Living with a bridge over your head. . .

My friend, Patrick Kennedy started the debate over a year ago.  His "crazy idea" to tear down the-badly-in-need-of-repair I-345 bridge to re-route traffic through Downtown Dallas gained legs and continues to spark a lively community argument. 

Patrick has lots of allies.  And, I find the idea one worth more conversation for sure.

The move promises to bring more economic development to the center city.  I'd like it much better, to the point of excitement, if I had confidence that the planners and deal makers would include low-income folks in the planning, especially as it relates to the development of much-needed housing stock for low-income and no-income residents. 

DMagazine this month has a word from its publisher, Wick Allison.  Wick is all for the tear down ( "Breaking the Concrete Noose,"  DMagazine, January 2015, page 13).  I respect his perspective.  His arguments are convincing, especially as they relate to economic development and expansion Downtown. 

There is a lot of wasted space beneath those interstate bridges.  Routing folks through and, in very different case of I-30, around the city makes all sorts of sense from economic and quality of life considerations.

That said, the chances of something this creative happening seems remote to me. 

That sad assessment of what's possible in reality sent me off in pursuit of a real dream development! 

This happens to me all the time. 

Tell me no or go away or forget it, and what do I do?  I press harder and toward even more extreme "solutions." 

Sorry, it's just me.

So, about all that wasted space beneath the bridges near Downtown.  How is it used today? 

Well, it appears fair game for graffiti artists, blowing trash tossed out carelessly from speeding traffic and, yes, people who set up encampments because they have no place to call home. 

Homeless people live under our overpass highway bridges all over this city.  Walk under any of these bridges where you find dry ground.  You'll find squatters who prefer their freedom of choice and habit to night shelters. 

Here's my crazy, big "what if?"

What if we developed these under-spaces with housing units for some of our poorest neighbors? 

Think about that for just a moment--give me 30-45 seconds at least!

Combine the work of a creative architect and a land planner to develop a housing concept for these under-freeway dwellings. 

Sign on area non-profits who specialize in high touch concierge services/counsel for prospective residents.  Work with local business owners to help locate some of these folks in jobs Downtown and elsewhere, thanks to DART. 

The effect would not bring more homeless persons Downtown.  If anything, close-in housing would attract chronically homeless, vagrant types to become residents. 

What do you have when you add an apartment to the life experience of a homeless person?  A person with a home, and therefore one less homeless person on our streets. 

Housing under our streets, not on them! 

Any designers, architects and land planners want to take a stab at "underpass housing" sketches for me?  I'll publish them here and on all my social media if you'll just send them my way! 

Dreaming of a better city.

 

Place matters

The Atlantic offers great essay on urban planning here.

Detroit: Model for urban redesign?

The work that urban designer Toni Griffin engages in these days is very interesting, challenging and nothing short of huge and amazing!  Thinking, working and organizing at this level is what it will take to renew the urban core of most American cities today.  After you've read the interview, let me know your reactions.  In my view, this is fascinating stuff.

Can This Planner Save Detroit?

Toni L. Griffin has just accepted a unique—and daunting—job: the reshaping of Detroit. She talks to ARCHITECT about population decline, urban ag, downtown’s revival, and more.
By: Fred A. Bernstein

Time magazine called Toni L. Griffin a “star urban planner,” which doesn’t have quite the same ring as “starchitect,” but properly describes the 46-year-old. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, where she still teaches, Griffin began her career in the private sector, working first for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in her native Chicago. While at SOM, she helped turn the Renaissance Center, John Portman’s office and hotel complex in downtown Detroit, into General Motors Co.’s world headquarters.

From SOM, she went to work for the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation, focusing on planning and heritage tourism initiatives, and then to the Washington, D.C., planning office, where she oversaw redevelopment projects. From Washington, she moved to Newark, N.J., where, within three years, the planning office she rebuilt was winning awards—among them, an award from the New Jersey chapter of the American Planning Association for its work on sustainable infill housing guidelines.

This spring, Griffin signed on for what may be America’s toughest urban planning challenge: helping to remake Detroit, a city that has seen its population decline by half over 60 years. In September, Griffin helped Mayor Dave Bing’s administration launch the Detroit Works Project, a 12- to 18-month effort to map the city’s future. It began with a series of widely attended public forums.

A Manhattan resident, Griffin spends most of the week in an office in Detroit City Hall. In an arrangement that reflects the strong interest of philanthropists in Detroit’s future, her salary is paid by the Kresge Foundation (which has an endowment of over $3 billion). Rip Rapson, Kresge’s president and son of architect Ralph Rapson, is also giving the city funds for Griffin to hire a team of local, national, and international consultants, from the private sector and four Michigan universities. Several other foundations are expected to provide funding to support both the technical and civic engagement components of the project.

Author Fred A. Bernstein first met Griffin in 2004, when they were both participants in the Mayors’ Institute on City Design in Charleston, S.C. She spoke to him on a recent weekend from her apartment in Harlem.

How did the Detroit job come about?

When Mayor Bing began his first full term in January, leaders of the private sector were determined to help him tackle the extraordinary challenges facing Detroit. At the same time, Kresge and other foundations wanted to make sure their investments aligned with the city’s needs, both programmatically and spatially.

This leadership saw now as the opportunity create a shared vision for the city, across sectors and inclusive of broad civic engagement. I was asked to join the mayor’s team to assemble and manage a team to create this vision with members of his staff.

To read the entire interview click here.