Now that I’ve set the scene for Chris Leinberger’s presentation on the shift to walkable urbanism, let’s move on to the actual talk. I took notes during the presentation (on my iPhone—how 21st century is that?), and for this post I’ve basically taken those notes and expanded them, adding a few parenthetical comments along the way. If you see any inaccuracies or omissions please contact me and I’ll update the post to correct them. ...
Tonight I attended the presentation by Chris Leinberger on “walkable urbanism” at the Spear Center in the Howard Hughes Corporation building in downtown Columbia. I hope to have more to say about the presentation later, but right now I wanted to reflect a bit on the room and the building in which it took place. The building was the original headquarters office of the Rouse Company; I gather it used to be named the “Rouse Building,” but I don’t know if that name is used anymore, at least officially. It’s one of architect Frank Gehry’s earliest designs; though he’s now famous, Gehry was at the beginning of his career when he designed several structures in Columbia, and the building shows little hint of what later become Gehry’s signature style. ...
A month or two back I donated in support of HoCo Rising’s personal “End Homelessness in Howard County” drive, and have through the years also donated to other local organizations and causes. It’s natural to do so, and if I were more involved in Howard County affairs than I currently am I’m sure I’d encounter many more opportunities to promote and donate to local Howard County and Maryland charities. However today I’m going to stop and consider the question: In one of the wealthiest counties in the United States, should we really be spending our charity dollars locally? ...
Before heading home after a recent family visit to attend the Philadelphia Flower Show, we stopped to see the Liberty Bell. One of the most interesting aspects of the bell’s history (which I hadn’t fully appreciated before my visit) is that for almost the first hundred years of its life (it was cast in 1753) it didn’t really serve as a symbol of liberty or freedom, despite the quote from Leviticus 25:10 (“Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof”) inscribed on the bell. It was simply the bell that hung in the Pennsylvania State House and was rung on special occasions, including possibly on July 8, 1776, to mark the reading of the Declaration of Independence. ...
Yesterday HoCo Connect posted an interesting article on whether Columbia’s village centers are still relevant, including a look back at the original village center vision as laid out by Jim Rouse and others. I was moved in response to offer my own two cents on the village center issue. So without further ado, my thoughts: We need to think of village centers as resources for Howard County as a whole, and not just for the Columbia village in which they’re situated. I don’t happen to live in Columbia, and hence my opinion would be considered somewhat irrelevant in the context in which the village centers were created. However I think the original village center vision is not sustainable, at least not as the main function of a center. Village residents no longer see their center as a primary destination, instead driving by it on the way to the Mall in Columbia, big box developments like Gateway Overlook, or other places scattered around Columbia and the county (e.g., off Dobbin Road). This means that village centers can survive (let alone thrive) only if they can become major destinations for others elsewhere in Columbia and in the county at large. ...