KJP

^ OK, you say elsewhere it was the worst joke of the year, but now it's worthy of "favorite quote" honors? Can I really count on you, Marc?

no one can deny that he is a masterful public speaker and has charisma that was perhaps unequaled in City Hall past and present. Very true. But those types of personalities can cause people to jump up and down with enthusiasm at the same time you've fallen asleep and they're picking your pocket.

We aims to please

HARVARD UNIVERSITY TEAM WINS 2006 ULI GERALD D. HINES STUDENT URBAN DESIGN COMPETITION For more information, call Trisha Riggs at 202/624-7086 or email: [email protected] WASHINGTON (April 5, 2006) -- A plan drafted by a Harvard University team to redevelop a 100-acre former industrial site in St. Louis has been selected as the winning scheme in the fourth annual ULI (Urban Land Institute) Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition. The team's entry was selected over plans submitted by other competition finalist teams from Columbia University, the University of California, Berkeley and another team from Harvard University. The graduate student teams, competing in a student ideas competition, were charged with master planning a parcel located between the northern and southern sections of Saint Louis University's campus. The competition site intersects with part of the proposed Chouteau Greenway, a $400 million multi-purpose project that will involve creating a greenway from Memorial Park on the Mississippi River westward to the city's 1,300-acre Forest Park, over a course set to include 195 acres of public space and 2,000 acres of mixed-use redeveloped space. The winning team was announced after the final round of the competition, which was held in St. Louis on March 31. The ULI Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition was created in 2002 to honor the legacy of urban development pioneer Gerald D. Hines, chairman of the Hines real estate organization and the 2002 recipient of the ULI J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development. The competition is open to graduate students who are pursuing real estate-related studies at a North American university, including programs in real estate development, city planning, urban design, architecture and landscape architecture. As the winner, the interdisciplinary Harvard team was awarded a $50,000 prize. Team members were Thomas Hussey (Master of Architecture in Urban Design); Christina Cambruzzi (Master of Urban Planning); Oliver Corlette (Master of Business Administration); Patrick Curran (Master of Landscape Architecture II); and Tyler Meyr (Master of Architecture in Urban Design). The three remaining finalist teams each received $10,000. The competition is designed as an exercise; there is no guarantee that the students' plans will be implemented as part of any revitalization of the site. The potential for the Chouteau project to become a major city asset was initially recognized by Richard D. Baron, co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of McCormack Baron Salazar, and, like Hines, a former laureate of the ULI J.C. Nichols Prize. The greenway project is expected to generate up to 10,000 units of housing along and adjoining its entire length upon completion, anticipated in seven years. The actual greenway will parallel existing railroad tracks and Interstate 64, which lead downtown and traverse several established neighborhoods. The Midtown neighborhood, centered along Grand Boulevard, contains the 100-acre competition site, in a light industrial zone along the boulevard between the northern and southern sections of Saint Louis University's campus. The development challenge for the students was to propose a master plan for an economically-sustainable mixed-use development that would connect the two portions of the campus, adding at least 1,000 units of affordable, workforce, and market-rate housing, taking advantage of existing transit access points, and creating one of many entry points to the regional greenway system. The winning redevelopment plan, "Bridging Innovation at Grand Crossing," proposed to leverage the east-west intracity connections made possible by Chouteau Greenway by creating a north-south "academic spine" along the Grand Boulevard bridge. An urban northern edge and a biotech-oriented southern edge would unite the Saint Louis University campus around a mixed-use node where academics, biotechnology, transit, recreation, commercial, and residential activities could concentrate. "This hotbed of life science research, academia, and innovation stimulates economic development and provides numerous public and community benefits," stated the plan. Jury members commended the winning team for its use of the greenway as both a tool for economic development as well as a recreational amenity, and for designing a scheme that ensured connectivity to the surrounding neighborhoods. The jury was also impressed with the plan's proposal to narrow Grand Avenue to slow vehicular traffic and make the area more pedestrian-friendly. Plans from the other three teams were: * "Aurora," from another Harvard University team, which proposed the creation of a biotech research, development, and entrepreneurial center that represents Saint Louis University's interface with the local biotech industry. It accepted the commercial corridors of Grand Boulevard, Chouteau Avenue, and Forest Park Boulevard, filled the interior of the blocks with appropriate uses, and established a symbiotic relationship with the Greenway. * "Weave," from the University of California, Berkeley, which proposed an urban prototype for St. Louis that rejects the creation of a specific-use redevelopment district and instead introduces explicit north-south connections throughout the site that weaves it into the communities to its north and south. While the Chouteau Greenway is the major east-west cross-weave, smaller strips of green space would weave through the site, eventually connecting with the Greenway. Reinforcing the vision of a community developed around transit and other urban amenities would be a magnet school in close proximity to Saint Louis University and the Armory, with the Armory redeveloped as a performing arts center. * "+20," from Columbia University, which introduced a skywalk system that connects Saint Louis University's Frost campus with its health sciences center. The skywalk allows pedestrians to move from one end of the university campus to the other without interference from vehicular and freight traffic, and draws student activities into the project area, where they can be shared by the academic and medical communities. At the landscape level, environmental strategies create open and green spaces, and site edges blend discreetly into the surrounding community. All the schemes demonstrated impressive levels of creativity and innovation, noted Jury Chairman John Bucksbaum, chief executive officer of General Growth Properties, Inc., in Chicago. "These plans reflect a tremendous amount of talent," he said. "All of you have a lot to look forward to in your careers. You have great futures ahead," Bucksbaum told the students. In addition to Bucksbaum, other members of the jury - all renowned real estate development, urban planning and design experts -- were Edward A. Feiner, director of operations, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, Washington, D.C.; Denise A. Gammon, senior vice president, Forest City Development, Denver; Mark W. Johnson, president, Civitas, Inc., Denver; former Pittsburgh Mayor Thomas J. Murphy, Jr.; E. Staman Ogilvie, executive vice president, Hines Interests Limited Partnership, Houston; Evan Rose, principal, SMWM, San Francisco; and Thomas L. Safran, president, Thomas Safran & Associates, Los Angeles. The four finalists were chosen from 81 teams comprised of more than 400 students representing 30 universities in the U.S. and Canada. Seven team entries were previously selected for honorable mentions: "Synergy in Plan," from the University of California, Berkeley; "{photo}SYNTHESIS," the University of Pennsylvania; "Connegration," the University of Illinois; "Vision Grand: A Village in the City," the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo; "Grand Street Gateway," the University of Pennsylvania; "Mill Creek Square," University of Southern California; and "University Commons," University of Texas, Austin. "For me, the lesson coming out of this is the emphasis on collaboration in the design process," said landscape architecture student Patrick Curran, a member of the winning team. The competition was a great way to experience "working on the same level" with others to see a project through to completion, he said. Added team member Christina Cambruzzi, who is studying urban planning: "I learned more during this time (participating in the competition) than I have during my entire time in the program. The chance to work on an interdisciplinary team is a unique opportunity." The ULI Gerald D. Hines Urban Design Competition has been funded in perpetuity with a $3 million endowment from Gerald Hines. Hines is widely known as an industry leader who pioneered the use of high-quality planning and architecture as a marketable feature of development in office, residential and mixed-use projects across the United States and in 13 foreign countries. "The work by these outstanding students convinces me that the future of our built environment is in good hands," Hines said. For more information on the competition, visit www.udcompetition.uli.org. The Urban Land Institute (http://t.media-bytes.com/a/6760/b/13794/c/28658/d/1/e/1/u/352908965is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide responsible leadership in the use of land in order to enhance the total environment. Established in 1936, the Institute has more than 30,000 members representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. - 30 -

I count the following threads dealing with TV, film makers, productions etc in Cleveland (Grasscat, help!).... http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=8345.0 http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=8340.0 http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=3329.0 http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=5559.0 http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=7872.0 http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=8168.0

Mine was a joke, Robclevoh.

I agree. And besides, I would think that smoking weed would motivate him to build a downtown skyscraper. That way he could get even higher.

^ Awesome :laugh:

I ain't laughing. The PD scooped me. My story in tomorrow's paper about Montgomery deals only with how he might help the metro area. I guess I'll just have to keep on living with writing more constructive articles.

The plan is to put the station between Euclid and Mayfield, with pedestrian access enhanced to both roads. I wonder about this from a cost perspective, since RTA station platforms are almost always between the two tracks, and I don't think the tracks are spread far enough apart south of the current station. That means realigning them, which would be pretty costly.

That was my first thought. The hotels and bed-n-breakfasts that are there are a little too upscale for middle-class families or young urban trekkers to afford, nor do they appeal to their tastes. Get a Baymont, Super8, Best Western or similar budget but often-clean hotel in University Circle and you'll get more people there, within walking distance of the museums, etc.

Not yet. I will follow up with RTA PR guy Jerry Masek. I wanted to let folks here be aware that such a policy was being considered.

Welcome! I hope you post more on educational issues with your inside track, as well as any and all other urban stuff you consider important.

OK, I suspected this was going to come sooner or later to transit systems, especially those with fixed facilities/routes. Here comes "naming rights" -- a revenue opportunity for transit systems as they face higher energy costs. Hell, I just wish they would have ads inside their buses and trains -- not just those non-revenue safety/courtesy ads. Here's a PowerPoint presentation saved as a PDF, which was presented to an RTA board committee today.... http://members.cox.net/kenatsun/RTAnamingrights04-04-2006.pdf

You'll be pleased to learn that the RTA Board of Trustees Planning & Development Committee today recommended to the full board approval of the TOD consultant contract, not to exceed $60,000. Funded in part with NOACA TLCI dollars, the consultant TR Advisors, will assist RTA in developing a set of modern TOD guidelines. The contract will include advising RTA on forthcoming TOD/Joint Development proposals for E66th & Euclid, W. 25th St. and Windermere as well as conducting TOD workshops. It was clear from comments by RTA Trustee Bev Burtzlaff, that the intent was to institutionalize TOD by educating the region's development community and expanding on RTA's ability to become incorporated in development projects. And as mentioned before on this site, TOD/Station Planning will proceed this year at the E. 120th-Euclid and Lee-Van Aken stations. By the way, here is a link to a PowerPoint presentation (saved as a PDF) that was given at today's RTA meeting.... http://members.cox.net/kenatsun/RTATOD04042006.pdf

I have a few questions: 1. To what city is the TWC headquarters going to go? 2. Are you confident that some TWC operations can be brought here? 3. If so, roughly how many jobs are we talking about? 4. Would they want a vertical building for offices, or a horizontal building for operations like warehousing, equipment, servicing etc.? 5. Lastly, if this idiot wronged you, then why keep it a secret? If you'd like to speak off the record, send me a private message. I will keep your identity hidden in how I would write an article, as Sun Newspapers' downtown Cleveland beat reporter. Those who hold back the city should be made publicly accountable for their actions (or lack thereof).

Target and a relocation of the Giant Eagle at West 116th and Clifton will not front the sidewalk at I-90 and West 117th, much to the dismay of the Councilwoman Dona Brady (and me!). Their location will be less convenient to me. I can no longer walk there as easily, thus I will be taking the circulator to the Giant Eagle at Bunts and Detroit or maybe the Tops just north of that (circulator goes right to Tops' front door).

Glad to see something's going in there, and that it's not a chain or another gas station. Though I had dreams that an historic-looking brick townhouse or three would be put there, overlooking Edgewater Park. But I can't complain.

The buses start running April 10.

I keep hearing a lot more about nanotechnology growth here. It came up in several interviews I did today on regional economic development. Looks like there's more than just passing interest in making it one of our new economic cornerstones.

oops! :type:

And to you, Algeria!

I'm not surprised Ohio has more manufacturing than Michigan. Ohio has more population, and once you get outside of metro Detroit, there isn't as much of concentration of manufacturing elsewhere. Yeah, there's places like Flint and Saginaw, but those are small like Youngstown and Warren -- with similar downfalls in manufacturing prowess.

Nice pics. The black and white works.

This is a shock to me. I never heard that St. Louis was pissed about Cincy before, considered it a rival or worse, an enemy. Cities do have their rivals, and my hometown of Cleveland is no different. Most are based on sports, as Clevelanders often think of Pittsburgh as a rival, and used to look at New York or Chicago as rivals (or perhaps still do, but moreso with envy). Though neither Chicago or New York likely even consider Cleveland. I also think Cleveland considers Columbus an economic rival, because the city of Columbus proper had eclipsed Cleveland as Ohio's largest city. But Clevelanders don't talk about Cincinnati much, except when football is concerned.