Consolidation can’t move forward unless a majority of voters in both the township and the borough say yes. Residents of the township, which wraps around the borough like a doughnut, approved a merger by a three-to-one margin in 1996, but it died when 55 percent of borough residents voted no. The measure was also rejected in 1953 and 1979.But the article also includes a list of all 22 of New Jersey's doughnut towns.
04 November 2011
Should Princeton merge?
Will Princeton Borough and Princeton Township finally set aside their few remaining differences and become one? Voters will decide (yet again)on Tuesday. The Star-Ledger offers a preview that reminds us of some past efforts:
03 November 2011
Job in Newark
If parks and community design are you thing, you might want to check out this job in Newark with the Trust for Public Lands.
Cool class: Art and the City
If you need an elective, you might want to check out Art and the City (762:496:03) which works to give students an understanding of the ways in which art is used in civic design. It is being taught at Bloustein and is recruiting students from Mason Gross. It also includes a guided Mural Arts Tour of West Philadelphia.
02 November 2011
Tim Marshall follow-up
Rather than a live blog, I simply offer a list of links related to the places we heard about today in lecture. Most are official link, since it was really about organizations not images:
EDA's land use images
After talking about some municipal patterns of land use in EDA yesterday, I wanted to share a few of the lists:
Cool class: Blogging and Podcasting for the Environment
Not many classes have a YouTube video to advertise their work. Here is one that does.
ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNICATION CLINIC:
BLOGGING AND PODCASTING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT 11:374:493
9:15-12:15 Thursdays. Blake 131.
Want to make videos? Enhance your resume?
The goal of the environmental communication clinic is to give students problem-solving skills and hands-on experience to help them in the job market.
Working in groups, students in the Spring 2012 class will develop audio and video podcasts to promote environmentally responsible behavior on campus. To do so, students will first determine their communication goals (Increase recycling at RU football games? Reduce bottled water use in the student centers? Reduce carbon footprint of the dorms? Or? Next, they will identify appropriate target audiences (dorm residents, SEBs faculty, football fans, etc.) After conducting research and developing concepts for narratives, students will learn how to use equipment and begin production.
ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNICATION CLINIC:
BLOGGING AND PODCASTING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT 11:374:493
9:15-12:15 Thursdays. Blake 131.
Want to make videos? Enhance your resume?
The goal of the environmental communication clinic is to give students problem-solving skills and hands-on experience to help them in the job market.
Working in groups, students in the Spring 2012 class will develop audio and video podcasts to promote environmentally responsible behavior on campus. To do so, students will first determine their communication goals (Increase recycling at RU football games? Reduce bottled water use in the student centers? Reduce carbon footprint of the dorms? Or? Next, they will identify appropriate target audiences (dorm residents, SEBs faculty, football fans, etc.) After conducting research and developing concepts for narratives, students will learn how to use equipment and begin production.
01 November 2011
Land Use notes from EDA
Some random notes from today's EDA lecture:
- New Jersey's Multiple Municipal Madness
- Teterboro has 18 residents, Pine Valley has 20
- The award-winning map of the Stony Brook Watershed
- CRSSA's landscape change program
- How to Lie With Maps by Monmonier
31 October 2011
Does Good Design Alone Guarantee a Project’s Success?
LA Fall Lecture Series presents Timothy Marshall
Wednesday, 12/2 at 4:00 pm
Cook/Douglas Lecture Hall
3 College Farm Road
New Brunswick, NJ
Does Good Design Alone Guarantee a Project’s Success?
We are all too familiar with well-designed projects that have not been able to withstand the test of time, due to the lack of proper maintenance the site received after it was constructed. Worn path edges, broken benches/curbs, perennial plantings that are now annual or shrub beds, or worse, mulch beds, fountains and lighting that no longer operates, other visual clutter are just some of the changes made to a site over time due a inadequate maintenance or unanticipated use patterns.
What went wrong? Is it just a case of inadequate maintenance? Is it the design? Is it unanticipated use? Is it lack of proper management? Is it all of the above?
Maintenance and operations are, in fact, important “design considerations” and should be viewed and analyzed along with other professional input during design. The recent and dramatic improvements to Central Park have shown the importance of protecting the capital investment through understanding and planning for maintenance. Of course along with good design and improved maintenance comes more use. Central Park has seen its visitor numbers increase from an estimated 6 million annual visitors in 1985 to close to 30 million today. Not all of that use has been anticipated or planned for.
This presentation will look at a number of recently completed and designed projects where ETM ASSOCIATES, has worked closely with the design team during the design process to identify maintenance and operational issues and how those design modifications and ultimately, use has contributed to successful public space projects.
Project examples will include Central Park, the High Line, Houston’s Discovery Green, the proposed Olympic Park in London, Baltimore’s Mt Vernon Square and Pack Square in Asheville, NC.
E. Timothy Marshall, ASLA, principal of ETM ASSOCIATES, LLC , has been providing
professional public space design and management solutions, strategies and developmental guidance since 1984.
ETM Associates, LLC was formed in 1997 and specialized in Public Space Design and Management. The firm is concerned with all aspects of public space and sees design, implementation and ongoing management as a continuum of related professional activities. The firm presently employees a staff of five.
Timothy Marshall, principal and owner of ETM, has been involved with public space issues for more 25 years. Mr. Marshall was formerly the Deputy Administrator and Vice President for the Central Park Conservancy. As former Deputy Administrator and Vice President for New York City’s Central Park Conservancy, he was involved in the development of The Central Park Restoration and Management Plan, and was directly responsible for its on-going implementation as well as the day-to-day management of Central Park, one of the world’s most important public spaces.
Since forming ETM ASSOCIATES, LLC, he has served as the driving force behind an impressive list of significant national and international public space projects. Successful public spaces are achieved with forethought and planning. We have experience with a wide-range of projects and project scales. In addition to being physically attractive, parks need to be designed to suit the neighborhoods they serve. Parks that thrive and provide balance to the community are those that rise above the commonplace in the quality of design, facilities, maintenance and programs.
Wednesday, 12/2 at 4:00 pm
Cook/Douglas Lecture Hall
3 College Farm Road
New Brunswick, NJ
Does Good Design Alone Guarantee a Project’s Success?
We are all too familiar with well-designed projects that have not been able to withstand the test of time, due to the lack of proper maintenance the site received after it was constructed. Worn path edges, broken benches/curbs, perennial plantings that are now annual or shrub beds, or worse, mulch beds, fountains and lighting that no longer operates, other visual clutter are just some of the changes made to a site over time due a inadequate maintenance or unanticipated use patterns.
What went wrong? Is it just a case of inadequate maintenance? Is it the design? Is it unanticipated use? Is it lack of proper management? Is it all of the above?
Maintenance and operations are, in fact, important “design considerations” and should be viewed and analyzed along with other professional input during design. The recent and dramatic improvements to Central Park have shown the importance of protecting the capital investment through understanding and planning for maintenance. Of course along with good design and improved maintenance comes more use. Central Park has seen its visitor numbers increase from an estimated 6 million annual visitors in 1985 to close to 30 million today. Not all of that use has been anticipated or planned for.
This presentation will look at a number of recently completed and designed projects where ETM ASSOCIATES, has worked closely with the design team during the design process to identify maintenance and operational issues and how those design modifications and ultimately, use has contributed to successful public space projects.
Project examples will include Central Park, the High Line, Houston’s Discovery Green, the proposed Olympic Park in London, Baltimore’s Mt Vernon Square and Pack Square in Asheville, NC.
E. Timothy Marshall, ASLA, principal of ETM ASSOCIATES, LLC , has been providing
professional public space design and management solutions, strategies and developmental guidance since 1984.
ETM Associates, LLC was formed in 1997 and specialized in Public Space Design and Management. The firm is concerned with all aspects of public space and sees design, implementation and ongoing management as a continuum of related professional activities. The firm presently employees a staff of five.
Timothy Marshall, principal and owner of ETM, has been involved with public space issues for more 25 years. Mr. Marshall was formerly the Deputy Administrator and Vice President for the Central Park Conservancy. As former Deputy Administrator and Vice President for New York City’s Central Park Conservancy, he was involved in the development of The Central Park Restoration and Management Plan, and was directly responsible for its on-going implementation as well as the day-to-day management of Central Park, one of the world’s most important public spaces.
Since forming ETM ASSOCIATES, LLC, he has served as the driving force behind an impressive list of significant national and international public space projects. Successful public spaces are achieved with forethought and planning. We have experience with a wide-range of projects and project scales. In addition to being physically attractive, parks need to be designed to suit the neighborhoods they serve. Parks that thrive and provide balance to the community are those that rise above the commonplace in the quality of design, facilities, maintenance and programs.
28 October 2011
Free movie tonight
FARMAGEDDON showing for free at Rutgers University
WHEN: Friday, October 28, 2011, 7:00 pm Movie
Following the screening, meet the film producer Kristin Canty, and participate in a panel discussion on food choice.
Americans’ right to access fresh, healthy foods of their choice is under attack. Farmageddon tells the story of small, family farms that were providing safe, healthy foods to their communities and were forced to stop, sometimes through violent action, by agents of misguided government bureaucracies, and seeks to figure out why.
For clips from Farmageddon, visit: http://vimeo.com/smallfarmproject/videos
WHERE: Voorhees Hall #105, Rutgers University
Sponsored by Cook Campus Dean, College Ave Campus Dean, Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center, and the Office of Undergraduate Education
FREE
WHEN: Friday, October 28, 2011, 7:00 pm Movie
Following the screening, meet the film producer Kristin Canty, and participate in a panel discussion on food choice.
Americans’ right to access fresh, healthy foods of their choice is under attack. Farmageddon tells the story of small, family farms that were providing safe, healthy foods to their communities and were forced to stop, sometimes through violent action, by agents of misguided government bureaucracies, and seeks to figure out why.
For clips from Farmageddon, visit: http://vimeo.com/smallfarmproject/videos
WHERE: Voorhees Hall #105, Rutgers University
Sponsored by Cook Campus Dean, College Ave Campus Dean, Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center, and the Office of Undergraduate Education
FREE
27 October 2011
Obama on Innovation
I've been working on some writing about innovation and rediscovered my copy of the transcript from this year's State of the Union, which included a substantial section on innovation. Since I never blogged it earlier, I'll throw in some now, with an emphasis on a couple passages that the GIS community might find more interesting. First he reminded us of how American innovation can be:
He then slipped into a free-enterprise innovation discussion that included a bit of geospatial: "That's what planted the seeds for the Internet. That's what helped make possible things like computer chips and GPS."
Finally, he made it part of a challenge to the country's future. For GIScientists and technicians interested in the policy implications, this section gives some idea of where his administration is pointing us:
The first step in winning the future is encouraging American innovation. None of us can predict with certainty what the next big industry will be or where the new jobs will come from. Thirty years ago, we couldn't know that something called the Internet would lead to an economic revolution. What we can do — what America does better than anyone else — is spark the creativity and imagination of our people. We're the nation that put cars in driveways and computers in offices; the nation of Edison and the Wright brothers; of Google and Facebook. In America, innovation doesn't just change our lives. It is how we make our living.
He then slipped into a free-enterprise innovation discussion that included a bit of geospatial: "That's what planted the seeds for the Internet. That's what helped make possible things like computer chips and GPS."
Finally, he made it part of a challenge to the country's future. For GIScientists and technicians interested in the policy implications, this section gives some idea of where his administration is pointing us:
Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik, we had no idea how we would beat them to the moon. The science wasn't even there yet. NASA didn't exist. But after investing in better research and education, we didn't just surpass the Soviets; we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs.Whether Democrat or Republican, the comments of a President's speeches often guide the actions of agencies and policymakers. It is interesting to look to see how much is being said in DC today that reflects this speech given in January. But without a budget (which is usually a major policy tool) it is hard to figure out who is winning the policy priority tug-of-war.
This is our generation's Sputnik moment. Two years ago, I said that we needed to reach a level of research and development we haven't seen since the height of the Space Race. And in a few weeks, I will be sending a budget to Congress that helps us meet that goal. We'll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology — (applause) — an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people.
A very cool web app called History Pin has popped up that tries to get some serious crowdsourcing going for linking old photos with Google Maps and even Streetview. Check out the short video.
A few years back one of our our alums at Azavea helped made an interface like this for Philly with an unbelievable number of photos that they mapped at Philly History.
It is a shame that the two aren't merged, but maybe that will happen down the road.
h/t Chris P
A few years back one of our our alums at Azavea helped made an interface like this for Philly with an unbelievable number of photos that they mapped at Philly History.
It is a shame that the two aren't merged, but maybe that will happen down the road.
h/t Chris P
Looking back on the Highlands Act
The Star-Ledger takes a look at the Highlands asking whether, after a few years in place, it is more regulatory burden or boon to water quality and the environment.
26 October 2011
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
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.
25 October 2011
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.
24 October 2011
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).
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).
23 October 2011
22 October 2011
Private parks for the public?
h/t puk
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