Sam Gennawey's Blog, page 3

Palm Beach

With New York but  a memory, Walt traveled  on to explore  other possibilities. It took  little time for another player to enter  the picture—in the form of billionaire John D. MacArthur—and the Disney–NBC–RCA deal to build an East Coast  Disneyland began  to rise like the phoenix. More importantly, the project  requirements demanded that  Walt and his team  create something that  would not be a sequel to Anaheim. He would get a chance to solve the property adjacency issues that plagued Disneyland, because he would control what   happened on  the  border. To  accomplish this,  Walt  would become a city builder  and  surround his park  with a new, futuristic community—a town of his own design  that  reflected  his standards. Let’s travel along with Walt to see what actually happened.In 1959,  MacArthur  decided he  wanted to  develop  five to  six thousand acres  he owned  north of Palm Beach for “a recreational enterprise.” MacArthur had made  his fortune as head  of Banker ’s Life Insurance and RCA. The Palm Beach project  would have been a four-way  deal among Disney, NBC, RCA, and MacArthur.Buzz Price was tasked to study the project. From Price’s recollections, we  can  see  that   Walt  was  clearly  pursuing his dream  to  build  a community. “We put  our  effort  together with WED in determining what  kind  of an  interrelated park  and  city could be developed on that  site. Walt wanted to emphasize future development in urban living. The park  would  take  up 400 acres. A town  base  of 70,000  people  would  take  up the  rest.”  The ERA study  looked  to incorporate “advanced concepts of architectural design   and  technological  improvements…in all  phases of  the town development.” For this project, Walt first used  the name EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow).The project  was  to  include  an  East  Coast  Disneyland, and  the theme park  would  be  part  of  a  planned community. According to  Price,  the  Palm  Beach  project   represented the  moment that Walt got fully obsessed by the idea of building  a city. Walt saw an opportunity to do something truly grand;  to take advantage of this golden  opportunity, he began  to learn more about urban planning.

Read more: Walt and the Promise of Progress City

The Grove: Disneyland in the Fairfax District

The architectural vocabulary developed at Disneyland has influenced other  “invented” places.  For an outstanding example, one has only to exit Disneyland and drive north along the freeway to  The Grove  in  the  Fairfax  District  of  Los  Angeles.  Built  in 2002, the Grove is one  of the most  successful shopping centers in the  region.  It was  built  adjacent to  the  historic and  world- famous Farmer ’s Market  (built  in 1934) and  was  developed by Rick Caruso. Caruso  learned many  lessons from  Main Street, U.S.A. and creatively  applied  them,  resulting in a dynamic  urban space.  Both Disneyland and The Grove are promenades between two activity nodes. Each has  a mid-block street breaking down the  scale  of the  corridor. Both  of these “streets” have  similar dimensional metrics:  the  linear  distance and  the  roadway from curb to curb. The Grove main corridor has the same  dimensions from the  center intersection to the  center of the  hub  park  near the musical fountain. Like  Disneyland,  The  Grove  mall  also features building façades framing a narrow corridor using forced perspective. However,  there  is  a  difference: at  The  Grove,  the first floor is standard height  for a retail  establishment and  the upper  floor is taller than  normal. The result  is a highly energized space,  not as laid back as Disneyland’s Main Street.Developer  Rick Caruso  considers Walt Disney a hero  and said that  he is “one of the true geniuses in the  world.”  The Grove is what  the  Los Angeles  Times  described as  a “wildly popular amusement park-like shopping center.” He had  already  built  other  “lifestyle”  centers in suburban locations such as The Commons at Calabasas and  The Lakes  at Thousand Oaks.  The Grove was his first urban infill project  of this type.
Read more: Walt and the Promise of Progress City

A Pattern Language

When we have experienced a space that has a higher  degree  of life, how can we explain  why we feel that  way to others? How do we express the positive qualities in such a way that they can easily be shared? In A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction, published in 1977, Alexander (withco-authors Sara Ishikawa and Murray  Silverstein)  suggested a system  of fundamental building blocks  that  can  be  combined to  create wonderful spaces that “make  people  feel alive and human.” This system  consists of 253 patterns that  lead to rooms, streets, and districts that  work. Each pattern consistsof a specificproblem that  occurs over and  over again  in our  environment.The pattern provides “the  core  of the solution” and  is described so  that  “you  can  use  this  solution a million  times  over,  without ever  doing  it the  same  way twice.” Thepatterns are numbered andarranged within  a hierarchy that stretches from a macro  lookat large regions down to a micro look at the proper placementfor climbing  plants.Each pattern isscored by importance with up to two asterisks. There  are  approximately one-third ofthe  patterns marked with two  asterisks. Two  asterisks  suggest the  connection  between place  and  experience  is  an  “invariant.” Those  patterns are  a “deep  and  inescapable property ofa well-formed environment.” Patterns marked with one  asterisk are  valid but  subject tomore research. Patterns that are unmarked are based  on empirical data.When used  properly,  the patterns can be used  like an alphabet; various  combinations provide  the abilityto tell an infinite variety of stories. As outlined in A Pattern  Language,  the  combination of patterns can provide  an infinite array of solutions for environmental design.What  do  I  mean   by  combining patterns?  Let  me  use   this example. When  preparing a  gourmet meal,  you  must  combine theingredients just right. Addingtoo much  of the wrong  thingor mixing the ingredients improperlywill spoil the result.  When you get it right,  the  result  is something that  is greater than  the  sum of its parts. That is when  you have  achieved ahigher  degree  of life. The urban plannerand  architect want  to achieve  the  same result  with the built environment that  a great  chefachieves with the meal.
Alexander ’s book teaches us how to discern or create clarifying patterns within complex mixtures. Pattern recognition isa crucial skill for an architect or urban plannerwho must  create a highly ordered environment amid  many  competing and  frequently nebulous design  considerations.
Read more: Walt and the Promise of Progress City

The Three Levels of Knowledge

Creating  great  places  may  seem  like  an  impossible task  and one  left  to  chance. It  is  not. We operate with  three   levels  of knowing. The first is simplicity,  whichis the worldview  of a child or uninformed adult.  These people  are fully engaged intheir own experience and  are happily  unaware of  what  lies  beneath the surface  of immediate reality.The second level is complexity. This is generally how most adults view the  world.  These  people  are aware  of the  complex  systems in  nature  and   society   but  cannot  identify  clarifying  patterns and connections.The third  and  highest level of knowing is informed simplicity. This is an  enlightened view of reality  and  is founded upon  an ability  to  discern or  create clarifying  patterns and  connections. According  to  Christopher Alexander,  places  that  demonstrate a higher  degree  of life can be achieved by the proper application of sharable positive design patterns; the abilityto do so is a strength ofinformed simplicity.

Read more: Walt and the Promise of Progress City

THE EVOLUTION OF INDUSTRIAL AND MIXED USE IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES: CONFLICT OR MUTUAL ACCOMMODATION?

COLLOQUIUM IX:  “THE EVOLUTION OF INDUSTRIAL AND MIXED USE IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES:  CONFLICT OR MUTUAL ACCOMMODATION?”  
Presented by the Los Angeles Region Planning History Group
Saturday, October 5, 2013Continental Breakfast and Registration:  9:00-9:30 a.m. Colloquium:  9:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., including guided walking tour
Event is $50.00 and $35 for studentsLocation: Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)350 Merrick Street (between Alameda and Santa Fe, just north of E.4thSt.); free parking provided in lot adjacent
Description: Although Los Angeles is associated internationally with glitz and glamour, it has always been a working city, with a rich industrial heritage. Even today, Los Angeles County is the largest manufacturing center in the United States, accounting for over 365,000 jobs in 2012.  But many industrial properties are in transition, with recent market pressures for residential development and dramatic changes in the workplace creating new demand for flexible industrial space and green technology.  All of these changes are most visible on the ground in downtown Los Angeles, in the Arts District community and adjacent industrial lands along the Los Angeles River.            Join us for a look at Los Angeles’ industrial legacy and future planning policies for industrial land, as seen close-up, through the prism of one of the city’s most fascinating and rapidly-changing neighborhoods. The colloquium will include a presentation on Downtown’s industrial heritage, a walking tour of the Arts District, and a lively panel discussion on present and future policy challenges.  Ken Bernstein, Principal City Planner for Policy Planning and Historic Resources, Los Angeles Department of City Planning, will moderate the panel. 
Panelists and Tour Guides to Include:
Greg Fischer,  historian and principal of LA1781, Inc. a real estate research consulting firm,  and former Planning/Transportation Deputy, Councilmember Jan PerryAlan Bell, Deputy Director of Planning, City of Los Angeles, overseeing policies for industrial land and preparation of Los Angeles’ new zoning codeYuval Bar-Zemer, Principal, Linear City Development, developers of transformative projects in the Arts District Donald Spivack, former Deputy Administrator and Deputy Chief of Operations for the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA), where he oversaw policy for key downtown industrial lands
RESERVATIONS
Event Fee is $50; for students with valid student IDs, $35 Fee includes Continental Breakfast and Lunch
Seating is limited to 110 attendees; please confirm your attendance to: Alice Lepis, Secretary alepis@prodigy.net (preferred) or at 818.769.4179 on or before Noon, Wednesday, October 2, 2013
You may pay either of two ways:
1.    Pay Pal which is accessible through the LARPHG website: LARPHG.org
(or)
2.    Check payable to:  “Los Angeles Region Planning History Group”with completed registration form sent to:
Los Angeles Region Planning History GroupC/o Alice Lepis, Secretary11227 Acama StreetNorth Hollywood, CA 91602
Please include a copy of your student ID if you are registering as a student.
PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY: FIRST NAME LAST NAME ORGANIZATION E-MAILADDRESS CHECK  IF STUDENT

REGRETTABLE: WDW MAPS

As an urban planner, I have always been fascinated by maps. You can tell so many stories with one. A good map can guide the guest through unfamiliar surroundings using  representations of iconic landmarks. The best seem to also understand the guests point of view. 
Recently, WDW updated their maps so that they look like the ones found on the internet. This means they have placed North at the top. Now in a typical map this is just fine. For the Magic Kingdom and Disney's Animal Kingdom, this is no big deal. That is how the park’s are organized. The story for the other parks is a different matter completely. 
The Epcot map places the entrance and Spaceship Earth at the top. The map does not tell you where to go. It tells you where you have been. I watched as guests turned their maps upside down so it made sense. The Epcot map actually is somewhat close to scale when it comes to the attractions to the land mass. The result is a rather sparse map suggesting there is a lot of open space between the pavilions of the World Showcase. I don’t think this is what Disney intended.

For Disney's Hollywood Studios, a goofy place to begin with (no pun intended), the map makes no sense. If you ever felt the park's layout was just an afterthought, the map will only reinforce the feeling. In some ways, you can make out the giant hidden Mickey however in this version he is sporting a cone shaped nose much like Jack of Jack in the Box. This is a case of where the maps were not broken and did not need to be fixed. 

The 1976 Vision for Downtown Disney

A fairy tale.
Once upon a time the planners at Walt Disney World really did want to follow Walt’s vision and create a place that would show off on how proper urban design can create places that are greater than the sum of its parts. Disney was in a unique position to make this dream a reality due to the way the property is governed.
In June 1976, the planning department for the City of Lake Buena Vista prepared a report that looked at the addition of a mixed use development to compliment the Magic Kingdom and the resort hotels. Lake Buena Vista is one of two cities that make up the Reedy Creek Improvement District. The Reedy Creek Improvement District was chartered by the Florida Legislature on May 12, 1967. The land use powers given to Disney were unprecedented. In the charter, Lake Buena Vista was planned to be a “new town.”
 At the time it was estimated that the population would jump from 344,000 people in 1970 to 541,000 people in 1980 and 750,000 in 1990. In reality, the estimate were off considerably. By 1980, the region was home to 804,925 people and and exploded to 1,224,852 by 1990. This growth was due to the shift in Florida tourism from Miami to Central Florida. Walt Disney World was the must-do destination but it was supported by the Kennedy Space Center, Cypress Gardens, Circus World, Sea World, and other attractions. In total, more than 18 million visitors were coming to Central Florida by 1975.
They saw opportunity in this growth and wanted to shift the center of Central Florida from Orlando to Walt Disney World, namely Lake Buena Vista. In a sense, they were not competing with other theme parks. They were competing with the City of Orlando. They had 4,000 acres to play with and the goal was to serve not only the tourists but the local population.
Location is everything and the new district would be right at the heart of the region’s transportation network. The development was at the crossroads of Interstate 4 and the Florida Turnpike.  The only way east-west and the primary way north-south. Not bad.  Working through the Orlando Urban Area Transportation Study Technical and Policy Committees in May 1976, Disney made sure they were able to place Lake Buena Vista right at the center of long term transportation planning. Lake Buena Vista would become a major hub in a regional network unlike Downtown Disney’s relatively isolated posture.
The project called for a variety of land uses including “an activity-oriented transient home community,” a unifying transportation system, and distinctive architecture that could be repurposed as needs change. The project would place the most intensive uses at Lake Buena Vista’s borders, adjacent to the surrounding community.
The most innovative part of the plan was the transportation network. At the center of the development would have been a demonstration multi-modal terminal (monorail, taxis, buses, automobiles, electric cars, and pedestrians) that would be connected to the Peoplemover network. This development would represent the “urban” district and consist of parking structures, large scale shopping, and high density hotels and offices.
Along Interstate 4 would be a office park with shopping and dining built around plazas, fountains, and lakes. This would be the “suburban” district. This part of the project would be highly visible and would be designed as a statement for the “environmental” community. This new development was expected to create as many as 9,000 permanent jobs.
Shops with one of a kind items, craftspeople at work, and outdoor cafes would combine to create the “Village” environment that would dominate another part of Lake Buena Vista. The 32 shops built in 1972 along Village Lake, along with the four existing hotels (Travelodge, the Royal Plaza, the Dutch Inn, and Howard Johnson’s) would be enhanced, expanded, and connected to the office park and multi-modal terminal by new pathways and the Peoplemover.
According to the plan, the long term vision for the project would “perpetuate an image of vitality and excitement and expand upon it to yield a progressive city with coordinated growth.”  Instead of relying on a fleet of diesel buses, WDW planners wanted to create a compact, sustainable city that put public transportation as the preferred method of travel. As stated, “The goal being elimination of the car for internal city travel.” Visitors could still get around by automobile but in Lake Buena Vista they would also have the option to walk, bicycle, take a horse or drive an electric vehicle. The pathways for those modes would be separated from auto traffic. Guests could also travel on a network of canals and lakes.
However, the most popular way to travel would probably be the WEDway Peoplemover. With an elevated beamway and virtually no headways, the Peoplemover would have stations at all of the important destinations within Lake Buena Vista. Disney considered the transportation system as a “horizontal elevator.” Unlike the Peoplemover systems at Disneyland (1967) and Florida (1975), this would be a much more sophisticated transportation system. Visitors would press a button and their fully enclosed, air-conditioned car would arrive. They select their destination, press a button, and the car will speed directly there without stopping at intervening stations. A barn with extra cars would be a the ready when demand calls. The system would be able to carry as many as 14,000 passengers a day. One of greatest benefits of the technology is the ability to increase capacity just by adding more vehicles. No new tracks would have to be built or need to acquire new right-of-way. Demonstrating the viability of the Peoplemover via real world experience  was one of the primary motivations for the entire project. For those who want to visit the Magic Kingdom they would just board the Monorail.
Although the idea of people living permanently within Walt Disney World had been shelved by this time, the project would still focus on creating neighborhoods. These “communities” would attract visitors who share a particular interest. For example, a neighborhood would be based around golf, equestrian, boating or tennis. Within each neighborhood would be a community center. The golf-oriented Treehouse Villas was the first example of this program. Most of the land dedicated to these neighborhoods remains vacant today. The goal was to build as many as 9,000 living units capable of housing 30,000 people. The design of Lake Buena Vista  was to create a city within a park and to let the natural landscape dominate whenever possible.
For those interested in tennis, that neighborhood would have tennis courts integrated throughout the village. The rustic Western themed equestrian community would take advantage of the Tri-Circle-D Ranch and feature horse trails and horse carriages as the primary way to get around. The farthest northern neighborhood, sandwiched between South Lake and Lake Mabel, would be the aquatics community. Here, visitors will be able to enjoy lakefront accommodations and plenty of water based recreational opportunities. This land is also currently vacant.
It was the Disney planners goal to create a city center where people could “live,” work, and play that had the critical mass for success and a place where guests and locals would get a taste of the “Lake Buena Vista experience.”

EXCEPTIONAL: THE PIRATE ADVENTURE GAME

Got to hand it to the folks at Disney. Instead of building new, expensive, high-capacity  immersive rides to give their guests something to do and to get out of aisles, now they have come up with games using the already existing (therefore, paid for) environments. There have been a number of games introduced at the Magic Kingdom. I am not fond of the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game. I understand the draw to collect cards but standing in front of a television as my other reward just wasn’t enough motivation. Kim Possible/Agent P at Epcot is a lot of fun but the chirping little cell phone becomes annoying after awhile. Plus, if you are fan of Breaking Bad, those type of cellphones have a whole new meaning. However, I am fond of the new Pirate Adventure Game. 
You start by enlisting at a the HQ right at the western edge of Adventureland. Scan your ticket and the computer will assign you one of five quests, Guardian’s Curse, The King’s Ransom, Blackbeard, Heads You Lose, and Haven Defense. Which quest you start with depends on the computer rationing out the experience. You first challenge is to look at the map and find the icon somewhere in Adventureland that matches your instructions from the computer. 
To find the icons, you must grab one of the beautifully illustrated maps. I love these maps. They are printed on thick paper with the edges serrated and ragged just like an old time pirate map. The artwork is outstanding and each map highlight different parts of Adventureland listing only a few of the many game stations. The maps are a terrific prize and grab them while you can before the inevitable start to squeeze out the quality to reduce the cost of production. 
Walk out into Adventureland, look at your map, grab your bearings, and find that icon. There is a drawing of the area where the icon is located. Maybe confusing at first but you get the hang of it very quickly. Once you have found the icon, tap your ticket and something marvelous and magical will happen. But be watchful. Your next clue will appear somewhere and if you get distracted you may miss out. The maps show more destinations than you will visit on that particular journey so be careful. Follow the clue to the next station, tap your card, and wait again. Follow the instructions and you are good to go. Pretty simple. Once you have found three or four stations you will be directed back to HQ for another challenge. 

The game works for me because it meets one of my primary tests; Quality, Variety, and Surprise. As I stated before, the maps are wonderful and the destinations are well themed and add to the area ambiance. Better still, unless you are playing the game you might not notice them. Brilliant. Like the Epcot game, It is fun to set off a physical gag. Plus, sometimes the gags were so funny I caught myself laughing out loud. What more can you ask?

Remember Senior Days at Disneyland?

REGRETTABLE: CAROUSEL OF PROGRESS

The oldest attraction at WDW is the Carousel of Progress. Maybe more than any other attraction, this was Walt's project from beginning to end and it represents everything the man was about. He liked to tell stories. He was optimistic about the future and how American technology could solve any problems. The show could inform as well as educate. It really is Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, his pride and joy.
At what point does Disney become embarrassed? The ride is in awful shape. Lighting is bad, the scrims are dirty, and the Audio-Animatronics are not in the best of condition. The final scene, a look into the near future is completely outdated. Because the park shows so little respect for the attraction, the audience seems to do the same. Throughout the show, people are pulling out their cell phones, not just to check for messages but even having conversations. People are constantly trying to leave, usually as the turntable is moving. The last couple of times I visited the attraction, people decided to leave the moving building early and would trigger the door's emergency stop.

The show's 50th anniversary is coming up in 1964. Wouldn't it be nice if Disney could show a little bit of tender love for this very special attraction?