Norman Alston Architects

Is Cleveland coming back through good urban design?

I'm linking to this New York Times article about Cleveland's (almost) downtown resurgence because there were a couple of things mentioned that made me think of Dallas.

If the resurgence is not quite downtown, what is the impact on downtown? Does this new development take away from the energy of a nearby diminshed downtown, or is it close enough to support and enhance it? This isn't mentioned and will warrant some additional research. One of the reasons I believe that Downtown Dallas has been slow to respond to the development activity over the past few years is that I felt it  was too wide spread. We have pockets of interesting redevelopment but seem to have trouble filling in between them; West End, Victory, Deep Ellum, South Lamar, the Main District and Main Street Gardens, the Arts District, etc. They don't feel to me like a cohesive downtown, yet. Signs do suggest, however, that our Arts District, combined with the Woodall Rogers enclosure may well be serving that purpose by acting as the one connecting piece while also bringing in a vibrant Uptown. Which leads to the other issue.....

Is Cleveland achieving this with their Arts District development just as I have described for Dallas? Sure looks that way from this article. This will be worth following up on.

Highland Park rejects Preservation.......again.

It's not as if I'm surprised. As noted in Dan Koller's article in Park Cities People, efforts to establish some sort of organized, predictable and effective preservation program in Highland Park have been set back yet again by the Town Council. In this case, it is an effort to get professional help to conduct a study on possible preservation steps that has been rejected, indicating how deeply the aversion to historic preservation runs here.

Understand, virtually none of the paradigms of preservation that we work with routinely in other venues apply here. This community, adjacent to Southern Methodist University, is historically associated with many of Dallas' most notable and successful citizens. Always among the most affluent areas, development began in earnest in the 1920's and has produced some of the best examples in the Dallas area of virtually all of the major stylistic movements since that time, especially Spanish Mission Revival. That so many have survived is testimony in large part to the personal success and  associated resources of so many of the community's citizens.

Somewhere along the line the advantages available to historic preservation in Highland Park have become the primary threat to the survival of many of these buildings. The stylistic leadership exhibited in the early days has more recently contributed to the spread of some pretty bad ideas. The unfortunate habit of painting perfectly good brick traces it origins to the Park Cities and became fashionable due to its association with these beautiful and exclusive neighborhoods.

The biggest threat, however, and the one some of the good folks in Highland Park are seeking to address, is that of tear downs. Long, long before the term "McMansion" became popular, property owners in the Park Cities discovered that their older homes were far smaller and seemingly less stylish than what was permitted for new construction. Rising property values made it economically advantageous to tear down the potentially historic houses and construct new, larger ones. This means very big money in Highland Park and with it, highly motivated and politically savy opponents to any effort that might impede that income stream. I doubt this actually comes to a surprise the preservationists in Highland Park. Good luck to them.

Ugly Historic Buildings: This was bound to happen eventually

My buddy David forwarded to me this Wall Street Journal article by Julia Vitullo-Martin that describes how the members of Third Church of Christ, Scientist in Washington D.C. wish to demolish their historically designated downtown church. Designated over the Church's objections just about a year ago, Washington's Historic Preservation Review Board based their decision to designate on the fact that it was designed by Araldo Cosutta of I. M. Pei's office and that it is one of the very best remaining examples of architectural Brutalism in the city. Common, legitimate characteristics of worthy historic structures.  In opposition, the Church cited difficulty and expense in maintenance, a dwindling membership, that the building is less than 50 years old, and that it doesn't present the appropriate image for the congregation. Likewise common, legitimate concerns with aging historic churches, except maybe for that last point.  The Church appears to have a lot of local support for their efforts, especially because many just think the building is ugly.

The photo above is the best image of the controversial structure that I have found and was kindly provided by Janet. M. Kincaid. In her post on this subject in her DC Confidential Blog,  Ms. Kincaid articulates what I understand to be the prevailing position of those supporting the church's desires to take the building down. In concluding her article on the issue, Ms. Vitullo-Martin suggests that by blocking the demolition of this building, Washington's Historic Preservation Review Board "...will surely undermine the faith of many Americans in the justness of landmark regulations."

I get the point. I fail to look at the photo and feel inspiration of faith. Neither does it conform to my personal notions of what a church should look like. 

But I see the issues just the opposite from Ms. Vitullo-Martin.

Despite how we may feel about it's appearance and despite it's relatively young age, it is a legitimately historic structure and has been designated for very good reasons; the exact same reasons that so many other buildings across the country have been similarly protected. To remove a building so designated primarily because we don't care for the way it looks or because it is architecturally inconsistent with it's contemporary context would be to undermine the legitimacy of historic designations everywhere. Any of our historic buildings could be challenged on that basis. 

West Texas Travels: Trouble in Austin Terrace

Yesterday, I mentioned the great neighborhoods I found in El Paso, especially the Austin Terrace Historic District. Unfortunately, as is described in this story and as is often seen in historic districts, trouble began when a well-intentioned and apparently well-to-do homeowner who sought to be a part of the good things happening in the neighborhood, sought to build a new house that was both incompatible with the historic district and inconsistent with the historic zoning. The City, however, issued a building permit without all of the approvals. Construction was well underway  before the mistake was discovered and construction stopped.

Mistakes of this kind are far from unknown in historic districts. What is different here is the lengths to which the City of El Paso was prepared to go to make things right.

Downtown migration picking up steam...at least in the news

With the slowdown in the economy and new housing starts, the great majority of which have been in the outer suburbs, now comes suggestions that this trend may have previously started for different reasons anyway. Two articles in the Dallas Morning News within the past week both report indications of a trend of more affluent homeowners seeking less land and less house in return for being closer to the center city.

Kate Singleton, new Dallas Chief Preservation Planner

If you have business on the 5th floor of City Hall, go by and welcome Kate Singleton, the new Chief Preservation Planner at the City's Preservation Section.

Most recently, Kate has served as a partner with Cornerstone Heritage Preservation Services here in Dallas, a preservation and conservation consulting practice she helped found with partners Peggy Riddle and myself. Prior to that her experience includes stints as the Historic Preservation Officer for the City of Ft. Worth, Downtown Development Coordinator for the City of Plano, Main Street Manager in Waxahachie and Director of Arizona's Statewide Main Street Program. She has also served as a City of Dallas Landmark Commissioner and has been involved with many of the Commission's task forces over a distinguished local preservation career that has spanned.....well, she probably wouldn't want me to say just how many years. More than enough for her to help lead the City's burgeoning preservation program.

Congratulations to Kate and the City of Dallas.

Trinity Vote Epilogue

I admit the vote results surprised me. I didn't see a road along the river as compelling enough to get people out to the poles and a low turnout definitely favored the "Vote Yes" effort, which I supported. I also have to admit that I don't get it. I try to be objective, but I don't understand how a road, especially a highway, along the river, within the park looks like a good idea to anyone. Just yesterday I was speaking with someone who has been doing preservation in Manhattan and we discussed briefly the South Street Seaport, likely the oldest buildings remaining on the island. We also noted that they are beneath the elevated FDR freeway, which runs along the waterfront of much of the East River. You have to wonder, if they had the chance to do that again, would they? Not that I've seen.

Politically, I have no dog in this fight...no pending contracts or opportunities one way or the other that I can see. What I have seen, however, is what our past efforts at highway construction have done to our City, especially the downtown area. In doing research on the First Church of Christ Scientists on the south side of downtown, I came across information that showed how this area had been a very attractive residential neighborhood in the early years of the 20th century. Now the church sits atop a concrete cliff, overlooking that section of Interstate 30 we all so affectionately refer to as the Canyon. It is surrounded by parking lots and there has been considerable discussion in recent years about how much the Cedars and South Dallas neighborhoods have been hurt by being cut off from Downtown. There has even been discussion of covering it with a park-like space to help connect the two areas. I worry that we're doing the same thing here, creating a barrier between urban features that are highly complimentary.

Neither have I heard the question asked regarding what we do in the future should this road become choked by traffic and need expansion. Widen it? Add an elevated section? Build a parallel road on the other side?

Rhetorical questions at this point. The voters have spoken and their will be done. Rightly so.

More Deep Ellum Blues

Today's Dallas Only sheds light on the growing conflict in Deep Ellum. At the heart of this issue appears to be that relatively new apartment and condo dwellers don't care for the noise, the traffic and a myriad of other features that come from living next door to bars and night clubs. Perhaps this sounds familiar to some of our neighbors along Greenville Avenue. The resident's response, then, is to oppose the renewal of the the bar's Special Use Permits from the City of Dallas, effectively forcing them to close or move. Yesterday's face off at City Plan Commission appears to have ended with Bars 7, Residents 3. But the game is far from over.

I've had some experience with this problem and some empathy for the residents. For years, I officed in Deep Ellum, at Canton and Malcom X. I eventually left because there were too many times I would be working very late (a bad habit architects pick up in college) but would be constantly distracted by yelling and the sound of broken glass just outside my window. I found it hard to work and certainly couldn't have slept.  That said, I knew where I was when I rented the office. I wanted to be part of that scene, I thought (not the yelling, glass breaking, puking part... just the cool neighborhood part). So when it got to be too much, I left for the peaceful environs of Lakewood.

What bothers me about this story is the growing evidence of parasitic development, a favorite complaint of mine. That's where development moves in and commands good profits partly on the intrinsic appeal of a particular neighborhood, but then works towards the demise of the very neighborhood character that brought it there in the first place. It's the same complaint I have with McMansions and similar treatments of our East Dallas neighborhoods. Airports have been struggling with this for decades; people move next to an airport because of jobs and convenience, then complain when planes fly over. Go figure.

Deep Ellum's past cultural value to our city is without question, but the value of the current version is fair game for debate. This appears to be only the beginning and will be very interesting to watch it play out.

AIA support for the Trinity River Parkway

Saturday, I received the mail piece from the "Vote No" folks and noticed that all the supporters listed appeared to be current or former elected officials. Since this is, at its root, an urban design issue, I wondered why there were no urban planners, designers, architects or engineers listed. Perhaps the curious contradictions of this project were also clear to them and they had resisted at least the appearance of active support. Apparently not. 

Street Art

While in Indianapolis, I came across multiple animated light panels that depicted simple human forms in eerily realistic action. If you can play mp4 files, click Download VIDEO_001.mp4 to see one. I wish I had gotten one with the girl swaying side-to-side like she was dancing. Wow.