SvR was instrumental in the success of a couple recent complete/green street workshops. Tom von Schrader and Nathan Polanski led a panel on policy, practice and integration at the Kitsap Complete Streets Leadership Forum in Poulsbo in early June. Then the next week Tom, Nathan and Amalia Leighton headed down to beautiful Paso Robles, California to lead a Complete/Green Streets Workshop sponsered by the City of Paso Robles, UC Davis’ LID Initiative and the Central Coast Water Board. Both workshops were at capacity and lively discussions were a testament to the growing recognition that our public right of ways are a valuable resource that should be balanced for a wide variety of users and uses.
Blog » Posts by
The bids are in for Winslow Way
Posted January 25th, 2011 by Tom von Schrader
After over 4 years of working and reworking the design for Winslow Way on Bainbridge Island, the SvR design team has cause for celebration… Bids were opened this morning and the three low responsive bids were within a tenth of a percent of each other…Amazingly close and just under the engineers estimate! A special “job well done” to Nathan Polanski who shepherded the job from the very beginning of concept development through the bid documents; Steve Burke who took the reins at the 30% level and led the team to produce a great PS&E package and Melanie Davies who led the landscape/urban design portion of the project.
Street of the Week No.7: Keeping Business Accessible in Copenhagen
Posted December 3rd, 2010 by Tom von Schrader
Copenhagen
This street in Copenhagen demonstrates that even though the street is under construction, that doesn’t mean business has to stop.
Street of the Week No.4: Stormwater Runnels in Malmo
Posted October 21st, 2010 by Tom von Schrader
Stormwater Runnels in Malmo, Sweden
This sidewalk in Malmo, Sweden uses stormwater captured on the neighboring rooftop in an artful way that enhances the pedestrian experience during a rain event.
Street of the Week No.2: Crenelated Curbs in Barcelona
Posted October 4th, 2010 by Tom von Schrader
Crenelated Curb in Barcelona, Spain
This street in Barcelona, Spain has what was likely intended to be a pedestrian-friendly median with a crenelated curb that allows people to cross the street at any location they please while providing a barrier from vehicles at the same time. However, instead of the friendly atmosphere it comes across more like a sparse, paved prison bordered by teeth instead of bars. A nice concept but perhaps the execution could use a bit more design refinement.
Street of the Week No.1
Posted September 27th, 2010 by Tom von Schrader
Street in Barcelona, Spain
Kicking off the week is the first installment of what will be a regular weekly feature here on the SvR Blog called Street of the Week where we’ll post a photo taken by an SvR team member either locally or from somewhere around the world of an interesting street. This photograph comes all the way from Barcelona, Spain. The Spanish have an interesting tolerance for street trees – 2.5 feet from the curb.
Zofnass = Sustainable Infrastructure? And Other Observations
Posted May 26th, 2010 by Tom von Schrader
Zofnass… I confess I had not heard of it, but then again some times you learn a thing or two from a conference. Recently, I came off of a tour of local and national conferences that took me from coast to coast and then to the heartland. Exhausting as that was, I came back with a renewed sense of purpose and several movements I thought I might share.
Boston, MA – Zofnass-ing…
In late April, I attended the Infrastructure Sustainability & Design Conference hosted by Zofnass Program for Infrastructure Sustainability at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard. The event centered on the Zofnass Sustainable Infrastructure Rating System. I confess the program was new to me, but I came away seeing the potential this rating system can have on large infrastructure projects.
At SvR, we approach projects by planning, designing, and recommending life-time solutions centered around green infrastructure components: mobility, water, community, habitat, energy, and geologic. Zofnass strikes me best as a system focused on large-scale developments. The rating system assesses the sustainability of a project over its entire life-cycle, from the need phase to rehabilitation, even decommissioning – cradle to grave. The system endeavors to quantify a project’s sustainability against national standards, local context, and benchmark projects. The program is seeking input and I encourage you to contact Brian Kenet at bkenet@gsd.harvard.edu to learn how you can contribute.
Branson, MO – Regenerating Streets
Cole and Associates of St. Louis, Missouri asked Civitas, Alta Planning and Design, and SvR Design Company to come and speak at the American Public Works Association – Missouri State Chapter spring conference; the topic – Regenerating the City Street. This remains a timely and important American topic (see our last blog post). Most American streets belong to cars – not communities. Think – where is a city’s identity, its first impression, a synthesis of their priorities reflected? Streets. Based on the conversation following our presentation, public works directors and city engineers in Missouri municipalities are seeing how critical their streets are. You can download our presentation on our resources page.
San Francisco, CA – Cost/Benefit Calculator
City officials, consulting engineers, and professors from around the world (Korea to United Kingdom) gathered in San Francisco in mid-April for the American Society of Civil Engineers 2010 International Low Impact Development Conference. SvR was honored to give two presentations (see our resources page for the presentations). Aside from our presentations, one presentation stood out. The Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) out of Chicago presented their efforts to develop a cost/benefits calculator for green infrastructure systems. Our industry lacks cost/benefits data, which would be valuable to present to clients considering these systems. The calculator is getting off the ground but needs data. Again, I encourage you to contact CNT to learn how you can contribute data.
Final Observation…
Coming back from these conferences, I was refreshed by the aggregate passion for a healthy society. I am also struck by the reality – on a global level – for a necessary seawind of change to preserve our planet and reclaim infrastructure for the benefit and use of our communities. The grassroots movement exists. What is our movement’s next step? How can we catalyze change that remains?
One word: Policy.