How might we re-imagine the suburbs? An exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York examines that question from an architectural standpoint. While the designs are rather dramatic, perhaps the most interesting idea is that we need to “change the dream.” That means re-thinking home ownership and single-family homes. So, yes, density. But [...]
Park Central Square is finished. Here are the results. You’ll see that it has become a more pedestrian-friendly place. Technorati Tags: Springfield Missouri, Urban and Regional Planning, urban design, urban development, Urban Planning
Just in time for the First Friday Art Walk, the Square is open again. Here’s an iPhone image from a few minutes ago. Technorati Tags: cycling, urban design, urban development, Urban Planning
The following is an e-mail issued by Butler, Rosenbury & Partners today about the renovations to Park Central Square: Construction crews are finishing work on Park Central Square in downtown Springfield 20 days ahead of schedule. This is the culmination of a four-year effort to improve Springfield’s Public Square. History Originally positioned as the city center in 1838, [...]
The Holy Grail of bicycle advocacy is numbers of kiesters in saddles on two wheels on the road. Some advocates are willing to do almost anything to increase participation — including putting novices in danger. There’s a “but”: It appears rather clear that the more people who ride bicycles in a given area the safer [...]
A poll by the National Association of Realtors earlier this spring showed that Americans’ attitudes about where to live may be changing. A few (cherry-picked) highlights: Americans are three times more likely to say that the quality of life in their communities has gotten worse (35%) rather than better (12%) in the last three years. [...]
OK, actually a reason that’s not talked about enough… So, what can bicycling do for us and our towns and cities? The usual reasons to ride a bicycle include: health, wealth, relieve traffic congestion, and (add two or three things you think of most). Kasey Klimes, wrting for This Big City, says the following is [...]
Maybe the people who are concerned with such things have already thought of the potential evident in the following picture: That’s Patton Alley in front of the Patton Alley Pub. The streetscaping project created a nice, wide sidewalk. Two things I’d like to see here: Two or three bicycle u-racks placed the proper distance from [...]
It’s now official: Sometime before the middle of May the city will build a bicycle corral at the corner of Walnut and South in downtown Springfield, according to David Hutchison, city traffic engineer. The corral will separately park 12 bicycles and 5 motorcycles. It will be located in the current loading zone on the north [...]
This article in USA Today set me to thinking. I could live in one of these communities. I would be especially interested if it were situated in Springfield’s urban core close to downtown. So, any Carbon Trace readers think this idea has possibilities? UPDATE: Join the local Pocket Neighborhood group on Facebook. Technorati Tags: bicycle [...]
Joel Kotkin, writing on the NewGeography site, says that America’s biggest brain magnets are not the big coastal cities: “Indeed, college graduates, for the most part, are heading not to the big cities on the coasts, but to smaller, less dense and quite often Sun Belt cities.” His conclusion might seem written with Springfield in [...]
I was in Florida when the following news article was published in the Springfield News-Leader on 5 January: How Can We Attract Young Professionals? Here are the first few paragraphs: Expanding local trails, banning public smoking and confronting the city’s lack of diversity are ways for Springfield to attract and retain young professionals, according to a [...]
The following is a Q&A with Tim Rosenbury, of Butler Rosenbury & Partners, about the continued renovation 0f Park Central Square. I conducted this interview by e-mail last week. The .pdf files linked in the text were supplied by BR&P. CT: When does the final phase of renovation begin, and when will it be finished? Rosenbury: Construction [...]
File this under “well, duh”! It appears that urban sprawl has made us fatter (abstract): In this paper, we examine the effect of changes in population density—urban sprawl—between 1970 and 2000 on BMI and obesity of residents in metropolitan areas in the U.S. We address the possible endogeneity of population density by using a two-step [...]
Springfieldians have great access to higher education. Take your pick: OTC, MSU, Drury, Evangel. Springfield is large enough, however, not to have the feel of college town similar to Columbia, Missouri. There’s nothing wrong with that. But there’s something terribly wrong with our ranking in College Destination Index published by the American Institute of Economic [...]
