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It Fakes a Village

B Y D A I S Y K O N E "The 20th century ti'iis ahuut getting this open space evolved into the agora, a quarter mile radius of the school's around. The 21st century trill he about town plaza, or square. location at Westheimer and Woodhead. staying in it place worth staying in." While I louston lacks an abundance Sidewalks are included within the public — James Kuntsler of pla/as and squares, this doesn't mean frontage of the streets, while the grounds we can't have a vibrant public realm of the school provide a type of park or ASIDE FROM THE splendid gift of I lermatm defined by the street. Street patterns are open space. Westheimer Road to the Park, with its perpetual endowment ol the framework for some of the most north is lined with restaurants, bars, LMininnn.il grace, the puhlit realm i>l desirable urban places ever built, such as and shops. Westheimer's widening over Houston is, for the most parr, the street. those found in Savannah, New York (ary, tune to four lanes has compromised the I ike mam cities whost development Mt. Carmel, or Princeton. Hut Houston's original pedestrian environment, but tins occurred primarily after World War [I, urban places arc formed by streets and is mitigated by parallel parking on the I louston lacks the urbanity that makes public frontages designed to the standards street, which provides both a traffic calm- Charleston or San Francisco so beguiling. ol the suburb, a place whose very exis- ing effect anil a buffer that makes those For the last 50 years, almost without fail, tence depends on the car. These standards who choose to walk rather than drive feel we have built Houston's urban plates make the street's primary purpose the safer. The older buildings that were once primarily tor the convenience of cars and delivery ol a car to a parking lot, whose grocery stores, gas stations, jm\ simps trucks. In doing so, we have unwittingly overpowering prominence makes many remain commercial, and are open to the nurtured a quality that fosters a dull of our favorite I louston places simply street with porches or storefronts. Many ambivalence to our own culture, a cul- conduits to destinations, not destinations neighborhood residents chouse to walk ture that evolved in part from our com- on their own. The only important experi- from their homes to shop or eat, a choice munal experiences within a human-scaled ences occur inside the buildings, rarely made in the (lalleria area, a place public domain. with no lack of shopping and dining dc\ City forms evolved from the pattern The Measure of Urbanism filiations and one also replete with condo- of shelters grouped around an open, com- Places in I louston do exist where experi- miniums lull of potential pedestrians. munal area. I he vital functions ol food ences include not just the destination, but The difference between the two neigh- preparation, policy making, childcare, and also what might happen along the way to borhoods is that in the one around lamer weapons manufacturing were performed it. One o f these is the narrow street grid Middle School, the one with walkers, the in the open area, making it more impor- around Lanier Middle School, A mixture phenomenon ol the Pedestrian Shed is still tant than the surrounding shelters. Later, of homes and shopping is louiul within working. The Pedestrian Shed, codified CITE 66 ; SPRING 2006 31

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Finding a place worth walking in Houston isn't impossible, but it isn't easy

.is .i design tool of the New Urbanism, determined by Vitruvuis. The measure ol is equivalent to a five-minute walk or a each part is a function of its relationship y ^ distance of 1.41)0 feet (a quarter mile). to the whole. From this we know a palm ' Comma cul I iHnj|:T:"*K In general, this is the distance people are is the width of four lingers, the length ot .* willing to walk to reach a destination. a man's outspread arms equals his height, I in anything exceeding tills, we tend to the length of the hand is one-tenth the go hack to our cars. This phenomenon height, and so on. The symmetry and har- can be observed in many existing situa- monic relationships so clearly illuminated W^"1 ' Wttmwvv Hd tions. Anchor stores in shopping malls are in the drawing were incorporated over placed accordingly. In many I'uropean cit- and over again into Renaissance architec- hft«iN.«i - PI ies, pubs are situated at points separated tural proportions. In tins distance. I Ins is also the bask The Pedestrian Shed, like the Golden IH]1IIH-HLJ| standard tor the placement of Starbucks Mean or Golden Section (proportioning cafes along Madison Avenue. From histor- ratio of 1:1.618), is universally found. It . - I..I ic American neighborhoods to European is as observable in the traditional urban .1. • >. I villages, this measure is a constant both environment as the Pibonnacei Series is ft AUBi»m.ai rational and empirical, in nature. The square mile containing T I In- Pedestrian Shed is a simple mea- Lanier Middle School as its center is a sure, like the two finger width between good example, and is abutted hy several Opposite page, t o p : lew-way Mops, eyebrow and brim that determines the other such square mile areas that more or single-depth purkmg, and short blocks correct placement of a cowboy hat. Think less adhere to this principle. I Tins, when slow dawn luiflii in Rue Village, allowing pedestrians a sense ol solely. of it as the urban equivalent of Vitruvian employed as a canon for planning, the Top: The single crosswalk thar tcHinech the Man. This famous drawing by Leonardo 1,4(10 loot maximum distance that should two sides ol Highland Village tan be daunting to pedcsltians. whs hove to conlconi tats da Vinci, depicting a male figure in two be between destinations sets the "neigh- moving quickly along on otteiiol sheet superimposed positions with his arms borhood" boundaries. As in the Lanier Above: K diagmm of the Pedeslnan Shed uiiiounding I mum Middle School, indicating, apart, circumscribed in a circle within a example, each "neighborhood" is planned the distnnce people me willing to will square, is also referred to .is the C anon ol with an accessible center (a park, shops, (a icoch a destination, and the dilleienl rtcsti notions nvmlnble willnn ibnl [famine Proportions. Da Vinci made the drawing i school). Walking from home to the post to study the male body measurements as office, the library, the school, or the shops TAPAS RESTAURANT & BAR

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In Riie Village, a closely connected mix ol retail and setvice businesses, along with a good supply ol restauionts. gives shoppers a reason ID stoy out ol theii cais and on thsii leet

provides s o c i a l c o n t a c t . S u c h s o c i a l c o n - over of a calligraphic shroud that encodes tute facsimiles. Hence we append certain they might possibly ger over there. tact within the Shed is further supported uses and limitations. The codes are hiero- nomenclature—village, plaza, courtyard, A small plaza sits in front of the by the human scale of buildings, whose glyphs, powerful as symbols bur dispos- square, meadow, woods, plantation. grouping, completing an assembly whose frontages accommodate not just sidewalks sessed when translated into real actions. 1 colony—to contemporary built forms. entirety is, for the most part, viewed by wide enough tor two people to walk tend to agree with Andres Duany's com- Meyerland Plaza, Highland Village, and people in cars speeding along Westheimer. abreast in both directions, but .ilsn con- ment on the failure ot planning as pro- First Colony arc actually nothing of the As it this were not enough visual stinnila- veniently located benches, lighting, and cess: When the |ob seems loo difficult, the son. Yet bizarrely, we accept these appel- rion for the cars, an enormous berm is landscaping, all ot which help to make tool is probably wrong. lations despite the discrepancy. Does this currently being constructed on either side walking desirable and secure. Buildings Huckmmster Fuller once said that reveal some crack in the psychology of of the sculpture plaza with the words should be permeable, with large windows when he was working on a problem he individual and collective identity? Or is it •'Highland" on one side and "Village" on allowing views into their interior, where never thought about beauty, he mil) merely nostalgia? the other. The letters are set at an angle, food, goods, and activity entice people thought about solving the problem. Me To extend the question, consider the once again for the viewpoint of passing to come inside. Most important, the also said that when he arrived at a solu- purpose of a shopping center name: that motorists, although a better vantage point assembly of the street, public frontage, tion, if ir was not beautiful he knew it ot improving customer capture ratio and might be from the air. Thus the Village's and buildings is conceived as a unified was wrong. Charles Bold, director of the brand recognition. Nostalgia is frequent l\ only example of public art and public- whole, with the geometry ot the cross Knight C entei *..i I rb in Studn s n tin called upon for the job. Using words such plaza, albeit a small one, is directed at the section (building height to strcet/puhlic- University ot Miami, says that one of the as >. illag<, plaza, i n squan handli -, this car. Located where it is, very few people Irontage width) having ideal proportions must destructive forces working against function while tapping into the desire to walk in front of it. Fittingly, not one of that address human scale and prevent the the construction of urban places is the belong. The names bring to mind images the symbolic female shoppers has any leet. street from becoming a qua si-freeway. malting of suburban t) pes building loi of people strolling, picnicking, sitting on The stytization of Village life into a configurations, street types, landscap- benches, smiling as they greet one another, series of parking lots creates a condition A Good Tool is Hard to Find ing, public works, open spaces—onto and discussing the news ol the day. In a in which walking is not forbidden, just The Montrose District, Midtown, and urban settings. This is the unsettling simpler time, these activities were a by- made empty ol promise. AM the neces- West University Place contain remnants reaht) ol the i i.dleria-Post (>ak area, product ot obtaining necessary provisions. sary ingredients for a pleasant pedestrian ot this intuitive discipline. The remnants which expresses a high urban density Now we take care of business as efficient- experience are present: sidewalks, public peek through layers ot subsequent devel- using a suburban sirip-mal! form. The ly as possible, obliterating the most basic art, permeable buildings with windows opment, only to disappear again under the problem of the suburban model is that opportunities for communal experience. showing goods, interesting shopping, crushing footprint of a shopping center or it results in places that are too dense to In i lighland Village, a "lifestyle cen- street trees, parking in front of stores, arterial roadway. be country, too sparse to be urban, and ter," there's not much to do except get etc. But they are all in the wrong propor- Some might wonder why all neigh- too auto-dependent to be a viable public inside the shops as fast as possible, in tions or wrong places. They are devoted borhoods can't have the positive aspects realm. This condition relegates Galleria spite of a prodigious effort towards deco- to making I lighland Village a single delivered by the Pedestrian Shed, hut it's power-shoppers to commingling within rative fuss. The Village boasts an allee gigantic billboard. nor that easy. When it comes to cities, the confines of the mall, the modern of resolute palm trees lining the street, a \.iv igaimg the convoluted leftover i louston in particular, the complexity substitute for the public square. It's Dot Houston signitier lor up-market shopping spaces by toot is tricky, leaving ( rate of competing goals can be overwhelm- that this is a false experience, just that it first utilized at the River Oaks Shopping and barrel by the east doorway, the ing. Historically, when cities began to be is the only experience. And the story is ( enter. In I lighland Village the trees are pedestrian is confused. The tendency is planned instead ol growing naturally like the same for many other favorite desti- festooned with playful oversized flow- to turn north towards the other shops. u'.isi colonies, heroic attempts emerged nations, such as Highland Village—it's a ers, which are changed periodically to But once this decision is made, accessing to codify their nature. Professions devel- one-liner. reflect the seasons. A curved glass-block the Westheimer sidewalk to get to die oped to focus solely mi particular issues. wall provides a backdrop to a bronze other side of Drexel is inconvenient and As a result, urban place making today Village Life sculpture composed of five abstracted awkward. Therefore the pedestrian's pre- is embedded in a tangle of public policy. In spire of how far away we move from female shapes, presumably representing ferred method for getting to the shops on codes, regulations, and requirements of the original village idea of community, we various incarnations of happy Village Drexel's west side is the mid block run. financial institutions. It all forms over- still feel it necessary to evoke it, if only by shoppers—young, old, single, in groups. F.vcn mothers pushing baby strollers run whelming barriers to innovative design. name. Having had our pedestrian rights These abstracted forms turn their back on this gauntlet, dashing between cars, some In many instances, city planning has suc- and public gathering places slowly eroded the shops arid ga/e .uross Westheimer to ol which, thank goodness, might actually ceeded in nothing more than the laying by the supremacy of the car, we suhsti the Pottery barn, perhaps wondering how be slowing down tor a red light. Pedestrians who turn south or exit house square or the farmers' market, friendly environments, are completely lenders, design and transportation Crate and Barrel's Westheimer doors are places we long took for granted. Even walkable. The short blocks, abundant engineers, and all the associated greeted hy a blank space containing a line as Westheimer grew from two lanes to four-way stops, and single-depth parking professions have contributed to the of white bollards that guard the Crate six, it wasn't seen to matter that it gutted on every street slow auto speed and put decline ol public space, they are capable and Barrel storefront. The configuration I lighland Village: movement between the barriers between cars and people, making of aiding its recovery. The mission of the of this ambiguous space makes it unsuit- shopping center's two halves was expected walking completely non-threatening. planning and landscape professions, as able as a sidewalk, parking lot, or pla/a, to be by car. Central Market did not exist The additional parking load is well as the engineering professions, is although it does contain four parallel then, bur now that it does, how disap- deposited in a centrally located, free the recovery ol the historical standards parking spaces that only the cognoscenti pointing It is to be unable to eat break last parking garage that sirs in the middle that exist and function in such places have discovered. This is a wasted oppor- or lunch there and then walk directly over of a block, not directly on the si reel. as Charleston, Princeton, Savannah, tunity to pull pedestrians in front ol the to the Village shops on a Saturday. Now Other, smaller parking structures are and Miami's South Reach. As proven by invitingly open Crate and Barrel build- nothing short of a pedestrian bridge could placed on the north side, also off the market value, increased health benefits, ing, which boasts ample fenestration, improve the ugly, circuitous route to the street. Throughout the Village, the and public approval, these standards as well as beautiful lines and massing. pedestrian crossing at Drexel. If half as tWO-Story building height and narrow work in many situations and should he Merchandise is attractively displayed, much attention was given to the pedestri- travel-lane widths of the streets keep the available for use again, but once again, more cars move hy this an as is given to the car. Highland Village scale appropriate to humans. Two mid- Plus need not and should not be a facade than people, lust beyond the blank could be a great place to be, not just a block passages through the buildings comprehensive application. Many urban space, the peek-a-boo sidewalk along great place to shop. cut journeys in half for destinations on building forms rhat are necessary for Westheimer doesn't look very friendly. University, Rice, or Times Boulevards. modem convenience (the parking lot, the given that only four inches of curb sepa- Connectivity This destination-driven urban plan has a drive-thru) inherently create undesirable rate walkers from heavy traffic. Conversely, in Rice Village, pedestrians rich mix of retail and service businesses. street frontage. And conventional Thus walking around Highland share the street with drivers. Cars ample supply of restaurants, and shared suburban development has a right to Village is surprisingly discomfiting. An from the Texas Medical Center to Rice streets, all parts of a robust formula exist in the built environment. We just engorged Westheimer Road reams out the University to West University Place encouraging people to spend time there need to let go of the idiosyncratic idea Village, breaking it into two pieces. Here, and beyond are filtered through Rice and celebrating the extravagant variety of rhat it must be the only form, Every city ilu- street comes into its full glory as a Village's strong street grid. Instead the commonplace. contains areas of existing or potential six-lane arterial feeding cars to l o o p d i d of slicing right through the middle of The number of new apartment mixed use, and we should think twice or the Galleria and back. To confound Rice Village, the traffic-laden arterial and other residential buildings around before we dispose of them. The tendency the problem for pedestrians, anxious of Kirby Drive is an edge, and nobody Rice Village is an acknowledgement of in blanket our communities with the shoppers, keen to initiate the hunt, fre- walks it, just as no one does any arterial. the growing awareness of a walkable suburban forms responsible for traffic quently jump the lights at the Village's Rice and University Boulevards carry neighborhood's value. The ability to live congestion and sprawl is strong in only pedestrian crossing, located at Drexel i lol ill ii .itIi t . bin the benefit ol the near work or shop without a car serves terms of the planning establishment's and Westheimer. Pwo fading white stripes grid—connectivity—provides many more than a social leveling or functional resistance to change. Nevertheless, painted on the street are merely lip service different ways of moving cars through. purpose. It invites immersion into the I louston's pockets of potentially to minimum code standards; the crossing The people who live in the Montrose area human drama, whether we are spectators walkable urbanity are poised to become is almost imperceptible. No other signage, experienced the connectivity phenomenon or primary players. The public stage bright spots among the blanks of strip- change ol paving materials, or geometry first-hand when, after efforts to block that is the street or square is also the mall parking lots. Reinforcing design alert drivers to the importance ol dm the destruction of Spur s27 failed, their clearinghouse ol the community, giving elements of good public space would intersection to pedestrians. Contrast this worst fears did not materialize, The inhabitants the chance to compare and have the forceful effect of bringing more with the beribboned archways soaring existing street grid was actually able to contrast themselves with others, all pedestrians, commerce, and safety to the over the north and south parking lot deliver the cars rhat once spewed off U.S. i\ pes i a others, I his both to bod) i\ pe neighborhoods, making the habitat of the entrances. Pedestrians may have been left s1' 111 a single stream to their various ol social exchange—speaking, walking, urban environment more viable for its on their own, but a great deal of effort is downtown destinations without severely mannerisms, dress—is not possible via cell predominate species: humans. invested in showing cars where to turn. compromising their neighborhood. phone car-to-car; The original Highland Village was Sidewalks in Rice Village, whose 'Tradition is the tending of the fire, not built before people began to miss his minimum width—2.5 to i feet—is usually Recovery of Standards the worship of the ashes. " —JOIMII toric public spaces such as the court- considered inadequate lor pedestrian- [ust as the lull spectrum ol developers, WnlfgJHu rim ( lnvtht' m