Common Lecture: Stephen Sears

Stephen Sears, University of Illinois
Points of Departure: The Potential of Vertical Workshops

Really a matter of applied problem and critique - that is our baseline

We begin with tools, but it is not the sophistication of the tool but the sophistication of the process
We bring natural impulses, intuition and balance between abstract and concrete foci
The student's design process can have an infinite number of permutations
The faculty member helps direct it through critques

Urban Transect of the Rio Atoyac, Pueblo, Mexico
Students discovered different aspects of the city embodied in different sites along the the river
How do we make this legible?
Clues included the purposeful habitation of public space

Digital media and the hypernarrative landscape
Imaging - Imagining
Looking at multiple moments at once gives us a distorted image of reality
When we create our images of the planned design, we can capture process in a static image
Like a Muybridge photo

The Round Barns | SITE
Built in 1907, at the same time as Ebeneezer Howard's Garden Cities of To-Morrow
On the Illinois campus
The barns were a reflection of the university's role as a forward thinking institution - an advanced technology helping farmers grow more cows without more help
In a land-rich setting where it is hard to manufacture program for a project



View Larger Map




That place by the The Thing
like the Cloud Gate by Anish Kapoor
A time-based media studio
Students were all given a video camera and supplemented with phones, software, etc.
Investigated a site in Chicago

The course concluded with a 90 minute screening.

 Great takeaway:
 Even core studios are vertical, since everyone comes with a different level of experience and different sets of skills

Cool trail solutions

What works in trail and greenway design?  Just check the cool trail solutions from the National Trails Training Partnership.Whether it is something typical or specific, they've got photos from around the country.

Why did you put that tree there?

The Hairpin explores that question, but don't expect answers.

Mapping NJ's future development

There is plenty of news and opinion coverage of the changing landscape of planning in NJ.  NJ Spotlight has an article on both the scrapping of the State Plan map (maps are so 1600s?) and trying to integrate more business and financial planning into the state smart growth plan.  Reactions?  The Home News and Tribune says that PlanSmart NJ is OK with the plan while NJ Today quotes Jeff Tittel as saying that this plan will just empower those who make sprawl.  And while it is hard to find other blogs that have studied it and given a full response, you can always count on plenty of opinion from Bill Wolfe.

Lecture Announcement: Stephen Sears

LA Fall Lecture Series presents Stephen Sears


Wednesday, 10/26 at 4:00 pm

Cook/Douglas Lecture Hall

3 College Farm Road

New Brunswick, NJ


Points of Departure


When students at multiple levels collaborate in a topical studio it is virtually necessary to invent new ways of thinking and working. This talk focuses on the potential of the vertical workshop model to catalyze fundamentally unique studio experiences.

The premises and outcomes from several workshops will be presented: Urban Transect of the Rio Atoyac; Digital Media and the Hypernarrative Landscape | RE-IMAGinING [xxxsitexxx]; and That Place by the Thing…



Stephen Sears is an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, teaching studios ranging from foundation site design to advanced-level urban design; and seminars about theory, practice, media and culture.

Sears maintains an agenda of practice that includes design for marginal and contested urban territories, techniques in new media, and studies of the vernacular-cultural midwestern region. His initiatives have led to creative works about Chicago, Boston, New Orleans, Buenos Aries, Puebla and Rome, and for numerous Midwestern agrarian territories. His recently edited volume, Round Barns Projected, features student design proposals for a historic experimental dairy complex.

He holds a BS in Landscape Architecture from Purdue University and a Master of Landscape Architecture in Urban Design, with distinction, from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. He is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome (2000); and a Fellow of the Institute for Urban Design (2009).

Microlawns

When a lawn is too small for a rotary push mower, it might be a microlawn.

Private parks for the public?

New York has some high profile public spaces that are really private.  NYC's Paley Park, shown above, is a classic example of a privately-owned public space.  WNYC points out that the OWS crowd is occupying another such park, Zucotti Park.  As such they had on both a reporter and a Harvard Professor, you can pick the one you trust more.  Previously, former Rutgers Instructor Kristine Miller wrote a book on the subject.
h/t puk

Small projects aren't always minor

Our own Rich Bartolone gets a nice mention in the Home News today for a school's courtyard design that might impact the next generation of designers.

Hutcheson Memorial Forest Tour

Hutcheson Memorial Forest Tour
Sunday, October 23rd at 2:00 p.m.

Tour Leader: Dr. Jim Quinn
(Plant Ecologist)

"A Wild Plant Walk Amongst the Colors of Fall"

The Hutcheson Memorial Forest (HMF) is a unique area consisting of one of the last uncut forests in the Mid-Atlantic States, along with the surrounding lands devoted to protection of the old forest and research into ecological interactions necessary to understand the forest. The tract is administered and protected by Rutgers University.

It is apparently the only uncut upland forest in the Piedmont of New Jersey, and appears on the National Park Service Register of Natural Landmarks.

Tours leave from the entrance of the woods on Amwell Road (Rt. 514) in Somerset. From New Brunswick, follow Hamilton Street west past JFK Blvd, Cedar Grove Lane and Elizabeth St. HMF is on the left past Gardener’s Nook Nursery. The driveway is located just past the guardrail over the brook.

The trail may be muddy in places so come prepared.

The tour through the woods and fields takes between one and two hours.

Tours are free and reservations are not required for these guided tours.** Groups of more than ten persons may not attend the guided tours. Such groups are invited to arrange special tours.

For more information and a complete tour schedule visit: http://rci.rutgers.edu/~hmforest/
**HMF is not open to the public on a daily basis.

Campus entertainment

Twitter provides an entertaining new way to see how many people noticed that today's Targum was the fake Mugrat edition.

Internship opportunity in PA

Internship opportunity

Langan Engineering & Environmental Services is now offering GIS  intern and co-op opportunities in our Doylestown, PA Office.  Langan has immediate openings and are looking for qualified candidates for the winter, spring and summer 2012 semesters.  If you know of any students that would be interested in an opportunity, please have them contact Brett using the information provided in the signature below.

Brett Milburn, GISP
Corporate Data Solutions Manager                
Direct: 215.491.6555
Mobile: 215.605.0066

Langan Engineering & Environmental Services
Phone: 215.491.6500   Fax: 215.491.6501
2700 Kelly Road, Suite 200
Warrington, PA 18976
www.langan.com

GIS Day at Burlington County College in Mount Laurel , NJ

GIS Day at Burlington County College in Mount Laurel , NJ

Wednesday, November 9th 9-4:30

The event is FREE (including Breakfast and Lunch)

Registration is requested but walk-ins will be accepted.

Register at www.co.burlington.nj.us\dit


This event should have something for everyone; from beach dune maintenance and environmental remediation to using GIS for election campaign management and how ArcGIS Online is being applied locally, plus interactive GPS and GIS workshops.

9-12 Speakers

12-1 Lunch

1-2:15 GPS Activity

2:30-4:30 GIS Lab


Be a part of GIS Day! --

*** Display your map in the map gallery! ***

In addition to the speakers and workshops, a map gallery will be on display all day. All entries will be accepted from beginner to advanced.

It's easy to enter - Just send your map to Merrilee Torres either as hardcopy (to the mailing address below) or as a PDF or JPEG (to the email address below).

Please include your name, organization and a brief abstract about your map (optional).

This is a chance to show your work - Maps that show how GIS or GPS was used to answer a question, make a decision or make someone's work easier are especially of interest!

Please send your map by the morning of Tuesday, November 8th or bring it with you on the 9th.

All maps submitted for GIS Day will also be included in the Burlington County Map Gallery and Contest the following week (see attachments for details).

Some weekend reading

The Grand Map.

Great Public Spaces from APA

The APA has released their list of great public spaces for 2011 and it includes an impressive variety of public spaces from unknown urban and grand landmarks to natural places and preserved historic sites.

When art and obesity meet

One urban artist has been fighting obesity without permission.

Cheap energy = sprawl?

One of the smart growth measures used in New Jersey places the burden of new infrastructure on the new developments that need it.  If a new neighborhood needs an expensive extension off of the power grid, either the new neighbors should pay for it or maybe the neighborhood shouldn't get built.  But a change in policy might shift the burden of infrastructure for McMansions to the people who are already living in less inefficient ways.  Is this about finding appropriate policies for BPU or part of an ongoing fight against government efforts to shape the NJ landscape?

MLK Memorial

Dilemma

The Homes News and Tribune had as its top story the other day, a difficult environmental dilemma.  A protected meadow area in Franklin, the Negri-Nepote Grassland Preserve, has been overtaken by the Canada thistle an invasive species.  And, since the the thistle is spreading very quickly and impacting nearby farmland, many in the community want to see it sprayed with an herbicide that will minimize the weed for some time.

But wait! It turns out that the thistle have been great for bees.  And everyone knows that the diminished population of these pollinators has been an important issue.  So maybe we should wait an talk about this trade-off for a while.

Once there is a frost, the herbicide is not effective.  So if they are going to use it, they have to decide now.  Maybe.

Or could they go organic?

It would all be easier if invasives weren't brought in to begin with.  And maybe that is the lesson for future efforts.

More bikes

In addition to those DC bikes (posted this morning), I am reposting these photos of a Nice Ride bike station in downtown Minneapolis.  Admittedly DC has rough winters (remember Snowmegeddon?), but biking in a place where the football team has to play indoors seems like an occasional leisure activity than a serious form of transportation.  But the Twin Cities turn out to have plenty of 4 season bicycle commuters.  Think you could do it?

Guest Lecture in Fundamentals of Environemtnal Geomatics

One of the things we talked about was the UCGIS GIS&T Body of knowledge.  Most importantly, here is the list of 330 topic worth knowing about the field.

I also spoke briefly about the importance of open data sharing.  You can find a more complete explanation of my findings from that study at the URISA Journal (free).

We talked about the early days of GIS. Here is one of the people we talked about:



Links to different organizations and agencies mentioned in the lecture include:

• GSDI
• NJ OGIS
• FGDC
• The National Map
• URISA
• UCGIS
• Geospatial One Stop

Bikes in the nation's capitol

Like many other cities, Washington DC now has a pretty comprehensive bike rental system.  If you pop up the 2nd photo you can clearly see the map of bike stations across the city.

Check out this massive glass shed of bikes at Union Station. They look like they have enough bikes for every tourist in the District.

And the result, that I found exciting, was an increased number of bikes at the monuments and attractions.

Streetscapes in design competitions

In class we've been talking about how design competitions bring out some of the wilder solutions.  But the winning entries in "Designing the 21st Century Street" seemed to emphasize how realistic solutions that already exist (in some form) can be applied in a careful and coordinated manner to transform an existing street in New York City into something that is safer and more livable.  A common theme was making the city streets work for as many users as possible, often resorting to different kinds of traffic calming devices to make the streets safer.

For example, while Rogers Marvel Architects used some of the same elements as other entrants (bike lane in the middle, better pedestrian connections, reaching out beyond the street, etc.) their Streets for Everyone! design employed paving patterns in ways that emphasized their design concept.  "Shared Space" lives up to its name by altering the boundaries between sidewalks, bike lanes and car lanes to make the entire street space feel shared by all users.
If you want something wilder, you might have to look to Di Magazine's competition for a Beijing streetscape.  You can only get a tiny peek at the results of the Sunset Junction Competition.  And I don't see the entries, but you can check out the results of the Syracuse Connective Corridor process that began with a competition.

Who needs winners?  If we can look past streetscapes, the Rising Waters competition posted ALL of their entrants online.  So you can see the realistic, the visionary, the colorful and the wacky.

If all else fails, you should at least look over the ASLA Student Design Awards.

Avoiding Powerpoint comas

LifeHacker posted a guide to making presentations that suck less.  Edward Tufte's Congnitive Style of Powerpoint might be the best overall guide. If you want ongoing commentary, Presentation Zen offers some greate examples of ways to improve your visual aids.  And, watching Ted Talks is never a bad way to get some ideas.

A peanut park

New York City has a new park inspired by peanuts.  (Not Peanuts)

Jens Eschrich on Frankfurt Oder

LA Fall Lecture Series presents Jens Eschrich

Wednesday, 10/5 at 4:00 pm

Cook/Douglas Lecture Hall

3 College Farm Road

New Brunswick, NJ

Frankfurt Oder—Reconstruction of a City

The city of Frankfurt (Oder) was founded in the 13th century. During World War II, the historical centre was destroyed with the conquest by the Soviet Army. In the socialist society of the 1949 founded “German Democratic Republic”, the city was supposed to be developed as an industrial centre and a “Socialist City”. The city centre itself was totally restructured, only the main churches, the city hall and very few historical buildings of normal lodgement survived. Towards the end of the GDR in 1989, the city was one of the centres GDR of chip-technology with a population of about 88,000.

After 1989 and the reunifications of the two German states, the city had to find a new role in a changed society. Losing about 1.000 to 1.500 inhabitants every year, today the population down to 60,000 people, but it is projected that the shrinking process will continue.

The presentation provides an impression of the historical city as well as the socialist city. Three examples of reconstruction are presented: A church, the marketplace and a park. They illustrate a changed paradigm aspects of city development and reconstruction in the new political system and the transformed society after 1990.

Jens Eschrich, holds a degree  Art History, History and Sociology from the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg. Since 1990, his work as an art historian focused different aspects of conservation of monuments in Berlin and Brandenburg. In 2000 he joined the Historic Preservation Office of the City of Frankfurt (Oder).

Career field of the future

Jack Dangermond writes about the job market, pointing out that spatial isn't just special but it is also going to be in high demand:

I think that the real growth opportunity is in the area of spatial thinking. As people in all types of positions become more familiar with the value of geography, they begin to ask more intelligent questions about the world, and they begin to make more informed decisions. The coming opportunities for spatial thinkers will be even greater than those we are seeing for geospatial technology professionals.

So do you want a job or not?

Designing infographics: sports edition

Information communication guru Edward Tufte has posted a interesting discussion by Ric Werme about creating communicative sports graphics. But it could could just as easily apply to changing demographics or stormwater runoff, etc.

Entomology Seminar

Friday, October 7, 2011
Dr. Steven Handel, Honorary ASLA
Ecology, Evolution & Natural Resources
Rutgers University

"Constraints on restoring insect populations to new urban habitats."

Blake Hall - Room 152
Seminar Begins at 11:00am

Using GPS to ease traffic

MIT's Technology Review reports on a new strategy by Beijing to use GPS to combat traffic.

Live Blog: Wansoo Im

2011 Environmental Geomatics  Lecture

Wansoo Im, Vertices, Inc.
PPGIS: Promoting Community Engagement

Lots of projects:

Using GIS for persons with disability in Korea
   with custom app for iPhone and Android

A middle school worked with Vertices to create their own map of deer sightings and accidents.

In Nashville they created a portal for crime and health issues.

Here in NJ he worked with CRSSA to create a stormwater mapping tool.
Their mapping application for rivers, IM Rivers, is used by organizations around the country working to improve the environment.
Their work on the Lower Columbia River help galvanize volunteer efforts.

Closer to home, members of the West Windsor community have used his tools to map walkability
In Woodbridge students contributed to a walkability audit

Current students might also want to check out other projects like:
His Mappler app was used to map Healthy Food Options in New Brunswick.
An interactive map of photos from along the Delaware and Raritan Canal
The Franklin Township SOCIO project mapped Safe Routes to School
In Garfield students mapped Healthy Assets and Walkability
New Brunswick students mapped bike racks and train stations

Save The Raritan River  (Look for our group photo!)



Current students might be particularly interested in the D&R Canal

Meetings that no one cares about

There are plenty of small public meetings that go by with few or no members of the public in attendance.  But, in Georgia, a "big" public meeting was set up to present a proposed regional transportation plan before holding a vote on a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST)to pay for it, and no one came.  The local paper got some fun quotes and great photos of the display that went unseen.

Wansoo Im on PPGIS: Promoting Community Engagement

Fall 2011 Environmental Geomatics Lecture

Dr. Wansoo Im, Vertices, Inc.
Public Participatory GIS: Promoting Community Engagement
Wednesday, September 28 at 4pm
Cook-Douglass Lecture Hall Room 110

Recent innovation of information technology with interoperability has enabled community organizations to utilize GIS technology with few obstacles.  A brief overview of GIS technology and cases studies of community mapping will be presented to show how PPGIS can encourage community participation in environmental and health issues.

Dr. Wansoo Im is the founder of VERTICES, LLC, a geospatial information services company providing innovative and interactive map-based solutions.  In addition to VERTICES, he is an assistant professor at the department of Family and Community Medicine at Meharry Medical College.  He is an adjunct faculty at Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.    He specializes in developing decision support systems using a public participatory approach and interactive web-based geographical information systems. Dr. Im received his Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his Ph.D. from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. Since 1991, Dr. Im has taught GIS courses for various schools including the Department of Urban Studies and Community Health at Rutgers University, and the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering/Institute for Transportation Studies at New Jersey Institute of Technology.  Dr. Im is most proud of his web portal, http://www.imrivers.org, which is currently being used by multiple environmental organizations across the United States.  His work on community participatory internet mapping was featured in The New Yorker magazine in 2006 and The New York Times in 2008

Twitter hot spots

Check out this incredible live heat map of Twitter use.  Early in the morning here, you can see New York starting to wake up while Tukey and Indonesia are already on fire.  I'm not so sure about those little water droplets.

A different kind of food environment

While mapping the food environment is a challenge, gawking at it may be easier.

What a great lawn!

This should make a great stop on the fall field trip's guided tour.

Lecture: Construction as Catalyst

Construction as Catalyst: Building Value through Hands-on Participation 

Andrew Fox, North Carolina State

Wednesday, 9/21 at 4:00 pm,

Cook/Douglas Lecture Hall;

3 College Farm Road

New Brunswick, NJ

How are individuals and organizations that are unfamiliar with the technicalities of design, construction, and maintenance processes supposed to truly understand and value the holistic systems required to both develop and maintain sustainable sites? An inclusive, participatory approach to the design-construction cycle offers one solution. A community-based, hands-on approach helps synthesize beneficial relationships and promote innovation that exceed standard solutions by integrating creative, technical, financial, and managerial aspects into a framework of engagement and education. The strategic partnerships fostered through this site development model produce economical, innovative, and engaging public landscapes because their integrated assemblies nurture cooperation and collaboration, embrace localized environmental processes, and celebrate the deep connections between our social and physical environs. This lecture will describe an integrated design methodology that fuses practice, policy, place, and participation to achieve environmentally responsive and socially responsible solutions in the public realm. Examples from past, present, and future projects will be presented, and conclude with a discussion of how these principles are currently guiding the development and delivery of a Design/Build Initiative at North Carolina State University.

Andrew Fox, ASLA is a registered landscape architect and Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at North Carolina State University. Fox specializes in the design of public landscapes with a strategic focus on low impact development (LID) practices and stakeholder engagement. His experience includes projects that range in scope from citywide transportation and urban design initiatives, to public parks and school sites, to landscape architectural education. During his career, Andrew’s work has been recognized by numerous professional organizations and agencies, including the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), American Institute of Architects (AIA), Council of Educational Facilities Planners International (CEFPI), United States Green Building Council (USGBC), North Carolina State University and the City of Raleigh.

Wet and beautiful?

After all of the recent floods, it is interesting to read about a town that had the opportunity to protect itself but instead chose to protect its aesthetic values.

Raritan River Festival

If communities are going to start treating the Raritan River better,  one of the first steps will be to get people back in touch with the river.

The Biology of Nowhere

"The Biology of Nowhere: the changing face of biodiversity in the wake of species invasions and extinctions"


Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011

4:00 p.m.
Alampi Room, Marine and Coastal Sciences

Host: Dr. Henry John-Alder

Refreshments at 3:30

The HighLine as a backdrop

This week some of our students will be getting a guided tour of the HighLine as part of a field trip. And, while I do hope they pay attention to it in that context and consider meaningful critiques of design and implementation issues, I also encourage them to look at the HighLine as a new landmark backdrop. If it hasn't happened already, it won't be long before the CSI team has to investigate a mysterious murder just above the meatpacking district. And this weekend's NY Times included a fashion feature shot there.  As it has quickly become a major city landmark, it now serves a different role and is interesting to view through that filter as well.

Cool map tricks

No sooner do I mention the ESRI Mapping Center blog in class than they go and post a great explanation on how to create an embossed polygon map.

The next High Line?

Could this part of Jersey City be the next High Line?


View Larger Map


View Larger Map

On the map you see how 6th Street only has buildings on one side. The StreetMap view shows there is something more.

This is the Harsimus Stem Embankment in Jersey City and The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is enjoying a recent legal victory that improves the chances of an elevated park emerging through the center of the city. Jersey City is already a cool city, but this could really "elevate" that status.

LiveBlog: Kate John-Alder

The Reality of Process/ The Permanence of Change

Larry Halprin - RSVP Cycles
Ian McHarg - Design with Nature

(look for a paper soon by John-Alder on Halprin in the Landscape Journal)

Richard Reynolds (also a motorcycle companion of JB Jackson) worked with Halprin at Sea Ranch, getting a sense for the site and capturing its ephemeral qualities.

Responses to the environment on site required looking to different sources for process and inspiration. Wind eddys and aerodynamics helped lead to dedsign forms that helped hide autos and shaped buildings that performed in specific ways. Even today the design is celebrated by many who aren't from design backgrounds.

In The RSVP Cycles Halprin kept referencing ecological processes as part of an emphasis on the predictive value of ecology. He seemed especially influenced by Odom and his diagrams of natural processes.
His EcoScore for Sea Ranch integrates his thinking about history, cultural influence, and ecology.


Form Follows Flow Studio taught with K Hill

Sand flows and new forms in the Netherlands inspired this look at Willoughby Spit.
The class graphics were enhanced by a TA who had experience in digital animation. Some of the designs emphasized sand processes, some on the faunal responses, and some on dynamic human access to these sand engines.


View Larger Map

And then we watched the videos.

Flood photos

Here are a few of my Hurricane Irene photos to go with the talk advertised below:

Hurricane Irene: Storm Planning, Impact and Aftermath in New Jersey

The Rutgers University Department of Geography is proud to announce an upcoming symposium entitled “Hurricane Irene: Storm Planning, Impact and Aftermath in New Jersey.”  The symposium will be held on September 16, 2011 at 2 pm in Lecture Hall B117 of Lucy Stone Hall on Livingston Campus in Piscataway, NJ (54 Joyce Kilmer Ave., Piscataway, NJ 08854).  This event has been organized in collaboration with the Rutgers Climate and Society Initiative and the Rutgers Center for Environmental Prediction. Reception to follow.

 State Climatologist David A. Robinson and Natural Hazards Expert, James K. Mitchell, will address a series of challenges leading up to, and left in the wake of, Hurricane Irene. Drs. Robinson and Mitchell (both members of the faculty of the Department of Geography) will discuss Irene in the context of previous major storms in New Jersey.

 In a recent interview with LiveScience, the popular online science magazine, Dr. Robinson explained the pattern of extreme weather events in 2011: “A couple of extreme years could simply be a statistical anomaly....It's when events become persistently volatile over decades that these short-term explanations no longer work.  Ocean patterns can drive multi-decade weather patterns, . . but you also have to look to human impact [on the natural systems].”

 Dr. Mitchell noted after his recent survey of inland areas that were hard-hit by floods generated by Irene: “Although New Jerseyans worry a great deal about the prospect of catastrophic losses from extreme winds and massive inundations in shoreline communities, hurricane Irene demonstrated, once again, a different suite of problems that are typically experienced during the declining phase of hurricanes.”

Speaker Series: Kate John-Alder

 LA Fall Lecture Series presents Kathleen John-Alder

Wednesday, 9/14 at 4:00 pm,

Cook/Douglas Lecture Hall;

3 College Farm Road

New Brunswick, NJ

The Reality in Process / The Permanence in Change

Kathleen L. John –Alder is an Assistant Professor at Rutgers University.  A registered landscape architect with over twenty years of professional experience, she holds undergraduate degrees from Oberlin College and Rutgers University, an M.S. from Pennsylvania State University, and an M.E.D. from Yale University. Kathleen is the author of  “The Garden, The Greenhouse, and The Picturesque View, which appears in Kevin Roche: Architecture as Environment. 

Kathleen, reflecting her training in both biology and landscape architecture, situates her research at the nexus of art and science, as seen through the environmental dialogues of the 1960s.  Currently, she is working on a manuscript that critically explores Lawrence’s Halprin’s ecological analysis of The Sea Ranch, excerpts of which will be presented in the lecture The Reality of Process / the Permanence of Change.

Who doesn't like bikes and trails?

Maybe Tom Coburn.

Remembering

Places and Spaces has previously offered photos from the spontaneous memorial at Shanksville and the NPS video of the design for the Flight 93 Memorial there.

Those magic lights

The twin towers of lights don't just happen. This short video details the process of their creation.

Another great speaker series

Our fall speaker series is off to a great start this fall.

Not there you were going to swim in it anyway

But that water in many of the streets in the Northeast is grosser than you thought. Infrastructure matters.

Restoration Project Coordinator

JOB OPPORTUNITY

American Littoral Society www.littoralsociety.org

Location
American Littoral Society
Northeast Chapter Headquarters
Queens, NY

Title
Restoration Project Coordinator

Reports to
Habitat Restoration Program Director in Highlands, NJ

More after the jump...

VGI gone astray

One of the great things about volunteered geographic informatin is how quickly it can be updated to reflect changes.  For instance, Google Maps makes it easy for users to flag a business that has closec and then map users can be spared the agony of a trip there.  But what if the business is really open? Fixing it isn't always as easy.

Again?

The nearby river gages are going up again.

Urban accupuncture?

An interesting piece in the Guardian comparing planners' user of GIS in cities with acupuncture.

MLK Memorial

After years of design and months of construction, the MLK Memorial has opened on the tidal basin in Washington DC and there are plenty of photos available online now.

Some reviews are not so positive with a famous MLK fan worrying that it send the wrong message.  And one cartoonist seemed to have a different critique of the committee's approach to decision-making.

September is clearly more popular than October

As proven by Google Trends, showing September in blue and October in red:

Bike Trails in NJ

While a drive up the Turnpike may focus your attention on the less pleasant aspects of our state's industrial heritage, one of the nicer aspects of that heritage is turning the industrial features into something new.  One example is turning old railroad tracks into bike trails, as is often done by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.  If you look at their list of bike trails in NJ you'll see that several use old train corridors that wouldn't be accessible otherwise.

Sussex County alone has several.  The train trestle becomes a great stop on the trail and the right-of-way is the perfect size for a trail and a buffer on each side. 

Special Projects GIS Internship

New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Internship Program

Special Projects GIS Internship

The special projects group of the State of New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) supports and assists the Commissioner with special projects.

The group uses maps and geographic analysis on a variety of projects throughout New Jersey. The unit is developing its GIS capabilities at this time. As an intern, you will actively contribute to this project, gaining useful experience of GIS in a range of planning, research and data management work.

A good understanding of ArcGIS 10 software is required. Demonstrated competence with cartographic work is also appreciated. Potential interns with skills or interest in contributing in any of the following areas are especially encouraged to apply: ArcObjects, metadata, data management, raster catalogs, excel and attribute joins and Arch GIS mapping.

Internships are part-time. For example, a typical internship could last for the fall semester, working one or two days per week at our Trenton Office. Internships are unpaid, but offer great opportunity for experience, networking and practical training.

To apply, please send your resume, cover letter and a map you prepared using ArcGIS as well as any additional supporting materials to rtessier@dca.state.nj.us. Please make the subject of your email your full name and the position for which you are applying. We kindly request no phone calls regarding this position.

GIS Intern w/ Growing Engineering & Planning Firm

GIS Intern w/ Growing Engineering & Planning Firm

Stonefield Engineering & Design, a full-service Professional Engineering and Consulting Firm based in Rutherford, NJ, is recruiting a GIS Intern to provide technical expertise to drive our growing GIS service.  A core firm objective is to employ technology to provide better, faster, and more easily comprehensible information to meet the needs of our clients.

The position would be unpaid for a period of 60-90 days, at which time we would evaluate candidates for a paid position.  A position with Stonefield would provide both an opportunity to apply your GIS expertise on a wide range of projects and to provide significant input on the direction of our GIS services.

The right candidate will bring a strong technical background, intellectual curiosity, and a desire for continued growth and learning.  The GIS Specialist will work within a team to determine big-picture goals, but will spend significant time working and solving problems independently, so self-motivation is critical.

The GIS Specialist will lead in the design, development, maintenance and enhancement of geographic information systems and geodatabases.  Candidate will utilize ArcGIS to digitize, edit, and maintain spatial data layers, validate data for accuracy and completeness, and produce maps and figures.  Among other activities, candidate will link asset maps or orthophotos with asset attributes, transportation data, and other related information.

Candidates will be required to exhibit significant GIS experience and proficiency using ArcGIS products including ArcMap and ArcCatalog.   Excellent communication and organizational skills and the ability to work within a team environment are also important for a successful candidate.  GIS Certification and experience with AutoCAD are preferred, but not required.

Proficiency with the following is desired: MS Windows, ESRI ArcGIS 10, ArcView Desktop, ArcCatalog, creating/editing geodatabases, Feature Classes and shapefiles, GeoProcessing, importing/exporting shapefiles, and converting CADD data-sets to shapefiles.

Our core office is located in the transit-oriented village of Rutherford, NJ with easy access to the Rutherford NJ Transit train station.  New York Penn Station is a 30-minute train ride.  We also have an office in the Soho area of New York City.  Interested candidates should submit a short cover letter, resume, and PDF of work product(s) to: cleary@stonefieldeng.com.  Please reference “GIS Intern” in subject line.

Bike Map of Middlesex County

While we aren't there yet, it is getting to the point that a county without a bike map is a clear laggard.  Here is Middlesex County's.  No laggards are we!

3-way street redux

For those that missed it earlier this summer, this video highlights the different conflicts between pedestrians, cyclists and motor vehicles in an intersection in NY.

3-Way Street from ronconcocacola on Vimeo.

(It is best if you watch it full size on Vimeo)

GIS: Designing our future

A good starting place for talking about Geodesign is Jack Dangermond's article describing Carl Steinitz's design approach.

Coming like a freight train

Here comes the Fall semester. And here are some key dates to remember:

First Day of classes - Sept 1
On Thurs Sept 8 we'll hold Mon Classes
Last day to drop without a W grade – Sept. 9
Last Day to Add a Class – Sept. 12
Last Day to Drop with a W grade - Oct. 26
On-line schedule available for students - October 24
Registration begins November 6
On Mon Nov 21 we'll hold Wed Classes
Last Day for complete withdrawal from school – Nov. 23.
Last Day of classes - Dec 13
Final Exams - Dec 16-23

Criticism

A critical faculty is a terrible thing. When I was eleven there were no bad films, just films that I didn’t want to see, there was no bad food, just Brussels sprouts and cabbage, and there were no bad books - everything I read was great. Then suddenly, I woke up in the morning and all that had changed. How could my sister not hear that David Cassidy was not in the same class as Black Sabbath? Why on earth would my English teacher think that The History of Mr Polly was better than Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie? And from that moment on, enjoyment has been a much more elusive quality.

- Nick Hornby

Fever Pitch

Why do we need more walkable streets and trails?

Families are spending more and more of their income on transportation.

Fighting against real deserts

People who live in deserts have been making a slow change towards xeriscaping or other approaches to drought tolerant, limited native plantings.  But places like Austin, Texas, where a change in climate is affecting their entire landscape, have rather suddenly found themselves in this situation and are getting help in adjusting from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.  Outstanding slideshow.

Fighitng against food deserts

Michelle Obama has worked with the USDA getting some food chains to commit to opening grocery stores in areas currently identified as food deserts.  But this partnership is also being greeted with some criticism because of the chains that were included.

What does a good urban place look like?

Chuck Wolfe posted photos from Italy that he thought captured
the answer to that question. But does his Italian answer translate to the urban Northeast?

Mapping out Hurricane Irene

ESRI has created an online map of storm data as well as a list of links to other resources to help you track Hurricane Irene in all of its gory details.  StormPulse has its own online app that is pretty amazing.  Here in New Jersey you'll want to watch the online river gages, like this one at Keansburg, especially to see if they stay online:

Stay dry.

Working at the water's edge

One of the challenges for envisioning better pedestrian and bike linkages in the Raritan Basin is to make meaningful linkages with the Raritan River and other key waters in our area. So it if informative to peek at solutions that others have tried on bodies of water that admittedly behave differently and feel differently too.

Canadian Landscape Architect Claude Cormier has some urban waterfront projects that are different than what we see around here: Quai de l'Horloge and Sugar Beach.

And while Washington DC's new National Harbor project may be a bit cheesy, it includes some basic ingredients to consider.

Trails near New Brunswick and beyond

Keep Middlesex Moving has created an online map built on Google Maps that includes an impressive array of bike paths. While I question a few, you can see a clear effort to capture the paved bike paths within parks. It isn't clear where they got them, but these bike paths (which extend far beyond NJ) seem similar to those on the android version of Google Maps.

If you zoom out, do you notice that our area almost seems bare compared to other parts of the state?