A New York Times article looks at a new design in China by Bremerton-born architect Steven Holl. The Vanke Center on the edge of the city of Shenzhen is a surreal hybrid — part building, part landscape, part infrastructure, according to the Times, which notes that in China Holl has the freedom and means to bring to life some of his most potent urban ideas.  The Vanke Center shows what can happen when talented architects are allowed to practice their craft uninhibited by creative restrictions (or, to be fair, by the high labor costs of most developed societies), the Times notes. Steven Holl Architects, with offices in New York City and Beijing, has been recognized with some of architecture’s most prestigious awards and prizes. In July 2001, Time Magazine named Holl as America’s Best Architect, for ‘buildings that satisfy the spirit as well as the eye.’ Locally, Holl, a University of Washington graduate, designed the Chapel of St. Ignatius for Seattle University.

Steven Holl's Vanke Center in Shenzhen, China. Photo by Iwan Baan.

WSJ Magazine, a publication of the Wall Street Journal, has an interesting article about Amanda Burden, daughter of well-known socialite Babe Paley and director of city planning for New York. The magazine says she is spearheading Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s effort to rezone nearly a quarter of New York City and reclaim the city’s waterfront. Her populist achievements include zoning for new affordable housing in East Harlem, Brookyln and the South Bronx, as well as the massively popular High Line, an abandoned railroad track that has been transformed into a popular tourist destination in the meatpacking neighborhood.

New York City waterfront. Courtesy of photobucket.com

Local news sites/blogs Seattle’s Land Use Code, Publicola and Citytank have been having an ongoing discussion about plans for an upzone in the Roosevelt neighborhood of Seattle. Those commenting have argued over how much density is needed near the light rail station planned for Roosevelt. But — as at least one of those commenting pointed out — how about the stations themselves: Why aren’t more useful things offered at transit hubs? As DJC contributor Clair Enlow noted, the stations could be mobility hubs, where commuters could grab a pre-reserved bike or park one, line up a taxi for the other end of the ride or pick up pre-delivered groceries on the way back. It’s a kind of multi-modal switching platform, where transportation meets information technology, and people can connect with essential goods and services, she writes. What do you think? Could we be doing more with the stations and the parking lots surrounding them?

This rendering provided by Cascadia Center for Regional Development shows a concept for a transit hub at the South Transit Park and Ride. It accommodates shared vehicles and places for pickup of pre-ordered goods. Passengers can transfer from rail to bus and find retail shops. King County Metro's plans to redevelop the park and ride do not include commuter rail. The site is along 108th Avenue Northeast, west of Interstate 405 and north of state Route 520. Image courtesy of Veolia Transport

AvalonBay Communities is building the 204-unit Avalon Queen Anne, an apartment and retail property in Seattle's Uptown neighborhood. Studio 216 rendering, courtesy of AvalonBay Communities

Four years ago, some of us were reminded (again) that the greater Downtown Seattle housing boom isn’t a birthright. Even with apartments and condos somewhat countercyclical, the whole shebang can slow dramatically, or even stop. But wow, if you love to see Seattle growing and filling in, the fun times are back.

From Lower Queen Anne to Broadway to the far side of First Hill and the CBD, something like 2,300 housing units are under construction right now, many of which I walked by in a big loop today, confirming actual starts vs. mere fence and site prep. That’s less than half the peak volume for that area, but a very healthy number, particularly since most started in a short period. More than 2006, these homes tend to be for the middle income ranges.

A couple thousand units isn’t a massive addition for that area in the scheme of things, with around 60,000 residents already here. But it’s part of greater Downtown’s march toward the real citydom. Slowly more neighborhoods have active sidewalks. Some gaps in our smile (parking lots) are getting fixed.

“Real citydom” is a concept whose meaning and desirability are very personal and subjective. For example, some argue, perhaps rightly, that the “real” part takes a decade or two at least, so that the neighborhood and building have had time to grow and adapt beyond their original states. Or maybe it’s about how much varied stuff is within walking distance, preferably including some good takeout pizza. On the flip side, some people prefer surface parking, and “city” is a bad thing. My bias isn’t a simple as “more is better,” but that’s a good start.

The Terrazza “apodment” project on 11th by Seattle U is very impressive, and one of the starts confirmed today. Per a recent DJC article, the 56 units will average 180 square feet, and there will be no elevator or parking. This is a crucial piece of Seattle’s affordability puzzle. While these homes aren’t for everyone, here’s a way people can live in a central neighborhood without subsidy at a low cost. This lets us focus levy funds et al where they’re really needed. Seattle keeps a few more of our bohemians or low-wage workers, a crucial aspect of any city’s success.

On the same walk, it was also fun to see tourist season in full swing. No, seriously! It’s fun for one’s city to be a host, even when people walk slowly four abreast. It’s sort of like being complimented. The waterfront was full of people all the way to the Sculpture Park, even with this week’s new crop of cruise passengers mostly loaded already. At the park, with the temperature pushing 70, several of the loungers clung to tiny havens of shade, apparently moving every 15 minutes…

Another topic for another day: While greater Downtown is growing housing at a good clip, the region isn’t. Does this suggest a low risk of overbuilding?

A New York Times article says that preserving the High Line viaduct in New York as a public park revitalized that

Image courtesy of James Corner Field Operations

that the deluxe apartment buildings and hundreds of art galleries, restaurants and boutiques near the High Line make up for the $115 million the city has spent on the park and the deals it has made to encourage developers to build along the High Line without blocking out the sun.

Do you see any parallels with the High Line and plans for the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle and Seattle’s Central Waterfront?

Photo courtesy of Iwan Baan

Seattle developers are paying more and more attention to bus-rapid transit, so on Saturday I went to check out Metro’s version, RapidRide.

As a transit geek, I’d been wanting to go since the A Line between Tukwila and Federal Way opened last fall. I mentioned this in passing to Paula Rees. It turns out her Seattle company, Foreseer, is doing “environmental

communications” consulting on the planned D Line from downtown Seattle to Ballard, so we headed out

People with Orca cards pay before boarding, and people can board or disembark from three doors, speeding up the process. Photo by Marc Stiles

together.

Here’s my take as well as the opinion of a frequent rider, Steve Elling. We chatted him up at the Federal Way Transit Center.

* The diesel-electric coaches did move at a good clip. But it was early and I wondered what the pace would be like during rush hour. A survey of A Line riders found 84 percent are satisfied with the service. Steve concurs: “The A Line is super.”

* I was surprised by how close some of the stops are to one another; doesn’t seem very BRT-y to me.

* The pay-before-you enter system speeds that processes up, and fare enforcement officers make sure people do that. We didn’t see any, but Steve said they’re around and have zero tolerance for scofflaws.

* At major stops on the north-south line there are east-west connections. In-coach signage, however, didn’t seem to indicate where these transfer points are. Plus, the same route signs are reversed. As we headed south, the signs made it look as though the bus was going north confusing for folks who are not familiar with the lay of the land.

* Steve said the east-west bus connections are too few. And those that do exist stop running too early at night.

* I liked the multi-modal character of RapidRide. The transfer from light rail to RapidRide in SeaTac was fairly convenient despite having to cross International Boulevard on a pedestrian bridge and then cross back at street level to catch a south-bound bus. I was impressed that RapidRide’s southern terminus in Federal Way is at a transit center served by different transit agencies. One complaint: it wasn’t clear where in the center you catch the RapidRide heading back north.

* Metro gave RapidRide its own brand. Instead of the regular blue and green and yellow regular Metro coaches, RapidRide buses are red and yellow. We found that scheme cautionary. This combined with the do-this, don’t do that, Hold On! signs was off-putting. “There’s very little customer information and way too much regulatory messaging. I felt like maybe I shouldn’t be here,” Paula said.

* I’ll catch heck from my fellow transit geeks for this, but it seems like Sound Transit and Metro and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn’s expansion plans and dreams overlap. We already have the A Line, so why is a cash-strapped Sound Transit pushing ahead with its plans to extend light rail farther south from SeaTac along the A Line route. And if RapidRide is coming to Ballard and West Seattle, why is McGinn pushing to extend light rail to those areas?

* It took us 1 hour and 20 minutes to get from downtown Seattle to Federal Way via light rail and RapidRide. Impressive when you consider that before RapidRide and light rail, the trip would have taken almost forever. If you’re looking for a truly speedy route, take Sound Transit’s express bus from Federal Way. We did on the way back and it took only 25 minutes.

Census results, to some of us, are a like a very slowly breaking pinata. First we got the 2010 state totals. Lately we’ve been getting the local figures and their components. This has set the Nerdisphere on a protracted sugar rush while the media has been attempting to make sense of it all with varying success.

Some of the results were close to what was expected, such as the city of Seattle’s 8% growth rate for the decade…pretty impressive for infill in a place already occupied. Others were outright shocking to many. Either way, it’s important to remember some basics. 

First, the Census, while the “official” count, is not perfect. It’s a different methodology from the Census Department’s own annual estimates, but one fraught with its own pitfalls. When the cities of Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Houston, and New York each had counts six figures below what they expected based on estimates from the Census Department and local agencies, the estimates might have been way off, the count might have been way off, or both.

The estimates use imperfect assumptions and indicators to gauge trends. The Census attempts to count people who are often very difficult to count, or who actively try to avoid being counted. This will be more clear as analysts dig in, but anecdotally it seems like surprisingly low numbers were common in places with more language barriers, immigration issues, and/or poverty. We know that these factors correlated with lower mail-back rates for the basic form, and it’s a good bet that they also related to the ability to find a lot of people at all…even people that the estimates did catch by looking at trends such as housing.

Local governments will challenge results in some cases. They will probably fail to win major revisions, as in the past. I’m just guessing, but even very strong evidence will probably only achieve moral victories and not significantly revised official counts, because the bar will be extremely high. Another guess is that this is because courts have prioritized timely apportionment and districting over precise fairness.

The Census Department has done an impressive job with an astonishingly difficult task in many ways. Good PR effort and budget performance for example. But here’s a major criticism: the census.gov and 2010.census.gov websites are horrible. This is a major topic online…legions of tech-savvy nerds are trying to find information and failing, sometimes because it’s hidden, or only on the other site, and other times because it’s apparently not on either site at all. So aside from what’s in the basic press releases, the best information is generally from second parties who aggregate data. It’s appalling that an agency whose mission is to collect and share data could fail so utterly in one of its basic functions. Census Department, please hire some help, and consider qualifications!

Onward. A standard nerd debate has to do with municipal populations vs. broader city populations. The term “city” can refer an administrative district, but in the urban/demographics Nerdisphere, it usually means some variation of “entire developed area,” which is most similar to Urban Area (UA), Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), or “Combined Statistical Area” (CSA, for a city comprised of multiple MSAs). When Houston or Phoenix claim to be #4 or #6 in population among US cities, that gives us nerds fits. They’re talking about their central municipalities, i.e. subsets of the whole, which were drawn with wider-than-average boundaries. If Boston annexed a bunch of land tomorrow, would that make it a bigger city in any way that really matters?

Another suggestion is to use past tense. The Census says nothing about what “is.” Even if accurate, the count was a snapshot of 4/1/10.

Regarding what “is,” it’s interesting to wonder what’s happened since early 2010. In Seattle (the central municipality), we’ve already eaten up much of our vacancy rate. As some economic indicators and general hope have improved, we might be sharing housing a bit less. We’ve probably grown a little. You might also wonder what’ll happen in the coming years and decade, but that’s another story.

Dan Bertolet of hugeasscity and PubliCola fame has started a new blog called Citytank. Its mission is “to propagate ideas that help fulfill the promise of cities to both expand the human spirit, and sustain a thriving

Courtesy of photobucket.com