Mass-Transit Catalyst

Posted on | January 22, 2010 | 1 Comment

The proverb “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far” comes to mind here. This phrase has been echoed time and time again since President Theodore Roosevelt articulated it in a speech more than 100 years ago. Focusing on mass transportation as a “big stick”, could help the United States create an alternative strategy supporting a more economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable growth model. Specifically, mass-transit could be the catalyst for a sustainably focused industrial renaissance, helping the United States thrive in the next century and beyond.

Economic, environmental, and social circumstances and growing public support suggest that this is the time for a national mass-transit initiative. President Obama supports mass-transit as part of the economic-recovery program. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides for $8.3 billion in mass-transit investments. Furthermore in the past year voters have supported some 23 mass-transit initiatives nationally worth about $75 billion. Mass-transit investments could translate directly into new jobs within our country. There is a problem though; most domestic suppliers within the mass-transit business have exited the business, so any efforts right now are dominated by imports. New facilities would have to be built to support such an industry. Therefore a comprehensive policy to encourage American manufacture of mass-transit products would increase both public investment, and create a new domestic industrial market share in the mass-transit business. Nationally we have a chance to connect mass-transit spending with strong support for such an initiative to entice American companies such as General Electric to invest in new facilities. Other factors such as new transportation technologies utilizing solar and hydrogen power would further entice investors and the public to support mass-transit systems. Furthermore the government could tap into the rich pool of unemployed professionals and recent college graduates putting them to work designing, engineering, and implementing a cutting edge national mass-transit system. The implementation of widespread mass-transit within the United States would have an unprecedented effect on 21st century society. Creating a more connected, sustainable, and economically viable model for a more urban world.

Hello World, This is Me.

Posted on | January 19, 2010 | 1 Comment

Let’s start this blog off simple: my nickname is Quaddy because my friends are convinced I will be the first UnderWater Urban Planner.  The nickname was shortened from Quad-U-P because no one enjoyed calling me something that sounded like a urinary problem.  I have every intention of becoming the premiere underwater urban planner in my late 40′s, because as we all know, that’s when humans will have to turn from land because of space issues (not really, it’s more of a guess…by me).  In reality, 70% of the Earth’s surface is made up of water.  That’s a lot of real estate.

I say premiere UWUP because people have already started planning buildings and activities underwater.  Hotels, like Jule’s Underseas Lodge, Utter Inn, Hydropolis, and Poseidon Undersea Resort (http://blog.hotelclub.com/top-five-underwater-hotels/) are very popular undersea businesses and will be expanding in the near future, so make your reservations now!

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SeaQuest

Hotels aren’t the only thing being planned underwater.  Restaurants and research labs, among other things, are being located underwater for entertainment and functional purposes.  Are there any Lost or SeaQuest fans out there?

I’m sure not too far into the future (say, about 20-30 years) whole schools and cultures will be located underwater.  One day the Eskimos may thank me for designing their village to float in the original place it was located before the polar ice caps melted.  One day Cornell University may make me an honorary member of their group “Here Comes Treble” because I designed their entire new marine biology wing in Cayuga Lake…talks of a satellite school in Lake Ontario is in the works.  Ah, reminiscing about the past before it happens.

If I’m lucky I may even get to design the live-in aquarium for Shamu at Seaworld- what?  Shamu is dead!  *sniffle* Let’s have a moment of silence for the big guy.

Anyways, what I’m really trying to say is, for me, the possibilities for urban design opportunities are endless.

Inspiring how we build cities with the message of Dr. King

Posted on | January 18, 2010 | 1 Comment

Today we remember one of my heroes, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Dr. King lived, and died, before my time, and many of the raw injustices he stood up against were mere photographs in the textbooks through which I learned his story.

I grew up with one black student in my school.  So it may seem odd that Dr. King is such an inspiration in my life.  I’ll attempt to explain why.

Back in the day my graduate thesis research involved the concept of social capital…the lubricant that makes society work.  The networks, friendships, social bonds, whatever you want to call it, that ground a person in their community.  There are two forms of social capital, illustrated by Robert Putnam in his “Bowling Alone” treatise:  bonding and bridging.  Bonding is homogenous…you feel connected to people who are somehow like you (i.e. race, Colts fans, political affiliation, religion, etc.).  Bridging is heterogenous…it crosses those boundaries.  Bonding is human nature, but bridging has power and peaks my interest.

Now urban design is a very powerful field.  The way we’ve built our cities over the past 50 years has made us weaker as a people.  We are more isolated from one another, less integrated as a people, and as  a result more divided than ever.  We live in homogenous communities, where most people look like us, act like us, and believe what we believe.  It makes life easy…suburban politics are often fairly uneventful because generally people are of the same mindset, and those elected are mere custodians of the understood.  It makes life comfortable too.  We’re never surprised or threatened, and in the event we are, there is strength in numbers.  Most of us have to leave the comfort of that bubble though, primarily for work.  And so we drive in comfortable cars and demand that the environment we drive through to get from point A to point B is designed to accommodate that drive.  We listen to the talk radio station that promotes our views and our only interaction with others is through a phone conversation completely divorced from our current situation or through a friendly honk or not-so-friendly gesture when someone impedes our drive.  At work most of us are forced to confront the world and work alongside people who are completely different from us.  We’re asked to join hands with someone who lives in a different neighborhood, has a different skin color, supports a different politician, or comes from a different place, and work toward a common goal—ultimately the success of our business or organization.  Yet ironically we build and live our lives in such a way that doing so (bridging) is the exception, not the norm.  We do it because the man is paying us to.  And then we return safely to our bubble and life is good.

I don’t believe that is healthy.  I actually believe we are a weaker people because of it.  Others will make the case that the way we build cities today is bad for the natural environment, very economically inefficient, or otherwise unsustainable.  I agree with most.  But what I’m most concerned about is the divisiveness created by isolation.  Divided people don’t thrive.  They perish.

I believe that we can build our cities in a way that strengthens our society, promotes opportunity, and increases competitiveness.  We can do this by building mixed-income neighborhoods instead of those based on income levels.  Neighborhoods with a mix of housing types at a mix of pricepoints promote opportunities for a wide range of people to live there.  And before you know it the son of the wealthy homeowner is playing in the park with the son of a janitor renting a studio apartment down the street.  And sooner or later the two sons realize life may be more comfortable for one, but they basically enjoy the same things and look forward to the same future.  The black mother and the white mother pushing strollers down the sidewalk start to wave at one another as they pass eachother more and more, and sooner or later one has the other over for dinner.  And they begin to realize that those stereotypes they’ve had about how eachother lives or what they believe are complete lies.  And the low-income family realizes that the wealthy gay couple up the street doesn’t like their home burglarized anymore than they do, and through a crimewatch meeting come to realize that they may live a different lifestyle, but at the end of the day want the same thing out of life.

We can do this by building mixed-use centers instead of corporate big-boxes.  Publicly-owned sidewalks where the homeless man and the retired woman both have a right to be there simply by being born human.  Locally-owned shops where, over time, patrons get to know the life of the shopowner, and vice versa.  Where the ability to post a lost-dog flier in the shop window means more than the ability to save a few bucks at a discount retailer, and where the ability to sympathize by seeing those very posters reminds us of what really is important.  Where seeing that liberal democrat poster in the window of that shopowner you know helps your conservative mind remember that good people can see things differently and not be evil or wrong.

We can do this by promoting choice in transportation over reliance on the auto.  Bus shelters where the struggling high school student waits each morning alongside the doctor traveling to his office and starts to believe that he can be something better.  The banker who rides the same bus each afternoon with the gangbanger and slowly begins to realize that behind the behavior is a real human being adapting to life.  The suburbanite riding the train stopping every so often in neighborhoods completely different than her own, and seeing that people actually live life, raise children, feel heartbreak, and make dreams in those neighborhoods that those driving don’t even notice.

So on this day celebrating the life of Dr. King, I recommit my life to remembering his dream of bringing people together across divisions.  Of looking beyond the obvious and working to understand those who are different than me.  Of working to create places and build cities that promote that bridging social capital.  Of looking beyond who we are and looking toward the humanity that we all share.

Welcome to iNDianapolis 2.0

Posted on | December 28, 2009 | No Comments

This website profiles the thoughts and work coming from graduate students in Ball State’s Master of Urban Design program based in downtown Indianapolis.  The program positions students to be design leaders in the firms and communities they end up in, and an important part of that leadership training is having students formulate visions and argue their positions.  Equally important is accepting criticism and learning to grow as a result of it.  Consider this part commentary and part incubator.  Some ideas may change the world.  Some may crash and burn.  All should stimulate thought and discussion.