Sustainable Citi es Initi ati ve: The Students are... November 2010 E-Newsletter

November 2010 E-Newsletter
Sustainable Cities Initiative: The Students are Here!
This e-newsletter provides a
progress update on Fall quarter
courses concerning high priority
projects for Salem. The majority
of SCI students are upper level
classmen and women coming
from other states and, in some
cases, other countries, to study
at the UO and have chosen to
participate in SCI Salem. If you
have interest in participating in
any of the student reviews or
presentations, contact Courtney
Knox at cknox@cityofsalem.
net. *Stay tuned - there may be
other presentations in Salem in
January!
North Downtown Waterfront
Redevelopment
On October 29, staff and
community members participated Students, faculty, staff, and community members tour Salem’s North Downtown
in a review of five urban design
Waterfront Development
and redevelopment schemes for
including: (1) impact of altering
the context for the area, examined
the North Downtown Waterfront
Church and High to two-way; (2)
case studies and precedents from
prepared by Architecture student
adding bike lanes to Church and
other communities, and developed
teams. With an eye toward a 30
High; (3) analyzing alternative
goals and design principles. The
year planning horizon, students
designs to the Commercial/Liberty/
students presented a draft report to
broke up north downtown’s large
Vista/Alice/Fairview intersection; (4)
SCAN November 10 on their regional,
blocks with new east/west streets,
identifying bicycle and pedestrian
zoning, transportation, environment,
moved the rail line to the west of
improvements for intersection of
building condition analyses;
Front Street with trees and traffic
Union
Street
Railroad
Bridge
and
interviews with residents, businesses,
separation from pedestrians, and
Commercial; (5) developing designs
property owners, and visitors to the
echoed Vision 2020 community
for crossing at Wallace and Union
area; and findings from case studies.
feedback of enhancing amenities
Street Railroad Bridge; (6) identifying
They arrived at a vision to enhance
with bicycle, pedestrian, and other
alternative routes to Edgewater
the area’s distinct historic character
transportation connections. Initial
Trail; and (7) analyzing the effect of
and a mix of uses, improve the visitor
student building designs will be
reducing the number of travel lanes
experience with greater connectivity
reviewed November 19 in Eugene.
on Commercial, south of Mission,
to adjacent areas and walkability,
The final review for this project
in
order
to
add
bicycle
lanes.
Final
and allow for adaptive re-use and
is December 3 from 2-6 PM in
reviews for this project are scheduled
the use of sustainable technology.
Eugene. Public policy, planning,
from 8-9:50 AM on November 29
Final review of an urban design
and management students are
and December 1 at Portland State
framework, design guidelines to help
presenting their findings in Salem
University.
shape redevelopment in the next
on December 1 beginning at 9:45
30-40 years, and design concepts for
AM at Broadway Commons.
South of Mission
blocks or buildings in this area for
On November 1, staff and community
this project is December 1 from 2-6
Downtown Traffic Circulation
members
met
with
30
graduate
PM in Eugene.
On October 29, staff participated
students in Architecture and
in a review session with Portland
Landscape Architecture who are
Civic Engagement
State University engineering
developing design guidelines for the
The evening of November 1, staff
students who are analyzing the
area
south
of
Mission
to
Owens
on
participated in a review of graduate
impact of a variety of possible
Commercial. Students have analyzed
journalism student progress in
changes to traffic in downtown
The Students are Here! continued
addressing the City and Council’s civic engagement
goals. Three student teams have been: (1) examining
role of Salem’s neighborhood associations in
communications to increase participation in decision
making; (2) developing a public relations toolkit for
project managers to increase their effectiveness
in communicating with the community; and (3)
developing a strategy to increase Latino participation
in civic engagement. Bill Church, Executive Editor
of the Statesman Journal, spoke to the students on
November 15. The Civic Engagement final review is
November 29 from 6-8:30 PM in Portland.
Civic Center/Police Facility Options
November 5, the work of 40 Architecture and Interiors
Architecture students was reviewed in a round robin
format by staff, architects, and professors. Many of
the Architecture students had completed remarkable
progress in their designs of a possible new Police
Facility and its relationship to the Civic Center.
Tasked with using a site on the existing campus,
students employed a variety of approaches to blend
operational security needs with enhanced public
access to the community spaces on campus, Council
Chambers, and other gathering areas. The Interiors
students were far along in their re-configuring existing
uses within the Civic Center facility. Many had
chosen to re-work the atrium space, add conference
rooms or public cafe spaces in the interior of the
atrium, emphasize collaborative work spaces and
interaction between departments, and place most
of the high volume public spaces (PAC, Finance, etc.)
prominently on the first floor. The architects and
staff on hand were able to provide useful feedback in
preparation for the students next reviews: November
17 (Architecture) and November 19 (Interiors
Architecture), culminating in a final review on
November 30 from 2-6 PM in Eugene.
issues, including: school transportation, energy efficiency,
utilization of the land, overall security of the complex, and
access to the Glen Creek Community Garden in the nearby
park. Final review is December 2 from 2-3:20 PM in
Eugene.
Minto Island Interpretive Trails Planning
Following an October 27 review in Eugene, staff met with
Landscape Architecture students for a follow up field trip
to Minto Brown Island Park on November 3. The students
set out to verify some of the assumptions in their designs
for various portions of the park. Students have divided
into groups focused on habitat, programmatic activities,
interpretive trail system, access and connectivity to Salem,
and community agriculture. The mid-term review was
November 12. In addition to staff, community members
are participating. Final review for this project is December
3 from 2-6 PM in Eugene.
Downtown Parks Connectivity
The Public Policy, Planning, and Management students
working on the Downtown Parks Connectivity project are
using GIS with the common goal of accessing and using
parks as assets of the greater downtown area, including:
• Recreational Routes: Urban running trail systems
modeling Salem’s bike network in GIS - creating an
entirely new GIS layer based on bicycle travel
• Creating Strategic Links for a Salem Marathon
• Connectivity to Schools and parks: A case for safe
routes to school
• Opening Willamette University - connectivity in
and around WU to facilitate better pedestrian and
bicycle connections for students/staff/faculty and the
community at large
• Defining and Creating Access: An intersection analysis
of park connections in Downtown Salem (an ADA-based
analysis of the final link to access parks)
• Connecting Salem Parks: Prioritizing bike and
pedestrian routes
• Mapping the Pedestrian Environment in Downtown
Salem: An analysis of the walkable network
• Transit Access to Parks in Salem
• Mapping the Connectivity of Cultural Sites and Parks
The final review for this course is at Salem’s Pringle
Community Hall from 9-11 AM on December 2.
If you are interested in participating in any of these reviews,
contact Courtney Knox at [email protected] or 503588-6178 ext. 7516.
Students visit Orchard Village site
Orchard Village
Staff met with a group of Public Policy, Planning,
and Management students working on the Orchard
Village project and ideas for infill at existing Salem
Housing Authority properties. Students toured the
Glen Creek facility and asked about transportation,
food resources, amenities of the site, and demand
for various unit sizes. Discussion focused on site
SCI is a collaboration between UO faculty, students,
and the City of Salem on high priority projects for our
community. Over the course of the academic year, more
than 600 students will study in 30 courses and work as
many as 80,000 hours on 20 Salem projects.
READ MORE about UO Sustainable Cities Initiative
online at:
www.cityofsalem.net/scisalem
http://sci.uoregon.edu/
or contact Courtney Knox at 503-588-6178