votewojcik.org

Thank you to Bill Bruins for providing this link that shows some urban design contrasts involving complete streets and street trees.

Here is a nice piece from a credible local blog.

http://www.designadvocacyforum.org/posts/70

Here is how they rated the building:

Using the section headings in the guidelines as a rubric, below is the scorecard for the project and along with a rationale.  5 Stars would be for an excellent example where very little could be improved.  1 Star would be for a complete failure to achieve the goals outlined in the guidelines. Read the rest of this entry »

Having lived near a roundabout for 6 years, I have become a huge fan of them.  In general they are safer, more efficient, calm traffic, and more aesthetically pleasing.  They are also very good at dealing with intersections where not everything is perfectly aligned at 90 degrees (Highway 14 and Marion Road is a great example). As a taxpayer, I love that operating costs are much lower than a signalized intersection. There is a large roundabout planned for US 63 and 75th street North.

One down side is that roundabouts can be intimidating for cyclists especially if they have multiple lanes or higher design speeds.

Here is a memo from Doug Knott discussing the proposed city involvement with the Metropolitan Market Place project.  As I have said before, so long as I am a board member (and finance chair) of the Good Food Store Coop, I will continue to recuse myself from council discussion / votes even though I technically probably don’t need to since I don’t have a financial interest.

Here are some highlights:

• City will sell Minnesota Energy site for $1.
• City will offer $1.45 million in redevelopment TIF.
• The project now includes the entire South end of the 500 block between 1st and 2nd Ave SW.
• The building project is worth $15.3 million.
• The coop space has grown to 27,000 sq. ft.
• There are 62 market rate units planned above ground level.
• I have sent a question as to that the building taxes will be, but it appears there will be a very fast payback for taxpayers.

Here are all the gory details from Doug Knott: Read the rest of this entry »

Here is something that Rochester desperately needs.  Our urban design standards are shamefully poor.  Just look at the 2nd street facade of the new Holiday Inn going up on 2nd Street for a case and point.  I hope we can elevate design standards in Rochester.

http://www.designadvocacyforum.org/

OK, when 4 people send me the same link I am perhaps too pigeonholed.  Here is an article from the NY Times on how European cities are addressing, mobility, congestion, and parking.  There is much wisdom in this approach, but we are a long way away from this point.  If we could do one change right now I would like to move from minimum parking standards to maximum. Read the rest of this entry »

Once again, I am opposed to huge river dead zones so I am heartened by another story of responsible development.

Philadelphia Storm Water Plans Read the rest of this entry »

Latest update with special guest!

This update includes discussion on:

• Villa / Chateau Road Safety
• Future Fire Station Location Purchase
• Minnesota Energy Site

I was sent this link to an outstanding piece of work done done Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission.  This is a guide on how to do dense design right and why it matters:

I am just posting the link as the file is 2.5 MB.

http://www.morpc.org/pdf/morpc_density_brochure_CS3.pdf

Some Highlights:

Density, done right, is a result of good principles and planning that can provide our daily needs and amenities efficiently without appearing cluttered or feeling crowded.

and

Sprawl has costs. When houses are further apart on larger lots, they require longer stretches of road pavement than are needed to serve the same number of households on a denser street.  Likewise, it requires more tax dollars to build and maintain sewer and water lines, and greater  cost for private gas, electric and other utility lines. Those same factors increase the distance
to schools, stores and other amenities. They also increase development costs – and therefore the price of homes. Suburban and township governments grow to accommodate the service needs of new housing and population, while old central city governments still have
the same land area to serve, but with less population and revenue. Current patterns of development add to the size and cost of government. They also lead to loss of farmland: Land that is easiest to develop also tends to be land that is most productive in growing food.

Just as sprawl has many drawbacks, density has benefits.  It allows compact and efficient use of land; efficient delivery of services; ease of travel on foot; and vibrant activity. It can draw a community together rather than push people apart.

I would add that perhaps the biggest cost of sprawl is actually public safety.  These facilities are built and located based on response times and a 10 acre lot really does consume 100 times more response area than a 0.1 acre lot.

The Greenway Foundation

Here is some information on Denver’s Amazing Waterfront Restoration, Protection and Redevelopment. I would love to see this type of vision for Rochester’s River fronts. Instead we vote a pathetic 4-3 to prevent a waterfront parking ramp.