Heads Up

The head, in particular the face, of a person is their most distinguishing characteristic. It is the aspect which is the focus of a description. A sketch artist will draw the face, a portrait is mainly of the face, and if you happen to have been sufficiently dishonest, you will find your face on the FBI most wanted list. A height, or weight may be given, but the focus is on one’s head. The head and face are more than a set of eyes, ears, hair, skin, nose and mouth. Facial expressions often yield a clue as to your reaction to some news, as will the look in your eyes. George Bush (43rd) said he could look into Vladimir Putin’s eyes and see his soul. Our facial expressions and the look in our eyes can give a sense of our character. But so too can the way one will wear their hair (both head and facial), along with any ornaments—think ear rings, or nose rings, or even a tongue pierce. All work to give an expression of yourself to others.

Face piercing

Ornamentation is not a creation of modern society, but goes back to early times of the human race. Perhaps even some now long distinct hominid lineages used body ornamentation. Anthropologists will find skulls of an early lineage or human and apply the tricks of their trade, combined with modern science, to produce what a person may have looked like. A most recent example is KennewickMan (Smithsonian). The skull and much of the skeletal remains of a man who lived 8900 to 9000 years ago were found along the Kennewick River in the state of Washington. Such recreations assist in giving us an idea of early settlers of that area of the nation, and of our ancestry. Kennewick man has Polynesian or Asian features. The thought is that humans, after moving from Africa, migrated across the Bearing Strait and headed south to populate what is now the western US. Discovery was not only left to the Europeans. People come in all shapes and sizes The features of our face, can help give a clue to our ancestry.

Recreated face of Kennewick Man

Living in Australia at or perhaps 4,000 years before Kennewick man were a group of people who had skulls with a markedly different shape than that of the standard homo sapiens. Even though located in geologically recent material the shape of the skull would lead to a competing theory to the out of Africa dominant idea of human evolution and travel. As reported by the BBC, the skull, discovered in 1925, “with its flat, sloping forehead and prominent brow ridge” looked distinctly primitive. In fact, it was claimed, it was a homo erectus, a hominid line that lived from 2 million to 140,000 years ago. If this claim was true, it would upend science placing Homo erectus to within about 10,000 years ago, or the age of the Wisconsin glaciation. Discoveries of other similar skulls would sharpen the debate among anthropologists. The multi-origin theory went questioned why otherwise would the skulls look so much like a long-thought died out line if it was not Homo erectus? What the multi-origin proponents failed to recognize is that while the brow and forehead were shaped like the long lost Homo erectus, its brain case was narrower, but larger—features more similar to the humans of today. Flattening the skull accentuates the brow.

Skull of a Homo Erectus

Replica of Cohuna Skull

This posed the question, was the head purposely shaped like this. This idea first arose in the 1970’s. We know the human skull is rather pliable, particularly in the first year of life. Think of the debate of placing sleeping baby’s on their back. This practice would cut down on deaths due to Sudden Infant Death syndrome, but would lead to an increase in plagiocephaly, or flat head syndrome. To adjust to the size of the brain of today’s human the skull had to become pliable. Our brains our larger than what they should be for animal of our size. Hence, the skull has to adjust to the growing brain.

Example of plagiocephaly

Each culture has its own idea of what is beautiful. It is known that in pre-Columbian America, skulls were manipulated to be similarly shaped as the Cohuna skull in Australia. The pre-Columbina skulls were accomplished to offset the elite in the culture. Similar skull shaping practices occurred in 19th century Nicaragua, and in the Chinook and Cowlitz tribes in 19th century North America which was believed to be a sign of freedom for these North American Indian tribes. Undoubtedly, these cultures did not know about Homo erectus, and were not out to copy the skull shape of the long dead lineage. Anthropologists can speculate and create theories about why 9,000 to 14,000 years ago a group of people in Australia manipulated to reform the shape of the heads of their young children. If the reasoning applied to more recent cultures is true, they did so for cultural reasons, to set a group apart from others within their society. Or, as the BBC reports, it is a concept rooted in cultural achievement, or the belief in the unfinished self and that the newborn must be improved. 

Out of Africa theory on world settlement

Setting apart from the main group is not unlike the ornamentation we see today, whether it be fancy mustache, manicured long finger nails, tattoos or pierces and rings. Maybe the wearer believes that they are improving their body, and the concept of the unfinished self is continuing 14,000 (or more) years later. While the wearer of these varied ornaments may feel it is a description of themselves, their true character is more than skin deep.  Our character is part of our soul.

Recreated Homo Erectus

 

Now we are Eight

Life has a way of throwing us curve-balls.  Every family is touched by some type of tragic or terrible event, or vagary of existence that you wonder whether or not life is actually fair.  It is not unlike being the middle child in a large family, you never know what comes your way.  I am one of ten children born to my parents, but not all ten lived at the same time. The last two children in the family were born after the untimely death of our brother Leo.  For almost 50 years we were a family with nine siblings.  The passing of my brother John to cancer in mid-August of this year has now reduced that number to eight surviving siblings.  Eight very different individuals where the shared physical traits can pale to those differences of personality and temperament.

Sunflower display created by Carolyn Hovel at
this years family picnic in honor of John

Large families have some advantages.  As children there was never a lack for someone on which to pick.  Of course if you were the one who was picked on, it could be a different story.  A large family can be an advantage when one is suffering from a terrible scourge, such as cancer.  My brother John, who passed away just over two months ago from cancer, recognized this quite well.  His posts on his cancer fight often focused on what family meant, not just his wife and two daughters, but his brothers, sisters, and his nieces and nephews.  The large family has produced a fair amount of cousins.  While I only have one first cousin, my children have many more.  John recognized a special talent in each of his children and their cousins.  Among John’s many attributes was an ability to see the good, and recognize the talents and gifts of each individual.  But, it was not the size of the family that was its strength.  It was actually the special values and traits of each family member, which John so well recognized, that allowed him to find strength in the family.  John had a special way of relating to his nieces and nephews.  Perhaps it was his outlook on life, or perhaps it was his having coached girls’ soccer for so many years that he learned the interactions with the millennial generation.  With all the drama that teenage girls produce, he must have had the temperament of a saint. Whatever it was that helped him relate, it was likely aided by his level of intelligence and observation skills. Given this, it was fitting that his pall bearers were nieces and nephews. 

Nieces and nephews as pall bearers

Being in a large family also means that there are more eyes on the street.  You never know where you may see a family member.  One story illustrates this quite well.  While I was in high school, I went out with a group of friends, and we caught a late night snack at what was then a Lums Restaurant on East Washington Avenue, near what was then Kmart (now Hy-Vee).  Forty years ago I could eat late at night, with no need to worry about pounds, or even worse, acid reflux.  While enjoying this late night snack, in walks John and a young lady.  Perhaps it was me not wanting to intrude but I simply nodded as I left, but my friends were more curious and some engaged in conversation with John and his lady friend.  Bad knees and all, John would often join us in games of football or some other activity, so my friends knew him quite well.  The next morning, we did what all good Catholic families would do, and go to church.  Mass was followed by a large breakfast which my Dad would make.  The fare was usually pancakes and bacon or sausages with orange juice.  The two youngest would demand, and receive, chocolate chip pancakes, often in the form of a bunny.  Anyway, my mother was a typical mother and would worry about her children, even if they were of legal age.  There was something unusual about that morning, however. John was not at the breakfast table, and in fact, he never came home the night before.  I did not know this until that time, but my mother and father, with their bedroom facing the driveway, had an uncanny knack for being on top of things. I guess with all the boys they had, they had this sixth sense.  Of course, my Mom, like most, also had eyes in the back of her head. Anyway, Mom was going on and on during breakfast on whether or not John was alright, because he had not come home that evening.  If I heard it once from her during breakfast, I heard it twenty times.  I have never been the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I knew enough that I had a dilemma.  Do I mention that I saw John and then get the third degree, or do I let my Mom worry? Being the dutiful middle child, I tried to take a middle route.  It was probably after mention #18 that I said under my breath, to no one in particular, “I saw him last night.” 

Selection from one of John's emails, displayed at his wake

At a boisterous breakfast table I partially had the hope that my statement would register, but perhaps not fully.  But, it did register.  I suspect breakfast that morning was not as loud as in the past due to Mom’s ruminations about her little boy.  (John did not earn the less than endearing nickname “Runt” from our older brothers for no reason.)  When asked again to repeat what I had said I did so, but adding a new wrinkle—“I saw him last night, and he was with a girl.”  The addition of the last part had its intended effect of Mom realizing that while he may now be safe, there were other reasons with which to worry.  It also put an end her verbal wondering, but I am sure a whole series of questions were floating around in her mind.  Interestingly, I really do not recall much of any specific reaction from either of my parents that Sunday morning.  What information Mom was able to get out of John when he eventually made it home, I do not know.

Sunflower, symbol of the Triumph fund
(Google images)

At that age John was already well experienced in talking like a lawyer.  I think it was a gift with which he was born and cultivated throughout his life, so I am sure he made some case to Mom about why it was easier for him to spend the night in Madison, than to travel home.  I don’t know many people who can come close to winning an argument with their mother, but John was probably the closest. 

John received grade school sportsmanship award
(Newspaper archives online)

John may have been the runt of the family, but he would make up for his smaller stature by his quick wit, and his more impressive knowledge base.  He was also quite an athlete, earning honors at the pool hall in downtown Sun Prairie, likely Sun Prairie’s version of Minnesota Fats.  He also played a hard game of ping pong.  He was the proud owner of a 3M bookshelf game called “Facts in Five” in which you had a category and had to relate five facts.  He put his knowledge of bureaucracy to good use, for when the time came to create one’s own category he would do so with acronyms.  He would then bedazzle us with some bizarre nomenclature for a little known government agency.  In the pre-internet days it would have us going to the dictionary or encyclopedia.  Whatever sport, or activity he was in he did not like to lose, and would find some way to sneak a victory from what we thought may be certain defeat.  I had this happen first hand a number of times when we played table hockey—you know the game--the one with the over sized puck and thin men controlled by sticks underneath the playing surface.  I am sure it was a common game in northern households.

John making it to the top of the family pyramid
(photo by a family member)

Even though I was the middle child, I was associated with the younger children in the family.  Growing up, John was part of the “older boys.”   He was part of that group whose reputations well proceeded us in high school.  Leo Martin, would have been the son to bridge the gap between the older boys (of which John was the youngest) and us younger children, but he would leave this earth at the young age of four due to a terrible accident on USH 51. As we grew older, John would become the bridge with the older boys.  Even before his illness, family was important.  After our Dad died in 2003 there was talk of whether or not we should end the family picnic, which our brother Mike has dutifully arranged for many years in Stevens Point.  John was one of the most vocal (when was he not vocal?) in retaining the family picnic. 

John was too ill to make it to the family picnic in person this year, but he was present in his spirit.  Perhaps it was one of his last gifts that most of us were assembled for the family picnic in Stevens Point, when news came down that his cancer had progressed to encapsulate a majority of his liver.   The strength of the family was not shown simply in its numbers on that day, but in values and attributes John would recognize and appreciate.  While we have differences in our personalities, politics and purpose, there are also some core values that we share, the most important likely being the meaning of family.  John was instrumental in keeping that meaning alive and well.  His death will not dilute the meaning of family, but strengthen it.  His lived life with a strong sense of purpose which has taught us all lessons.  He had an uncommon courage, which was a privilege to see in action.

Grilled sweet corn, one of the ever present foods
at the Hovel family picnic

We are now eight.  We do not know what the future holds, but I do know that Thanksgiving, Christmas, the family picnic, and our other host of gatherings will be experienced in a different manner over the next twelve months, and in the years after. 

John would have been 62 years of age today.  A life cut short, a husband, father and brother who is missed, but whose life lives on in the memories of his family.

Full moon.  Photo by Joseph P. Hovel

Neighborhood--How to Create Walk Appeal

One of my children, who lives in Minneapolis, has commented that he walks further to get to the bus stop to get to work, than what the walk from our home to the high school he attended had been. He often was driven or drove to high school (although in large part this was more due to sports). This experience may relate to a few factors, first that he is older, but second is the walk experience. Urbanist Steve Mouzon says that a 5 minute walk is a myth, and that people walk for miles in central Rome, London, Florence or many other well designed historic cities because the walk has variety, it is appealing. Of course, given the traffic in those cities it is probably easier, and perhaps quicker, to walk. Mouzon further notes that ¾ of a mile will be walked on a good American Main Street. For my son, a walk to high school was probably not as appealing as the walk he now takes to get to the bus stop. Walk appeal is interplay between the physical form and our psychological experiences. Form affects our senses and our mind view; it can provide a sense of place, or it can leave us apprehensive. This post, the fifth and last in a series on neighborhoods will explore what can be done to promote walking. Prior posts have given much information in this regard, and this post will reiterate some of the big picture aspects, but also focus on some of the nuances. The fourth post looked at why a Minneapolis neighborhood works and the third post examined the problems of walking in a Wisconsin village. The second post dealt with a small city in a time of transition as it became a suburb and the possible effects that has on social capital. The first post dealt with a neighborhood as a sense of place as a building block of our larger communities.

Sidewalk along four lane McKee Road in Fitchburg, WI
Not a very pleasant walk experience
Image 1

A public sidewalk along Fitchrona Road looking north.
Target parking lot is to left
Image 2

Red Wing, MN downtown.  Notice the building fenestration and lack of building articulation
this forms a nice street wall, and creates a pleasant walk experience.
 Of course, being a historic downtown, the street is a state highway, and sees a great deal of heavy traffic.
Image 3

Walking was the first viable human form of transportation. In our post-modern world the sub-urban form of development of the past 60 or 70 years has placed cars over feet, streets over sidewalks, and a form of development which makes it undesirable, if not treacherous, for walking. A newer diet option is the paleo diet, where a person eats a diet more attuned to the diet of our long ago ancestors (harkening to a hunter-gatherer way of life) rather than eating grains, dairy or other highly modified or processed foods. The idea is that the genetics of our 21st century human bodies have not had sufficient time to adapt to eating the grains, dairy and processed foods that have become part of human settlement over the past few thousand years, and that a diet reminiscent of long-ago ancestors is more appropriate for the genetics that apparently have not caught up to settlement-level agriculture. Similarly, recent medical research has shown that sitting is the new smoking and that the genetics of the human body are not meant to be in sitting positions for most of the day. The ever present desk job, now prevalent in our economy, is not healthy. While some harken in diet and posture to an era of early man, we continue to build neighborhoods and cities that are auto-dependent and where walking is difficult. To provide an appealing walk, a neighborhood needs more than sidewalks and paths as part of its infrastructure. Land use, form of buildings, and design elements are also important in setting walk appeal.

SmartCode Neighborhood in Fitchburg, WI
Notice building relationship to street, and lack of drives as served by an alley
Image 4

A neighborhood should also provide a variety of services—recreation, education, food and some basic retail to a resident. Retail stores today seem to desire a much larger trade area than in the past (see post 2), which means that walking is often not as viable. In post 3, I suggested that a half mile radius may be more appropriate for an ability to walk to other uses. In terms of the large picture, a variety of uses is one key to walking. After all, you need a destination. Jeff Speck, author of Walkable City has noted ten keys to walking and one those is having a destination. Ewing and Cervero (in 2010) completed a meta-analysis of the literature dealing with travel and the built environment. Many authors on the subject simply build off of well understood principles of urbanism and walkability. What a great way to earn a living—pointing out the obvious. The open-source SmartCode attempts to promote walkable neighborhoods by controlling form of development, and then looks to land use control. In most zoning codes if they control form of development it is secondary to specific land use control, which is the opposite of the SmartCode. As an open-source document, the SmartCode has been reviewed and revised by a large number of persons. The code came about from looking at the traditional forms of development (pre-World War II) and how that organic development type formed walkable neighborhoods and cities. In that earlier age, downtowns of smaller cities were still the place to be (see post 2 regarding the transition that took place). Larger cities would have neighborhood retail areas, an example being the Atwood Avenue—Winnebago Street area of Madison, WI.

Single family home in SmartCode, Fitchburg, WI
Notice garage setback and limited drive width near sidewalk (10')
Image 5

Downtowns of large cities are usually very walkable, but in the recent past they often lacked housing which is an important starting place for a walk. Live, play, educate, work—these words would denote a good neighborhood, but today many neighborhoods provide one and may be two of these features, with few provisions for a variety of occupational choices. Neighborhood retail and shopping areas are critical to providing uses for residents to walk to, and unfortunately (as pointed out in post #3) grade configuration and location at a periphery discount the ability to walk. Likewise, as intimated in the second post, traditional downtowns and neighborhood shopping areas have been replaced by power centers and big box stores.

Air photo of Target store in Fitchburg, WI
Notice the developer "outlots" at the top of the image.
Image 6

Power centers and big box stores demand large parking areas, often sized to handle the black Friday crowd, leaving the lots with much extra pavement for the vast majority of the year. But the problem is not necessarily the amount of the parking, but its location between the street and the building. In this situation a walker has to traverse through an inhospitable parking lot, often more than the length of a football field, to get to the front door. It is a walk even less exciting than getting to McFarland’s middle school. Further, the public sidewalk with a street on one-side and a parking lot on the other is one of the most unappealing walks to which a person should be subjected, and quite frankly it is not often accomplished. Thus, a walk needs to be appealing.

View looking west along Target store
Image 7

View of sidewalk looking to Target store
Image 8

Street view of Red Wing, MN
Where would you rather walk here, or the view in Images 7 & 8?
Noticed the lack of articulation, and differing facades which enhance the walk appeal
Image 9

Traditional neighborhoods and Rome have a common appeal that is often discarded today-- connectivity and size of blocks. Smaller blocks, say with a perimeter of 2000--2200 feet allow for greater connectivity of streets, and a block size that assists with walking, and which helps to disperse auto traffic. The term block had typically been associated with a one side distance of 660 feet. (Although there is great variation in block length over a variety of US cities with some having blocks up to 900’ in length.) It actually seems counterintuitive that this would work for walking, because with this block structure you are crossing streets more often, which would seem to delay the walk experience. But, a few main issues are at play that makes the smaller block perimeter appealing to a walker. First, it offers choice in terms of direction and a grid street pattern offers a multitude of ways to reach a destination. Second, crossing a street gives the walker a sense of progress. Finally, as Speck (2012) notes, smaller blocks produce more streets and more streets disperse traffic making the streets less wide and thus safer.

Multifamily SmartCode Building in Fitchburg, WI
Notice how it fronts the street.  This was just completed in August
 and street trees will be installed next year.
Image 10

The traditional main street provides a variety of factors which give us forms that have been lost in our push that bigger is better. First, the buildings are close to the street and in so doing they create a wall of the outdoor space. This street wall is an important psychological tool to the mind in the formation of space—and how it views, and creates how we get a sense of place. Additionally, the narrow store fronts common on many main streets change the view of the walker, and this is much more exciting and appealing to the walker than a long blank wall. A walk of 300’ along the concrete block wall of a Target store (see Image 7) seems to take much longer than a 300’ walk down a traditional main street (see image 9 as a comparison to image 7). Even though on a main street you may stop more often to view window displays or take in the sounds and the smells of the neighborhood. Imagine the pleasure, and titillation of the senses due to walking by a bakery. Wider sidewalks along a busy street allow for both perusing of the store windows and the walker who wishes to pass by. On a street in a traditional downtown a parking lane and street trees help separate the traffic lane from the sidewalk adding a sense of security. But, street trees also enhance the walk appeal besides the separation from traffic. The driveway in front of a big box store effectively functions as a roadway, but the lack of a parking lane and street trees negatively affect the walk experience along the very blank front wall of a Target or Walmart. Those of us old enough to remember will recall the art of window displays in traditional downtown stores, and its on-site advertising appeal to the pedestrian.

Red Wing, MN
Served by an alley, there are no drives to disrupt the walk appeal
Image 11

Red Wing, MN
Notice the parking, street trees, and flower baskets which enhance the downtown and
its appeal to the pedestrian.
Who is the cute red head in the foreground?
Image 12

Big Box stores can actually be accomplished in a more traditional pattern. Many big box stores have strip malls or an ever present national restaurant chain sitting near a major street. Developers refer to these smaller lots sitting in front of the big box store as outlots. These stores, however, could be attached to the big box in a liner building fashion creating separate store fronts, and placing all users along the same street. Parking can be placed across a street, which is no wider (if not actually more narrow) than the drive aisles commonly placed in front of a big box store. It is similar to the concept of placing liner retail stores at the street level of parking ramps. More pedestrian friendly methods can happen. It simply takes a different way of thinking and design. This way of thinking is seldom chosen because developers, large retailers, and policy makers are creatures of habit and seldom vary from their model.

Example of liner buildings.
LaCrosse, WI has used liner buildings with parking ramps
Image 13

The shops in an old downtown were usually accessed by an alley, which meant that driveway crossings of a block were less common, accentuating the pleasure of the walk, increasing the store fronts in a block, and reducing the worry of cross-traffic. Parking was provided on street. Is on-street parking for customer’s sufficient in this situation? When part of the population can walk, traditionally it was shown that it would function. In addition, Retail expert Bob Gibbs notes that most shopping trips, particularly in the day of the internet are 15 to 20 minutes, providing sufficient turn around for on-street parking stalls.

Multi-family building in Fitchburg, notice its articulation, with insets of about 6'
This can work counter to a good street wall form as shown in Images 10-12
Image 14

Parking off an alley also provides for better street fronts in residential areas. This can work for both single family and attached row houses. More difficult, however, is parking for single family homes not served by an alley. Traditional neighborhoods solved this by placing the garage at the rear of the lot, and a narrow, one car width driveway along the side of the house. Lots were narrower in that day than they are today. (Today the cost of public lot improvements runs about $500 a lineal foot of street frontage, ($250 per side of street) so narrow lots would seem to make more sense in this day and age.) The suburban pattern provides for two or three car width driveways, making for a rather unpleasant walk experience. Rather than using homes to form the street, the street is formed by wide drives and car parking. Rather than having the home as the focal point of the lot we get snout houses where the garage is the focal point. Rather than having a front porch to welcome visitors, the front door is setback along the garage. Given that American’s prize their cars so highly, garage domination should not be unexpected (and like the move from front porch to back yard deck is a descriptor for an increasing insularity), but it provides a decidedly less pleasant street and walk experience.

Single family homes served by an alley so there are no driveways to
disturb a walk
Image 15

Snout houses with wide drives (about 20') which can disturb the walk experience.
Image 16

Of course, not all blocks will have complete building fronts, and there are likely to be some parking areas. In such cases, good design can make a difference. For example placing the parking at or behind the setback of the building, and using a screen wall, even over landscaping, adds permanence in creating an enclosure for the pedestrian and in dividing the public (street) realm from the private realm. The enclosure is important to the psychology of the walk and the walk appeal. This type of enclosure is an important component of the SmartCode, and in seeing a street with apartment and row houses built under the SmartCode one can feel what it is the code wants to accomplish. The feel of a walk is important, but is difficult to describe, and that is likely due to our perception.

Notice the screen wall which helps form the street wall and obscures parking
The block wall works much better than the adjoining landscaping
Image 17

Use pf proper design elements make a big difference in whether a building helps provide walk appeal or works against such appeal. Highly articulated buildings provide less sense of enclosure and affect the fee one can get from walking, than from a building with a straight or much less articulated front. The sense of enclosure is an important part of the walk experience. In addition, buildings at a human scale, say about four stories, are better for the walk experience than skyscrapers. You will find downtown's of large cities filled with skyscrapers, and they create the skyline, but neighborhood centers are best with buildings at a human scale. There are ratios to be applied to building to street width to create enclosures, but they are not met in the world of today’s suburban one story buildings. Simple design elements are also important, such as well accomplished cornices, store front windows, and fenestration. In fact, traditional architecture is rather straightforward with a simple elegance. Architects today seem to have to prove their worth, but in so doing they take away from the elegance of simplicity that created the downtown form on which we look so highly.

Single family homes in SmartCode, with garages setback, and 10' wide drives
Not quite as walkable as an alley home, but much more so than a snout house
Image 18

We have moved away from a form of development that provided security, walk appeal and created a sense of place at a micro-scale for a pedestrian to one that places the pedestrian in a position behind the movement and parking of cars. We concentrate traffic on a few major streets, rather than allowing it to distribute in a grid system. We have lost the simple elegance of building construction in the past using fenestration and cornices to enhance buildings, rather than overly aggressive building articulation, and buildings with no relation to the public realm created by the street and sidewalk. And, our suburban form has produced neighborhoods which lack destinations. The walk my son has to his bus stop has an urban form that places buildings closer to the street, and car access if not off an alley has narrow drives. The form of development he passes by creates a sense of place, and provides progress as he walks in his Minneapolis neighborhood as compared to McFarland. His neighborhood in Minneapolis has more walk appeal, and that is one reason why he does not mind walking a greater distance to his bus stop.

Photos by the author

Neighborhoods--Why does this Neighborhood Work?

If you were to look over the American landscape you would see a fairly clear demarcation in both land use form and street pattern between that of the past 60 years compared to that built at an earlier time. The second half of the twentieth century, and continuing today into the 21st century comprises what is referred to as a suburban (some say sub-urban) form of development--that is low density and auto-centric in nature. Pre-World War II development was more organic (i.e. naturally occurring), based on walking or transit (horse trolleys, street cars, subways and the like). Being dependent on foot travel requires more density and a mix of uses within a neighborhood. Prior to the dawn of the suburban land use pattern, the neighborhood was where you could walk to meet most of your needs from church, school, food, retail, play and possibly even work. Our auto-centric land use pattern is dramatically different in result and land consumption than the earlier established pattern of land use. In the 1960’s and into the 1980’s urban type neighborhoods would start to decay. Many were abandoned in favor of the green pastures of suburbia. Yet, these urban neighborhoods are seeing a renaissance in part due to children who were products of suburbia. This is the fourth in a series of posts on neighborhoods and will focus primarily on a brief experience I had in a neighborhood in Minneapolis which to me seems to defy the critics of urbanism, and to defy the tenants of a land use pattern that have prevailed over the last 70 years. The third post dealt primarily with walk accessibility, or lack of it. The second dealt with a small city in transition regarding its commercial land use and how that may affect social capital. The first post involved neighborhood as a sense of place.

Franklin Ave 1938 Air photo
Notice the street grid
Source: Borchert Map Library University of Minnesota on-line

Neighborhoods are the building blocks of a community. They are crucial to providing sense of place and meaning. Many cities had vibrant ethnic neighborhoods that were formed around a church, or other establishment crucial to its residents. Overtime many of these ethnic enclaves, particularly after a couple generations would be assimilated into the broader U.S. culture. This particularly started to occur in the 1950’s. Some cities still retain the original ethnic flavor, whereas others have had their ethnic flavor altered. For some, the ethnic makeup has diversified, forming a polyglot of ethic food stores and restaurants. To many suburban subdivisions, diversity of form or type that allows for different socio-economic groups is anathema to their existence. As touched on in post 2, we have become a nation separated by social and income status. The Whittier Neighborhood (and its adjoining neighborhoods, such as Lowery Hill East) of Minneapolis seem to defy current thinking of this preferred socio-economic stratification, a level of thinking which is prevalent in the vast suburbs of Minneapolis. This neighborhood has had its trials, but today it is diverse, meaningful, and in a view formed by impressions of only a few days, it works.

Single family home in Whittier
Source:  Author, August 2014

A look at its history would show that Whittier did not always function well. Like many urban neighborhoods it fell on rough times in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Named for poet John Greenleaf Whittier, for whom a school in the area had been named, Whittier makes up one of 84 Minneapolis neighborhoods that are part of eleven communities. It is one of the eight neighborhoods that make up the Powderhorn community. The neighborhood was founded when John T. Blaisdell, and his brother Robert each claimed 160 acres of farms from part of the former Fort Snelling Military Reservation (other sources say they squatted). The northern portion of the neighborhood would see development first, while the southern portion remained in agriculture or was used for industrial purposes. From 1858 to the early 1910’s much of the northeast portion of the neighborhood would become grand estates of limestone homes—an outgrowth of the gilded age. The first mansion built would be for Dorilus Morrison. Others would follow. A horse drawn street car, put into operation in 1878, would allow movement of wealthy barons from their home in this neighborhood just south of downtown to downtown. In 1879 the Lyndale Railway Co. began operating along what is Lyndale Avenue to Thirty-First street and then to the shore of Lake Calhoun. The industrial development to the south would see the construction of worker housing. Showing that even worker housing can be of architectural value, there are homes originally constructed for industrial workers on West Twenty-Ninth Street that are now recognized as good examples of Italianate design.

Minneapolis Institute for the Arts
Source:  Google images

During its period of early growth, multi-family dwellings began to appear mainly along transit lines, even though single family was the predominant choice. Some duplexes, with the appearance of a single-family home, were also built. Whittier School, for which the neighborhood is named, would be converted to a condominium building. In an act that would be found perplexing today, in the 1920’s the city zoned the Washburn-Fair Oaks area as multi-family. This is an area which had large gilded age mansions. Some of these limestone manors would be torn down to make way for multi-family housing, and some converted to multi-family. The zoning change for multi-family use was precipitated by the close relationship of Whittier to downtown Minneapolis. Perhaps the city of Minneapolis chose to mimic the then current thinking of the concentric ring theory of urban growth popularized by urban ecologists at the University of Chicago through their study of the city of Chicago. The pre WWII apartment buildings were constructed of stone, brick or terra cotta and many are fine examples of what was then modern design. Multi-family construction would pick up again in the 1950’s and 1960’s as the city would continue to follow its 1920 style thinking. Today, over 90% of Whittier’s population is in multi-family housing. In the 1960’s single family homeowners would start to leave urban neighborhoods, and coupled with the construction of Interstate Hwy 35 W in that same decade, the neighborhood would enter a time of decline.

Strip mall near Nicollet and Lake Streets, near I-35 W
Source:  Google Maps

Highway construction is viewed as great for the commuter, but it is a destroyer of neighborhoods. It destroys property values, and neighborhood cohesiveness. It is reported that one affected resident commented that a one block to St Stephen’s church was now over eight due to the highway which is in the back yard of the church. He also noted that people quickly moved out due to highway noise, and squatters would move in and trash the homes. In 1985 St. Stephen’s celebrated its centennial. A history of the neighborhood would quote an article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune which said that 100 years earlier it was the place for the city’s wealthy to attend mass, but by 1985 it was a mission church dependent on the diocese. In 1981 St. Stephen’s would start the first church- based homeless shelter in the city of Minneapolis in order to assist the growing homeless population.  That mission continues, although it is now its own separate non-profit corporation.

Urban type street fronts, Nicollet Ave
Source:  Google Images

Typical of the auto-oriented thinking in the 1970’s, a redevelopment plan for the Nicollet-Lake St. area was approved that was a suburban dream. It provided for a discount department store and a grocery store well set back from the street, to assure ample parking. This would bring a slice of the suburbs to the city, and while many residents opposed the project, the city approved it thinking it of it as a solution to neighborhood problems. But, the solution was not so simple, and that project would, in the end, prove again that development alone does not solve the problem. In the early 1990’s Whittier would be one of the first neighborhoods in Minneapolis to utilize what was termed a Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP). This program began first with planning and then with implementation. As often happens, funding fell well short of what was needed, yet the neighborhood persevered. Luckily, by this time, it appears that lessons of past mistakes have been learned, but also a growing movement would come to assist in the situation.

Redevelopment (1970's) near Nicollet and Lake Streets.
The buildings are so far back you they are not well visible
Source:  Google Maps

Changing demographics, previously shown with immigrants, now shown with the move of millennials to urban neighborhoods over the past few years, has likely assisted in making this neighborhood work. A few days does not make one an expert, but yet what one sees is a diverse neighborhood demographically and in its land use. It has single family mansions, and section 8 housing. It is a neighborhood with core institutions, like St Stephen’s, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and a school constructed in 1997. In the later part of the twentieth century Nicollet Avenue was a street of of crack houses, but immigrant communities reinvented this street. In fact, it is thought today that Whittier is comprised of persons from 30 different countries speaking 25 different languages. It is a neighborhood that has taken its diversity and turned it into strength where it is now known as the international neighborhood.  Nicollet has become the “Eat Street” due to its variety of ethic food stores and restaurants. Programs to promote homeownership have also helped. The Milwaukee Road railroad became part of the rails to trails program. Showing the fugacious nature of auto-oriented development strip development, the shopping center that contained the grocer and discount retailer, and which was proclaimed as the magic elixir for the neighborhood less than forty years earlier is apparently now in the planning process of urban renewal. What have survived are many of the retail stores and shops that are near the street often dating back to or before the 1930’s. The uses in these store fronts have changed, but these small stores and shop buildings have stood the test of time. They are what helps makes an area urban, and it is the urban nature that helps give flavor, and leads to walkability.

Fair Oaks Mansion built by Wm. Washburn in 1884.
Donated to city Parks Division by owner.
 Torn down by city in 1924
It is now Fair Oaks Park

This is a neighborhood that has a single family mansion next to or across the street from an apartment building. It has moderate housing, and it likely still has a number of duplexes that you cannot tell apart from single family. It is a neighborhood with three section 8 multi-family housing complexes. The main streets have a variety of shops and restaurants ready to serve a population more diverse than its housing stock.

Single family mansion on Pillsbury St.
Source:  Author, August 2014

Source:  Author, August 2014

On my first visit to Whittier in May of this year I was struck by its diversity of land use, and people. One of the first people I came across was a man on a bike going down an alley opening the garbage and recycling bins ahead of the garbage truck. Around the corner were large homes and mansions, part of the gilded age and early twentieth mansion construction boom. Some of these mansions are now owned by non-profits, others are still single family. My two days in August showed a vibrant, eclectic and socio-demographically diverse neighborhood. Parking on the street is a premium, but it adds to the neighborhood flavor and its vibrancy, as do the many bicyclists. (What happens to parking in the winter may be another story.) My wife and I spent the night at a Bed and Breakfast just west of Lyndale, and the street on which it is located is a bicycle boulevard. While technically outside of Whittier, it shares much in common with Whittier. The owners of the single family home B&B have lived there for over forty years, during the bad times and now the better. A 1960 era apartment building is across the street from their home and they have appreciated the limits on new multifamily—the preservation of some aspect of home ownership. In the book The Smart Growth Manual, the authors state the following: “For many reasons, a healthy neighborhood includes a wide range of dwelling types.” Whittier fits that description. Yet, the book goes further, saying that “authentic social networks” depend on age and income diversity. Whittier does that and more. Whittier is a neighborhood that can provide life-cycle housing, one can move from an apartment to a duplex or two-flat, then to a single family home, all the way to a mansion. On the walk score index, the apartment building in which my son, who lives in Whittier, scores an 86, very walkable. I am sure there are some uses not present due to the desire of retail, and now many services for big box locations that cause the score to be reduced.

Multi-family dwelling, in what is known as a bowfront style
Source:  Author, August 2014

Marie Antoinette Apartment building
Source:  Author, May 2014

At least to this observer, Whittier works even though it runs counter to development principles that have been followed over the past 60 or 70 years. It lacks wide streets, it lacks uniformity of housing, it lacks block after block of single family housing, and it lacks cul-de-sacs. My goodness, it even contains many apartment buildings, and some are section 8. You can even walk. It works, because it has a predominant form of development that has stood the test of time. It works because it decided to play off its strength of diversity. It works because people who live their care, whether they are a single family homeowner or an apartment renter. Possibly, it works because millennial's are now recognizing the advantages of urban living and the vitality that produces. It works because the city recognized its early planning mistakes and has worked with the neighborhood through its NRP. It works because of core institutions like the school, art institute and St. Stephen’s church. I am sure that there is more that can be done, but neighborhoods, like society itself, are organic and fluid. Like us they go through good times and bad. They grow, as do we, by dealing with trials and past experiences. This is what the institutions and residents of Whittier did to make a lively urban neighborhood. That is why this urban neighborhood works.

Pillsbury Mansion, now a occupied by a non-profit
Source:  Author, August 2014