Springing Back into Action

The past 3 months have been busy and exciting. The City of Roanoke Planning Department is working hard to design refinements in their urban design and planning process. They wish to accomplish even greater community participation in the process as well as recruiting greater input from our planning & design professionals in the community.

I've received several requests to resume our Walking Photo Tours. City staff is eager to engage in these events, as well, to start hi-resolution building documentation for modeling. Soon we will publish a schedule of these events.

Please post any comments,questions or suggestions you may have either here in the blog or on The Heart of Roanoke Facebook Group.

Off Topic

Periodically, I run across things that catch my attention. (In the interest of focus, maybe I need to set up a second blog.) Nonetheless:

A Biographical History of the Georgist Movement



“The grey heads and bald heads are in the majority. The problem that confronts those of us who want the torch held up in the future, is to fill up the ranks. In order to do that many things must be done, but we must not depend on the old or middle-aged. Somehow or other we must devise a way to reach the minds of the young people – when their minds are open, when they are ready for new truths.”

Mr. Rose, of Kansas City, Missouri (from a speech at the 1928 Henry George Foundation Congress, Chicago. Reprinted in: Land and Freedom, September-October 1928)

George's theories once were the basis for a mainstream political movement, but they have been largely forgotten in this century. George started by observing that people get rich just by owning land and the natural resources it contains, and need not ever contribute any productive labor or ideas to society. It was his view that you should get to keep what you actually earn by productive activity, but society should tax away whatever is "earned" merely by gaining control over scarce resources that should belong to us all.

Seeking Opportunities - Sidebar Part III

Virginia Museum of Transportation

Another area that deserves much consideration is the East End of the building. Originally the main public and railroad employee entrance to the building. The Second Street/Gainesboro bridge project dramatically altered the sense of place the building enjoyed when the grade crossing @ 2nd St. presented a much different ...perspective.

A "place" needs to re-established on the East end to allow both a strong connection to the Rail Walk and create a sense of place from the bridge.

The place might simply be a much larger, well landscaped plaza with TREES :)

Seeking Opportunities - Sidebar Part II

Virginia Museum of Transportation

The Museum is seeking community input for improvements to building and programs at "input sessions for folks who love lots of modes of transportation--cars, trucks, buses, airplanes, hang gliders, helicopters, boats, canoes, dump trucks, wheelbarrows, bicycles--you get the idea. We're the Virginia Museum of Transportation--what kind of Virginia transportation do you want to see??"
Take the Museum's Norfolk-Southern Challenge survey online @ http:\\www.vmt.org

A friend passed along this image of a reestablish aerial tram to the top of Mill Mountain from the site of the former Roanoke Mills property.

...and a link to Portland's aerial tram website:

http://www.portlandtram.org/index.htm

The birth of our City will always be reminiscent of the Railroad industry, and that we honor for the benefits we realized from such a creative endeavor. We also need to nurture and re-cultivate our innate capacity for creative endeavor for posterity.

Seeking Opportunities - Sidebar

Virginia Museum of Transportation

As opportunities arise, we embrace them and grow. In response to an invitation to participate in plans for the future; a concept of a Regional Transportation Hub being located adjacent to, and together with, The Virginia Museum of Transportation.

Establishing a "Round-About" @ Salem & 3rd, with aggressive treeplanting, will establish a pedestrian friendy prominence signalling a Regional Transportation Hub. An ideal location is created for a "Marquee" for the Virginia Museum of Transportation.

Extending the architecture of the historic building south toward Salem Avenue provides shade, protection from the weather for terminal users and museum vistors alike.

Perhaps a Regional Transportation Hub would have a Segway Rental Center. Maybe it would include a Shuttle Terminal for the Airport, the Civic Center, the Medical Centers. The Valley Metro Downtown depot? Rail Excursion connection?

Transforming such vision into reality is not under the control of individuals, but within ...the power of our community. If we can establish a community vision, we can all find ways to implement the dream incrementally.

Can the Virginia Museum of Transportation serve to help envision and describe the future of Transportation as well?
"The world will not evolve past its current state of crisis by using the same thinking that created the situation."
Albert Einstein

Seeking Opportunities - #2

Prominent and Proud

Formal Entry to our beloved Hotel Roanoke

In August 2009, 22 citizens gathered with camera in hand to document their impressions of a Walking Photo Tour through downtown Roanoke from the Historic Entry to the Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center to the Transportation Museum. At our starting point, we enjoyed the well-kept beauty of the space with intriguing views toward Mill Mountain.



Imagining ourselves as visitors to Roanoke, we wondered about the lack of a prominent pedestrian access the Higher Education Center. As we walked down the middle of the asphalt drive toward the O. Winston Link Museum (there is an adjacent walkway but it was not as open and inviting with many steps), we saw the guests transporting their luggage found the drive for vehicles to be much more convenient.



The prominence of this major space and importance to the region, as established by public investment, could & should present greater availability to the assets of our community.

As we waited to begin our tour, we observed that more shade trees might soften the space making every entry more inviting.

Seeking Opportunities - #1

North Jefferson Street

near the entrance to the Higher Education Center

In the 1950’s the grade crossing over the railroad tracks was closed between North & South Jefferson Streets creating a separation in the core of downtown. When The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center was developed, the developers (The City of Roanoke & the Virginia Tech Foundation) saw no need to provide any connection to North Jefferson St with the exception of some service and delivery activities because the NS Office Building North had been recently vacated by the NS. When the Higher Education Center was created, its main entrance was oriented to the West to take advantage of parking & expansion opportunities. As a result North Jefferson Street lost even more of its prominence and utilization as the City’s central corridor.

Recent investigation into immediate neighborhood interest in re-establishing vitality on North Jefferson Street revealed HRCC concern that opening the Conference Center to North Jefferson would likely have a negative impact on revenues for the hotel and conference center. The Higher Education Center, the Claude Moore Educational Center, and the Dumas Center all have numerous spaces available for booking for a variety of meeting functions and sizes. Easy accessability to these alternatives presents competition to HRCC.

Apparently, the greatest immediate need at the hotel is more guest rooms. An architectural firm has been retained to develop a preliminary design that responds to this need. It is my understanding that part of the design program includes additional meeting facilities. Currently additional meeting facilities are not required, but additional guest rooms create the additional need.

In 1992, the "Renew Roanoke" campaign was launched to raise enough money to reopen the hotel. Individuals and businesses from Roanoke region donated generously to this campaign. Further funding was provided by the citizens of Roanoke via tax dollars through the City of Roanoke. The City built the conference center and the multimillion dollar pedestrian bridge to the famous City Market. As a result the City of Roanoke became partners with the Virginia Tech Foundation as owners of the facilities. In its current configuration, the HRCC is the only beneficiary of the pedestrian bridge.

The irony is that the City of Roanoke government is now positioned as an obstacle to cultivating economic development in the northern sector of downtown.

Seeking Opportunities - Introduction

Since late fall I’ve been struggling with exploring possibilities in regard to defining next steps for The Heart of Roanoke. Should it be a formal organization as defined by IRS codes? Should I continue it under my existing professional corporation? How can we engage more input from the community and design professionals? These remain questions for which I am seeking input.

When I began this adventure several months ago, my vision was that I would go through the urban design procedures that I have throughout my career in an open forum. It would be an Urban Design Lab online. Finally, during this period of “cabin fever”, I’ve realized that I have needed to get back on my original track. After months of data collection, photo comments, walking photo tours & model building; the next step is Seeking Opportunities.

The process of seeking opportunities includes spotlighting underutilized areas of downtown; disconnected circulation patterns; and infrastructure shortcomings, including utilities, streetscaping and aesthetic detractions. The following step will include proposing, critiquing, and evaluating proposed solutions to each of the spotlighted areas or problems, incrementally, yet, maintaining focus and impact on adjacent areas.

I’ll begin posting descriptions of each of the spotlighted areas, identifying problems and issues that would benefit by correction. We’ll be seeking comments from everyone focused on those identified problem areas.

I very often like to describe Community Design & Planning to gardening. Both do best with an initial plan that considers circulation, orientation to the sun, compatible planting & uses, tilling, cultivating, weeding, tending. Both are organisms that need continuing attention.

During this current stage of our adventure, we are spotlighting problem areas in our garden that need attention to allow the garden to flourish. We’ll begin on the North side of Downtown and follow with the rest of Downtown.

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE 21ST CENTURY

INTRODUCTION

• This journey that we as a human race are currently pressing on toward has a destination that we may be able to foresee as the center of the 21st Century. We’ll consider the beginning at the start of the Second Industrial Revolution, when the development of steam-powered ships, railways, and later in the 19th century with the internal combustion engine and electrical power generation. More locally, this time of beginning coincides fairly well with reconstruction after the Civil War and the emergence of the City of Roanoke.

REEVALUATING & RESTRUCTURING THE URBAN DESIGN PROCESS FOR POSTERITY

Unlimited talent and resources are opening up to analyze our current community, envision and define corrections to stale land use conditions; identify, evaluate and implement corrections within a rigorous review process that is endorsed by the affected community. “The Heart of Roanoke” is the harbinger of a major shift in our approach to guiding ourselves into a sustainable future. What course corrections can we and should we implement within our current fiscal means and within the Centerpiece of our urban environment, Downtown Roanoke?



And how can this adventure serve as a model for sustainable neighborhood development in the future within the scope of our community resources?



Over 40 years of experience in the field of Building, Architecture, Design, & Planning have molded my perception of our built environment and its impact upon our lives. Over many years, I sought professional association with those who achieved stature within my profession, hoping I could learn from their “success.” I found that I could also learn from their failures. Even more importantly, I learned from their experiences along with my own.



I have conducted “planning and design processes” for communities over a 30 year period. I’ve learned that the most successful projects that I have been engaged in have been those with “transparent” participation of the users of those projects. Achieving such participation leads to identification of and celebration of our heritage and our future.



Thirty years ago, the celebration created around our “city market area” produced a model for urban renewal nationwide. We were led to the idea of celebrating who we are, as compared with our longing to “keep up with the Joneses.” Roanoke needs to be happy being Roanoke; not longing to model our community and ourselves after another community.



I am committed to the idea that we need to discover and celebrate who we are to achieve happiness. The political strategy of polarization over issues creates toxic pools of stagnation and threatens our existence. At the very least we should eliminate partisan politics and clarify our expectations of our governmental representatives in local issues. We must be the model for our dreams.

Now as we enter the 2nd decade of the New Millenium ...

We Get Wiser (Punctuation Marks Optional)

Christmas morning 2009 looking out the east window of the kitchen

My New Year's Resolutions:

1. Communicate change, one step, at a time.
2. Collaborate instead of Compete.
3. Avoid "hosing down" with too much information.
4. Preserve and grow value in my community.
5. Remember that what I think that someone else thinks of me is not my business.