12 Acres near Seattles Downtown Getting Attention

[Steve]

This is an interesting article from NPR regarding Downtown Seattle.  Wish we were in the same position....

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/07/16/PM200707165.html

[Jason]

The last 12 acres... I can picture the day when Jacksonville will be filling up the last of its undeveloped land with a super high density mixed use development.


Could this be what Jax will look like?













There is still gobs of land left, even after filling up many of the existing surface lots with buildings.

[tufsu1]

whats really interesting is the new Sculpture Garden built in the area by the Seattle Art Museum....Jax has mentioned using the new Main St. pocket park for scuplture as well....but most on this site seem to just bash it!

[chrissy]

whats really interesting is the new Sculpture Garden built in the area by the Seattle Art Museum....Jax has mentioned using the new Main St. pocket park for scuplture as well....but most on this site seem to just bash it!

A sculpture garden would be wonderful, but it has to be properly placed. Too few people would venture across the expressway that is Main St to hang out with the guys who just left the Salvation Army center around the corner from the pocket park.

Hemming Plaza would make a nice sculpture garden, centrally located, easily accessible ... too bad vagrants are taking it over again.

[thelakelander]

A sculpture garden would be wonderful, but it has to be properly placed.

BINGO!  There's nothing wrong with the concept of pocket parks in the urban core, as long as they are properly integrated.  For some reason its so hard to get most to understand why placement, connectivity and integration are so important.  If we could just have embraced that concept 15 years ago and applied it to the things we've constructed since then, the core would be filled with people on a 24/7 basis.

[tufsu1]

feel free to check out the location of Seattle's new park...and then get back to me!

[Jason]

Here is the location of the triangle shaped property the article speaks about.


See the space needle way off to the left of the CBD?







A close up...





Suprisingly, there are a couple surface lots in and around the CBD but I wouldn't think they would stick around very long.

[Jason]

feel free to check out the location of Seattle's new park...and then get back to me!

Here is the site I assume the new park is going.





Check out the differences between this location (surrounded by density) and Jacksonville's new pocket park.







Our park is surrounded by parking lots and faces the rear end of a blank wall with a couple doors in it.  Seattle's park will be surrounded by office buildings and residential towers in a very pedestrian friendly environment.  Now, our new park could eventually become a gem once the surrounding area is built up but why couldn't the city have tasked a developer to build a park by issuing an RFP for workforce housing on the property?  It would have eliminated another surface lot, added people to downtown, added tax dollars to the city budget, and potential retail fronting the street could have fed off of the library as well as the library feeding off of it. 

I'm not bashing the park, I'm bashing the method in which it was created.

[thelakelander]

feel free to check out the location of Seattle's new park...and then get back to me!

If this map is correct, it's a 9 acre site located on the waterfront and surrounded on three sides by a pedestrian friendly dense complex of condos/apartments and offices.  The last side is the waterfront with a streetcar rail line.

Btw, it also has it's own built in destination generators in the form of a sidewalk cafe/restaurant and a retail shop.
http://www.tastesam.com/cafe_osp_menu.aspx

It also helps that if you want to take the streetcar line to get to the Space Needle, you'll have to walk right past it to get from Point A (streetcar/Pier 70) to Point B (Space Needle/Key Arena/Seattle Center) via Broad Street (see map above).




It may not be Central Park, but that's a far cry from the little thing on Main Street, which is surrounded by surface parking lots, parking garages, a high speed one way street, the Salvation Army and the butt of the library.

http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/visit/pdf/OSPmapartdescriptions.pdf

Olympic Sclupture Park


Greening of Main Pocket Park


With all that said, we've wasted $700k creating a park in a space that would have been more suitable in being put back on the tax rolls.  Nevertheless it needs a reason to keep people coming back on a regular basis, so if somehow we could come up with a theme, whether that's moving a farmer's market there, adding a sidewalk cafe, tot lot and kiddie fountain or putting in a "decent" sclupture garden, then by all means we should do whatever it takes to overcome it's locational shortcomings.

[Jason]

Oops, I was wrong about the park location.  Thanks Ennis.

[tufsu1]

yes...the location was way off base

I agree that the new park in Seattle is surrounded by condos (a relatively new neighborhood) and the water....but the park itself is the destination....its location is secondary!

here are some pics

[thelakelander]

But both are equally important.  An integrated location helps it become a much larger destination on a pedestrian level.  It wouldn't get half the amount of traffic it gets now if it were located somewhere in suburban Seattle.

Here's a good link for urban park planning.  If we could incorporate these steps into our planning structure, then the discussion concerning the Main Street pocket park would not even be needed.  Instead, we would all be gathered to celebrate the restoration of Hemming Plaza or Friendship Fountain.

http://www.pps.org/squares/info/squares_articles/squares_principles

Ten Principles for Creating Successful Squares

Small details add up to great places.

Squares have been a core focus of PPS beginning with our first project 30 years ago--Rockefeller Center's Channel Gardens. We've honed the ten principles below based on the hundreds of squares--the good and the bad--that we've analyzed and observed since then. What stands out most is that design is only a small fraction of what goes into making a great square. To really succeed, a square must take into account a host of factors that extend beyond its physical dimensions.


1. Image and Identity


A popular square in Copenhagen, Denmark.Historically, squares were the center of communities, and they traditionally helped shape the identity of entire cities. Sometimes a fountain was used to give the square a strong image: Think of the majestic Trevi Fountain in Rome or the Swann Fountain in Philadelphia's Logan Circle. The image of many squares was closely tied to the great civic buildings located nearby, such as cathedrals, city halls, or libraries. Today, creating a square that becomes the most significant place in a city--that gives identity to whole communities--is a huge challenge, but meeting this challenge is absolutely necessary if great civic squares are to return.


2. Attractions and Destinations


Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco.Any great square has a variety of smaller "places" within it to appeal to various people. These can include outdoor cafés, fountains, sculpture, or a bandshell for performances. These attractions don't need to be big to make the square a success. In fact, some of the best civic squares have numerous small attractions such as a vendor cart or playground that, when put together, draw people throughout the day. We often use the idea of "The Power of Ten" to set goals for destinations within a square. Creating ten good places, each with ten things to do, offers a full program for a successful square.


3. Amenities


Circular benches provide a comfortable place to sit in Rockefeller Center, New York City.A square should feature amenities that make it comfortable for people to use. A bench or waste receptacle in just the right location can make a big difference in how people choose to use a place. Lighting can strengthen a square's identity while highlighting specific activities, entrances, or pathways. Public art can be a great magnet for children of all ages to come together. Whether temporary or permanent, a good amenity will help establish a convivial setting for social interaction.


4. Flexible Design


Tennis on the square, Copenhagen.The use of a square changes during the course of the day, week, and year. To respond to these natural fluctuations, flexibility needs to be built in. Instead of a permanent stage, for example, a retractable or temporary stage could be used. Likewise, it is important to have on-site storage for movable chairs, tables, umbrellas, and games so they can be used at a moment's notice.


5. Seasonal Strategy


The holiday market in New York's Union Square.A successful square can't flourish with just one design or management strategy. Great squares such as Bryant Park, the plazas of Rockefeller Center, and Detroit's new Campus Martius change with the seasons. Skating rinks, outdoor cafés, markets, horticulture displays, art and sculpture help adapt our use of the space from one season to the next.


6. Access


A short pedestrian crossing at Plaza Santa Ana in Madrid, Spain.To be successful, a square needs to be easy to get to. The best squares are always easily accessible by foot: Surrounding streets are narrow; crosswalks are well marked; lights are timed for pedestrians, not vehicles; traffic moves slowly; and transit stops are located nearby. A square surrounded by lanes of fast-moving traffic will be cut off from pedestrians and deprived of its most essential element: people.


7. The Inner Square & the Outer Square


Ground floor retail rings the edge of this square in Verona, Italy.Visionary park planner Frederick Law Olmsted's idea of the "inner park" and the "outer park" is just as relevant today as it was over 100 years ago. The streets and sidewalks around a square greatly affect its accessibility and use, as do the buildings that surround it. Imagine a square fronted on each side by 15-foot blank walls -- that is the worst-case scenario for the outer square. Then imagine that same square situated next to a public library: the library doors open right onto the square; people sit outside and read on the steps; maybe the children's reading room has an outdoor space right on the square, or even a bookstore and cafe. An active, welcoming outer square is essential to the well-being of the inner square.


8. Reaching Out Like an Octopus


A great square reaches out into the surrounding neighborhood, like Piazza Maggiore in Bologna, Italy.Just as important as the edge of a square is the way that streets, sidewalks and ground floors of adjacent buildings lead into it. Like the tentacles of an octopus extending into the surrounding neighborhood, the influence of a good square (such as Union Square in New York) starts at least a block away. Vehicles slow down, walking becomes more enjoyable, and pedestrian traffic increases.  Elements within the square are visible from a distance, and the ground floor activity of buildings entices pedestrians to move toward the square.[/u][/color]


9. The Central Role of Management


Attentive maintenance is an essential part of good management in St. Stephen's Green, Dublin.The best places are ones that people return to time and time again. The only way to achieve this is through a management plan that understands and promotes ways of keeping the square safe and lively. For example, a good manager understands existing and potential users and gears events to both types of people. Good managers become so familiar with the patterns of how people use the park that waste receptacles get emptied at just the right time and refreshment stands are open when people most want them. Good managers create a feeling of comfort and safety in a square, fixing and maintaining it so that people feel assured that someone is in charge.


10. Diverse Funding Sources


Sponsorships can help fund events like Festa Italiana in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square.A well-managed square is generally beyond the scope of the average city parks or public works department, which is why partnerships have been established to operate most of the best squares in the United States. These partnerships seek to supplement what the city can provide with funding from diverse sources, including--but not limited to--rent from cafés, markets or other small commercial uses on the site; taxes on adjacent properties; film shoots; and benefit fundraisers.