Taking Mr Pollock's cue in another conversation in this space, I wanted to start this thread on the 're-visioning of Riverside'.
Although CBD redevelopment is on the table now, in this thread we can think Riverside-wide if you so desire. From Harlem to the area west of 1st. From 26th st to Ogden.
Here are some starting remarks:
When I came to Riverside 18 years ago, I was awestruck by Olmsted's landscape. I gave the town four stars before reading the reviews (before I knew it was a NAT'l Historic Landmark). The center of town was just as good with the Library, TownHall, the river, Guthrie Park, the Tower, the Arcade, central school, Episcopal Church, the Dentist, and the corner Antique shop :(.
However, one thing that did not fit in with this 4 star landscape, to me, was the one block of Burlington, north and south sides, starting with Henninger and ending around the PO. It looked like whoever did this development had no sense of place. It looked cheap and done with expediency in mind instead of fitting in with what was already started. It was tract-like instead of filled with personality. The lines were straight and boxlike whereas all around were severe angles and real gables...and charm.
So I believe the CBD should be charming, as distinctly charming and detailed as a Hollywood storybook village set. It should have the look and feel of the Library and the other buildings I cited. It should have the look and feel like —˜Willoughby' in The Twilight Zone. Down to the sidewalks, which should be old timey and paver. Yes, god is in the details.
Lest you think we want to be some pure artificial Hollywood set, the other part of the vision I have of Riverside is that it should lead communities around the world in living rightly in the 21st century. Olmsted reacted to the Industrial revolution of the 19th century. At his time there was a movement from the country to the city. He saw that people have a need, a spiritual need, for the open green space and the soft curving lines that the country provides.
As we continue even more technological complexity in the 21 st century, Olmsted's vision is all the more needed and we have to nourish it, expose it, and polish it. in addition to the spiritual need , there is a physical need for the country. Obesity, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease are among the products of this technological advancement
So we need to accent the Olmsted country life. More walking. Better pedways. More bikes and bikepaths. Less cars. Pedestrian underpass on the east AND on the west of Longcommon. Bike shops. Coffee/tea shops. Hey, how about Wifi in centennial park.. How about horses, and trolleys. International tourism. Think big. Have a Olmsted Day or month. Use the triangular parks as he envisioned them. A classless utilitarian notion of people from all walks of like playing and conversing about the topics of the day.
People will come to Riverside like people go to Mackinaw Island. BOLDLY Take the —˜urban oasis' into more than a manner of speaking. People will want to come here, to BE here, to feel this place. We have to lead them here. We need a PR firm as much as infrastructural work. We're different already. accent our different ness.
When you survey Riverside, one can see the original plan and goods, and one can see where there were 're-development junctures'. One can productively draw lessons with —˜good development' and not so good development. Obviously, we do not want to make the same mistake again, and we want to replicate good development when we see it. This is why we should step back and vision.
I guess one of the first such junctures was the acquisition of the Weisencraft farm into Riverside 20 some odd years after Olmsted created his masterpiece. It is interesting to see how the people in charge then did this development.
Did they follow the place that Olmsted set up? Did they draw curvilinear street lines with large lots, triangular parks, and front spaces to accent the sense of green space? No, that would mean we could not get as many people / pin's packed into the same area (I am guessing). They followed/made Berwyn-west. standard rectilinear lines, smaller lots.
Then another redevelopment juncture occurred when the huge mutlifamiliy properties were built in this century. They took this high density to a steroid level, and COMPLETLEY lost the Olmsted vision. They seemed to want to cram as many people as they could. I am guessing it must have been an economic thing. The Kafka building, however, DID fit in nicely in that central part of town. With its bas relief, slate roof, strong angles and red brick.
But one building that stands out as a veritable model of redevelopment for us now is the LIBRARY. It also was done around the time as the mutlifamily developments were built in the 20th, and not 19th, century. Money and economics had to be really important when it was built (1930) right after the stock market crash. So they had the usual excuses - just as Olmsted had when he did Riverside in 1869 - and just as developers do today.
But look at the library with its Cotswold charm, style, scale, detail, building materials, lines, along with how they boldly put it on maybe the best spot in the village. Charm, personality, boldness, creativity. Hollywood set.
So in the future, for re-development, look- to-the-Library as our model and inspiration! Do it right!
I believe that strong architecture that follows what we already have here is the foundation of revitalizing the cbd, and getting it like its Olmsted sister space.