We see better as being smarter and more cultured than our peers. We see richer as being wealthier and having nicer things than our neighbor. We see happier as some intangible improvement over yesterday.

One of my largest takeaways from European culture was their ability to be happy with what they have today. There's no talk of the future as if it's all going to be green pastures, they are able to enjoy the moment more so than we are.

As our culture has looked to fulfill these with items we can purchase; houses, cars, electronics. This issue is compounding ALL of the larger issues we face: (1) Housing Downturn: Unrealistic expectation of ever-increasing home values. (2) National Security: Arrogance and standard of living creates envy and animosity. (3) BP Oil Spill: Manufacturing of petrol-based goods. (4) Wall Street: I needn't say much.

The problem is with entitlement, I struggle with it myself more often than I'd like to admit. I drive a small and old pickup truck. I bought it as a tool to help me work. It's perfectly functional, quite utilitarian, and gets me from point A to point B. I find myself wanting a newer vehicle, one with more room and more creature comforts. Do I really need something newer if what I have is good enough? I have a two year old iPhone, it's beat up but still works. I feel that I should get a new one, that I deserve it. Clothing, computers, the list goes on. I don't NEED these, yet I catch myself wasting time thinking about items. Is it because my friends have such things and I feel as though I'm less because of it?  I try to catch myself when I start to think that these will in some way enhance my life. What do you find yourself thinking about?

We all do it, and rarely slow down to realize what the American Dream is: That we already have a better, richer, and happier life than those before us. We have the ability to enjoy life more than ever before. So please, slow down.