2.28.2009
11.30.2008
Saratoga Springs Revisited - 1999 - present
http://www.saratoga.com/
The changes in Saratoga Springs over the last 20 years have been a mixture of the good and the bad, with some changes that initially appeared to be positive proving later to have had unexpectedly negative consequences. The most obvious example is the surge in development of high-end properties, including luxury condo apartments and large mansions, that should added to the real property tax base.
In 1999, a Republican controlled City Council approved a new Comprehensive Plan for the City of Saratoga Springs. Labeled as "inclusive", "The 1999 Comprehensive Plan, and subsequent zoning amendments, established new mixed-use “Impact Areas” in previously limiting commercial areas. These Impact Areas broaden the extent of allowable uses to encourage a greater mix of residential and commercial uses. Additional residential activity should expand the City’s total housing stock, encourage more creative approaches to residential development and open the opportunity for more economically and physically creative housing options." A more realistic portrayal would emphasize the primary motivation to increase the City's tax base (citing a looming fiscal crisis) with a secondary effect of increased housing opportunities. The Democrats claimed no such fiscal necessity existed in the City.......Current finances and future revenues were sufficient to meet the City's needs. Predictably, the Republicans were painted as too "developer friendly" due to the increase in land on which higher density alternatives could be built. Soon thereafter, The fall elections were framed in the context of over-development vs. "smart growth". With the Democrats touting the dangers of development and the fiscal merits of increased open space protection, the Republicans were forced to rely upon the tenuous connection of expanded development opportunities, an enlarged tax base and the potential inclusive side-effects of a more diverse housing stock.
With the assistance of influential special interests, the Democrats outspent the Republicans and gained a majority of the City Council on the aforementioned"smart growth" platform. Of course, "smart growth" was a generic banner which encompassed a litany of anti-development sentiment under its rather wholesome title. Collectively, "smart growth" encompassed open space protection (the Open Space Project or Saratoga PLAN), sustainability (The League of Women's Voters), reduced inner district density (the West Side Neighborhood Association), curtailed greenfield development (Concerned Citizens of Saratoga Springs, Citizens Still Concerned), historic preservation (Preservation Foundation) and general anti-development/anti-capitalist activists. As a result of the new majority, Mayor Ken Klotz formed a new Comprehensive Plan Review committee less than a year after the 99 plan was codified. The results were predictable: The elimination of greenfield Impact Areas on the East and West sides of the City. The impetus for eliminating the Impact Areas was to limit "sprawl" and encourage greater densities in the inner core. Understanding the elimination of these areas may discourage "more economically creative housing options", the 2001 plan recommended the adoption of a density bonus for affordable housing in the City's RR-1 zoning district (the district which supplanted the recently eliminated Impact Areas).
Perhaps the seminal moment in contemporary City planning was the Widewaters Home Depot proposal at Exit 15. Driven by the ominous specter of big-box within the hallowed City limits......NIMBY pheromones erupted from a wide radius. Developers, special interests and bored housewives converged into an orgy of citizen activism. Coined the Concerned Citizens of Saratoga Springs, these activists successfully defeated out-of-town profiteers with good old fashioned grass-roots activism. Its now apparent the rush of successful citizen activism played like an opiate on certain radical ideologues within the Concerned Citizens.
Within months of Widewater's departure, Concerned Citizen, and local developer, Jeff Pfeil purchased an option on the site of the Home Depot proposal. With what would eventually become Excelsior Park, Pfeil was proposing a progressive mixed-use New Urbanist community.......the exact type of "smart growth" envisioned for the City's Impact Areas (of which this was one). By now, Mayor Klotz had appointed Concerned Citizen Nancy "Butcher" Ohlin to the Planning Board. This move was encouraged by fellow Concerned Citizen (and Zoning Board appointee) Amy Durland, who was a close advisor to Klotz. Despite a complete lack of any land use experience, Klotz had begun the process of inundating City boards with fervent anti-development activists. The subsequent approval of Excelsior Park was achieved under constant harassment from "Citizens Still Concerned", a reformulated version of the Home Depot opposition sans any legitimate planning premise. Excelsior Park was not big-box and the proposal encompassed state-of-the-art, progressive development philosophies. The developer even offered an affordable housing component, premised on the requisite density typical of mixed-income projects: 270 units inclusive of a 30 unit affordable structure. Through this process it became apparent wholesome big-box opposition had given way to simplistic stereotypes of high density residential development.
The age of activist innocence ceased with Excelsior Park. The new philosophy was best articulated by citizen activist and influential Democrat John Kaufman. According to Kaufman, "certain types" of high density residential development were detrimental to municipal finances (i.e., the taxes paid were not commensurate with the service rendered). The 2001 Comprehensive Plan addressed this concern with a last minute amendment requiring the preparation of a "fiscal impact analysis" for any large scale development within the City. The implication was clear: lower income housing would be discouraged through the new standards memorialized in the 01 plan. This concern was transparently dubious however, as the same cadre of development opponents claimed there was NO looming fiscal crisis on which to base expanded development opportunities in the 99 Comp Plan. Yet, when the time came to fight against dense residential development, the clarion call was "it doesn't pay for itself"........thus invoking the same fiscal concerns which these same people claimed did not warrant increased development two years prior.
After the City adopted the 2001 Comp Plan it embarked on a process to update its zoning code to reflect the changes in the Comp Plan. The changes to the zoning code were adopted in the spring of 2003. Notably, the density bonus for affordable housing was not included in the amendments. The reason: It was feared the inclusion of an affordable housing density bonus would doom the entirety of amendments proposed by the zoning committee. At this point however, it was clear the opposition wasn't to greater density per se. But rather, the opposition seemed to stem from the type of housing that would result from that density. This point was made crystal clear when the zoning amendments were adopted with a density bonus for open space preservation.......but not affordable housing in the City's outer districts.
Fast forward to the summer of 2007. As reported in the Saratogian:
"Choy said the plan was strong on preservation, sustainability and open space, while the most controversial item during deliberations was housing. The committee, thinking that the inclusion of mandated affordable housing might sink the plan, voted it down, Choy said. The committee recommends the elimination of density bonuses for affordable/workforce housing."
Sound familiar? Despite the fact that Mayor Keehn claims to have been elected on a popular platform which would provide much needed affordable housing.......the committee now concludes that the provision of meaningful affordable housing incentives may "sink" the entire plan. And make no mistake about it, the main thrust behind the elimination of meaningful incentives originated with our old friend Amy Durland (Former useless fixture on the IZOD committee and current chair of the Planning Board) and Nancy Goldberg (Keehn's pick to chair the Zoning Board of Appeals).
While even the most adept policy advisor would be hard-pressed to concoct an effective housing plan within a hostile regulatory scheme meticulously cultured to prevent such housing........the situation is exponentially more inhospitable due to the hostile personalities which thrive in positions of power under the current Mayor. This regulatory scheme will be further buttressed by the recommendations of the current committee. A restriction on building height is, once again, in response to anti-development sentiment within the City. As correctly noted by the Saratogian, the City used to have buildings over 100 feet tall. Of course, this was in the gilded age and who wants to return to that kind of prosperity. When the City contracted the services of the Innovative Housing Institute, they determined the only viable way to construct affordable housing under the City's restrictive zoning was to increase building height or intensity in the greenbelt. Of course, all this was premised on increasing density.......something the Mayor is absolutely against........whether it be in the outer district or downtown.
The stance against density is supported by inflated population projections. The false premise that the City is zoned for 85,000 people is purposely deceptive to create an artificial state of fear. Can you imagine the traffic and parking issues if the City's population were tripled? The formula for determining this hypothetical build-out would be specious to a 1st grader. Simply eliminate ALL development in the City, ignore wetlands/steep slopes/cemeteries etc., and place a prescribed density of fictitious 100% residential uses (even in those zones that have no prescribed density) on the entire city......no City Hall, no commerce, no preservation hall, no retail, no YMCA.......just residences in the entirety of the City's Transect Zones (Those zones which were previously "Impact Areas"and then "Special Development Areas" and comprise the desired areas for future development). Yup, this is the type of base data the City uses to structure its strategic land use plan around. The fact remains that under the current zoning, the City will be lucky to realize a population of 35,000 (as the T-zones are already substantially built-out) within the next twenty years........and the vast majority of those people will be rich, retired folks from Weehawken and Westchester.
I don't mind politicos ignoring social issues to appease the entitled masses.......that's what they do in Saratoga. What burns me is when clueless flakes like Val Keehn present themselves as socially equitable and then do everything in their power to screw the little guy. Val isn't pursuing a meaningful housing policy because she fears the repercussions will "sink" her political career. Period. So on with wind power, sustainability, less development and less traffic........all those things which evoke happy, mystical, carbon-free days to come. Unfortunately, you cant develop a realistic plan for the future with your head in the clouds........or up your ass as the case may be.
- http://disutopiaofsaratogasprings.blogspot.com/
This Saratoga-based blog also has an excerpt about a city meeting where a local developer is shot down for too much density:
"Gary Olsen floated his 96-unit affordable townhouse project in front of THE MAYOR'S Comprehensive Plan Committee last night. As expected, the proposal drew a large contingent of neighborhood opposition citing......you guessed it: Too much density. Not to be outdone, Committee Vice-Chair and Val Keehn torch-bearer Nancy Goldberg joined the fray by throwing up bureaucratic red flags to bolster the neighbor's position. In this case, stating the past two Comp Plans discouraged the utilization of Planned Unit Developments.....the vehicle by which Olsen hopes to gain approval. But, while this might seem like your garden-variety NIMBY/authoritarian-planner type behavior.....there ARE legitimate underlying concerns with the proposal. For instance, consider the existing character of the quiet alley which services the adjacent Price-Chopper supermarket ....and the dumpsters and trailers which call that sanguine spot home. How will that important neighborhood fabric be preserved? And at what point do we take a breath from the pell-mell conversion of industrial land for housing? Do we simply resign ourselves to sacrifice community character for human shelter?....And at what cost?"
Broadway, west side
Saratoga Springs, NY
Broadway, east side
Saratoga Springs, NY
Same
This view includes the Adelphi Hotel, one of the last two 1860's hotel left in Saratoga Springs
Congress Park Centre
Site of former Grand Union Hotel, 1802
Site or former Grand Union Grocery, 1955
Plan of same
"Granite Palace"
Refurbished office building
Signs advertising events, history, etc
Directing people through downtown
More signage directing people to stores off the beaten path
Railroad Place
Too much density?
Same
Retail on first floor
Same
Parking underneath, serviced by alleys behind
The changes in Saratoga Springs over the last 20 years have been a mixture of the good and the bad, with some changes that initially appeared to be positive proving later to have had unexpectedly negative consequences. The most obvious example is the surge in development of high-end properties, including luxury condo apartments and large mansions, that should added to the real property tax base.
In 1999, a Republican controlled City Council approved a new Comprehensive Plan for the City of Saratoga Springs. Labeled as "inclusive", "The 1999 Comprehensive Plan, and subsequent zoning amendments, established new mixed-use “Impact Areas” in previously limiting commercial areas. These Impact Areas broaden the extent of allowable uses to encourage a greater mix of residential and commercial uses. Additional residential activity should expand the City’s total housing stock, encourage more creative approaches to residential development and open the opportunity for more economically and physically creative housing options." A more realistic portrayal would emphasize the primary motivation to increase the City's tax base (citing a looming fiscal crisis) with a secondary effect of increased housing opportunities. The Democrats claimed no such fiscal necessity existed in the City.......Current finances and future revenues were sufficient to meet the City's needs. Predictably, the Republicans were painted as too "developer friendly" due to the increase in land on which higher density alternatives could be built. Soon thereafter, The fall elections were framed in the context of over-development vs. "smart growth". With the Democrats touting the dangers of development and the fiscal merits of increased open space protection, the Republicans were forced to rely upon the tenuous connection of expanded development opportunities, an enlarged tax base and the potential inclusive side-effects of a more diverse housing stock.
With the assistance of influential special interests, the Democrats outspent the Republicans and gained a majority of the City Council on the aforementioned"smart growth" platform. Of course, "smart growth" was a generic banner which encompassed a litany of anti-development sentiment under its rather wholesome title. Collectively, "smart growth" encompassed open space protection (the Open Space Project or Saratoga PLAN), sustainability (The League of Women's Voters), reduced inner district density (the West Side Neighborhood Association), curtailed greenfield development (Concerned Citizens of Saratoga Springs, Citizens Still Concerned), historic preservation (Preservation Foundation) and general anti-development/anti-capitalist activists. As a result of the new majority, Mayor Ken Klotz formed a new Comprehensive Plan Review committee less than a year after the 99 plan was codified. The results were predictable: The elimination of greenfield Impact Areas on the East and West sides of the City. The impetus for eliminating the Impact Areas was to limit "sprawl" and encourage greater densities in the inner core. Understanding the elimination of these areas may discourage "more economically creative housing options", the 2001 plan recommended the adoption of a density bonus for affordable housing in the City's RR-1 zoning district (the district which supplanted the recently eliminated Impact Areas).
Perhaps the seminal moment in contemporary City planning was the Widewaters Home Depot proposal at Exit 15. Driven by the ominous specter of big-box within the hallowed City limits......NIMBY pheromones erupted from a wide radius. Developers, special interests and bored housewives converged into an orgy of citizen activism. Coined the Concerned Citizens of Saratoga Springs, these activists successfully defeated out-of-town profiteers with good old fashioned grass-roots activism. Its now apparent the rush of successful citizen activism played like an opiate on certain radical ideologues within the Concerned Citizens.
Within months of Widewater's departure, Concerned Citizen, and local developer, Jeff Pfeil purchased an option on the site of the Home Depot proposal. With what would eventually become Excelsior Park, Pfeil was proposing a progressive mixed-use New Urbanist community.......the exact type of "smart growth" envisioned for the City's Impact Areas (of which this was one). By now, Mayor Klotz had appointed Concerned Citizen Nancy "Butcher" Ohlin to the Planning Board. This move was encouraged by fellow Concerned Citizen (and Zoning Board appointee) Amy Durland, who was a close advisor to Klotz. Despite a complete lack of any land use experience, Klotz had begun the process of inundating City boards with fervent anti-development activists. The subsequent approval of Excelsior Park was achieved under constant harassment from "Citizens Still Concerned", a reformulated version of the Home Depot opposition sans any legitimate planning premise. Excelsior Park was not big-box and the proposal encompassed state-of-the-art, progressive development philosophies. The developer even offered an affordable housing component, premised on the requisite density typical of mixed-income projects: 270 units inclusive of a 30 unit affordable structure. Through this process it became apparent wholesome big-box opposition had given way to simplistic stereotypes of high density residential development.
The age of activist innocence ceased with Excelsior Park. The new philosophy was best articulated by citizen activist and influential Democrat John Kaufman. According to Kaufman, "certain types" of high density residential development were detrimental to municipal finances (i.e., the taxes paid were not commensurate with the service rendered). The 2001 Comprehensive Plan addressed this concern with a last minute amendment requiring the preparation of a "fiscal impact analysis" for any large scale development within the City. The implication was clear: lower income housing would be discouraged through the new standards memorialized in the 01 plan. This concern was transparently dubious however, as the same cadre of development opponents claimed there was NO looming fiscal crisis on which to base expanded development opportunities in the 99 Comp Plan. Yet, when the time came to fight against dense residential development, the clarion call was "it doesn't pay for itself"........thus invoking the same fiscal concerns which these same people claimed did not warrant increased development two years prior.
After the City adopted the 2001 Comp Plan it embarked on a process to update its zoning code to reflect the changes in the Comp Plan. The changes to the zoning code were adopted in the spring of 2003. Notably, the density bonus for affordable housing was not included in the amendments. The reason: It was feared the inclusion of an affordable housing density bonus would doom the entirety of amendments proposed by the zoning committee. At this point however, it was clear the opposition wasn't to greater density per se. But rather, the opposition seemed to stem from the type of housing that would result from that density. This point was made crystal clear when the zoning amendments were adopted with a density bonus for open space preservation.......but not affordable housing in the City's outer districts.
Fast forward to the summer of 2007. As reported in the Saratogian:
"Choy said the plan was strong on preservation, sustainability and open space, while the most controversial item during deliberations was housing. The committee, thinking that the inclusion of mandated affordable housing might sink the plan, voted it down, Choy said. The committee recommends the elimination of density bonuses for affordable/workforce housing."
Sound familiar? Despite the fact that Mayor Keehn claims to have been elected on a popular platform which would provide much needed affordable housing.......the committee now concludes that the provision of meaningful affordable housing incentives may "sink" the entire plan. And make no mistake about it, the main thrust behind the elimination of meaningful incentives originated with our old friend Amy Durland (Former useless fixture on the IZOD committee and current chair of the Planning Board) and Nancy Goldberg (Keehn's pick to chair the Zoning Board of Appeals).
While even the most adept policy advisor would be hard-pressed to concoct an effective housing plan within a hostile regulatory scheme meticulously cultured to prevent such housing........the situation is exponentially more inhospitable due to the hostile personalities which thrive in positions of power under the current Mayor. This regulatory scheme will be further buttressed by the recommendations of the current committee. A restriction on building height is, once again, in response to anti-development sentiment within the City. As correctly noted by the Saratogian, the City used to have buildings over 100 feet tall. Of course, this was in the gilded age and who wants to return to that kind of prosperity. When the City contracted the services of the Innovative Housing Institute, they determined the only viable way to construct affordable housing under the City's restrictive zoning was to increase building height or intensity in the greenbelt. Of course, all this was premised on increasing density.......something the Mayor is absolutely against........whether it be in the outer district or downtown.
The stance against density is supported by inflated population projections. The false premise that the City is zoned for 85,000 people is purposely deceptive to create an artificial state of fear. Can you imagine the traffic and parking issues if the City's population were tripled? The formula for determining this hypothetical build-out would be specious to a 1st grader. Simply eliminate ALL development in the City, ignore wetlands/steep slopes/cemeteries etc., and place a prescribed density of fictitious 100% residential uses (even in those zones that have no prescribed density) on the entire city......no City Hall, no commerce, no preservation hall, no retail, no YMCA.......just residences in the entirety of the City's Transect Zones (Those zones which were previously "Impact Areas"and then "Special Development Areas" and comprise the desired areas for future development). Yup, this is the type of base data the City uses to structure its strategic land use plan around. The fact remains that under the current zoning, the City will be lucky to realize a population of 35,000 (as the T-zones are already substantially built-out) within the next twenty years........and the vast majority of those people will be rich, retired folks from Weehawken and Westchester.
I don't mind politicos ignoring social issues to appease the entitled masses.......that's what they do in Saratoga. What burns me is when clueless flakes like Val Keehn present themselves as socially equitable and then do everything in their power to screw the little guy. Val isn't pursuing a meaningful housing policy because she fears the repercussions will "sink" her political career. Period. So on with wind power, sustainability, less development and less traffic........all those things which evoke happy, mystical, carbon-free days to come. Unfortunately, you cant develop a realistic plan for the future with your head in the clouds........or up your ass as the case may be.
- http://disutopiaofsaratogasprings.blogspot.com/
This Saratoga-based blog also has an excerpt about a city meeting where a local developer is shot down for too much density:
"Gary Olsen floated his 96-unit affordable townhouse project in front of THE MAYOR'S Comprehensive Plan Committee last night. As expected, the proposal drew a large contingent of neighborhood opposition citing......you guessed it: Too much density. Not to be outdone, Committee Vice-Chair and Val Keehn torch-bearer Nancy Goldberg joined the fray by throwing up bureaucratic red flags to bolster the neighbor's position. In this case, stating the past two Comp Plans discouraged the utilization of Planned Unit Developments.....the vehicle by which Olsen hopes to gain approval. But, while this might seem like your garden-variety NIMBY/authoritarian-planner type behavior.....there ARE legitimate underlying concerns with the proposal. For instance, consider the existing character of the quiet alley which services the adjacent Price-Chopper supermarket ....and the dumpsters and trailers which call that sanguine spot home. How will that important neighborhood fabric be preserved? And at what point do we take a breath from the pell-mell conversion of industrial land for housing? Do we simply resign ourselves to sacrifice community character for human shelter?....And at what cost?"
Broadway, west side
Saratoga Springs, NY
Broadway, east side
Saratoga Springs, NY
Same
This view includes the Adelphi Hotel, one of the last two 1860's hotel left in Saratoga Springs
Congress Park Centre
Site of former Grand Union Hotel, 1802
Site or former Grand Union Grocery, 1955
Plan of same
"Granite Palace"
Refurbished office building
Signs advertising events, history, etc
Directing people through downtown
More signage directing people to stores off the beaten path
Railroad Place
Too much density?
Same
Retail on first floor
Same
Parking underneath, serviced by alleys behind
Saratoga Springs Revisited - The 1970's
http://www.saratoga.com/
Saratoga Springs, NY is a small bustling city of 30,000 people, located an hour north of the state capitol, Albany. Historically touted for mineral springs that were first discovered in 1767, Saratoga springs quickly became a tourist destination for New Yorkers and wealthy Southerners. By the time the first racetrack was established in 1864, Saratoga was the summer home to many wealthy people, which allowed the passtime to flourish. Today, Saratoga is considered the "home of horse racing." Both legal and illicit gambling had erupted by 1910, which all but paved the way for Saratoga Springs to become a bootleg liquor hub by the time Prohibition began 10 years later. In the 1950's cities were beginning to feel the maintenance burdens of 70 and 80 year old buildings, and the newly middle class post-war country was looking for shiny new buildings and a spacious, sleek new style. However, the city fathers Saratoga Springs put certain planning moratoriums in place at that early time, and while dysfunctional urban renewal policies swept the county for the next 20 years, Saratoga found itself buffered from aggressive tactics that left many other small towns with surface parking in place of their former Main St.
By the time James Howard Kunstler(jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com) moved to Saratoga Springs in the mid 1970's, he found an unpleasantly beat up city with few memorable characteristics and little retail. Thanks to the forethought of 1950's leaders however, there was a basically intact core of downtown buildings, with all but two of Saratoga's historic buildings still standing (the Grand Union and United States Hotels having been torn down in the 1950's). He describes this city in two books authored while living in Saratoga Springs; The Geography of Nowhere in 1994, followed by Home from Nowhere in 1996.
Grand Union Hotel, Saratoga Springs, NY 1802
"In terms of use, the hotels in Saratoga were buildings of huge complexity. They were, foremost, a public space, a social center as well as a place of lodging and dining. They contained shops and parklike courtyards open to the public, and interior and exterior 20' deep three-story piazzas, all on one site"
Kunstler begins with the history of Saratoga Springs, and a slight discourse on the problems encountered in that city, which were (and still are) typical of disinvested urban environments everywhere:
"Saratoga Springs calls itself a city, officially, but posses the qualities that most visitors would associate with the term small town. It's commercial life is centered on a typical main street, called Broadway here. Until recently, the town had a palpable edge at which development ended and true open countryside began.
After World War II, Saratoga had lost much of its luster as a resort. The gigantic old hotels, built during an era when labor was cheap, became maintenance nightmares and were town down. The railroads embarked on their forty-year decline and service was whittled down to one train a day. Anything new built during this period - shopping centers, the first fast food joints - tended to disrupt the existing town pattern. Almost all of it was inimical to the town's essential character. Meanwhile, everything possible had been done to accommodate automobiles at the expense of pedestrians, and of civic life in general. The edge of town was erased in a frenzy of condo building. The bad buildings and bad relationships between things here are familiar symptoms everywhere.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Today, you are apt to enter town on South Broadway. You find two plain industrial boxes designed with no other purpose than to expedite sales of the products inside, the Cobbler House restaurant, and next to it, a Monroe Muffler outlet. Both buildings are surrounded by parking lots that are nearly empty all of the time.
That the parking lots are so much bigger than they need to be is a result of several things. First, zoning laws in this part of town ordain a minimum one quarter acre lot size, whether it is a hot dog stand or a car dealership, which makes for a lot of dead space between buildings. The law also requires deep setbacks from the street, the side property lines, and from the rear, which encourages placing the building in the exact center of the lot with parking all around. Landscaping costs more and creates obstructions for motorists, so paving the whole lot is the easiest and least expensive solution, whether you need all the parking or not. Empty parking lots are the most common little dead noplaces of the postwar streetscape. Great big noplaces are made up of many little noplaces."
He goes on to discourse on auto-centric planning:
"Building up to the sidewalk line is one of the crucial elements in creating places that are appealing to people on foot. The arrangement affords a feeling of enclosure and of visual interest, especially if the buildings contain retail shops with merchandise in their windows. It might be preferable to build all these business out to a sidewalk line and stash the cars in the rear, but the setback law won't allow that. The law assumes that it would be obnoxious for the building to begin right up at the sidewalk, because it would obstruct the motorist's view of other businesses further up the street - and anyway, the zoning law doesn't allow sidewalks. This law has to assume that cars are more important that people.."
On inappropriate building design:
"Heading deeper into town, there is a small realtor's office in a miniature New England church, complete with steeple. The little white church functions as a sign as well as a miniature office building. In symbolic shorthand it says, "We sell traditional real estate here! We sell the coherence, stability, and community of traditional New England town life!" Saratoga is not a traditional New England town and never was. Saratoga is the remnant of a Victorian gambling resort overlayed by an urban sprawlscape, with all the disconnectedness and loss of traditional values that implies. Why does this matter? Because it's a bad building, cheaply cute, out of scale, symbolically false, and stuck in the middle of a parking lot, a little noplace that contributes to the greater noplace. Because if the town had not been degraded by other bad buildings and bad design relationship, there would be no need for its mendacious symbolism, which cheapens the town just a little more."
On junk architecture:
"Commonly, experts that plan communities do not live with the negative effects of their work. The unwillingness to think about the public realm of the street in any other terms beside traffic shows how little value Americans confer on the public realm in general. No thought has gone into the relationships between things - the buildings to each other, the buildings to the street, the pedestrian to the buildings. The detailing of the street is a mess. There are no sidewalks. The absence of trees planted along the sides of the street lends it a bleak, sun-blasted look, which the clutter of signs only aggravates. Even experienced from inside a car, the place is depressing. The fast food strip follows, all the little cartoon eateries in a row: McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, Long John Silver, Pizza Hut, KFC."
And finally, on the Wilton Mall:
"Saratoga Mall was built in the 1970's in the neighboring Town of Wilton by the Pyramid Corporation of Syracuse, NY, and they were welcomed with open arms. Wilton had a big problem fairly typical of suburban sprawl places: taxes. Residential developments are losers. Homeowners have kids that go to school, and all the new streets, like Carefree Lane and Ho Hum Drive (real names) need plowing in the winter. Shopping malls are considered big winners because they, like light industry and research labs, are minimally obnoxious that produce a great deal of tax benefit.
However, the mall, predictably, almost ruined Saratoga's downtown business district. The movie theatre, single remaining department store, and five and dime all closed. The mall would have killed Broadway completely had Saratoga not been a popular tourist town with a reliable stream of recreational shoppers.
What goes around, comes around. In 1987, the Wilmorite Corporation of Rochester, NY announces plans to build a newer, bigger mall on property literally adjoining the first mall. Town of Wilton officials were ecstatic. There was no public opposition to the idea of the second mall, nor any discussion about whether it was necessary. One thing was clear: there weren't enough shoppers in Saratoga County to keep two malls in business. Wilmorite knew this, but the rule of thumb in mall-building is to look good on day one, make money for the next three years, and then sell off the unbundled real estate rights (the building is sold to one set of investors, the land to a second, and the mall management to a third), take your profit, and move on to the next project." As of 1994, the first mall was starting to succumb to marginal "undesirable" business, and the second mall was never more than 64% occupied after one of its three anchor stores closed in 1992.
Saratoga Springs, NY is a small bustling city of 30,000 people, located an hour north of the state capitol, Albany. Historically touted for mineral springs that were first discovered in 1767, Saratoga springs quickly became a tourist destination for New Yorkers and wealthy Southerners. By the time the first racetrack was established in 1864, Saratoga was the summer home to many wealthy people, which allowed the passtime to flourish. Today, Saratoga is considered the "home of horse racing." Both legal and illicit gambling had erupted by 1910, which all but paved the way for Saratoga Springs to become a bootleg liquor hub by the time Prohibition began 10 years later. In the 1950's cities were beginning to feel the maintenance burdens of 70 and 80 year old buildings, and the newly middle class post-war country was looking for shiny new buildings and a spacious, sleek new style. However, the city fathers Saratoga Springs put certain planning moratoriums in place at that early time, and while dysfunctional urban renewal policies swept the county for the next 20 years, Saratoga found itself buffered from aggressive tactics that left many other small towns with surface parking in place of their former Main St.
By the time James Howard Kunstler(jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com) moved to Saratoga Springs in the mid 1970's, he found an unpleasantly beat up city with few memorable characteristics and little retail. Thanks to the forethought of 1950's leaders however, there was a basically intact core of downtown buildings, with all but two of Saratoga's historic buildings still standing (the Grand Union and United States Hotels having been torn down in the 1950's). He describes this city in two books authored while living in Saratoga Springs; The Geography of Nowhere in 1994, followed by Home from Nowhere in 1996.
Grand Union Hotel, Saratoga Springs, NY 1802
"In terms of use, the hotels in Saratoga were buildings of huge complexity. They were, foremost, a public space, a social center as well as a place of lodging and dining. They contained shops and parklike courtyards open to the public, and interior and exterior 20' deep three-story piazzas, all on one site"
Kunstler begins with the history of Saratoga Springs, and a slight discourse on the problems encountered in that city, which were (and still are) typical of disinvested urban environments everywhere:
"Saratoga Springs calls itself a city, officially, but posses the qualities that most visitors would associate with the term small town. It's commercial life is centered on a typical main street, called Broadway here. Until recently, the town had a palpable edge at which development ended and true open countryside began.
After World War II, Saratoga had lost much of its luster as a resort. The gigantic old hotels, built during an era when labor was cheap, became maintenance nightmares and were town down. The railroads embarked on their forty-year decline and service was whittled down to one train a day. Anything new built during this period - shopping centers, the first fast food joints - tended to disrupt the existing town pattern. Almost all of it was inimical to the town's essential character. Meanwhile, everything possible had been done to accommodate automobiles at the expense of pedestrians, and of civic life in general. The edge of town was erased in a frenzy of condo building. The bad buildings and bad relationships between things here are familiar symptoms everywhere.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Today, you are apt to enter town on South Broadway. You find two plain industrial boxes designed with no other purpose than to expedite sales of the products inside, the Cobbler House restaurant, and next to it, a Monroe Muffler outlet. Both buildings are surrounded by parking lots that are nearly empty all of the time.
That the parking lots are so much bigger than they need to be is a result of several things. First, zoning laws in this part of town ordain a minimum one quarter acre lot size, whether it is a hot dog stand or a car dealership, which makes for a lot of dead space between buildings. The law also requires deep setbacks from the street, the side property lines, and from the rear, which encourages placing the building in the exact center of the lot with parking all around. Landscaping costs more and creates obstructions for motorists, so paving the whole lot is the easiest and least expensive solution, whether you need all the parking or not. Empty parking lots are the most common little dead noplaces of the postwar streetscape. Great big noplaces are made up of many little noplaces."
He goes on to discourse on auto-centric planning:
"Building up to the sidewalk line is one of the crucial elements in creating places that are appealing to people on foot. The arrangement affords a feeling of enclosure and of visual interest, especially if the buildings contain retail shops with merchandise in their windows. It might be preferable to build all these business out to a sidewalk line and stash the cars in the rear, but the setback law won't allow that. The law assumes that it would be obnoxious for the building to begin right up at the sidewalk, because it would obstruct the motorist's view of other businesses further up the street - and anyway, the zoning law doesn't allow sidewalks. This law has to assume that cars are more important that people.."
On inappropriate building design:
"Heading deeper into town, there is a small realtor's office in a miniature New England church, complete with steeple. The little white church functions as a sign as well as a miniature office building. In symbolic shorthand it says, "We sell traditional real estate here! We sell the coherence, stability, and community of traditional New England town life!" Saratoga is not a traditional New England town and never was. Saratoga is the remnant of a Victorian gambling resort overlayed by an urban sprawlscape, with all the disconnectedness and loss of traditional values that implies. Why does this matter? Because it's a bad building, cheaply cute, out of scale, symbolically false, and stuck in the middle of a parking lot, a little noplace that contributes to the greater noplace. Because if the town had not been degraded by other bad buildings and bad design relationship, there would be no need for its mendacious symbolism, which cheapens the town just a little more."
On junk architecture:
"Commonly, experts that plan communities do not live with the negative effects of their work. The unwillingness to think about the public realm of the street in any other terms beside traffic shows how little value Americans confer on the public realm in general. No thought has gone into the relationships between things - the buildings to each other, the buildings to the street, the pedestrian to the buildings. The detailing of the street is a mess. There are no sidewalks. The absence of trees planted along the sides of the street lends it a bleak, sun-blasted look, which the clutter of signs only aggravates. Even experienced from inside a car, the place is depressing. The fast food strip follows, all the little cartoon eateries in a row: McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, Long John Silver, Pizza Hut, KFC."
And finally, on the Wilton Mall:
"Saratoga Mall was built in the 1970's in the neighboring Town of Wilton by the Pyramid Corporation of Syracuse, NY, and they were welcomed with open arms. Wilton had a big problem fairly typical of suburban sprawl places: taxes. Residential developments are losers. Homeowners have kids that go to school, and all the new streets, like Carefree Lane and Ho Hum Drive (real names) need plowing in the winter. Shopping malls are considered big winners because they, like light industry and research labs, are minimally obnoxious that produce a great deal of tax benefit.
However, the mall, predictably, almost ruined Saratoga's downtown business district. The movie theatre, single remaining department store, and five and dime all closed. The mall would have killed Broadway completely had Saratoga not been a popular tourist town with a reliable stream of recreational shoppers.
What goes around, comes around. In 1987, the Wilmorite Corporation of Rochester, NY announces plans to build a newer, bigger mall on property literally adjoining the first mall. Town of Wilton officials were ecstatic. There was no public opposition to the idea of the second mall, nor any discussion about whether it was necessary. One thing was clear: there weren't enough shoppers in Saratoga County to keep two malls in business. Wilmorite knew this, but the rule of thumb in mall-building is to look good on day one, make money for the next three years, and then sell off the unbundled real estate rights (the building is sold to one set of investors, the land to a second, and the mall management to a third), take your profit, and move on to the next project." As of 1994, the first mall was starting to succumb to marginal "undesirable" business, and the second mall was never more than 64% occupied after one of its three anchor stores closed in 1992.
11.26.2008
Form Based Zoning: A Blueprint for Buffalo's Future
http://buffalosmartcode.com/
A form-based code (FBC) is a method of regulating development to achieve a specific urban form. Form-based codes have proven more effective in creating predictable, high-quality development because they focus mainly on the appearance of buildings and public space (the physical form), as opposed to conventional zoning codes, which lack design standards and focus almost exclusively on use and density.
A form-based code (FBC) is a method of regulating development to achieve a specific urban form. Form-based codes have proven more effective in creating predictable, high-quality development because they focus mainly on the appearance of buildings and public space (the physical form), as opposed to conventional zoning codes, which lack design standards and focus almost exclusively on use and density.
11.24.2008
Rock Harbor Commons
http://www.rockharborcommons.com/
Developer Ed Hogle has taken a gigantic step to further this privately financed collegiate student village in Black Rock. I've joined the effort because I truly believe that this is one of the most visionary projects moving forward in Buffalo. It has green elements. It's a brownfield conversion. It's in a historic part of the city. And it's aimed at keeping our youth here and engaged. Please visit the post on Buffalo Rising and tell your friends and family to spread the word about Rock Harbor Village. We have set up a Rock Harbor Village Group Page on Facebook - consider becoming a member. Or visit the website to check out the virtual walk-through. Thanks and Go Buffalo! -
Developer Ed Hogle has taken a gigantic step to further this privately financed collegiate student village in Black Rock. I've joined the effort because I truly believe that this is one of the most visionary projects moving forward in Buffalo. It has green elements. It's a brownfield conversion. It's in a historic part of the city. And it's aimed at keeping our youth here and engaged. Please visit the post on Buffalo Rising and tell your friends and family to spread the word about Rock Harbor Village. We have set up a Rock Harbor Village Group Page on Facebook - consider becoming a member. Or visit the website to check out the virtual walk-through. Thanks and Go Buffalo! -
11.23.2008
Family Of Five Found Alive In Suburbs
BUFFALO GROVE, IL—The Holsapple family, long feared missing or spiritually dead, was found alive in the Chicago suburbs Monday, somehow managing to survive in the hostile environment for more than eight years. Rescuers discovered the five-person clan after a survey plane spotted a crude signal fire the family had created in a barbecue grill.
"Imagine my surprise when, smack-dab in the middle of nowhere, I saw these flames," pilot Tony Riggs said. "I did a second pass and was shocked to see actual human beings down there. I remember thinking to myself, 'My God, who could live in a place like that?' It's incredible to imagine they survived there for so long."
Bill Holsapple, 41, wife Meredith, 39, and son Jay disappeared in June 1993, when, two months after Jay's birth, the family of three left their Chicago apartment for parts unknown. The three were not heard from again until Monday, when they were found in the suburban wasteland known as Buffalo Grove with two new family members, Kimberly, 4, and Jordan, 2.
To protect themselves from the elements, the Holsapples fashioned a three-bedroom, ranch-style lean-to with brick facing and white aluminum siding. During their years on the acre-and-a-half lot, the Holsapples faced many hardships, including septic-tank backups, frequent ant infestation, and the threat of rezoning to erect an industrial park across the street.
"The Holsapples were in pretty bad shape when we found them lying lifelessly on their patio furniture," paramedic Mary Gills said. "Their stomachs were bloated from years of soda and fast food, and they were all suffering from severe cultural malnutrition."
Upon discovery, the family was rushed back to civilization. Attempts to reassimilate the Holsapples into metropolitan living with a trip to the Art Institute of Chicago and dinner at a nice Peruvian restaurant were met with resistance.
"When we got to the museum, the family became quite agitated," psychologist Dr. Allan Green said. "Jay kept calling all the modern art 'weird' and Meredith said, 'If we wanted to look at art, we could just go to Deck The Walls at the mall.'"
Green feared that the family was not ready to rejoin urban life after having received little or no cultural stimuli in the suburbs for nearly a decade.
"We were going to ease them into it, perhaps with a marginally artsy movie like Being John Malkovich," Green said. "Then Kimberly kept complaining that she missed 'Ashley' and wanted to go home. At first, I thought we'd left one of the family members behind, but then she said Ashley was a friend. I was shocked to learn of whole tribes of suburban dwellers, people who live their entire lives there."
Upon arriving in Buffalo Grove in 1993, the Holsapples befriended the locals, called "suburbanites," and soon adopted their ways entirely, from the mode of dress to the food they eat. Meredith Holsapple described in great detail the suburban settlements called "sub-divisions" where great emphasis is placed on maintaining lawns, watching televised sports, birthing children, listening to Top 40 music, and collecting stuffed animals.
According to University of Illinois– Chicago anthropologist Dr. Arthur Cox, to survive such an emotionally, culturally, and spiritually barren place, the Holsapples were forced to "go native."
"Much like those stranded in remote islands, the Holsapple family looked to the indigenous population to learn techniques for adaptation and survival," Cox said. "Shocking as it is, one eventually becomes acclimated and then numbed to the theme restaurants, cinema multiplexes, and warehouse-sized grocery stores.
"The world is full of strange, isolated cultures, but the American suburbs are unique among these in that virtually no culture exists there," Green said. "Even the Eskimos living in the most barren, remote Arctic regions have whale-bone art and beautiful storytelling traditions. The odd part about these suburbanites is how, unlike the Eskimos and other isolated groups, they live in close proximity to places brimming with art, life, and vitality. Yet somehow, they shut all of it out. We don't know the reason for this, but I don't think anyone wants to spend enough time in the suburbs to find out."
- The Onion
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38710
"Imagine my surprise when, smack-dab in the middle of nowhere, I saw these flames," pilot Tony Riggs said. "I did a second pass and was shocked to see actual human beings down there. I remember thinking to myself, 'My God, who could live in a place like that?' It's incredible to imagine they survived there for so long."
Bill Holsapple, 41, wife Meredith, 39, and son Jay disappeared in June 1993, when, two months after Jay's birth, the family of three left their Chicago apartment for parts unknown. The three were not heard from again until Monday, when they were found in the suburban wasteland known as Buffalo Grove with two new family members, Kimberly, 4, and Jordan, 2.
To protect themselves from the elements, the Holsapples fashioned a three-bedroom, ranch-style lean-to with brick facing and white aluminum siding. During their years on the acre-and-a-half lot, the Holsapples faced many hardships, including septic-tank backups, frequent ant infestation, and the threat of rezoning to erect an industrial park across the street.
"The Holsapples were in pretty bad shape when we found them lying lifelessly on their patio furniture," paramedic Mary Gills said. "Their stomachs were bloated from years of soda and fast food, and they were all suffering from severe cultural malnutrition."
Upon discovery, the family was rushed back to civilization. Attempts to reassimilate the Holsapples into metropolitan living with a trip to the Art Institute of Chicago and dinner at a nice Peruvian restaurant were met with resistance.
"When we got to the museum, the family became quite agitated," psychologist Dr. Allan Green said. "Jay kept calling all the modern art 'weird' and Meredith said, 'If we wanted to look at art, we could just go to Deck The Walls at the mall.'"
Green feared that the family was not ready to rejoin urban life after having received little or no cultural stimuli in the suburbs for nearly a decade.
"We were going to ease them into it, perhaps with a marginally artsy movie like Being John Malkovich," Green said. "Then Kimberly kept complaining that she missed 'Ashley' and wanted to go home. At first, I thought we'd left one of the family members behind, but then she said Ashley was a friend. I was shocked to learn of whole tribes of suburban dwellers, people who live their entire lives there."
Upon arriving in Buffalo Grove in 1993, the Holsapples befriended the locals, called "suburbanites," and soon adopted their ways entirely, from the mode of dress to the food they eat. Meredith Holsapple described in great detail the suburban settlements called "sub-divisions" where great emphasis is placed on maintaining lawns, watching televised sports, birthing children, listening to Top 40 music, and collecting stuffed animals.
According to University of Illinois– Chicago anthropologist Dr. Arthur Cox, to survive such an emotionally, culturally, and spiritually barren place, the Holsapples were forced to "go native."
"Much like those stranded in remote islands, the Holsapple family looked to the indigenous population to learn techniques for adaptation and survival," Cox said. "Shocking as it is, one eventually becomes acclimated and then numbed to the theme restaurants, cinema multiplexes, and warehouse-sized grocery stores.
"The world is full of strange, isolated cultures, but the American suburbs are unique among these in that virtually no culture exists there," Green said. "Even the Eskimos living in the most barren, remote Arctic regions have whale-bone art and beautiful storytelling traditions. The odd part about these suburbanites is how, unlike the Eskimos and other isolated groups, they live in close proximity to places brimming with art, life, and vitality. Yet somehow, they shut all of it out. We don't know the reason for this, but I don't think anyone wants to spend enough time in the suburbs to find out."
- The Onion
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38710
11.08.2008
Infill Project #4
One of my pet peeves has always been the design of infill housing in Buffalo. New housing in depressed areas ought to mimic the original design of the area, or risk being a poorly fitted substitute that may replace a vacant building or lot but still fails to serve the community, much less boost it. New buildings must also follow what we now know to be proven elements of an urban streetscape.
In City Comforts, David Sucher distills these elements into three basic rules for city building:
[1] Build to the sidewalk
[2] Make the building front permeable
[3] Eliminate parking in front of the building.
He also touches on a host of other key elements in city neighborhoods, most significantly the idea of always promoting the "neighborhood." This primarily encourages connections between people and people, people and places, and people and businesses. Front porches and zero lot lines are significant, as are parks, playgrounds, and especially small local businesses. Sidewalks must feature enough interest, comfort, and safety that people are encouraged to walk to and from these destinations. Meanwhile, they are passing pedestrians as well as homebodies on their porches. City living understands that lives are more densely packed, and strives to encourage these passing connections while still respecting each individual's boundaries. This is arguably the heart, the very POINT, of city living.
I do not see such a neighborhood here, at Washington and William in Buffalo:
In Albany, NY, many impoverished neighborhoods with formerly vacant lots have benefitted from infill projects that not only follow these three tenets, but also work to mimic the city's vernacular architecture, that is to say, 2-story rowhouses:
This is one of three different styles that can be seen throughout the city, and here is another version:
This is a style equally well suited to Buffalo, where the vernacular architecture is 2-story frame houses. Single family or double, these buildings are usually constructed closely, but do not adjoin. Neighborhoods full of such buildings dominate North Buffalo, and used to be equally prevelant on the East side of Buffalo, which is my target area.
I propose infill projects that would work well on narrower lots (here only 36' wide), move the garage to the rear of the building, open up the front of the house to the neighborhood via porches and a 15' setback (as opposed to deeper "suburban" setbacks) without sacrificing security, and restore facade and tree walls that have been long since gone.
With the style set, I try to pay attention to what the neighborhood really needs. An influx of large single family homes seems useless in an area with many elderly people, and where the most good could be done by enticing local young people anyway. This building is a 1-bedroom apartment on the first floor, and a 2-bedroom apartment on the second floor. Each apartment has one bathroom, one porch, it's own entrance, and a garage space in the rear.
front from right
rear from left
note garage spaces
The finished neighborhood:
Imagine a corner store anchoring one end of this block, and some existing single family houses mixed into this streetscape. That would be what I consider a neighborhood.
In City Comforts, David Sucher distills these elements into three basic rules for city building:
[1] Build to the sidewalk
[2] Make the building front permeable
[3] Eliminate parking in front of the building.
He also touches on a host of other key elements in city neighborhoods, most significantly the idea of always promoting the "neighborhood." This primarily encourages connections between people and people, people and places, and people and businesses. Front porches and zero lot lines are significant, as are parks, playgrounds, and especially small local businesses. Sidewalks must feature enough interest, comfort, and safety that people are encouraged to walk to and from these destinations. Meanwhile, they are passing pedestrians as well as homebodies on their porches. City living understands that lives are more densely packed, and strives to encourage these passing connections while still respecting each individual's boundaries. This is arguably the heart, the very POINT, of city living.
I do not see such a neighborhood here, at Washington and William in Buffalo:
In Albany, NY, many impoverished neighborhoods with formerly vacant lots have benefitted from infill projects that not only follow these three tenets, but also work to mimic the city's vernacular architecture, that is to say, 2-story rowhouses:
This is one of three different styles that can be seen throughout the city, and here is another version:
This is a style equally well suited to Buffalo, where the vernacular architecture is 2-story frame houses. Single family or double, these buildings are usually constructed closely, but do not adjoin. Neighborhoods full of such buildings dominate North Buffalo, and used to be equally prevelant on the East side of Buffalo, which is my target area.
I propose infill projects that would work well on narrower lots (here only 36' wide), move the garage to the rear of the building, open up the front of the house to the neighborhood via porches and a 15' setback (as opposed to deeper "suburban" setbacks) without sacrificing security, and restore facade and tree walls that have been long since gone.
With the style set, I try to pay attention to what the neighborhood really needs. An influx of large single family homes seems useless in an area with many elderly people, and where the most good could be done by enticing local young people anyway. This building is a 1-bedroom apartment on the first floor, and a 2-bedroom apartment on the second floor. Each apartment has one bathroom, one porch, it's own entrance, and a garage space in the rear.
front from right
rear from left
note garage spaces
The finished neighborhood:
Imagine a corner store anchoring one end of this block, and some existing single family houses mixed into this streetscape. That would be what I consider a neighborhood.
11.06.2008
2008.11.04 - Bronx/Yonkers
This week was spent in Bronx/Yonkers, and lower Westchester county, NY. Among other things, Barack Obama won the election, and my rental car got towed while I was on an inspection, with phone, laptop, etc inside. High and low, I guess.
Yonkers, NY
Yonkers Ave
Abandoned theatre
White Plains, NY
Main St
Yonkers, NY
Elm St
I've seen these small windows in Buffalo, and am now noticing them all over older neighborhoods. They were originally for horses.
Yonkers, NY
Elm St
Nice streetscape
Bronx, NY
Morris Ave
Brick townhouse infills. I like the parking provided in the front.
Bronx, NY
Saratoga Ave
Fire tile in the boiler room of an apartment building.
Bronx, NY
Saratoga Ave
Roofscape
Bronx, NY
Saratoga Ave
Me!
Manhattan, NY
Central Park
Manhattan, NY
Central Park
Manhattan, NY
Central Park
Jamaica Center, Queens, NY
Sutphin Ave Station
Model of the Jamaica Center train station
Jamaica Center, Queens, NY
The REAL Jamaica Center train station
Yonkers, NY
Yonkers Ave
Abandoned theatre
White Plains, NY
Main St
Yonkers, NY
Elm St
I've seen these small windows in Buffalo, and am now noticing them all over older neighborhoods. They were originally for horses.
Yonkers, NY
Elm St
Nice streetscape
Bronx, NY
Morris Ave
Brick townhouse infills. I like the parking provided in the front.
Bronx, NY
Saratoga Ave
Fire tile in the boiler room of an apartment building.
Bronx, NY
Saratoga Ave
Roofscape
Bronx, NY
Saratoga Ave
Me!
Manhattan, NY
Central Park
Manhattan, NY
Central Park
Manhattan, NY
Central Park
Jamaica Center, Queens, NY
Sutphin Ave Station
Model of the Jamaica Center train station
Jamaica Center, Queens, NY
The REAL Jamaica Center train station
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