Comments on Oakland Streets: Estuary Planning Workshop review

Thanks to Chris Kidd, I found your post. I felt a...

2009-04-22T13:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Chris Kidd, I found your post. I felt a sense of deja vu because I felt very similar things after an early Oak to 9th "Charette" (I think that's what it was called) where we first heard from the developer (who already had their vision). We then got into small groups where everyone talked about their personal agendas/wants. Compromise wasn't even considered! (giggling over the "

I think it's perfectly possible for that area to s...

2009-04-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

I think it's perfectly possible for that area to stay pretty much the way it is for years or even decades. I just don't think that's a good thing. From a big picture perspective, I think we have an obligation to reduce our consumption of natural resources, and one of the most efficient ways of doing that is through greater population density and intensity of uses in urban areas. If the estuary

The problem, Russel, is that nothing ever stays ...

2009-04-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

The problem, Russel, is that nothing *ever* stays "as is". Change is constant; even if nothing new is build, the slow decay of the area is change in and of itself. Rather than lament the inevitability of such change, you should involve yourself in the process and try to retain the things that you think make the area so special. Divorce yourself from the specific industrial back-ways and try to

I enjoy the Estuary "as is." I like the industrial...

2009-04-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

I enjoy the Estuary "as is." I like the industrial back-ways. I like the grit and decay. The trains and warehouses. The lack of crowds. The ugliness is beautiful. I like the unusual geese that sun themselves just west of the 5th street bridge on embarcadero. I've seen them there for 10 years and I guess their spot is threatened. That'll be too bad.

Your comment: "the "strange bedfellows" phenomenon...

2009-03-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

Your comment: "the "strange bedfellows" phenomenon in urban planning" is astute. Am reminded of Paul Gobster's study of park planning at Montrose Point in Lincoln Park, Chicago. If you are interested, here's the citation:

Visions of nature: conflict and compatibility, Gobster, Paul H., 2001, Landscape and Urban Planning 56:35-51

Online here http://nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/4885.

You're a great writer. I enjoyed hearing about you...

2009-03-25T22:05:00.000-07:00

You're a great writer. I enjoyed hearing about your experience at the meeting. I love these kinds of processes. Why wait until jury duty to learn more about your fellow citizens and find out what you agree with them on?

Thanks for letting everybody in the Blogoaksphere ...

2009-03-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks for letting everybody in the Blogoaksphere know about the meeting, and thanks for your insightful comments. I'm sure you have a lot more to say on this subject.

"This whole project is predicated on creating a streamlined EIR process so the specific plan area can accumulate development-generated user fees to forge all these new and wonderful improvements we all talked about on

Also, the leading questions from the know-it-alls ...

2009-03-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

Also, the leading questions from the know-it-alls in the audience designed to trap staff in "gotcha" moments were not only rude but counter-productive as well (not to mention that their so-called "gotcha"s were actually incorrect answers to their own questions). How is pissing off any of the planners or staff going to improve the process? How is trying to embarrass the speaker in a public forum

Awesome post, especially the McBain reference.
...

2009-03-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

Awesome post, especially the McBain reference.

I'll want to comment in more depth when I've got my notes from the meeting in front of me. I found there was a lot of contridiction in what people were saying, sometimes even in the same sentence. People wanted strong backing for the bay trail but wanted to accomodate waterfront business and industry. People wanted "more acitivity" but