Thinking About New Brunswick as a Planner

by Marley Bice, MCRP '12

In case you didn't get a chance to read it, the very last page of the Fall 2010 RAPPS newsletter was actually an urban planner matching game. The article asked you to (a) identify the locations of the photos on the map of New Brunswick and (b) think about whether these were examples of good or bad planning.

Did you successfully identify all of the locations? Did you get a chance to think about whether these are things that add or detract from New Brunswick's character? Here is your chance to add your voice.

The locations were:

(A) The parking garage at the intersection of Plum and Somerset Streets

(B) New landscaping on a mid-century brick apartment complex on Hamilton Street

(C) The new modern-looking Rutgers School of Nursing building on Paterson Street

(D) The ubiquitous Gateway Center on Easton Avenue

(E) The Johnson & Johnson Complex at George and Albany Streets

(F) Deiner Park hidden behind the "River Dorms" on the College Avenue Campus

(G) Boyd Park bordering Route 18

(H) George Street and specifically the redevelopment and face lift the street landscape got this past year

(I) The southern intersection of Route 18 and Raritan Avenue - those of you who live in Highland Park probably know this intersection well

(J) Hope Manor affordable housing complex on George Street

So what do you guys think? Do these places add to the aesthetics of the area? Are they a good use of the land? Are you able to identify bike/ped or accessibility issues? Does the landscaping create attractive spaces for residents?

To be completely honest, the whole reason I started this exercise was because I hated how I passed the Frank M. Deiner Park (item (F) above) multiple times a week and never ever saw anyone using the facilities. It made me wonder why... the park is ideally located behind densely populated undergraduate dorms with amazing Raritan River views... but maybe it is too hidden. Does the park have a bad reputation or safety issues that deter students? Is there not enough to do there?

Just today I stumbled upon a five-year old Daily Targum article about the park. Even the reporter had a negative impression of the park and its prospects when saying "Deiner Park now features a cracked basketball court, a faded sign with no real entrance to the park and no greenery to attract visitors, despite several studies conducted over the past 10 years aimed to revitalize the park." The 30-year old park cost over $20 million to build so I think we need to be thinking about and doing something to make this a better and safer place for the students and community members that could benefit from it.

A City Frozen in... 25 Years Ago

by Marley Bice, MCRP '12

A sign reads Pripyat... you know you are in the Zone of Alienation (http://chernobyl1986.tombossi.com/)

It was twenty-five years ago today… the Chernobyl nuclear power disaster changed our planet forever. Almost two months ago, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on the eastern coast of Japan experienced major malfunctions of its cooling equipment and controls as a result of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake that devastated the area at the same time. As Japanese authorities have declared a 30 mile evacuation zone around the handicapped plant I can’t help but think of Chernobyl. Just as the Japanese evacuees are being told, the residents around the Chernobyl plant were told they would only need to leave for a few days, until the radiation died down.

We were told that we had to win. Against whom? The atom? Physics? The universe?

Although Chernobyl is a well-known and fascinating study in nuclear power disasters, the USSR’s devastation of most of eastern Europe and of nature’s overwhelming power over humans and our minute understanding of “science,” it is also an interesting social, and believe it or not, urban planning study as well. Everyone has heard of Chernobyl… but have you ever heard of Pripyat? Pripyat was a city of almost 50,000 people that was established in 1970 to house workers at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and is now a ghost town home to wild animals and about 400 illegal resettlers.

We lived in Pripyat, near the nuclear station, that’s where I was born and grew up. In a big pre-fab building, on the fifth floor. The windows looked out onto the station. On April 26 – there were two days – those were the last two days in our town. Now it’s not there anymore. What’s left there isn’t our town.

I found it fascinating to learn that the urban layout of Pripyat is actually a study in Soviet Russian urban design – frozen in time. The triangular-plan was made up of a series of five-story buildings alternated with high-rises. The buildings were spaced so as to maximize open space and ensure a view of the horizon was possible from almost every place. It is a study in communist, modernist city planning that was never allowed to fully develop.

At first there was disbelief, there was the sense that it was a game. But it was a real war, an atomic war. We had no idea…

Pictures (or video) of Chernobyl do a much better job of expressing the feeling of emptiness and loss. This disaster happened to a people already devastated by war and has forever changed the landscape and dynamics of this region.

An aerial view of Pripyat from the city's tallest building (http://chernobyl1986.tombossi.com/)

This amusement park was built just for the city's May Day celebrations. But May 1, 1986 never came to Pripyat. But looking at the lack of safety considerations on these rides... maybe that is a good thing. (http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chernobyl-revisited/chapter18.html)

Something to Look Forward to in Philly

by Marley Bice, MCRP '12

If you have ever seen the current Dilworth Plaza on the west side of Philadelphia’s City Hall, you will probably also rejoice to hear that a major redevelopment of this plaza is set to begin this year. As Wayne Engebretson puts it, “The current surrounding space was not built for community interaction, and much of the visual charm of the area is obscured by stairs, walls, barriers, and other poorly-placed features that were installed as part of the ’60s-era granite-paved design of the plaza.” Being entirely made of concrete, the plaza is not eco-friendly either, contrasting with the city’s overall progressive and green accomplishments such as their impressive number of green roof installations and ambitious ‘all-green’ stormwater management plan. Thankfully, the new plans call for a 38% reduction in the impervious area and planting of 76 new trees while still being able to accommodate 8,000 people in this outdoor space. All things considered, the project is projected to reduce the ambient temperature by 2 degrees Fahrenheit by increasing the tree canopy and decreasing the impervious area.

Today: the majority of the plaza is sunken below street grade and non-handicapped accessible. The sunken parts of the plaza are less welcoming to the general public and create a disconnect between the plaza and the adjacent historic City Hall building.

(http://www.planetware.com/picture/philadelphia-us-pa301.htm)

After: the plans include bringing the entire plaza up to street level to more seemlessly integrate the street, plaza, and City Hall. The entrances to a lower level which connects pedestrians to multiple kinds of transit are also more clean-looking and welcoming. (http://thephilanews.com/dilworth-plaza-plans-discussed-14283.htm)

Personally, I think it is important to create green urban spaces where the public can interact, with nature and with each other. A great way to begin to break down the barrier between the natural environment and built environment in highly urbanized areas is to incorporate creative stormwater infrastructure into new urban spaces. This project will be a particularly important example of our ability to retrofit existing urban spaces to be more welcoming and green, not to mention the fact that this project will create 1,060 jobs.