My Athens

My "Athens Rising" Archive

For a few months last year, I helped write the Athens Rising column--an opinion  column about local  development, planning and architecture issues--for Flagpole Magazine, the weekly alternative newspaper here in Athens, Ga.

The column's main writer--Kevan Williams--had asked me to write the column every other week while he traveled out West to places like Portland, Ore. And that's what I did--having fun, mostly--from August through December 2010.

Kevan's back in town now, and I'm off traveling abroad and happy--for now at least--to be free of deadlines.

Here are the columns I wrote:

• August, 25, 2010:  Future of Downtown Athens

• September, 8, 2010: A Look at a Complex Zoning Decision

• September 22, 2010: Exploring an Overlooked Neighborhood

• October 6, 2010: Adding Affordable Housing, Avoiding Gentrification

• October 20, 2010: Tapping Students for Downtown Density

• November 3, 2010: Grocery Store Dreams, Part 1

• November 17, 2010: Grocery Store Dreams, Part 2

• December 1, 2010: Dilapidated Buildings, Factories and Cities

 

Sidewalk Felicities, and a Suggestion for the ABH

Not sure that this blog can take credit, but two instances of what I highlighted as "sidewalk infelicities" have been improved.

The Northwest and Southwest corners at Prince Ave. and Barber St.--a location with lots of foot traffic--are now much more pedestrian friendly.  Take a look at these before and after shots:

Exhibit 1: Northwest corner of Prince Ave. and Barber St.

Before:

After:

Exhibit 2: Southwest corner of Prince Ave. and Barber St.

Before:

After:

Nice work. But, as I said, I'm not sure that any spotlighting by this blog did anything to spur the work. Athens-Clarke Co. does have a Sidewalk Improvement Program in place, and these corners may have been slated for work under that program or another one long before I took note of them here.

For citizens like me the before-and-after shots have proven to be a very satisfying way to report a problem and then to see that something actually got done. (In this case, I can at least pretend that I had an impact--even though it might have been a coincidence.) I  imagine that public servants might feel a similar satisfaction in being able to be so visibly responsive and effective.

In an earlier post, I suggested that Athens-Clarke Co. government set up its own version of SeeClickFix to allow citizens to publicly report city infrastructure problems like crumbling sidewalks or uncollected trash and to have the county's response to those reports publicly tracked.

Suggestion for the Athens Banner-Herald

Now, I think it might be a good idea if the Athens Banner-Herald hosted and bird-dogged such a site as part of its on-line package.  According to this New York Times article, there's a local daily in Connecticut that's using SeeClickFix to boost its internet traffic and interactivity with readers. (The article includes a link to the newspaper's online site and the SeeClickFix page it maintains there. And, FYI, there's already a nascent SeeClickFix page for Athens--it  just needs some high-profile care and attention.)

It seems like a similar effort here in Athens could produce lots of benefits: citizens might feel a little more empowered; public servants might feel a little more useful and loved; the Athens Banner-Herald might get a positive jolt from the new social media, and the city's infrastructure might improve.

At Pope & Reese

Image by Dan Lorentz

A Defense of Jaywalking

When pedestrians get killed by cars don't be so quick to point to jaywalking as the cause, says Tom Vanderbilt, author of Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do:

"...[A] closer look at national data shows that 59 percent of pedestrian deaths for which location information was recorded happened in places where pedestrians had no convenient access to a crosswalk. While jaywalking is often cited as a cause of pedestrian accidents, less than 20 percent of fatalities occurred where a pedestrian was crossing outside an easily available crosswalk."

Read the full article, which, by the way, briefly mentions Georgia traffic laws and the controversy over Savannah's recent crackdown on jaywalking as covered by Sustainable Savannah.

Sidewalk Infelicities, Exhibits 8-12

This is my second collection of "sidewalk infelicities."

What is a sidewalk infelicity? Well, since sidewalks should be continuous, well defined, unobstructed, safe and efficient in giving pedestrians access to places, anything that violates these criteria is what I'm calling an infelicity.

Check out the first collection--exhibits 1--here.

Have you spotted a sidewalk infelicity in Athens? Tell me where it is, and send a photo if possible.

Exhibit 8: Near 1638 Prince Ave.

The sidewalk on the north side of Prince Ave. extending from Boulevard Heights ends here. Matt Elliot explains why this is a problem: it makes "foot travel hazardous for folks living on Sylvia Circle, Winfield Chase Apts., and points westward."

***

Exhibit 9:  Near Intersection of Prince Ave. and Pounds St.

No sidewalk to be found here even though there's a bus stop, and a well-worn foot path to it.

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Exhibit 10: 1650 Prince Ave.

The rendering (in photo at right) of the new local Social Security Administration building being constructed here shows a sidewalk in front of the completed project. That would be an improvement.

***

Exhibit 11: Near 1684 Prince Ave.

This short strips of sidewalk near the intersection with Sylvia Circle ends just past Edward Jones Investment on the north side of Prince Ave.

***

Exhibit 12: 1686 Prince Ave.

A driveway into Jack Waldrip Real Estate on the north side of Prince Ave connects with the street, but assertively blocks the pedestrian path.

***

Walkability Is Economic Development

What can we do here in Athens, Ga. to attract a bigger share of young educated professionals—the kind of people who are moving their energy, their talent and their earnings potentials to “cool” cities like Austin, Texas, Charlotte, N.C. and Portland, Ore.?

Today’s Athens Banner-Herald editorial asserts that Athens is “not ready to attract the kinds of industries that could provide jobs for those young professionals.” In support of this assertion, the editorial points to the failure to develop a high-tech industrial park near the intersection of U.S. Highway 78 and Georgia Highway 316, the failure to attract two pharmaceutical manufacturers to the area and the failure of the effort to land a new federal animal disease research laboratory.

If instead of failing, Athens had succeed at building that high-tech industrial park, and getting those pharmaceutical jobs and the federal laboratory, it’s possible Athens would now be securely on the path to becoming a “cool” city.  But I doubt it.

There’s always a little bit of the chicken or the egg conundrum to questions about local economic development strategy, but part of the reason Athens isn’t attracting the kind of high-tech firms and jobs we want is that Athens just isn’t a “cool” enough city yet.

Tax breaks and cheap land usually aren’t enough to attract high-tech firms—whose success is keyed to their ability to attract talented workers (that is, the kind of people who want to live in cool cities)—to specific communities. The firms want to locate in places their potential employees want to live.

And what kind of places are those? Well, as the editorial suggests, they are places that have “invested in the elements of cultural coolness: good coffee, good food and good music.” Athens certainly has a decent share of that kind of coolness, but I think there’s more to the story than that. There’s good reason to believe that many young educated professionals today also want to live in walkable neighborhoods where you can get groceries, go out to eat, play at a park, listen to music or go to a bar without always having to get in your car.

The talent of the local labor pool is certainly among the most important factors in determining where high tech firms will locate. The trouble is it’s really hard for local governments to do anything very direct about improving the talent pool of existing residents. But if they want to, local governments can make big improvements in local infrastructure, in making walkable neighborhoods, creating lively downtowns and fostering lively cultural scenes. And these amenities—which are quite tangible and easily perceptible—are proven talent attractors.

Of course, Athens should continue to court high-tech firms to move here. Of course, Athens should try to make it as easy as possible and prudent for employers to move here. Keep in mind, though, that because Athens is home to a large, well-regarded university and already has a solid reputation as a culturally lively spot, the city doesn’t have to beg for attention from employers. We’ll keep getting glances at least.

But if we want to start “winning” more in terms of getting employers to move here, then I think we need to change our economic development strategy.

Instead of scrambling to accommodate whatever random suitor-firms wink at us, let’s adopt an economic development strategy that prioritizes enhancing walkability and cultural vitality in central Athens. (Personally, I think Athens needs more work on the walkability front—that is, on increasing density, creating “complete” streets,” more mixed-use development—than it does on the cultural front.) This sort of strategy, I think, will likely be more effective in getting more employers to say “yes” to locating here. It also has the advantage of being something that local governments can actually do reasonably well.

Up Finley Street

Photoshopped image by Dan Lorentz

Sidewalk Infelicities, Exhibits 1-7

Today I’m starting a new project on this blog, and that’s collecting examples of what I’m calling “sidewalk infelicities.”

Crumbling sidewalks. Obstructed sidewalks. Unconnected, interrupted or otherwise incomplete sidewalks. Excessively narrow sidewalks. Unsafe sidewalks. Disrespected sidewalks. All of these are examples of what I consider “infelicities.”

The more general way of putting this is: Sidewalks should be continuous, well defined, unobstructed, safe and efficient in giving pedestrians access to places*—and anything that violates these criteria is an infelicity.

This is just the first batch of infelicities. More—many more, unfortunately—could follow, including some right outside my front door. 

If you know of any sidewalk infelicities in Athens, let me know. Send me a photo and a description of the location.


Exhibit 1: Northwest corner of Prince Ave. and Barber St.

Why isn’t this paved up to the crosswalk?

* * *

Exhibit 2: Southwest corner of Prince Ave. and Barber St.

Is the thinking that grass is more pleasant for pedestrians to stand on while they wait to cross the street?

* * *

Exhibit 3: Southwest corner of Prince Ave. and Finley St.

Even though this corner and Finley is actively used by pedestrians and is practically downtown, the West side of this block of Finley—from Prince Ave. to Meigs St.—lacks a sidewalk—and given where the street light pole and utility box are located—no one’s thinking about making room for a sidewalk.

* * *

Exhibit 4: Southwest corner of Meigs St. and Finley St.

Here, where a sidewalk resumes on the West side of Finley for a little while, it starts off already crowded with obstructions.

* * *

Exhibit 5: Northwest corner of Hancock Ave. and Finley St.

Right where you’d want to put a paved corner for pedestrians, two utility poles have staked their claim.

* * *

Exhibit 6: Southwest corner of Meigs St. and Newton Ave.

Why isn’t there a sidewalk here?

* * *

Exhibit 7:  Northeast corner of Meigs St. and Pope St.

A good start, maybe?

___ ___ ___

*Adapted from “Criteria for Good Sidewalks,” in The Poetics of Cities: Designing Neighborhoods that Work by Mike Greenberg. 1995. Ohio State University Press.

What Leaders Disliked About Athens-Clarke Co.

I doubt dislike number six would make the top of anybody’s list today.

Does the fact that Athens-Clark Co. is conducting corridor studies now mean that dislike number one would still rank high among today’s leaders?

Hypocritical handling of liquor situation? What does that refer to? (I couldn’t find an explanation in the study.)

The table displays the top dislikes of 83 community leaders as recorded in a 1968 survey.

--- --- ---

From Community Social Analysis of Athens-Clarke County by Harold Nix, published by the Institute of Community and Area Development and the University of Georgia’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology, August 1968, page 38.  I found this book in the Heritage Room of the Athens-Clarke Co. Library on Baxter St.

Walkability Linked With Higher Property Values

Savannah Morning News reporter Adam Van Brimmer writes about how enhancing walkability will improve property values in Savannah neighborhoods:

"People will pay for livability," [walkable communities expert Dan] Burden  said. "You change a road and calm the traffic, and you increase property values multiple blocks deep. You put in sidewalks and trees, and values go up even more."

Done in tandem, road changes and sidewalk and tree improvement boost values from $5,000 to $35,000 on average, Burden said.

Considering most Savannah neighborhoods are built out - constrained by established roadways or the natural geography - improving walkability could be the key to sustaining and growing property values.

Same goes for Athens.

Read the full article.

Thanks to Sustainable Savannah.

Image credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Broad St. and Alps Rd.

Image by Dan Lorentz

"Who Needs Craigslist...?"

...When you can get...what exactly?...here instead. This shot of the marquee sign for Fantasy World, a nightclub at 1050 Baxter St, was taken June 29, 2009.  The West Athens police substation at 1065 Baxter St., is about a block and a half away. Photo by Dan Lorentz.

Will Caution Kill Chance for Successful Pedestrian Mall?

“Downtown works because of a delicate balance, and a change like that one [creating a pedestrian mall on College Square] would certainly alter the dynamic.”

That’s the logic behind Kathryn Lookofsky’s reluctance to push for a pedestrian mall—or any other major use or design change—downtown, according to Kevan Williams’ latest development column in Flagpole.

Lookofsky, executive director of the Athens Downtown Development Authority (ADDA), is right to be cautious. When something as complex and fragile as a downtown in a small city works—as it does here in Athens—you’ve got to be very thoughtful, very circumspect about making big changes.

Which, according to Williams’ column, seems to be the approach that ADDA is taking as it explores the possibility of creating a master plan to help channel future growth downtown.

I’d like to add a cautionary note about caution: sometimes being too cautious can be a mistake.

For example, it’s possible a pedestrian mall that interferes only minimally with existing car traffic patterns and meshes well with existing pedestrian traffic isn’t really that big of a change. Successful pedestrian malls are rare, that’s true. But Athens might well have a spot where one could work. Such a mall would be a treasure, adding greatly to downtown vitality and distinctiveness. Take care with your caution not to miss golden opportunities!

[Photo credit: Flickr user Amber Rhea]

Boulevard Dreams, Version 1.0

This map depicts changes I’d like to see in Boulevard, the Athens, Ga. neighborhood I live in. (Click here to view larger version of the map on screen. Or click on the map to download a copy.)

The changes I propose—which are tagged with numbers in the map above and described in this post below—aim at making Boulevard an even more walkable neighborhood than it is now. (Because I haven't figured out how to embed links to text in the map, the best way to read this post is to either: (1) download and print the map above and then refer to the numbered descriptions below; or (2) print this post and then click on the map above to enlarge it and consult the printed post for the descriptions.)

Increasing density

Mainly, I propose making Boulevard more walkable by increasing residential and commercial densities. More people living in new infill homes and new apartments will support more grocery stores, restaurants, coffee shops, convenience stores and pharmacies. In turn, these new commercial destinations—combined with a few other amenities like a dog park, new pedestrian paths, better bus service—will make the neighborhood even more attractive to people looking for a walkable place to live. As Christopher Leinberger puts it in his book The Option of Urbanism: Investing in a New American Dream: "In walkable urban places, more is better. Adding more density and uses makes life better and real estate values climb higher. It is an upward spiral of value creation."

Over time, if my proposals—or better ones with the same aim—are implemented, Boulevard will become the kind of neighborhood where you don’t need to get into a car more than once every other week. Anyway, that’s my dream for Boulevard.

Boulevard is good as is, but…

Don’t get me wrong: I really like my neighborhood as it is right now. It’s close to downtown and campus. It’s practically bursting with trees and flowers. It’s infested with good neighbors and their dogs, sprinkled with wonderful old and new houses and favored by some really good spots to eat. But even so, there’s room—plenty of room, really—for improvement and especially for more neighbors.

These are the pipe dreams of a newcomer

I’d like to think many of the changes I propose would be fairly easy and uncontroversial to implement. But I acknowledge some of these proposed changes—while technically feasible—might not be politically feasible for now. 

Please note everything I propose here is based on my informal impressions—and not on detailed site surveys analyzed in the context of current zoning regulations.  Also, I’m pretty sure my own thoughts about how to make Boulevard more walkable will change as I learn more about the neighborhood, topography, politics, etc. This is merely the first version of this dream.

Please comment

I’d like to know what people think of my suggestions. And I want to hear about your dreams—wild or practical—for Boulevard. Let me know. I'd like to do a future post that compiles these ideas.

KEY TO NUMBERED ITEMS ON MAP

1.  My house. This is where my house is located, at 325 Lyndon Ave. The yellow circle on the map represents a half-mile radius from my house. A half-mile is considered by many urban planners and observers to be a relatively easy, convenient distance to walk.

2.  Infill housing and “granny” flats.  Here the parcel is divided in two, and two appropriately scaled single-family homes are built. I’d bet there are at least 25 parcels—if you subdivide some of the larger parcels—throughout the Boulevard neighborhood that could support new single-family homes. In my dream, all these parcels would be built on. And I’d also like to allow some of the larger lots the opportunity to build small single-family homes behind existing homes, and to sprinkle in low-income units.

3.  Apartments. This new two-story 12-unit apartment building follows the scale of the adjacent Calais Apartments.

4. Coffee shop with upstairs apartments.  Built to meet the sidewalk with parking in back—not on the street front—this new coffee shop features free wi-fi and four apartment units upstairs.

5. Cohen/Cain Pedestrian paths. These two paved paths open pedestrian and bike access between Chase St. and Cohen and Cain Sts, enhancing walkability.

6. Dubose Pocket Park. With a park bench, a picnic table, a flower bed border and a modest-sized open patch of lawn, this simple pocket park is well-used by neighborhood kids and adults.

7.  The Black Panther Restaurant with Outdoor Café.  The beautiful long windows of this restaurant housed in a renovated building overlook a shady, paved outdoor seating area on this busy corner.

8. Apartments. After the car repair shop moved to a new neighborhood site (see item 28), a new three-story, 24-unit, street-fronting apartment building was built.

9. The Bread Basket, transformed. There’s still a gas station here, but it’s moved behind the new street-fronting main feature—an expanded Bread Basket food counter and convenience shop. The same down-home fare is served along with new menu items.

10. Dubose St. (re?)extension. Looks to me like Dubose St. connected to Nacoochee Av. in the past, and it does so again. Why?  Because doing so provides greater inter-connectivity and opens-up new space for development by busting-up a huge, traffic-clogging block.

11. Mixed-use development #1. On the ground level, this small cluster of street-fronting new two-story buildings is mainly occupied by medical offices, but there are also a few other kinds of offices, and some small retail shops. On top, there are condo units.

12. Mixed-use development #2. Green Thrift Grocery occupies a corner building at the intersection Dubose and Chase Sts. Other buildings house a mix of offices, retail and apartments. All structures are two-story and street-fronting.

13. Mixed-use development #3. This project includes a three-story street-fronting building devoted mainly to medical offices and apartments.

14. Mixed-use development #4. Three new two-story, street-fronting buildings with office and retail space on the ground level and apartments above.

15. Mixed-use development #5. This cluster of new two-story, street-fronting buildings features a mix of commercial, retail and medical office space with apartments on the second-story.

16. Bus shelter, better bus service. A large bus shelter offers plenty of seating and guaranteed access (or you get a free ride) to a bus every seven minutes every day from 6 a.m. to midnight.

17. Mixed-use development #6. A couple new three-story, street-fronting buildings provide retail space on the ground floor, and two stories of apartments above.

18.  Single-family homes and condominiums.  Two sets of two single-family homes are built are Dubose St.—one set on each side of the new Virginia Av. extension (see item 19). Behind the single-family lots, are three three-story condo buildings.

19. Virginia Av. extension. Pushing Virginia Av. through to Prince Av. opens-up new commercial and residential space and enhances connectivity and walkability.

20. Dubose St. pedestrian/bike path. The car part of Dubose ends when it hits the new Virginia Av. extension but continues as a paved pedestrian/bike path and eventually hooks up with Pope St. and Barber St.

21.  Mixed-use development #7.  This important gateway corner (like its sister corner, see item 22) is now anchored by a well-designed—actually, quite dashing—street-fronting contemporary building. Restaurants, shops (including thrift shops) and other retail store occupy the ground floor of this three-story structure. There are offices on the second floor and condominiums on the third floor.

22. Mixed-used development #8. Like the mixed-use development across Barber St. from it, this site now features an elegant, street-fronting contemporary building housing a mix of retail, commercial and residential uses.

23.  Apartments. Perched atop this exquisitely re-landscaped site marking the beginning of Boulevard is a 54-unit apartment building with an underground parking lot.

24. Barber St. Park. This park, located where Boulevard begins, starts with street-facing benches and a small picnic area on the part that fronts Barber St., but then devotes itself to a beautiful shade garden and walking trails.

25. Light industrial development #1. A sleek, low-cost structure offers space for a business incubator program as well as for light industry, warehousing, artist/crafting studios and commercial offices.

26. Light industrial development #2.  The same as item 25 above, except bigger.

27. Stream Track Park. This narrow park includes a paved bike path and unpaved hiking trails—both of which follow the streambed. At the trackside part of the park, is a small fenced-in dog run area.

28. Light industrial development #3. A series of compact, low-cost/low-rent and very modern-looking buildings to house light industry, commercial offices and artist studios.

29. Three Players Av. Named in memory of the three Town and Gown players murdered near where this new road begins, Three Players Av. runs parallel to Prince Av. and cuts across four over-sized blocks to slant up to a connection with Hiawassee Av. The new road activates lots of space for useful development and enhances walkability.

30. Mixed-use development #9.  Some of the new two-story buildings in this cluster take advantage of the new street frontage offered by the new Three Players Av. (see item 29). All buildings are street-fronting and contain a mix of retail, commercial, medical office and residential uses.

31. Yonah Av. pedestrian/bike path. This short paved extension of Yonah Av. allows pedestrians and bicyclists to enter the new Hiawassee Urban Nature Center (see item 33) and to connect through to Hiawassee and the new Three Players Av. (see item 29).

32. Mixed-use development #10. This series of two story buildings—some of which are substantially renovated existing structures—offer retail and commercial space on the ground level and office and residential space above.

33.  Hiawassee Urban Ecology Center and Park. The urban nature center takes this place as its model, and is dedicated to preserving the natural features of this stretch of streambed and educating residents, especially the kids at nearby Chase St. Elementary School, about the ecology of the stream. Kevan Williams, the architecture/development columnist at Flagpole Magazine, informs me that the Boulevard neighborhood was originally platted with a park in mind at this location—which explains the origins of bordering “Park” as a street name.

34. Condos. This contemporary-design, two-story, street-fronting condo building features 20 dwelling units.

35.  Off leash dog park/expanded White Tiger patio. A fence surrounds this plot, giving dog owners a secure area to let their dogs run off leash. Thanks to the adjacent White Tiger—a restaurant and coffee shop—people in the park can also access a patio overlooking much of the park and order food or coffee. 

36.  Street and path extensions. A new street—called Electric Av.—cuts around the Georgia Power sub-station to connect first to an extended Chattooga Av., then to an extended New Av. and finally to an extended Nantahala Av. There’s pedestrian path and stairway to connect Nantahala Av. proper to the old Nantahala Extension.

37. Apartments. With a design inspired by the electric power sub-station it overlooks, a very modern-looking three-story, street-fronting apartment building offers 24 dwelling units.

38.  Light industrial development #4. Same description as item 25, except smaller.

Convention Space, Corridors, Really Long Words

It’s not always a good idea to expand convention space. According to this Athens Banner-Herald article, developers are promising a new hotel if taxpayers pay for an expansion of the Classic Center’s convention space. Such an expansion might be a good idea, and it certainly seems so at first blush. But consider this: nearly every city in the country spends money to expand convention space. The convention market is so competitive that even convention centers in cities with huge tourism pull like Washington, D.C. don’t make a profit. Before I’d support spending very precious taxpayer dollars on this, I’d like the hotel developers and others who favor expanding the convention center to answer the questions this paper—“Space Available: The Realities of Convention Centers as Economic Development Strategy”—asks. (I learned about this paper from an article, “Unconventional Thinking,” in Next American City, a quarterly magazine. As of this writing, the article is not available online.) [Photo credit: Flickr user the unquietlibrarian]

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A reminder to all city planning amateurs and regular citizens (including me). The Athens Clarke Co. Planning Commission is seeking citizen input on two key Athens street corridors—Prince Av. and Oak/Oconee St. as they approach downtown. If you go here, you’ll find space to submit comments.  Don’t neglect to examine all the incredibly detailed charts and graphics depicting key features of both corridors. I’m really impressed by the quality and accessibility of the information provided by the planning commission. [Image credit: ACC]

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Antidisingenuousmentarianismphilia. Hillary Brown’s blog, Antidisingenuousmentarianism, should be a dud. For one thing, it has a title that requires one to take a breath and furrow one’s brow in concentration before attempting—and more than likely failing—to pronounce it correctly. For another, it has no unifying theme: Brown puts up little reviews of New Yorker articles, stories and reviews; she tosses off vivid little movie/DVD reviews; presents cute kitty photos; rants about service at Ikea; expands—entertainingly—on her published restaurant reviews in Flagpole Magazine; and indulges in what she calls her “lil’ hobby,” which is commenting—pithily, thoughtfully—on local affairs. But this seeming hodgepodge works. Everything is written with a certain brio, and I find the New Yorker stuff a useful guide about what to read in that relentless magazine. Plus I’ve recommended to my wife that she read her “lil’ hobby” posts as a quick way to keep up with a smart perspective on local affairs. [Image credit: Screen shot of Hillary Brown's blog banner]