Sunday, December 30, 2012
Stay Tuned...
Once I get my life a little more organized, I will post some of my projects from this semester, so stay tuned. I know I'm more excited about most of them than any of you are, but I will try to make them seem interesting. Coming soon...
Houston, America's Fourth Largest Suburb
This past week, my Gophers played in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas. As field staff lead for the marching band, not only did I get free flights and a very nice hotel room (complete with king sized bed) to myself, I also got to see the city of Houston, Texas for the second time. The first time, I was at the NCFL (National Catholic Forensics League) tournament freshman year of high school. After my 5 semesters in college, I saw the city through a different light this time, and what an unpleasant city it is (I'm putting this very lightly as I don't want to insult any Houstonian as they are from Texas and their feelings get hurt very easily). It is basically a giant suburb with a downtown. And a majority of that suburb is dirty.
First of all, it took us over half an hour just to get from the airport to the hotel in downtown. The hotel was nice, and was right next to MinuteMaid Park. It also provided a nice view of downtown, which is a very generic American downtown. Houston lacks the unique skyline that makes NYC, Chicago, and other American cities instantly distinguishable. Most buildings are tall boxes, with a strip of lights around the top. Some glass buildings have chunks missing, unnecessarily, to make "architectural statements." The street life in Houston is virtually nonexistent This could be because it was in the 40's the entire time we were there, and Texans aren't that tough in the cold weather. They are in the process of constructing street car lines, which is a great idea, but they are on streets that run between parking lots. It takes a full 15 minutes just to get out of downtown and onto a highway, which ring the area. In true flyover country fashion, all the freeway interchanges are flyovers, involving towering ramps seemingly built for no other reason than being tall and looking cool (remember, everything's bigger in Texas).
Once we got out of downtown, it was a full 45 minute drive to where we held our practices. Granted, this wasn't in Houston proper, the suburb of Houston just continues out into other suburbs. In good traffic, it takes as long to travel to this point in the metro as it takes to travel from my hometown to the edge of Kansas City, 60 miles away. It's insane.
Reliant Stadium, where the game took place, is not like most stadiums built recently, in that is away from downtown surrounded by parking lots. The stadium itself is a nice structure and impressive to behold. It's more famous neighbor, however, is not. The Houston Astrodome, one of the most innovative American sports facilities at the time of its construction, is sitting empty and decaying. It is such an eyesore next to the new, gleaming Reliant Stadium. It is a sorry sight, and a sign of our failure to maintain what we have. We are so quick to want the newest stadium, the newest features that we won't maintain what we have, even when it is an American landmark. Tell me you haven't heard about the Astrodome? Everyone in America has heard of the Astrodome (exaggeration), and they are essentially just waiting for it to collapse so they don't have to pay for demolition.
To finish my rant, Houston, and Texas as a whole, is a city and state I do not need to visit again. Their "we are better than you and we are gonna let you know it" attitude leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth. It doesn't help that the Gophers lost the game in a very tight fashion on a last second field goal or that Texas Tech's fans had zero class. But rest assured that I will use Houston in my future as what not to do. Seeing it first-hand, I don't know how 6 million people can live in a city like that. It makes me so happy to be living in Minneapolis, a city that has it right.
First of all, it took us over half an hour just to get from the airport to the hotel in downtown. The hotel was nice, and was right next to MinuteMaid Park. It also provided a nice view of downtown, which is a very generic American downtown. Houston lacks the unique skyline that makes NYC, Chicago, and other American cities instantly distinguishable. Most buildings are tall boxes, with a strip of lights around the top. Some glass buildings have chunks missing, unnecessarily, to make "architectural statements." The street life in Houston is virtually nonexistent This could be because it was in the 40's the entire time we were there, and Texans aren't that tough in the cold weather. They are in the process of constructing street car lines, which is a great idea, but they are on streets that run between parking lots. It takes a full 15 minutes just to get out of downtown and onto a highway, which ring the area. In true flyover country fashion, all the freeway interchanges are flyovers, involving towering ramps seemingly built for no other reason than being tall and looking cool (remember, everything's bigger in Texas).
Once we got out of downtown, it was a full 45 minute drive to where we held our practices. Granted, this wasn't in Houston proper, the suburb of Houston just continues out into other suburbs. In good traffic, it takes as long to travel to this point in the metro as it takes to travel from my hometown to the edge of Kansas City, 60 miles away. It's insane.
Reliant Stadium, where the game took place, is not like most stadiums built recently, in that is away from downtown surrounded by parking lots. The stadium itself is a nice structure and impressive to behold. It's more famous neighbor, however, is not. The Houston Astrodome, one of the most innovative American sports facilities at the time of its construction, is sitting empty and decaying. It is such an eyesore next to the new, gleaming Reliant Stadium. It is a sorry sight, and a sign of our failure to maintain what we have. We are so quick to want the newest stadium, the newest features that we won't maintain what we have, even when it is an American landmark. Tell me you haven't heard about the Astrodome? Everyone in America has heard of the Astrodome (exaggeration), and they are essentially just waiting for it to collapse so they don't have to pay for demolition.
To finish my rant, Houston, and Texas as a whole, is a city and state I do not need to visit again. Their "we are better than you and we are gonna let you know it" attitude leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth. It doesn't help that the Gophers lost the game in a very tight fashion on a last second field goal or that Texas Tech's fans had zero class. But rest assured that I will use Houston in my future as what not to do. Seeing it first-hand, I don't know how 6 million people can live in a city like that. It makes me so happy to be living in Minneapolis, a city that has it right.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
St. Paul Union Depot and Its Mississippi River (Dis)connection
Since it is nearing finals week and I am swamped, I figured I would post this, since I already wrote it. This is a blog post for my Sustainability and Planning on the Great River class. It will be posted on the River Life blog at riverlife.umn.edu blog sometime, so you should check it out. It is actually a really great site and blog.
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| Headhouse of Union Depot. |
"St. Paul has always been a river city. Its geography made it the perfect location for a steamboat landing, with its lower landing quickly becoming one of the busiest in the country (NPS). As railroads grew into the primary source of travel in the US, St. Paul grew into a railroad hub for the upper Midwest. In 1923, a shiny new depot opened just above the lower landing that cemented St. Paul’s place as a regional transit hub. However, construction of the station included elevating the tracks out of the reach of flood waters, thus severely limiting Lowertown’s physical connection to the river to a few underpasses. Just this year, the depot reopened after a $243million restoration (Minneapolis Star-Tribune), bringing the relic back her 1920’s beauty, but updating her in prep for becoming a 21st century transit hub. Soon, Union Depot will be the terminus of the Central Corridor light rail line, the cities’ Amtrak station, the end of a proposed high-speed train connecting to Chicago and beyond, as well as a center for bus transit in the region. Couple this with the vibrant Lowertown neighborhood and the new Saint’s ballpark expected to open in 2015 (Pioneer Press), and Union Depot will be the center of activity on the east side of downtown St. Paul. This provides an excellent opportunity for planners to reconnect St. Paul’s riverfront with Lowertown.
Lambert’s Landing, the site of St. Paul’s busy lower landing, sits quietly between the depot and the river. Currently, there is a fairly standard park along the bank. A running trail here, some trees there, covered in brown sod on pack ground; the most it inspired from me was a yawn. However, the development potential of the park itself is a topic for another blog post. The important feature of the park is the presence of the depot just beyond. The rear of the depot looks down upon the site, almost mocking it, reminding the landing of how railroads overtook travel by steamboat. While this visual connection is strong, there is absolutely no physical connection. To get from the station—and subsequently Lowertown—to the river, a person has to walk down Sibley Street and under a sketchy underpass. Then, they have to play frogger on a four lane road with freight traffic. Not fun. But the plan of the building provides the solution. While the head house (the main structure) is two blocks from the river the concourse actually bridges Kellogg Blvd and stops 200 feet from the water. This is where a connection to the park could be constructed.
With inspiration from the redevelopment at Kansas City’s Union Station (http://www.bnim.com/work/freight-house-pedestrian-bridge), a pedestrian bridge can be constructed; one that connects the depot to the park across the tracks and Warner Road. This would be an opportunity to create an architecturally significant monument (one that architecture nerds like me geek out about) to match the monumentality of the depot. It would reestablish the city’s riverfront as a gateway to St. Paul, just as the station has become. It would also make the park a feature destination within the rejuvenated Lowertown neighborhood. With potential commuters and travelers from across the metro and even as far away as Chicago walking through the depot, they can be drawn to the river. A monumental station connected to a monumental river by a monumental bridge. It only seems appropriate.
So what can you do? Simple. Visit the depot. Try to get to Lambert’s Landing. Is it easy? If the answer is no, then there is an obvious problem. Problems need solutions, so a bridge would be just that. Also, while you are down there, visit restaurants, shop in local stores, and walk along the river and remember, everything in the cities connects to the river in some way, even Union Depot and its (dis)connection."
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| Lambert's Landing with Union Depot (arched roof) behind. |
Sunday, December 2, 2012
I Can't Even Go To a Banquet
Tonight was the UMMB's annual banquet recognizing the end of the season and celebrating the achievements of the band and the individual members. We all get dressed up, eat delicious food, and watch a great slideshow of the season. Sounds like a relaxing evening, right? Wrong.
The banquet was held at The Depot, which is an upscale hotel complex with an indoor ice skating rink. The reason it's called The Depot is because it is a renovated train station. The ice skating rink, which they covered in boards and was where the banquet was held, was in the old train shed. So of course, with my current project on train stations, my architortured mind spend tonight torturing me. I examined every truss, noting that the shed was not a vaulted structure, but a simple triangular trussed shed. It was not very wide, probably only fitting 2 or 3 trains and platforms. A good chunk of the night was spent trying to find a reason for the very large pipes coming straight down into the center of the space with a funnel-like structure on the bottom. Probably for the ventilation of train smoke, but with a shed this narrow, if the edges were open, which I'm guessing they were, there shouldn't be need for a large vent system like that.
This is what I thought about through the awards ceremony and dinner. I really don't think you need any more evidence that architecture has forever ruined my peace-of-mind. Not that I mind.
The banquet was held at The Depot, which is an upscale hotel complex with an indoor ice skating rink. The reason it's called The Depot is because it is a renovated train station. The ice skating rink, which they covered in boards and was where the banquet was held, was in the old train shed. So of course, with my current project on train stations, my architortured mind spend tonight torturing me. I examined every truss, noting that the shed was not a vaulted structure, but a simple triangular trussed shed. It was not very wide, probably only fitting 2 or 3 trains and platforms. A good chunk of the night was spent trying to find a reason for the very large pipes coming straight down into the center of the space with a funnel-like structure on the bottom. Probably for the ventilation of train smoke, but with a shed this narrow, if the edges were open, which I'm guessing they were, there shouldn't be need for a large vent system like that.
This is what I thought about through the awards ceremony and dinner. I really don't think you need any more evidence that architecture has forever ruined my peace-of-mind. Not that I mind.
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