My Built Environment: Good, Bad, and Really Ugly

Last month, ASLA’s blog, The Dirt, posted a ditty on Back Alley Walkability. I posted a comment that I would write about what Fort Collins has done recently to create walkable alleys, so here it is!

Like Architect David Winslow, Fort Collins downtown alleys are also widely used by pedestrians. In 2004 The City of Fort Collins, in conjunction with the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) embarked on a plan to improve two of the alleys that had been widely used by pedestrians for years as mid-block shortcuts. One of the alleys, Trimble Court, (pictured to the left) was a mid-block shortcut between the main drag of College Avenue and Old Town Square, a pedestrian mall. This alley already had a well established artists studio on it. The other alley, Tenney Court, became a widely used pedestrian shortcut after the construction of the Civic Center Parking Structure.

Both alleys had numerous trash dumpsters, utility boxes, poor lighting, and were generally unattractive. The goals of the city and the DDA was to consolidate trash dumpsters, screen and/or relocate utility boxes, vastly improve lighting and other pedestrian amenities such as providing benches, planters, new paving, and the improve the drainage and more.

As can be seen in the photos, all this has been achieved and more. The picture shown to the left, Tenney Alley, was in terrible shape prior to redevelopment. There were numerous trash dumpsters, graffitti, and a severely sloping pavement to accomodate the drainage. This carried through all the way to the public street. Prior to the year 2000, this alley was mostly a service alley. However, in 2000, the civic center parking structure was completed within this block, and therefor this alley became a pedestrian shortcut between the parking garage and the downtown shopping district. This parking garage also has liner stores and offices (of which our office is located), so a lot of employees also used this alley.

The major issue that was solved with this alley reconstruction, was the drainage. They installed a new drain line, leveled off the alley, and installed new modular pavers that really give the alley life. In addition, new light fixtures and planters were added. The light fixtures dramatically improved the nighttime safety of the alley, while the planters add a lot of summer color.However something else happened after this alley was completed that the DDA hoped would happen…a local businees owner reconstructed the alley facade of there building to create an inviting entrance off Tenney Court. Hopefully this will be the first of many revitalizations of Fort Collins Alleys. Another fun aspect of this particular alley, through the art in public places program, the utility boxes were turned into public art! A local artist has been painstakintly painting these boxes with a bubble motif…Note, that she is doing this by hand!

Both of these alleys recently won an urban design award from the City of Fort Collins, issued to the designers, EDAW and BHA designs.

Good News, the straw bale home that I blogged about last month has now broken ground! Course at the moment, it is literally a hole in the ground, I am anxious to see how they will build this home, the structural considerations, etc. Especially since this will be a 3 story home.

More to come!!!

I know it has been awhile since I blogged about the Habitat project, but they are moving along. Framing is complete, mechanicals are being installed inside, and the siding, doors, and windows are being installed. Now you can really start to see how the units are going to look, and how they fit into the overall community.

Meanwhile, we are busy designing the next eight units to be built across the street.

The other day, in my wanderings around the mountains, I was listening to the Jay Marvin radio show, and they were talking about how on that day, the 300 millionth citizen of this country was supposedly born. Of course, this feat has both sides talking. One side has the economic pundits talking about how this will help the economy to grow and thrive, as growth is good for the overall economy. Of course, the other side, largely environmental, was saying that growth isn’t necessarily good, as how are we going to have the resources to care for these people? Not only in physical infrastructure, such as roads, schools, etc., but also with water, electricity, heat, and so on.

I think both sides are right. I do believe that growth is good for the overall economy, as non-growth brings about stagnation. At least in our current economic model, and the only one that I am familiar with. I am also talking about slower sustainable growth, not booming economies. Booms always bust, every time.

However, I also understand where the environmentalist and other no or slow growthers are coming from. Our resources are not finite, we do need to be careful in what we use. I do believe that we can accommodate future growth in our population with sound choices that are made now, that look at the future.

For the most part, our current way of life, and our economy is built on instant satisfaction, on how we get the biggest bang for our buck today. This isn’t always bad, as we all enjoy getting the lowest price we can on goods and services. However, we need to look at the life cycle costs of what we do. Is paying an extra $1,000 for a super efficient furnace good for the long haul?

We need to look at our development patterns. We need to build mixed use and mixed income communities. We need to build at higher densities. We need to get away from being dependent on the automobile. We also need to build our homes and commercial buildings for the long haul. If we truly look at what it costs to do it right, and amortize it over the life of the structure, the extra cost is minuscule. We need to build homes that don’t fall apart in a few years. We need to build homes far more energy efficiently. The technology is there, it can be done, and it doesn’t cost a great deal more.

Take for example, my biggest pet peeve, all the turf grass we plant. Do we really need it all? How much of that turf really get used? How much of it is played on, versus how much it gets looked at, whizzing by at 40 mph? This is where developers and the design community need to honestly think about weighing the cheap costs of installing all that turf now, versus the long term maintenance issues of all that turf. Is it really cheaper? I don’t think so. Planting shrubs, perennials, or native grasses might cost more now, but it is also more aesthetically pleasing, and costs less to maintain!

These are just a few of the issues. We all make choices everyday that impact the future. We all need to weigh those choices, and think about the long term impacts.

Think about it.

I have visited this wonderful community several times this summer, with many different friends. For those of you who have not heard of Stapleton, this is one of the largest infill redevelopment projects in the country, right here in Denver. It is on the site of the former Stapleton International Airport, and is based on New Urbanism planning concepts using the Built Green program as a standard for all the homes, and other sustainable measures as well.

This community has several wonderful things about it, but the one I want to focus on today is water conservation, and the effect that has on sustainability. One of the things they have done, is require build to lines for most of the homes within Stapleton. What this does, is require homes to be built close to the street, rather than set way back from the street. Being close to the street has many advantages, among them social interaction, but the best part of it, is that this discourages people from planting front lawns. Most of the homes are set back 8, 10 up to 15 feet from the sidewalk. This dimension is not sufficient to efficiently irrigate turf, so what most people have done is plant it up! The street scape is vibrant with the colorful array of perennials, ornamental grasses, flower pots, and shrubs! It is absolutely gorgeous! The only grass you find here, is in the parkway strips between the street and the sidewalk.

Of course, there are other wonderful water conservation landscape techniques that Stapleton employs, and I will talk about these in future episodes.