In
my last post, I began my report from CNU 22, the 22nd
annual meeting of the Congress for the New Urbanism. Today, I’ll offer some moments from the
conference. Not detailed analysis, but
just moments. Snippets of conversation
or observations that give a flavor to what it’s like to hang out for five days
with urbanists, looking at the world through urbanist-tinted glasses.
Buffalo
versus Dallas: CNU 23 will be held in Dallas, a choice that many CNU
members found odd because of the pervasive suburban slant of Texas. The destination will be in sharp contrast to
Buffalo with its proud history of urban glory and its current efforts to
recapture some of that glory.
But CNU
folks understood than much of the world would find Dallas the more desirable
destination. I rode in from the airport
with a CNU member from Dallas who expressed it best, “Only to urbanists would Buffalo
be better than Dallas.”
Buffalo
Streetscape: Downtown Buffalo is
filled with great buildings. The photo
is of the Buffalo City Hall, an art deco masterpiece that is on the National
Register of Historic Places. And it’s
surrounded by buildings that are equally striking. They bespeak of a time when Buffalo was among
the leading cities in the country.
But the
sidewalks of Buffalo are oddly quiet.
The occasional pedestrians appear lonely among the tall buildings. And they can jaywalk with ease because of the
paucity of cars. A fellow CNU attendee
expressed it well. “It’s as if we’ve
come upon the abandoned city of a great civilization. But we aren’t the first to arrive. Others arrived before us and are now slowly beginning
to repopulate the buildings.”
Buffalo
Weather: Buffalo is well-known for
its weather, particularly the “lake effect” snowfalls of wintertime. On the opening evening, I chatted with a
member of the local host committee and asked about the snow. He acknowledged that it gets deep, but also
noted that Buffalo knows how to deal with snow, so the city still functions well
on most days.
Besides, he
noted, “No one stays home when it snows heavily. Those are the nights when you have to be at
the pub with your friends, watching the snow pile up.” That seemed a fine measure of civic life.
Buffalo
Skyway: The outgoing CNU president and CEO, former Milwaukee mayor John
Norquist, has been using his political capital to advocate for the removal of
urban freeways where surface boulevards can provide the same traffic function. Norquist argues that conversion to boulevards
would eliminate community dividers, improving civic life and bumping property
values.
In the Bay
Area, removal of the Embarcadero Freeway and replacement of the Central Freeway
with Octavia Avenue are examples of the kind of urban transformations that
Norquist is seeking.
(In the
North Bay, I’d suggest that Highway 12 east from Santa Rosa toward Bennett
Valley is another freeway segment where the community would be better served by
a boulevard. And also perhaps Highway 29
through Napa.)
Given that
background, it was interesting that the opening night function was held at First
Niagara Center, immediately adjoining the Buffalo Skyway. The Skyway is among the prime targets of urbanists
who argue that the flyover of the Erie Canal accomplishes little except sapping
the life of the land beneath it.
I walked to First
Niagara Center with a group of conference attendees. As we approached the building, I noted a sign
on the surface street beneath the Skyway, “Watch for Falling Debris”. Looking up, the Skyway was the only possible
source of debris. Yup, I can imagine
that constantly looking for hubcaps falling from the freeway fifty feet above
is a damper on urban street life. We
hurried inside.
More moments
will follow in the next post.
Greetings
Blog
readership jumped with my last post. A
really big jump. And darned if I know why. I checked several possibilities, but none proved
out. Perhaps it was only because I included
“CNU 22” in the title. To be safe, I again
included CNU 22 in this title. And will
continue to do so for the next few posts.
But
regardless of why the new readers arrived, you’re welcome. I hope you stay around. I’ve been described as an urban generalist,
touching at various times on land-use, density, traffic, transit, municipal
finances, climate change, travel, and any other aspect of urbanism that catches
my attention. And I often try, with
varying levels of success, to apply the information to my home territory, the
counties that are arrayed around the north end of San Francisco Bay.
If you have
any questions or comments, let me know.
Milestone
Early in the
history of this blog, I noted when readership passed 1,000, 5,000, and then
10,000 pageviews. Those milestones
seemed to add validity to my early efforts, but I eventually decided that I
needn’t note every landmark.
However, I
passed 100,000 early this week and couldn’t let that milestone pass
unnoted. (I probably would have passed 100,000
even without the readership jump, but the new folks assured that I moved past
the threshold with good velocity.)
Thanks to
all the readers who have been part of the 100,000. Thanks for coming back three times a week and
for becoming part of the conversation.
Schedule Notes
The first
couple of downtown/ballpark outings are nearly upon us. Dates and places are below. If you wish to join the outings, let me know. We can coordinate on meeting places, etc.
San Rafael: Friday,
June 13 – Pittsburg Mettle at San Rafael Pacifics, first pitch 7:05pm
Alameda: Sunday,
June 15 – Sacramento Spikes at Neptune Beach Pearl, first pitch 3:00pm
As always,
your questions or comments will be appreciated.
Please comment below or email me.
And thanks for reading. - Dave Alden (davealden53@comcast.net)
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