The Biggest and Best Opportunity for Spectacular Public Space in Downtown Austin

Austin has an incredible opportunity to create a series of spectacular public spaces downtown, along a 1.5 mile span of Waller Creek. These spaces have the potential to become amongst the best public spaces in the country.  The 28-acre area along the creek includes two public parks and many other open spaces.

The Waller Creek Conservancy is in the midst of a design competition for transforming this section of Austin into a vibrant, livable area that also creates a healthy ecosystem for the creek. The 4 finalists from the design competition were recently announced, and the winning design will be selected next week.  The designs issued by the finalists include lots of very cool and inspiring concepts--for people of all ages to be excited about exploring.  Excerpts are available at the Conservancy's website. These are the kinds of ideas that make me wish I were an architect, except that I can't draw....

Turenscape + Lake | Flato Architects

Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. and Thomas Partners

CMG and Public Architecture

CMG and Public Architecture

Designing Healthy Communities on Public Television

Found out today from my friend Rachel that public television is broadcasting a wonderful 4-part series on Designing Healthy Communities. In Austin, you can catch the series on the KLRU-Q station on Sundays at 2pm. Here is a description from the show's website:

Designing Healthy Communities is a multimedia project that highlights people and communities trying to balance health and nature with work, play, and life, and offers best practice solutions for all citizens. Stories and methodologies explored in Designing Healthy Communities point the way toward a healthy and sustainable future. The host of our series is Dr. Richard Jackson, pediatrician, former CDC head of environmental science, top public health official in California, and current UCLA Department Chair and Professor of Environmental Health Sciences in the School of Public Health. We met Dr. Jackson at one of the more than 150 lectures and papers he delivers annually. Dr. Jackson's message is compelling: over the past half century, the built environment has contributed to the alarming fact that almost two thirds of our population is overweight, suffering from diabetes, heart, asthma, depression and other chronic diseases. If we look upstream at the causes--obeisance to the automobile, lack of public transportation, parks, sidewalks, bike paths, multi-use housing, and community sense of well-being--we discover that the built environment threatens our future generations. Dr. Jackson believes that improving the design of our communities holds the potential for addressing many of the nation's current childhood and adult health concerns. 

Also want to share these wonderful photos that my friend Kim sent me from her visit to Discovery Green park in the heart of downtown Houston. The 12-acre park offers enticing features for children and people of all ages (even in the 100 degree heat) and is cultivating new life in an area that used to consist of a swath of surface parking lots.

Discovering the Power of 10 in Chicago

On a recent trip to Chicago with my oldest son, we discovered the Power of 10 for creating a great public space. The space? Millennium Park, an extraordinary outdoor space that attracts 3 million visitors a year and has been recognized as one of the best public spaces in the country.  There is something for people of all ages to discover and explore in this park, which was built on top of a railroad yard and parking garages.  Our favorite discovery was the interactive public art, at both the Crown Fountain and the Cloud Gate sculpture.

The Power of 10 was discussed last month in a fabulous article from the Urban Times on "10 Ways to Improve Your City through Public Space."  (Thanks to my friend Terry for sharing this article). The concept is simple: to create a great public space, make sure it provides at least 10 different things to attract people to that space.

At the end of our visit to Millennium Park, we rented bikes in the park and set out on 2 wheels to explore the lakefront area next to downtown Chicago. Other than the lakefront route, the options for cycling safely with kids through and around downtown Chicago were somewhat limited as far as we could tell, but the lakefront route provides for miles and miles of wonderful safe cycling with children.

Millennium Park's Crown Fountain showing video clips of local residents
and providing a water play are for children in the summer months

Millennium Park's Cloud Gate sculpture, referred to as "The Bean"

Close up of The Bean in Millennium Park

McDonald Cycle Center in Millennium Park

McDonald's Cycle Center in Millennium Park

Headed out on bikes from Millennium Park

Cycling along the lakefront in Chicago

The Importance of Gathering Spaces

Someone I deeply respect in the Austin development world, Terry Mitchell, recently shared these great thoughts about why creating public gathering spaces is so important to a community's vitality:

We are not meant to live life alone.  One auther noted that the Bedouins in the Middle East, even though living in a desert without modern conveniences, average living beyond the age of 100.  Israel researched the "why" and came up with two reasons:   The Bedouins eat a very healthy diet and, second, they have no stress in their lives.  Why no stress? They live so close together that they help carry each other when the struggles of the day come forth.   When some gets sick, there are people there to carry them.  When someone is hurting, there are friends that comfort you.   When kids want to play, they are never alone.   Some of the leading architects note that the "more gathering places one has", the stronger the community ties.   So, when planning our urban areas, gathering places, gathering places, gathering places.  Your blog talks about great spaces for kids -- that's right.  Being intentional about creating great gathering places -- will strengthen the community. No matter where you are:  the more open space the better.  Creative play; events; impromptu gatherings . . . 

On the topic of gathering spaces . . . below are photos of the delightful public gathering spaces our family discovered on a summer trip to Asheville, North Carolina. This city has some of the most inviting kid-friendly public spaces of any U.S. city we have visited. One of the highlights is Pritchard Park, which is brimming with activities throughout the day and night. This park is probably the only place in the country where you can find women in pearls sitting next to hippies in tie dye jamming out in a drum circle every Friday night in the summer. Asheville, recognizing the importance of public gathering spaces like Pritchard Park, adopted a goal in its 2009 Downtown Plan of locating parks at 2 1/2 minute walking intervals throughout its downtown.  

Pritchard Park, Asheville, NC

Pack Square Park, Asheville, NC

Pritchard Park drum circle

Pritchard Park drum circle

Park Square Park, Asheville, NC

Downtown Asheville, NC

Kidical Mass -- Group Cycling for Kids

There are all sorts of fabulous blogs out there on cycling around cities with kids. One of my favorites is Family Ride, which features a family traveling around Seattle with two small children. Today I came across a great site for Kidical Mass, which started in 2008 to promote family-friendly cycling in cities and towns through group rides.  Chapters have sprouted up around the county, including Kidical Mass Seattle as well as chapters in Portland, San Diego, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, and D.C.  Surprisingly, no listing of a chapter in Austin.

There's a great flickr group site on Kidical Mass rides. Here are some pics from the site:

Kidical Mass ride in Eugene, Oregon
flickr/shanerh (Shane MacRhodes)

 Kidical Mass ride in Saskatoon, Canada
flickr/Scott Woods-Fehr

Kidical Mass ride in San Luis Opispo County
flickr/SLO County Bicycle Coalition

Cycling Through an Obstacle Course: South Lamar

Today my 9-year-old son and I ventured out again on our bikes down South Lamar.  We rode from the Walgreens down to Bicycle Sportshop on a patchwork of sidewalks and driveways.  The route was an obstacle course that made Austin's Barton Creek greenbelt seem like a breeze to get through on a bike. Cycling with kids on South Lamar is NOT for the faint hearted.

Austin's Newest Downtown Transformation: Places for Children?

Design for new Austin Central library; Lake/Flato Architects

A ten-block area in downtown Austin is being transformed, with the development of a new $120 million downtown library, the Seaholm Power Plant redevelopment, and the Green Water Treatment Plant redevelopment (all on city land). I hope Austin parents will be asking city officials about the design of these spaces and how they can be made more family-friendly.  With the new library, the area will surely be a huge magnet for families with children. Thanks to councilmembers Laura Morrison and Kathie Tovo, the library is including a special first-of-its-kind (for Austin) outdoor kid-friendly art sculpture for children to climb on. But what about the other outdoor spaces?  For example, the Seaholm redevelopment will be including a large public plaza with restaurants and gathering spaces. Will families with children be able to enjoy these spaces? Will there be spaces for children to explore and play? When these public places come to life will they include the youngest members of our community?

Inspiration can be found from other cities. For example, I love seeing what Charlotte, North Carolina has done with its downtown ImaginOn children's library and theater, producing events that spill onto the surrounding downtown streets--including this Wordplay event where kids take over the streets with chalk in hand.

Charlotte's ImaginOn Children's Library: Downtown Wordplay Event
By: gregor_bug, Flickr

Playful "stepping stones" outside Charlotte's ImaginOn Children's Library
By: mstephens7, Flickr