LUBBOCK COMMUNITY JOURNAL BRANDON HAY COMMUNITY DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES SPRING 2007 COMPILED BY: ARCHITECTURE 5384

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "LUBBOCK COMMUNITY JOURNAL BRANDON HAY COMMUNITY DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES SPRING 2007 COMPILED BY: ARCHITECTURE 5384"

Antonia Burke
5 years ago
Views:

1 LUBBOCK COMMUNITY JOURNAL COMPILED BY: BRANDON HAY ARCHITECTURE 5384 COMMUNITY DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES SPRING 2007

2 INTRODUCTION JANUARY 16 My extremely brief background in Community Development has lead me to believe that as architects we serve an important intermediary role in communities. By communities I am referring to anyone who lives, works, and plays within a defined area. In most cases as architects we find ourselves as a project lead and working mostly with city officials and associated disciplines. However in community design I feel our job is to work with both the city and the community to help bridge the gap and create a strong relationship in which to build on. In addition our graphic skills are vital to the interest of the community. Most people are not able to read plans and understand technical drawings so by producing illustrations this will help the community see what we see. With this class I hope to expand on my limited knowledge of Community Design and learn the skills to work with communities and local governments to achieve a unified result. I understand that only so much can be covered within the limited time frame but honing the basic ideas and skills I feel with become critical to my career. I look forward to working with the city of Lubbock and hope I can come away from this experience with a new sense of understanding of Community Design 1

3 JOURNAL 1 FEBRUARY 15 Over the past several month the City of Lubbock has begun the extensive process to redevelop and revive the downtown district. On Tuesday February 13th I attended a community meeting at the Lubbock Civic Center to participate in the planning process. EDAW(Edward, Dean, Austin and Williams) is the consulting firm working with Parkhill, Smith and Cooper locally to develop the revitalization plan. The community meeting help on Tuesday night was the third meeting in a series of five. At this stage we were presented with 3 possible bubble diagram scenarios for the layout of downtown. The room was divided up among tables of about six or seven people per table and each table rated and evaluated each scenario. At the conclusion of the evening a representative from each table had a opportunity to speak to the planning committee about their likes and dislikes for the proposals. The next meeting is in April when EDAW will present a set of concept designs to the community. Each meeting the proposals are refined more and more until a final set of design guidelines is developed for the downtown. Through this one meeting I witnessed just how critical these types of community meetings are. The community essentially ran the meeting. All voices were heard and everyone had a say in what they want for their downtown. At my table alone I was sitting with a wide range of people. Some old, some my age, some born and raised here, some new to the city. Everyone at my table had a different level of passion in the city and those passions were expressed during the meeting. Understandable I was pointing out elements no one else would have seen, but at the same time the more senior people at my table were talking to me about financial concerns and expressed a concern about their business currently in downtown. I learned a wealth of information sitting there speaking with these gentlemen and I look forward to speaking with them again in April. Stepping back and watching the design process take place was quite fascinating. This community meeting demonstrated the very principal on which community development stands for. Allowing the citizens on Lubbock to speak freely and be heard by those who can make a change is allowing the public to feel personally involved in the overall design process. I have personally opened up much more to suggestions from those who do not have a design background because I learned that average citizens will in many cases view issues in a manor that I would have otherwise never noticed. 2

4 JOURNAL 2 MARCH 1 I have met with Craig Wuensche, ASLA, who is the Parks Operations Manager and Randy Truesdell who is the Community Service Director for the City of Lubbock. Randy and Craig work hand and hand together overseeing the parks, open spaces, and community involvement within the city. I met with them to discuss the idea of building a dog park for the city. Historically dog parks have been some of the most successful additions cities have ever produced. We met for lunch one afternoon and discussed this along with other topics within the city. The feeling I received from the meeting was that Craig was very interested in speaking further with me and that Randy slowly lost interest when he learned this was just a informative meeting and no political benefit would come of this. The meeting concluded on the basis that we would keep in touch and meet again to further discuss some of these topics. Speaking with these community leaders is a important part of the Community Development Process. These gentlemen play a vital role in shaping the future of Lubbock. Relevant to this course I did learn that while these two individuals were more than happy to meet with me and are truly interested in the community, they are constantly campaigning. Meaning unless there is a political advantage I do not see a future with Randy especially. I feel that in order to truly get someone like Mr. Truesdell on board with a project, I need to make sure that the project will both serve a community purpose and a political purpose. This meeting for me was both exciting and disappointing in many ways. I was very anxious to meet with these two individuals and was honored they both took time out of their day to sit down and speak with me. However at the same time they quickly lost interest when they learned I was only a student and I could not help advance their career. This was disappointing to me because I have always liked to feel that the people who we elect to represent us do truly care about what the community wants and needs. The feeling I left this meeting with was that the city officials only care about themselves and when a good situation does arise only then do they try to get on board in order to attach their name with the project. 3

5 JOURNAL 3 MARCH 22 A few weeks ago I visited Lubbock s latest development trend, the Vintage Township. Marketed as Lubbock s first Traditional Neighborhood Development or TND, this type of living allows residents to live, work and play all within walking distance. Located in South Lubbock along 114th street and bordered by Slide and Quaker this community will tack on an additional 320 acres to the city. Construction on this project began in February of 2006 as is slated to be completed in several phases on the next several years. Currently a string of Colonial Style homes are being constructed around and small pocket park. These homes should be completed by now and available for occupancy. This development reminds me of one of our first readings which defined what community development is. This reading covered some of the more traditional development trends before World War II. The reading also touches on the principals in which these developments were created and this is clearly reflected into the Vintage Township development. However we can not take these principals and just slap them onto an existing community and expect them to work. The developments must be tailored to each individual project and the issues which are presented in the area. I feel bringing the TND style to Lubbock is a great idea and will be a hit among the existing community as well as serve for a great marketing tool. From a Landscape Architecture viewpoint I feel while the concept is good, the execution of this project is poor. My views on TND s have always been positive. Professors, books and articals I read make TND s sound as though they are the solution to all the world s problems. Since first hearing about this project several years ago, having the opportunity to watch this come together has changed my entire view on TND s. This development is doing nothing to resolve existing issues that Lubbock faces. The number one thing TND s are suppose to do is help prevent urban sprawl and this development only encourages it. The city annexed more land south of the city just to have this development. This just encourages citizens to keep moving south. The point of a TND is to live in a community where I can live and work within walking distance. This development is built so far south of town and the cost of living in these homes will far exceed the income of the supervisor of the local gas station. Next the development has a sense of place of its own but in no way reflects Lubbock. This development could be stamped out for any city across America. In my mind the best development currently underway within Lubbock is the Downtown Revitalization. 4

6 JOURNAL 4 APRIL 5 Over the past several months at my current job we have been addressing the new Marsh Sharp Freeway under construction in Lubbock. For work we have been fighting with TxDOT to improve the visual quality of this new freeway. From my own perspective, I have viewed this freeway as not only a visual impairment to the city but as a divider instead of a joining piece. Essentially Lubbock will not be divided North and South based upon your location to the freeway. Most immediately affected is Texas Tech University. Having the pride as one of the countries largest campuses, now can boast about having their own freeway too. The Marsh Sharp Freeway is now a dividing line for the campus. The main campus now has no visual connection to the Health Science Center aside from a new bridge. In addition the added noise the freeway will bring to the area only detracts from the beauty of the campus. For those who rave about this new freeway I say look what it is doing to our city as a whole. The New Urbanism Book we just finished reviewing does not state anything about building a highway through your neighborhood. College campuses are essentially miniature communities within communities. The book stresses the importance of the pedestrian role in development. The Marsh Sharp Freeway does nothing for the pedestrian except one pedestrian bridge and making the Texas Tech Campus more dangerous. The book however discusses the importance of developing a strong edge to the community. Well the freeway will sever as a excellent edge for the new line of Texas Tech. Now the edge of the campus will be at Brownfield instead of 4th street. For a city that is trying so desperately to redevelop, this highway does nothing but bring the wrong kind of traffic to the wrong areas. From a political and municipal standpoint I understand the theory behind this development. This will encourage development back within the city and along the highway. In addition this will hopefully prevent project traffic congestion and attract new businesses to the city which have before only been located in the major metropolitan areas. This will send a signal to the rest of the state and surrounding states that Lubbock is to be taken seriously. We are a growing community and we have the highways and commercial to show for it. But as previously mentioned, are we took excited about growing that we don t stop to think about how we are growing. Texas Tech is a major resource to the survival of this city. By encroaching on the university campus only breaks up the community that has been created. We have prided ourselves on being such a peaceful campus in the middle of all the growth around us. Now with this development, we will not be any different than the University of Texas. 5

7 JOURNAL 5 APRIL 19 Texas Tech University is essentially a city within a city. Lubbock was founded in 1905 and not too long after in 1923 Texas Tech University was formed. The population of Lubbock is a little over 200,000 people and the university makes up about a quarter of that number. The student population alone is reaching 30,000. Texas Tech is a independent city within Lubbock. Texas Tech has its own water and power supply, police force, government, housing and dining. Texas Tech is an essential part of the Lubbock economy. Athletic events bring in millions of dollars a year for the city. In addition Texas Tech provides thousands of jobs for the citizens of Lubbock. Texas Tech is vital to the survival of Lubbock, without the university here Lubbock would struggle to survive. In the reading, What is Community Design, Anyway, the author discusses how a good community is a place that can adapt to the needs of the residence. Texas Tech University has the success that it does because of how it tailors itself to the students and faculty. In the reading, Urban Design Today, the author talks about the importance of urban spaces for public gathering. Universities thrive on public spaces and Texas Tech does a fairly good job of providing public spaces. Outside each building around campus are small gathering areas. Providing public spaces are vital for campuses and communities because this gives people a non-territorial place to spend time at. Being a Landscape Architect, public spaces are what we specialize in. By earning my degree here at Texas Tech my opinion of campuses and public spaces has changed. I feel in this case, Texas Tech has done very well for what it has to work with. However after learning more about campus planning and watching Tech develop over the years, I have learned what I would do differently if given the chance to work on a campus plan. I feel it is vital to keep all roads to the perimeter if possible and leave the interior for public spaces is one of the issues which jumps out at me. A campus is a very difficult plan to develop due to the complexities it can present and by addressing all of the needs as well as the needs of the surrounding community I have learned will provide a more successful place. 6

8 CONCLUSION APRIL 26 Lubbock is slowly earning more recognition within the state as well as within the country. Struggling mainly with its location, Lubbock is taking many directive steps to establish itself as a major city. My overall feeling about Lubbock is that this is a great city with something to offer everyone. Lubbock has many of the same resources as the much larger cities do but on a smaller scale. The West Texas way of life is very laid back and family oriented. Many businesses in Lubbock originated here and are passed on from one generation to the next. A large portion of the population has lived in the area their whole life helping to make it a very knit tight community. Crime in West Texas is relatively low and in some places people still leave their doors unlocked. The university is the major attraction for new residents to Lubbock. Every year another wave of students comes to Lubbock to attend Texas Tech. The growing popularity and recognition for the university helps with recruiting future students and other members of the community. The city is growing far beyond its original boundaries and will soon engulf some of the neighboring communities. The city is staying current with trends and is a major development competitor to the other cities within the state due to the cost of living for Lubbock being as low as it is. While still a relatively young city, Lubbock is on the rise in the Texas community. 7

The Millionaire Barber Stylist

The Millionaire Barber Stylist is published by: Uchendi Nwani 903 Dickerson Road Nashville, TN 37207 Copyright, 2013 by Uchendi Nwani. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced