Outdoor Musings Part 1: Public Spaces
Despite the brief reprieve of nice weather over the weekend we are straight back to the rain and drizzle which marks the ass end of winter. With any luck you had a chance to enjoy sometime outside before it subsided.
Sunday I followed half of Stamford to Cove Island Park. As we weaved between walkers, bike riders, soccer players, kite fliers, dog walkers, rollerbladers (or “fruitbooters” a less than endearing term I picked up trolling on StamfordSkatePark.com), and some tiny big wheel badasses I couldn’t help but laugh the chorus of complaints against projects like Mill River Park that even if you build it, no one will come. Its far more of a stretch to think people will not take advantage a well designed & maintained outdoor space, especially one near a good deal of residential housing without the benefit of yards.
A fair question though in tough economic times is to consider the priority of such projects. The Project for Public Spaces blog recently posted a piece making the case that especially in light of the tough economy this is the time to “strengthen the public realm, not eviscerate it”.
Places that serve everyone in the community—parks, libraries, public buildings, markets, plazas, playgrounds, sidewalks and other hang outs—are more important than ever, especially for those who are struggling to get by on shrinking or low incomes. Less money to spend on entertainment and restaurants should not mean that many folks have no place to go, leaving them confined to their houses and apartments.
I wonder why those who have incorrectly placed investment in Mill River Park as the exclusive province of the Trump Parc development aren’t equally enraged at proposed expenditures on new sewers lines that would exclusively service particular residential streets. I haven’t heard any calls for their yards to bubble up with waste. Maybe they are just too psyched to pipe it down, dry it, and burn it for power.
Speaking of the Mill River Park, I have a find. (answering what was maybe a challenge from Streets of Stamford?) Environmental restoration of the park should start soon, and if the Collberative can raise the funds, the planned amenities would soon follow. Jordan Parnass Architecture reports they are on the short list for design work on the carousel/ porch amenity on the west side of the river. I’d be curious to see what the other proposals look like. At first glance my feelings are mixed on this piece.
I think the green slope roof is a little strange and too gimmicky for my tastes. I’m also a little confused by what looks like sand along the edge. Everything else so far has pointed to a more natural, planted edge with paths. Trying to recreate a beach a half mile up a river seems strange.
If ever there was a piece they should really fight to nail, it is this one since it replaces the current cherry tree grove, whose impending removal has been controversial. Of course you can’t please everyone, but screwing up this piece up with surely rouse more ire for the project.
Take a look at the project page on the site for more pics and form your own opinion.
12 comments :
There is another aspect to the Mill River Park That my Friend at "Stamford, the place that works?" brought up and made me think. The Stamford Hospital's plans include expansion to the park. This is not just hospital, but housing as well. Their expansion (if this is true) will take out my house as well as the truly blue collar/retired/old Stamford person neighborhood on the West side. The area was predominantly Italian at one time and now is completely mixed and as far as I am concern, is one of the few areas with true neighborhood spirit (people take care of each other very well, talk to each other and look after each others kids). I never believed the Mill River was a Trump project, but it would have served this neighborhood well, if it weren't being taken away. So who will it serve? The new people who will be beholden to Stamford Hospital (a place I actually have seen great improvement, but that is not the point is it?)? Lots to think about here.
One more comment, since this I do know. Expansion of sewer lines is not always the best. Most septic systems in the areas slated are NOT failing. The point that it adds more money to the coffers of the WPCA is a reality. Currently those on septics do not pay a sewer tax and the money for sewer improvements usually comes from capital budgets a separate account.
I read that on that blog but that sounds a little off to me. Stamford Hospital is what, three or four blocks from the river? That would be massive land aquisition. I thought the Advocate said they were making made swaps with Charter Oak for land near Vidal Court. I'd be interested to see those plans, I'm sure they'll surface soon.
JT, they may be pie in the sky plans, but I have now seen them on paper with some one who does planning. there is no date for acquisition (I wish), so it may not happen at all, but some one is thinking big!
One thing that makes me optimistic about the Mill River expansion (though, yeah, I do hate to see those beautiful cherry trees go) is to see what has happened with Kozciuzco Park down in the South End, formerly Dyke Park.
It's a fantastic space now. IMO, if you don't actually plan to go in the water, I think it's an even nicer place to walk than Cove Island.
Whitemist,
Septics are designed for low density areas.
Where do you think all that sewage leaches to in a city like Stamford?
It is not that the septics are failing, it is that they are inadequate.
Actually Matthew, as long as septic systems are not used for toxic materials (or much of them) they are the ultimate recycler and a very good thing. It is actually a better system than a sewage treatment plant (especially in Stamford), which does not allow for the recycling nutrients at all. The waste from septic systems do not reach the Sound, storm drains are another matter.
JT, after doing a bit of snooping, I think it is a big pipe dream for Stamford Hospital, some future thought on what they would like to have. There are to many professional buildings in the way and a church. The best they could ever hope for is down to Schyler Ave and I understand there is competition from other condo developers for those old neighborhoods. They would probably improve Stamford best if they took over the old housing project next to them instead.
They are taking over the housing next door - in a way. The Advocate has had the stories about a land swap between the hospital and the housing authority that allows hospital expansion and total replacement of the housing authority apartments with a mix of apartments and townhouses. Some of the new apartments will be on Progress Drive. The hospital is definitely not building on Mill River Park.
"... I couldn’t help but laugh [at] the chorus of complaints against projects like Mill River Park that even if you build it, no one will come."
Let me play devil's advocate. Honestly, I'm agnostic as to whether the the project will work. I absolutely hope it will, and in any event it can't hurt to clean it up a bit, but I can see the argument against it working.
Parks are delicate, complicated matters. You can take what is a cherished park in one neighborhood, copy and paste it into another area, and end up with an empty lot full of drug pushers. The success of a park is as much (if not more) the result of what surrounds the park as what is in the park. The exception is what you can call "demand goods" parks. Cove Island is demand goods. It's just about the only nice public beach access in quite a large distance. It's successful because it's the only place you can go and get that experience. People will get in their cars and drive miles to get there (and are even willing to pay a $20 annual fee for it!). The planned amphitheater in the Mill River Park project is one demand good that encourages me. I hope that the city takes an active role in keeping it full of the plays, poetry slams and what-have-you that it's built for. U Conn could get in on the act, sending drama and chorus groups there for performances. From what I can see, the rest of Mill River Park on the other hand, is "impulse buying" which means its success will be determined by its surroundings. The most successful parks are surrounded by vitality. It's a mistake to expect a park to create vitality or to attract vitality. Our cities are full of counter-examples. If you take an area of the city which is basically a life vacuum and simply clean it up and fill it with grass and trees, it will remain a life vacuum. Much of the area around the Rippowam River is a life vacuum. The river creates a natural dead-end on both sides, since you can't get over the river without a bridge. This makes the land around it less valuable for shops and restaurants, so you end up with an area surrounding the river that's just blank land--whatever's left over after you've built your other buildings. To make matters worse, on one side of the river we have Washington Blvd, which cuts off what little pedestrian traffic is left from the downtown area. On the other side of the river we have long stretches of not much but houses. City vitality is created by a diversity of uses--houses, shops, restaurants, offices all very close to each other. When you surround a park with nothing but, say, houses, you end up with a bunch of people who are all on the same schedule. Most of the day the park lies dormant, attracting bums or crime in the worst cases. This then drives away the people who did want to use the park, creating a vicious cycle. Good parks are far more difficult to create than is generally assumed.
So that's the devil's advocate argument. I was just out driving down along the river around the area where the new RBS building is located and was surprised how many pedestrians were out, even though there was no obvious place to be walking to! So that encourages me.
One big thing that I think will work in favor of Mill River Park's success is that we do have a fairly dense, well-defined and well-developed downtown area as well as a fairly ambulatory populace. As mdanielsco points out, you see people walking everywhere on nice days. I just got back from L.A., where you have to drive to get anywhere, and I am so glad to able to walk to restaurants, the movies, and several parks (Scalzi, Latham, Columbus and Mill River).
Anon - I am glad, then let them come my way and buy my house!
One study was done on the Mill River improvements by the Health Department specifically to see if West Side residents would use it if it was improved and the answer was yes.
Today I see they have done the tree work so I am happy, it means the delays are finished.
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