Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Brownfield Expedition
Not too recently I decided to show a friend all the construction taking place in Liberty Harbor. Only thing was I took us on the wrong course, actually heading toward the water from Jersey Ave instead of Grove St. I thought that surely we'd be able to connect down there, but turns out the two light rail stations were separated by a few acres of mud piles and a fenced-in brownfield.
Now, my buddy has a fear of climbing fences so getting stuck in this field was serious. We'd only made it in in the first place because a downed tree took out part of the fence. After about a half an hour of searching in the dark for another exit we left the way we came, back through the hills of mud and debris, and wound up walking down the light rail tracks after all.
In a way, however, I was happy to see the deserted land because I knew someday soon it would have lots of development on it. Of course, I wish we had had a twelve of PBR for the walk.
After this diversion we landed safely in the brand new, barely open "townhouses" of liberty harbor. They were six stories, mostly, but without very much ornamentation. (It's been my conviction lately that now that modernism is dead we don't have to avoid ornaments, especially since they're rarely symbolic anyway, but alas.) But the aesthetics of the buildings aren't what concerned me, rather their orientation.
Some of the buildings face Grand St., which my friend pointed out is a suburban road. Certainly to regain the city atmosphere down in Liberty Harbor they're going to have to add street parking there. But the side facade of these townhouses was wall, brick, fence, garage, and small windows-- dead all the way to the water. Behind the townhouses were parking garage doors, not a traditional alley (generally absent from metro NY, but here's our chance). Finally at the water itself there was not a single front door.
It appears that our developer friends failed to read the Charter for the New Urbanism. But that's why we blog, hoping someday to get the message through.
Now, my buddy has a fear of climbing fences so getting stuck in this field was serious. We'd only made it in in the first place because a downed tree took out part of the fence. After about a half an hour of searching in the dark for another exit we left the way we came, back through the hills of mud and debris, and wound up walking down the light rail tracks after all.
In a way, however, I was happy to see the deserted land because I knew someday soon it would have lots of development on it. Of course, I wish we had had a twelve of PBR for the walk.
After this diversion we landed safely in the brand new, barely open "townhouses" of liberty harbor. They were six stories, mostly, but without very much ornamentation. (It's been my conviction lately that now that modernism is dead we don't have to avoid ornaments, especially since they're rarely symbolic anyway, but alas.) But the aesthetics of the buildings aren't what concerned me, rather their orientation.
Some of the buildings face Grand St., which my friend pointed out is a suburban road. Certainly to regain the city atmosphere down in Liberty Harbor they're going to have to add street parking there. But the side facade of these townhouses was wall, brick, fence, garage, and small windows-- dead all the way to the water. Behind the townhouses were parking garage doors, not a traditional alley (generally absent from metro NY, but here's our chance). Finally at the water itself there was not a single front door.
It appears that our developer friends failed to read the Charter for the New Urbanism. But that's why we blog, hoping someday to get the message through.
Owen Martin 10:07 AM
2 Comments:
all i can say is -- you should have seen the awesome abandoned factories they tore down to build liberty harbor and gull's cove. nothing zak or mocco puts on that side could possibly compare to that grandeur!
Yup. Tris is right, Owen.
Nevertheless, keep your head up. Make the best of what's there, and have a great time. I wish you lots of luck and happiness with your move to JC.
Nevertheless, keep your head up. Make the best of what's there, and have a great time. I wish you lots of luck and happiness with your move to JC.