Once Flat and Wide, Western Cityscapes Such As Denver's Are

2/7/2019 In the American West, skylines are rising as cities grow up instead of out - Washington Post Once ﬂat and wide, Western cityscapes such as Denver's are becoming tall and sleek, changing the character of the cities Story by Scott Wilson | Graphics by Aaron Steckelberg Feb. 4, 2019 DENVER — The Western skyline is rising. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/western-cities-changing-skylines/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4c8d99e7eb5c 1/14 2/7/2019 In the American West, skylines are rising as cities grow up instead of out - Washington Post From the Rockies to the Pacific, cities are seeking to accommodate increasing populations amid housing shortages by growing up instead of out. A number of them, including this mile-high city hard against the Front Range, are considering projects that would construct some of the tallest buildings in the West. The towers are the showpieces, but across these urban centers, which have sprawled into suburbs for years, new housing and office projects also are being built taller than ever before. The construction is focused around public transportation centers, and, in some cases, cities are allowing heights to rise beyond original zoning rules as a reward for builders who contribute more to affordable housing. The development that will take place across the West during the next few years will change the character of these cities, once as flat and wide as the original frontier. Structures, some of which will reach above 70 stories, will threaten mountain and ocean views, and historic neighborhoods are being squeezed by projects designed to attract new business and wealthier residents. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/western-cities-changing-skylines/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4c8d99e7eb5c 2/14 2/7/2019 In the American West, skylines are rising as cities grow up instead of out - Washington Post Downtown Denver is experiencing a construction boom, fueled by rapid city growth and a need for increased housing. (Chet Strange for The Washington Post) Here in the Rockies, where housing costs are rising along with Denver’s population, there is mounting concern that height might soon come at the expense of its high-mountain character and neighborhood culture. Antique pockets of the changing downtown, such as Five Points, once called the “Harlem of the West” for its historic African American population, is increasingly falling into the shade of the skyline around it. “People in Denver are happily spoiled by the fact that we can look left and right and see the mountains,” said Teague Bohlen, a Five Points resident and professor of creative writing at the University of Colorado at Denver. “That is certainly being threatened, and it will likely get worse.” But even skeptics of the push for height are largely convinced that, given the inexorable growth, it is the right course to better protect the https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/western-cities-changing-skylines/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4c8d99e7eb5c 3/14 2/7/2019 In the American West, skylines are rising as cities grow up instead of out - Washington Post environment, increase apartment stock and add to affordable housing funds. Cranes loom over construction sites. Scaffolding around new- building skeletons has become an architectural signature of the city, if only a temporary one. Yet it is still possible to see the distant snow caps through the corridors of the rising urban canyons. DENVER Planned tallest building Current tallest building 650 17th Street Republic Plaza 1,000 feet 714 feet Mile High Stadium Population change 705,000 D E N V E R Mile High 650 17th Stadium Street 467,000 Republic Plaza Angle of skyline above 1990 2017 “There are very few cities that have faced the growth we’ve seen in recent years,” said Mayor Michael B. Hancock (D), who took office in 2011. The city has grown by 110,000 people, or 18 percent, since then, and it is now roughly 40,000 houses and apartments short of meeting demand. “So we’ve been in the laboratory,” Hancock said. “And there is no doubt that it’s more economically and environmentally efficient to go higher.” Across the West, a thriving economy has attracted businesses and workers, drawn in part to the region’s natural beauty and outdoor ethic. The growth has driven up housing prices at a time when states, led by California, are seeking to slow suburban development to meet environmental goals undermined by long commutes and thick traffic. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/western-cities-changing-skylines/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4c8d99e7eb5c 4/14 2/7/2019 In the American West, skylines are rising as cities grow up instead of out - Washington Post The changing Western cityscape will bring some of its urban areas closer in appearance to those along the Eastern Seaboard, where height has long been a priority — “as much for ego as for functionality,” said Nicholas de Monchaux, a professor of architecture and urban design at the University of California at Berkeley. He said the skyscraper, far from conflicting with the frontier design here, is “a quintessentially Western artifact.” The iconic building set within the dramatic natural settings of the West, he said, is consistent with the same design priorities behind the Golden Gate Bridge and the Hoover Dam, two of the nation’s great engineering feats. “These buildings are also a quintessential vote of confidence in the city, which the West has often struggled with,” de Monchaux said. “The hazard is that we only create these skyscrapers as places to drive to rather than places to also live in. That will make these cities more livable, and making places more livable is what the West has always been about.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/western-cities-changing-skylines/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4c8d99e7eb5c 5/14 2/7/2019 In the American West, skylines are rising as cities grow up instead of out - Washington Post As construction continues in downtown Denver, more and more developments are choosing to go up rather than that out, leading to a surge in skyscrapers and large multistory buildings being developed. (Chet Strange for The Washington Post) But building inside crowded cities raises its own challenges and has prompted some radical proposals amid a deepening housing shortage. A bill in California last year would have allowed the state to overrule local government decisions on housing projects built near transportation hubs, the ideal “infill” developments that residents nonetheless often oppose. The measure failed. Its author, State Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat whose city has become the emblem of high housing costs and economic inequality, has reintroduced the legislation after spending time talking with local leaders in neighborhoods that could be affected, especially those with black and Latino majorities. “This is an incredibly hard bill,” Wiener said. “But this extreme local control with no balance is not working anymore.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/western-cities-changing-skylines/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4c8d99e7eb5c 6/14 2/7/2019 In the American West, skylines are rising as cities grow up instead of out - Washington Post Wiener said ideally the measure would allow more “three-, four-, five-, six- story buildings that fit nicely into middle-class neighborhoods,” many of them now consisting of the city’s trademark two-story Victorians and apartments. He said the intent is to increase “the diversity of housing” available in California cities, many of which are confronting widespread homelessness and accompanying public safety consequences. “This applies across the West,” Wiener said. “We hear the same things from Denver, Seattle, Portland and others. If California can be seen as the historic example of how to meet growth and housing needs as badly as possible, then this discussion is going to be productive everywhere.” SEATTLE Planned tallest building Current tallest building 4/C Columbia Center 1,029 feet 933 feet Space Needle Population change 725,000 Space Needle S E A T T L E 516,000 4/C Columbia building Center Angle of skyline above 1990 2017 Seattle and San Diego are considering projects — mixes of housing and office space — that would rival the cities’ tallest buildings. David Boynton, a Seattle architect and photographer, began tracking the roughly 300 new building projects in his city with a visual computer program. He is modeling the city’s changing appearance and looking for how it translates into daily life. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/western-cities-changing-skylines/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4c8d99e7eb5c 7/14 2/7/2019 In the American West, skylines are rising as cities grow up instead of out - Washington Post “The character of a city to me is less about its skyline than it is about its street life,” said Boynton, who occasionally presents his computer visualizations to the City Council. “This is what big Western cities are trying to achieve — urbanity. And it comes with density.” Los Angeles is considering a 77-story tower in the Bunker Hill neighborhood, a project that would be the city’s highest. To the south in Long Beach, developers are preparing to begin construction on a 40-story tower along the waterfront. The Westside Gateway project also includes a 22-story tower and several “mid-rise” buildings. It eventually will exceed in height the 35-story tower under construction on the other end of Ocean Boulevard, seizing its briefly held title as the city’s tallest building when finished. “We’re trying to make more productive use of our land,” said Alan Pullman, an architect with Studio One Eleven, the Long Beach firm that designed both projects. “There’s obviously a lot of pressure to do that, and the most efficient way to do it is vertically.” LONG BEACH urrent tallest buildingg Long Beach ne World Trade Center Westside GatewayConvention 397 feet 420 feet Center Population change L O N G B E A C H Westside 469,000 Gateway Long Beach 430,000 One World Convention Trade Center Center Angle of skyline above Angle of skyline above 1990 2017 Some of these projects are echoes of past plans derailed by recession.

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