What
would you do if you could take a magic wand to your neighborhood? Tantalizing
as this sounds, it might seem like a futile exercise. After all, how often does
the public get to design its own environment?
It
might come as a surprise, but neighborhood design charrettes like the one that
took place last Saturday at New Life Presbyterian Church on Monroe Avenue
(previewed in last week’s City Newspaper)
actually help bring a community’s ideas closer to reality.
A
joint effort by the Upper Monroe Neighborhood Association and the Rochester
Regional Community Design Center, the charrette brought Upper Monroe residents
together with professional architects and city officials (approximately 100
people total) for a big brainstorming session. With large-scale map printouts
and historical photographs posted along the walls — and tracing paper and
colored markers spread across folding tables — the basement of the New Life
basement buzzed with creative energy.
Joni
Monroe, executive director of the RRCDC, instructed participants not to
compromise, to “think big” no matter how unattainable ideas might seem. Ideas
are necessarily compromised throughout various phases of design, she said, so
they must reach as far as the imagination allows. As a point of inspiration,
Monroe, event chairperson Elizabeth Wallace, who is also head of the Upper
Monroe Planning Commission’s Steering Committee, and numerous guest speakers
all said charrettes are capable of producing tangible results. Filling-in the
inner loop (which City Council President Lois Giess referred to as a “moat” and
a “mistake”) to make way for development — cited often as “just an idea” —
could now be within reach.
Groups were
assigned to different sections of the Upper Monroe Neighborhood, which is a collection
of city residential streets along Culver and Monroe bounded by 490 and Cobbs
Hill Park. Giess and City Councilman Bill Pritchard, who lives in the
neighborhood, each joined groups. City
Newspaper followed a group chosen to re-design the neighborhood’s
“gateways” — the bridges over the neighborhood’s two 490 exits and the
Monroe-Culver intersection.
After
a tentative start on the 490 bridge near the YMCA and Public Library, the group
exploded with ideas. Among them: Completely overhaul the highway overpasses and
replace them with pedestrian- and bike-friendly bridges decorated with tile
mosaics reflecting the neighborhood’s history. Next, they agreed upon a small
park or mom-and-pop cafe to replace the Wilson Farms on Monroe at the 490
overpass. Then the group decided to build a greenway promenade and park overlooking
that stretch of 490 between the two exits.
With
some prompting from local architects Mark Pandolf and Doug Levey, the group
eventually decided to turn the abandoned armory on Culver Road near 490 into an
indoor public market that would double as a community arts venue. Group members
also decided to bring ice-skating and horse carriage rides to Lake Riley and
landscape the adjacent section of Cobbs Hill Park to accommodate a butterfly
conservatory.
At
the end of the day, each group presented its plans. Wallace was encouraged to
find similarities among the different ideas. For example, several groups
focused on the armory as a community space and emphasized neighborhood
walkability by restricting traffic flow. Wilson Farms was a common target, as many
felt the building’s design ignores surrounding architectural elements. Groups
that didn’t elect to remove the building outright at least proposed to do
something about the exposed trash bins along the side of the building facing
Monroe Avenue. One group even suggested constructing a pedestrian/bicycle-only
bridge that would start near Monroe Avenue, arc over 490, and end on Berkeley
Street near Park Avenue.
Several
participants appreciated being able to interact with neighbors, and said they
had a great deal of fun through the process. “I’ve been to about seven or eight
of these,” Pandolf said, “and the energy is always great.”
“This
puts the focus where it should be — urban design — rather than just
architecture,” said Rochester Zoning Director Art Ientilucci as he emphasized
the value of “spaces between buildings to frame livable space.”
In
a presentation just before the group activity, Ientilucci outlined a number of
ways that the city’s zoning code has recently been revised to accommodate
aesthetics and quality-of-life concerns. The new code, he said, now includes
guidelines for developers to consider existing design in neighborhoods where
they’ve chosen to build. Businesses, for example, are encouraged to share
parking rather than build lots between buildings and create discontinuity in
the streetscape.
Now that the
charrette’s over, what’s next?
Each
group’s design plans will be compiled into a report kept on file by the RRCDC.
And the city can refer to that report when reviewing various development
proposals.
“We
find, as we get development proposals to review — and ultimately approve —
we have a basis to give guidance to decision-makers,” said Ientilucci of
previous charrette reports.
“If
a developer comes in with a proposal that’s completely inappropriate, the city
can say ‘we have these plans,'” Pandolf says. “Rochesterians tend to be
pessimistic, but Rochester’s great for grassroots. Ten or 15 years ago, you
didn’t have these types of efforts.”
And
what about neighborhoods that aren’t as well-organized as Upper Monroe? Joni
Monroe says that RRCDC tends to focus on “more challenging” areas. Forming
neighborhood associations is critical, she says, but she extends an invitation
to everyone to visit RRCDC.
“We’re
here as a resource,” she says. “Use us.”
The
Rochester Regional Community Design Center can be reached at 271-0520, www.rrcdc.org,
info@rrcdc.org
This article appears in Oct 20-26, 2004.
