Don't Forget To Look Down

blog.preservationnation.org/2014/01/09/image-urban-vitality-really-just-skyscraper/#.UtP6ZHNJC3k.twitter

Citicorp Center
New York, New York
wirednewyork.com

Hello Everyone:

It's not even the end of January and we're almost to 7,000 page views.  That's so amazing. You all are definitely the best audience a person can ask for.  Let's keep going.  On to today's topic, urban vitality.

When you think of urban vitality, what is the first thing that comes to mind?  This is the question that Mike Powe annd Jenea Wiser ask in their post for the National Trust for Historic Preservation blog, Preservation Green Lab, "The Image of Urban Vitality: Is It Really Just Skyscrapers?"  One image that may come to mind is the mind numbingly tower skyscrapers of New York City.  It seems, these days, that a signifier of a city's success are building that seem to reach up into the sky as far as the eye can see.  Yet, Mr. Powe and Ms. Wiser posit that the connection between a successful city and endlessly tall buildings may be so deserving of out attention.  They propose, the image of the more earthly neighborhoods that are situated just beyond the looming shadows of these emblems of the corporate world and luxury residences.  According to the authors, the symbol of urban vitality may just lie in the older, smaller buildings.

Millennium Park
Chicago, Illinois
common.wikipedia.org

The Skyscraper Debate: The pros and cons of the importance of skyscrapers are currently a topic of debate.  Prominent urban thinkers such as Edward Glaeser, Ben Adler, and Matt Yglesias have argued that cities need towering buildings if they are to either remain or aspire to be innovative, affordable, and sustainable. Skyscrapers have the potential to provide space for an incredibly dense number of residences and offices within a relatively small footprint, while at the same time, leave open space for parks and plazas.

Treehugger's Lloyd Alter recently presented an opposing view of the merits of skyscrapers.  Mr. Alter argued, "...new towers often serve as inefficient, expensive, homes that often succumb to issues of vacancy."  Richard Florida also argued, "skyscrapers often mute the 'spontaneous encounters that provide cities with so much of their social, intellectual, and commercial energy.'"  Tim Halbur, communications director for the Congress for the New Urbanism adds, "while skyscrapers may boost a city's image of rentable space, they also pull life energy away from the streets.

Chinatown
Boston, Massachusetts
restaurantworld-guide.com

Building Down at the Human Scale: Mike Powe and Jeana Wiser concede that we, a society as a whole, need tall buildings to accommodate growing urban populations, however should we underestimate the modest sized buildings? More than fifty years ago, Jane Jacobs wrote that smaller buildings have tremendous value for small businesses, setting the stage for the "ballet of the good city sidewalks."  The late Ms. Jacobs held that neighborhoods were a combination of old and new buildings, more often than not, socially and economically important places a city has to offer.

Human-scaled neighborhood provide walkers with interesting window displays and a variety of small businesses to consider.  How many times have been out and about in your neighborhoods and stopped to check out an interesting window display?   A downtown high-rises offer high-density housing but, small-scale blocks present diverse spaces that see an intense amount of use throughout the workday and weekend.

Finally, this spring the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Preservation Green Lab will release a report based on extensive city mapping and study demonstrating the important role that older, smaller, buildings, and mixed-vintage commercial districts play in creating urban vitality.  The intention is to use the data to show that Jane Jacobs was, indeed right, "Older, smaller buildings and diverse urban fabric play a critical role in supporting robust local economies, distinctive local businesses, and unforgettable place where people connect and unwind."

The next time you think of what a city should look like, consider the older, more fascinating neighborhoods.

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