Faster than a speeding… Commuter train

Last April, U.S. president Barack Obama announced that 8 billion dollars of the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) stimulus money would go to investment in high speed rail transportation. Common throughout Europe and Japan, the trains, as sometimes called “bullet trains,” zoom passengers to their destinations at speeds up to 250 miles per hour.

Of the European transit system, Parisian college professor Kevin Dwyer believes that high speed rail transit makes housing options available. “We were considering living in Paris but in Paris you can never live in a house. You have to live in a small, small, small apartment.” The train allows Dwyer and his family to live in a four story house in Brussels and take the hour and twenty commute to work. “This is becoming … a wider practice now – commuting between European countries. We are like a new species. It’s called the Euro Proff.” . This new crop of international daily commuters are seen throughout the continent waking up in one country to spend their day and work hours in another.

The movement to provide high speed rail in America may be related to the experience US travelers have had overseas. “Anybody that’s ever traveled in France or Spain or Japan or China and has ridden on a 250-mile-an-hour train comes back to America scratching their head, saying ‘why don’t we have high-speed rail?’” says U.S. Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood. Some site the convenience of avoiding long lines at the airport. Others believe the experience itself will inspire them to take the train. Many Americans have yet to enjoy travel by train, away from freeways, billboards and traffic.

America 2050, a research initiative funded by a number of large foundations including the Rockefeller Foundation and Ford Foundation, is taking long look at the U.S. infrastructure, economic development and environmental challenges of the next 50 years. Their website illustrates the vision of providing high-speed rail lines throughout America over the next decade. Of the three phases to leading completion, phase one includes improvements within the three megaregion systems: the Northeast Corridor, the Chicago Hub system of the Midwest, and the California high-speed rail corridor from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

High speed rail has a number of implications for transportation in the United States and elsewhere. Energy consumption of high-speed rail technology is a fraction of gas-engine vehicles and airplanes. The “Bullets” can take advantage of existing rail lines and infrastructure. Not having to build new roads or airports translates to a clean and efficient use of resources. Those passengers choosing to take the train will help to reduce the amount of green house gas emissions and will contribute the cleaning and “greening” of the environment. Going faster than a speeding bullet may also get you where you want to be.

Grand Central Terminal: Historic Preservation 30 Years On
Why it's still important


We live in an, high-tech, ever-changing and dynamic world of moving economies, politics, and culture. It’s difficult for many of us to fathom the histories the places we live, and the places we love to experience. Despite our ever-fading grasp of America’s history, our understanding would be even less had it not been for a ruling in 1978 by United States Supreme Court.

The case of Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City ruled that the city had the right to put in ordinances that would protect historical structures, such as the terminal, from demolition. It further stated that New York City's Landmarks Preservation Act did not constitute a "taking" of property under the Fifth Amendment. The court’s ruling went on to say that the Preservation Act was a reasonable use of regulatory power. This decision proved a milestone during a time of rapid modernization and continues to provide instruction and precedent for cities today.

Many may ask why historical preservation important? Wouldn’t it be cheaper, easier and more economically beneficial to encourage progress? The critics might argue that places and structures should function well and serve a purpose, and if that purpose ceases to exist or are unsuccessful, then redevelopment should be allowed, even encouraged. This could even be said of natural landscapes and places of cultural significance to indigenous people.

New York City in the late 60’s was a time of protest and questioning of capitalistic values. When developers unveiled plans to demolish Grand Central Terminal and replace it with a skyscraper bigger than the Pan Am building, no advertising campaign could pacify the outrage and outcry. Even the first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, opposed the redevelopment, stating

"Is it not cruel to let our city die by degrees, stripped of all her proud monuments, until there will be nothing left of all her history and beauty to inspire our children? If they are not inspired by the past of our city, where will they find the strength to fight for her future? Americans care about their past, but for short term gain they ignore it and tear down everything that matters. Maybe… this is the time to take a stand, to reverse the tide, so that we won't all end up in a uniform world of steel and glass boxes."

This sentiment was echoed by the Supreme Court’s decision. It’s also why many states, cities, and counties have been successful in adopting historical preservation ordinances. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is one of the major advocates for preservation in the United States. The list of historic sites and structures that they have helped to preserve is lengthy. There are now many program and which provide economic incentives to owners and developer. Although many programs and regulations exist, it is still a matter of community support which ultimately decides whether historic preservation continues. The past can be read about, viewed through the movie producer’s perspective, or visited and experienced first hand. As in previous generations, we have a responsibility and opportunity to our give our children a glimpse of the world as it was. Preserving the past a as gift to the future.

Water, Neighborhoods, and Light Rail

I've had alot on the mind the last few days as to all that is going on in the Planning realm. Today is going to be the hottest day on record in Seattle, which means I'll be hiding out in an air conditioned office for most of it. Most folks on the west side of the state do not have AC in their homes. I'm especially concerned for the older folks and others without a good gauge of their needs. Drink lots of water....

A great segue into the issue of Water. The State Department of Ecology has just recently trumped the Kittitas County Board of Commissioners and has enacted a moratorium on all new wells for upper Kittitas. This reflects a serious fact that our finite natural resources are not keeping up with the demand for development, especially in the rural areas. Water is fundamental. In planning, this is a required utility which would likely cause for permit denial if no water was available. There is a complex water rights body of laws which are based prioritization and grandfathering. Wells to serve new residential uses likely fall to the bottom of the pecking order.

On Monday evening, I attended a Neighborhood Planning "Status Check" and sat down at the Central Area neighborhood table. The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods is conducting feedback sessions to get a sense of how the 1999 Neighborhood Plans are "doing." The room at the Rainier Valley Community Center was a sauna, but people still participated, and I learned heaps about the CD.

Getting dropped off the bus at around Rainier Avenue and Alaska St., I had to cross the newly opened Light Rail tracks. A little like Frogger, I had heard that it was impossible to make it across four lanes of traffic AND the bi-directional rail tracks. After waiting 5 minutes for the signal, a 32 second countdown allowed pedestrians to get all the way across without confrontation. Sadly, a man was killed this week in the middle of the night. Whatever motivated him to hang-out in the middle of the LR track is still a mystery. Reminded me of all of the suicidals in NYC jumping in front of subway trains over the years. I guess it comes with the territory. - RH

Get ready, Seattle: You're about to be a light-rail town

July 12, 2009 - Seattle Times By Mike Lindblom

At last, Seattle is about to become a light-rail town. On Saturday, the first passengers will board the Sound Transit trains from Westlake Center through Rainier Valley to Tukwila — and behind them is nearly a century of failed proposals to build a big transit system through Seattle.

On Saturday, the first passengers will board the Sound Transit trains from Westlake Center through Rainier Valley to Tukwila — putting behind them nearly a century of failed proposals to build a big transit system through Seattle.

The initial $2.3 billion, 14-mile segment took five years to build and was filled with engineering challenges and political suspense.

The project features a unique deep station within the soft soils of Beacon Hill, and the nation's only tunnel where buses and trains share the same stations — downtown. Managers coped with toxic soil, sinkholes, street protests seeking more jobs for African Americans and a couple of minor train-car collisions.

One worker died in a supply-train crash during Beacon Hill tunneling. That stretch was so difficult that it left no time to spare in the final construction schedule, and it spooked transit-board members into canceling a deep station they had promised for First Hill.

"Light-rail years are like cat years," said Ahmad Fazel, director of the stressful light-rail effort.

On the upside, the project provided more than 4,000 short- and long-term jobs. And trains will serve riders every 7 ½ minutes at peak times. Two more miles open later this year to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

But the line is four to six times costlier than other light-rail startups in western states. And with an estimated 26,600 average weekday trips predicted next year, the trains often will appear mostly empty, like the South Lake Union streetcar.

Ridership should grow by 2016, when a tunnel to Capitol Hill and Husky Stadium lets students and employees from the south suburbs ride 19 miles from the airport to the University of Washington campus. Eventually, it will connect to north Federal Way, Overlake and Lynnwood in a 53-mile network that Sound Transit says will attract 280,000 daily trips in 2030.

Urban Aesthetics

Following up on last week's talk with Thomas Sieverts at the City of Seattle Council Chambers, it was impressive to hear an international perspective from the German Urban Planner / Architect. Mr. Sieverts primarily presented two thesis ideas to the committee.

1.) The importance of Urban Aesthetics.
An urban landscape devoid of aesthetic is one that fails to create emotion in the people who live there. This lack of emotions leads to a lack of care and stewardship by residents. We must begin to create a places (both physically and culturally) where those who live in them have emotional connections. This may mean actual physical improvements and/or delving into a community "story." History, legend, and story have a great contribution in place-making.

2.) The need to address the growing number of folks with disposable time. Need for a new form of politics. This new politic speaks to a cultural "awakening." It also addresses the physical environment to create a more liveable urban landscape. When people can "discover" their own neighborhoods and towns by foot, there is a renewed sense of belonging.

One important comment was made about repeated patterns. When patterns are repeated, there is a loss of connection and uniqueness (ie. big box stores, suburban subdivision). Local governments and enlightened community development professionals would be well to consider this psycholigical reality. We must look discretely at place and patterns and how people relate to their surroundings. Can development "encourage" walking? Can urban landscapes give us an appreciation of the natural world, and provide incentives for stewardship?

German Urban Planner and Architect Thomas Sieverts to Hold Talks


Our cities surprise and confound us by scrambling the categories we use to plan and understand them. At once dense and sprawling, crowded and empty, urban but centerless, dynamic and stalled, the landscape where we live defies planning and leaves us with little grasp of its meanings or pleasures.



Yet it is the product of our choices, individually and as a public: we live here now. So, what can we make of it?
Suddenly will bring art and food and public conversation to bear on the common cause of making meaning and life in the landscape where we live now — as it is, as we are, as best we can. 

Borne of the insights of German urban planner Thomas Sieverts, suddenly accepts the paradoxical “in-between’ condition where we live — an inextricable mix of urban and rural, natural and manmade, global and local — and looks to the creative capacity of citizens, artists, writers, and others to articulate meanings and relationships that can sustain us and enrich our lives within that condition.
A festive convocation of planners, activists, neighbors, friends and strangers alike, with food, films, art, music, and frank, ranging conversation, suddenly seeks common ground and new tools for living here now.
In Seattle and Burien, three days of events, occasioned by Thomas Sieverts‘ visit to the area, will bring diverse communities into common conversation around art, writing, film, public policy, and great food.

Seattle Schedule:

Wednesday, July 1st, 

9 am – 10 am: KUOW-FM radio interviews with Thomas Sieverts
12:00 pm – 2:00pm: Thomas Sieverts in public talks with Seattle City Council and regional policy makers (at Seattle City Council chambers; free and open to the public).

7:30 pm: “Urban Aesthetics,” lecture by Thomas Sieverts (at Town Hall, 1119 8th Ave., Seattle, $5 suggested donation)
Friday July 3rd 1 pm – 4pm: NW Film Forum presents “Police Beat” (written by Charles Mudede and directed by Robinson Devor), with after-film panel discussion with Thomas Sieverts, Matthew Stadler, and Charles Mudede (NWFF, 1515 12th Ave., Seattle, Tickets $7).

Evening: Corridor Project closing dinner hosted by Michael Hebb, with Matthew Stadler and Thomas Sieverts in conversation, including a celebration of “suddenly: where we live now, the visual chronicle;” (location TBA, price TBA, see www.onepot.org for details).
Ongoing: A portable version of the exhibition, “suddenly: where we live now,” organized on the occasion of German urban planner Thomas Sieverts’ visit to Seattle, will be on view throughout the four days at a location to be determined.
The exhibition includes work by:

* Elias Hansen & Oscar Tuazon
* Molly Dilworth
* Michael Hebb
* Michael McManus
* Marc Joseph Berg

The exhibition opens July 3, 7 p.m., and coincides with a Corridor Project dinner. Exhibition and dinner location TBA.

Logo Love

I'm happy to announce that Nexus Planning has a new logo courtesy of the awesome Meul Rohrsa Designs.

I'm hoping that the logo communicates what Nexus is: a connection of parts. In this case, the connection is between the business' three foundational components: COMMUNITY - ENVIRONMENT - DESIGN. It also speaks to our mission to vitalize a tipple bottom line: environment, social, and economic. Is it true that each of these can support one another? Last night's 60-minutes featured Greg Carr, the inventor of "voice mail" who is now using his wealth to help some of the poorest people in Africa by attracting more tourists to their neighborhood - the national park of Gorongosa in Mozambique. This type of social entrepreneurship is what can really make a difference, in Africa as well as our own neighborhood and community.