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New York’s High-Line

Suspended two stories above Manhattan’s West Side lies an urban oasis, the High Line. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation turned an unused elevated train track into the city’s newest park. Originally designed in the 1930’s to elevate freight away from pedestrian traffic, the elevated tracks now serve as the foundation for a pedestrian-only park.

Landscaping on High Line & High Line as seen from street below – Photographs by David Ben

When the High Line’s first section opened on Tuesday, June 9, 2009, it was the first half-mile of what will ultimately be a mile and a half long park. Designed by landscape architects James Corner Field Operations and architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the park features several species of grasses, flowers, and trees that intermingle almost seamlessly at points with the concrete walkways.

Some sections include the original railroad lines embedded into the plantings as a reminder of the original function of the elevated path. Other parts use those lines as the foundation for rolling lounge chairs.

Designers also seem to have taken into account the green possibilities of managing water in the park. Drinking fountains placed intermittently allow water runoff to hydrate the plants directly. Additionally, portions of the walkway are intentionally pitched so that rainwater is redirected into the plants.

High Line water fountain & Drainage system on High Line – Photographs by David Ben

Managing water runoff accomplishes two goals. First, redirecting excess water to the plants reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation, saving water and ultimately saving the tax payer from funding the infrastructure and the maintenance cost of watering the plants. Second, diverting rainwater reduces stress on the sewer system because the water is absorbed by the dirt. From there, it is naturally filtered before it makes its way into the plants or evaporates. In the event of heavy rain, this process still works to slow the water down and filter it before it enters the sewer.

The high line demonstrates that urban livability and the outdated infrastructure need not stand in opposition. Its inception also speaks to the myriad of possibilities Cincinnati has for recreating urban vitality through re-imagining the space around us. Anyone have any ideas for Cincinnati’s skywalk system, the mistake that was the 71/75 corridor bisecting downtown, or anything else around town?

I’ve also got a ton more pics. Let me know if you want to see them.
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MuralWorks ’09

You may have noticed some scaffolding on the south facing wall of the building that houses the popular Park+Vine store at Central Parkway and Vine Street. It has come to my attention that this scaffolding is there for the prep work that started today.

This prep work is for what will be one of ArtWorks‘ 2009 MuralWorks locations. The popular city-beautification program can be seen all throughout the city (map/images of all MuralWorks projects). This particular mural location will cover up a large blank wall along Central Parkway and become the fourth prominent mural along that stretch of road.

Owner of Park+Vine, Dan Korman, does not yet know what the design will be but he says that he has been hoping for a mural there for some time. “I hope it has bikes,” says Korman who is a prominent local bicycle advocate.

MuralWorks is a program that works with teenage and professional artists as well as community members to create murals, and has the goal of creating these murals in every Cincinnati neighborhood. In 2008, MuralWorks completed nine murals in eight different city neighborhoods.

Image taken from Google Street View

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Summer Gateway Celebration – 6/20

The OTR/Gateway Summer Celebration takes place this Saturday, June 20th from 10am to 7pm in the heart of Over-the-Rhine’s Gateway Quarter.

The inaugural celebration will build off of the popular GoOTR 5k (route map) that will kick off the festivities at 10am. This 5k raises money for the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce and started as a way to celebrate the great neighborhood assets of Over-the-Rhine and showcase the exciting changes taking place there.

Pre-registration is just $12 and will go up to $20 after noon on Friday, June 19th. All participants will receive a GoOTR 5k t-shirt and be treated to the sights and sounds of the 3.1 mile journey through historic Over-the-Rhine.

The OTR/Gateway Summer Celebration has been organized by the Gateway Merchants Group and will boast live music, a host of local arts/crafts vendors, food and beer brought to you by Christian Moerlein.

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This Week In Soapbox 6/16

This Week In Soapbox (TWIS) you can read about the team selected to make Cincinnati’s modern streetcar system happen, the transformations that have occurred along Walnut Street downtown, this weekend’s Summer Gateway Celebration, the new generation of city leaders taking a stand on an important issue, an eastern Cincinnati suburb making trails a transportation priority and the Hamilton County Climate Initiative that is encouraging Blue Ash to go green.

If you’re interested in staying in touch with some of the latest development news in Cincinnati please check out this week’s stories and sign up for the weekly E-Zine sent out by Soapbox Cincinnati.

TWIS 6/16:

  • Cincinnati takes major step towards building modern streetcar systemfull article
  • Transformation along Walnut Street downtown nearly completefull article
  • Summer Gateway Celebration takes place this weekendfull article
  • Next generation of leaders rallies at historic Verdin Bell Centerfull article
  • Anderson Township embracing trails throughout suburban communityfull article
  • Hamilton County Climate Initiative encouraging Blue Ash to go greenfull article
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Where we live and work is important

Planners, policy makers and community activists often discuss ways to make our communities more sustainable and environmentally friendly. This results in discussions about building materials, personal behaviors and organizational structure. What is also discussed at times, but not nearly enough, is the way in which we distribute our people and jobs.

It is no secret at this point that the suburban sprawl days of the United States are hurting our communities socially, economically, but also environmentally. Suburban communities require higher rates and amounts of driving, and consume far greater amounts of environmentally important land for economically low producing land uses.

Andres Duany often speaks about how he finds it silly that urban dwellers in Manhattan are doing all these extraneous things to reduce their carbon footprint. They’re collecting and reusing rainwater, they’re composting their waste, they’re recycling and so on and so forth. Duany asserts that it is the people living in suburbia that should be doing this as it is their chosen lifestyle that is having a major impact on our environment in a negative way.

People who live in dense, walkable cities drive less and require a smaller piece of land to live and conduct their day-to-day lives. This is most evident in a recent mapping project by the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) which compares greenhouse gas emissions of city and suburban households.

CNT looked at emissions of carbon dioxide stemming from household vehicle travel in 55 metropolitan areas across the United States. Their research showed that the transportation-related emissions of people living in cities and compact neighborhoods can be almost 70% less than those living in suburbs and areas where amenities are more dispersed.

The maps below are for the Cincinnati-Hamilton Metropolitan area. They compare the per-acre (left) analysis of greenhouse gas emissions due to vehicle travel with a per-household (right) view. The results are evident. The areas with higher density and transportation alternatives are the most sustainable areas according to this analysis. “Cities are a central part of the climate change solution (source).”

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