B-Ham Street Grid Grabs Attention

Is downtown Birmingham the South's most "street gridded" city? This writer just returned from a fine two-day trip to the Ham and walked a good bit of both the city's Central Business District and Southside (dominated by UAB and Five Points). After doing so, and thoroughly studying various maps of the city (as only a "map geek" can) during the stay, I concluded the central street grid of Alabama's largest city ranks among the best in the nation.

For the sake of discussion, let's define downtown and Southside as being bordered by 11th Avenue North on the north, Interstate 65 on the west, the Elton Stephens Expressway on the east and 11th Avenue South on the south. With the exception of the four corners of this "box," the streets within it form an almost perfect grid of roughly 360 square blocks. With very few breaks in the grid (a train gulch severing Downtown from Southside being the main example) the opportunities to navigate — by car, foot, bike, DART Circulator, city bus, etc. — and view the city are fabulous. Most vistas are uninterrupted, as the streets (many wide and one way to create proper traffic flow and safety) stretch for many blocks. In fact, there are few "interrupters" within this "built fabric mass." Two key examples are Linn Park and the massive UAB campus, one of the most impresses urban campuses in the country. The diminutive Kelly Ingram Park (the only green space of note downtown and a very nice one at that) somehow manages to avoid distorting the grid. Four viaducts span the railroad tracks and connect the Central Business District to Southside. On this theme, driving north via the Dr. Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard, over the Rainbow Viaduct and marveling at the sea of vintage buildings is a must-do.

More on the built environment highlights of this trip to follow...

Bound for Birmingham

There are only a handful of Southern cities whose built forms are similar to those of gritty, blue-collar Northern cities such as Buffalo, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh. Of these, Birmingham might be the best example. In addition, Alabama's largest city offers one of the best "big city pedestrian epicenters" in the South: Five Points. This writer will be in the Ham the next two days, during which a self-guided tour of industrial architecture masterpiece Sloss Furnaces is on tap. A report of this trip will soon follow.

Outfitting Urban Outfitters

Building signage is one of the most overlooked — yet important — elements of a building's exterior. On this note, I offer a commendation to MarketStreet Equities and Urban Outfitters for opting for the attractive and prominent metal sign on the facade of the former's Gulch building housing the latter's just-opened "bohemian-hipster" clothing store. Word on the street is that the Metro Housing and Development Authority was a bit taken aback when MarketStreet and U-Outfitters proposed the eye-catching, and somewhat envelope-pushing, sign. Fortunately, the fine folks at MDHA, which must approve any architectural designs and features for those buildings within the entity's redevelopment districts (including The Gulch), summoned what is likely a modest level of inner coolness (and I write this with all due respect) and OK'd the sign.

Velocity Takes Shape

The still-under-construction Velocity is now giving us a taste of its final look, as the the futuristic caps topping the Gulch building's two entrance columns are lit at night. Very attractive.

Dean could Blow Riverfront Effort

Mayor Karl Dean and MDHA are poised to make a horrendous mistake related to Cumberland riverfront redevelopment. That possible blunder would be such from both a practical perspective as it relates to the sequencing and citizen usage of the riverfront master plan and a political perspective, as Dean might cost himself a re-election in 2011.

In short, Dean has all but ordered MDHA to implement the riverfront redevelopment plan "out of sequence" compared to the originally agreed upon sequencing of improvements as recommended by Hargreaves Associates (the lead consultant for the program) and embraced by those East Nashville residents who are passionate about community and understand built and natural environment issues. If Dean succeeds, the Riverfront Adventure Park (to be located between the East Bank ramps of the Shelby and Gateway bridges) and an accompanying urban forest pilot effort (essentially a lush grass and tree parking lot) would not be the first effort for Phase I. Rather, updates along the East Bank between the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge ramp on the south and the Woodland Street Bride on the north would be addressed first.

Let's put this bluntly: The Riverfront Adventure Park (with nine components) is the ONLY of the planned 20 riverfront improvements that would be a "big-ticket item" with star quality. It would be the type destination location that could — much like Coolidge Park in Chattanooga — provide Nashville a level of regional notoriety. Furthermore, work on both RAP and the urban forest would not require approval of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

In contrast, none of the other approximately 18 elements within the five-year, roughly $50 million program (to include the East and West Bank downtown riverfront corridor between the Interstate 24 river bridge and the James Robertson Parkway Bridge) will offer such pop. These elements — including recreational boat docking facilities, waterfront features, boardwalks, overlooks and piers — are, though worthy of creation, simply not as sexy as the Adventure Park. (The one exception for hard-core vintage building fans (this writer included) might be the rehabbing of the NABRICO Building.)

Also of note, the Corps will have to give approval for the other 18 elements, a process that can consume months, if not more than a year.

Hargreaves recommended the Riverfront Adventure Park and its adjacent urban forest pilot be undertaken first. No Corps approval is needed. The site, a brownfield, will be remediated. East Nashvillians overwhelmingly want this sequence. And, most importantly, the park will be a huge draw for both locals and tourists alike.

Perhaps most disturbing about this entire matter, Dean and MDHA were going to quietly make this change in sequencing without any public input but were thwarted only because of the passionate effort by a determined Metro Councilman Mike Jameson, in whose District 6 sits the riverfront property to be transformed.

MDHA and the Dean Administration, citing possible excess expense in starting the effort with RAP and the urban forest pilot, claim there is a cost element driving the proposed change in sequencing. Yes there will be a cost, one to be paid in a loss of credibility for both the agency and the mayor.

Roadless in Nashville

Sylvan Park offers some wonderfully attractive homes with huge shade trees.

Sadly, these otherwise tasteful S-Park properties are often marred by horrific streetscapes. Most roads in the historic residential neighborhood have no curbs, much less sidewalks and stormwater management systems. Battered mailboxes litter these Sylvan Park streets, their asphalt-crumbling shoulders bleeding into eroding land (you can often see tire tracks from postal carrier vehicles).

Sylvan Park is not the only old-school residential district with such hideous streetscapes.

Given the condition of the shoulders and the adjacent grounds of many curbless roads in Nashville neighborhoods, I continue to be baffled why the Metro Public Works Department doesn't simply paint white stripes on either side of all these streets.

In addition to giving the roads a more defined and attractive appearance, such white lines (I've talked to various "built environment pros" about this) can subtly psychologically spur motorists to reduce their speed a bit. In addition, the white lines are very helpful (in terms of safety and visibility) for night drivers.

In fairness, Public Works has painted white lines on either shoulder of various residential streets. For example, Public Works recently repaved the segment of Graybar Lane from Leland Lane to Granny White Pike. Though it required more time than would have been expected, the department recently gave the street the "white-line painting treatment." The result is quite attractive.

Painting streets with white outer lines seems a very inexpensive way (compared to overhauling these streets with proper sidewalk, curb and stormwater streetscape infrastructure) to improve the city's secondary and tertiary residential streets. But does Public Works agree? I talked to a Public Works official about this topic a few years ago and found his unenthusiastic response very disappointing.

Similarly, a number of well-traveled segments of key streets (including the stretch of Granny White from Harding to Otter Creek, Hillsboro Road between I-440 and Woodmont, and a stretch of Estes Road just south of the Woodmont/Estes intersection) essentially have no shoulders and are perilously elevated. These streets are striped (fortunately) but there is minimal room for a slight miscalculation. Steer a few inches to the right and your car is flying off the elevated road and into a deep ditch. At night, the hazardous conditions are likely magnified three-fold.

The Estes section I reference involves the road being elevated at some points (as if on a platform) at least three feet above ground level. And there is no more than two inches from the painted outer stripe to the edge of the asphalt shoulder. From that point, the drop is steep. Erosion (I would assume) has contributed to the problem.

I’ve visited countless American cities and driven extensively throughout these places. Nashville ranks among the worst for street conditions and streetscape attractiveness. Immediate attention is needed.

Updates, Updates, Updates

I took a quick drive today to check on some projects. Here's what I found:

* Work has resumed on 30North Office Condos, the four-story structure near Centennial Park and being developed by the Graymont Group (which did the 2222 Building in 12South). The big hole sat empty for what might have been a year, but now the building is out of the ground and I saw lots of equipment there today. Like 2222 (and disturbingly), some of the first-level entrance seems "above sidewalk grade," a model for which I am not a fan. However, 30North is being sited to the sidewalk, so that's encouraging.

* Work on The Maxwell in West End Park is in its final stages. I drive by about once every three weeks and from what I saw recently, seemingly no exterior progress has been made since my last drive-by. However, I did re-check a few days later and men were on the site.

* Also in West End Park, Artesia nears completion, while The Acropolis looks about 50-60 percent finished. The two buildings offer radically different exterior designs, and I'm not sure which I prefer. Artesia is very 21st century, with handsome dark brick and the type green metal roofing that will age gracefully. But some of the elements (including a handful of circular windows and some curved shapes) are questionable. In contrast, The Acropolis is stately and traditional, but excessively replica. Neither hits a home run regarding exterior design. But both are acceptable, solid additions to the general West End district.

* Velocity is showing some "1980s-popular colors" (maroon and medium olive) that look horrid. Also, the futuristic caps topping the two entrance columns — though of a sharp design — appear very impermanent and flimsy. On a positive note, Velocity offers interesting exterior shapes and definition.

* 12 & Paris (next to the Cypress Building) is out of the ground, while work on Gale Loft Apartments and Jefferson Street Lofts (between Third and Fourth) has started, too. Core Development is the developer of all three. I predict 12 & Paris will be a great addition to the city based on various factors. I'm not, however, as optimistic about the other two, as they border no buildings specifically and are sited within overall "built-fabric contexts" that are lacking (at best). Perhaps GLA and JSL will serve, over time, will spur quality growth in their two respective areas.

* The verdict is in: The exterior of the new Downtown YMCA rates a 9 to 9.5. Excellent work from Allard Ward Architects.