Sprawled Out: The Search for Community in the American Suburb

Parade Prep

Parade Prep, originally uploaded by johnruexp.

What a beautiful day.

On my way to the library to set up yet another remote office (this time on the little outdoor deck, where I am right now), I met some forward-thinking Franklinites who are already setting up for tomorrow's 4th of July parade. They're getting a TENT up right now, and invited me to stop by tomorrow for bloody marys.

I will probably take them up on that.

But, once again, I'm reminded that the Franklin Library's barren and broad front lawn could sure use a coffee shop and/or public courtyard.

Shoppes at Wyndham Village/Temple of Target scheduled to open. Anticipated asphalt temperature at ribbon cutting: 112 degrees

The temple of Target, originally uploaded by johnruexp.

I imagine we'll soon see a big gong installed on top of this monstrosity so the native inhabitants (some sort of parking lot cult) can summon King Kong.

We get what we deserve.

Ribbon cutting for the Shoppes is July 7th. Target opens on July 24. Whether human sacrifice is scheduled for either event has not yet been announced.

UPDATE: For a look at yet another local monstrosity proposed by a different developer, be sure to visit Metro Milwaukee Today.

They really have our number, don't they?

Outdoor seating at Sendik's

Sendik's in Franklin, Wisconsin, originally uploaded by johnruexp.

Snapped this about a week ago. I wonder if people will feel comfortable enough in an area surrounded by the parking lot to linger.

Flickr set of signs on "old 41"

WI, Milwaukee County-U. S. 41(Old) Sleepy Hollow Motel, originally uploaded by Alan C of Marion,IN.

"Alan C." writes:

I took a quick business trip to Wisconsin and managed to get off the interstate south of Milwaukee and find old U.S. 41, now designated WI 241. This was the first sign I ran into and the best of the bunch. I guess they wanted everyone to know that there was NO VACANCY by painting the NO onto the sign.

Click the image to see more from the set.

Souvenir picture from the soon-to-be-nostalgic days of "happy motoring"

I had a feeling while pumping gas this past week that I was passing a landmark. Sub-$4 gas for the last time; right down the road it was already $4.23 a gallon.

County Exec Scott Walker? Asleep at the wheel.

Here comes a capital "c" Crisis because Wisconsin is simply unprepared to cope with the approaching new reality - - we're talking about re-goldplating the Zoo Interchange, for heaven's sake. Meanwhile, Chicago, Racine, Milwaukee and Madison still exist as commercial centers "connected" by nothing more than asphalt when there should be trains - yes, expensive trains! -  running continuously between those points.

Still think $10 a gallon can't happen? Perhaps before the summer is out....

Will we see an exodus from far-flung suburbs as commuters tally their weekly gas bill? I already hear from people who are looking at changing either their work or home situations based on expensive car commutes. Combine this with the downward housing spiral; are a rash of abandoned subdivisions - old and new - ahead?

The days of "happy motoring" may be over.

Some people have a pretty good crystal ball. James Howard Kunstler, author of The Geography of Nowhere, wrote this last October:

Most American towns, including my own, are obsessed to the point of mania with the issue of parking and more generally the management of cars, and much of their spending is directed to those ends. Municipal leaders (and the public they serve) have no idea what kind of problems the nation faces with oil. Because life in the USA has worked a particular way all their lives, they assume that it will continue to operate that way. Not only will they be disappointed as happy motoring spirals into history, but they will create a lot mischief in the meantime in planning things based on faulty assumptions.

My own town, for instance, relies heavily on tourism, in particular tourism based on happy motoring. There is not the slightest apprehension among the people here, or our leaders in city hall, that automobile-based tourism may not be happening as soon as five years from now. All our political energy is being expended in fighting about what kind of parking structures we will build (with borrowed money) and where to put them, and how these things might incorporate some secondary uses, such as police offices. We have also been debating plans for the expansion of our modest convention center -- in connection with added parking structures. It seems to me that one of the first things to go as the US economy contracts, along with its energy supply, will be activities like boat shows and optometrist's conventions.

Now this town happens to be on a railroad line that connects New York City to Montreal. Before 1950, it was the main way that people came to this town. These days, we get one train a day in each direction. The trains are invariably late, and not just a little late, but hours late. The track bed is in miserable shape and, of course, Amtrak is a sort of soviet-style management organization. There is no awareness among the public here, or our leaders, that we would benefit from improving the passenger railroad service, and around the state of New York generally there is no conversation about fixing the railroads. (Governor Elliot Spitzer is preoccupied these days with arranging to give driver's licenses to people who are in the country illegally.) We are going to pay a large penalty for these failures of attention.

Another aspect of all this has to do with our assumptions about land development. Here in my town, and elsewhere around the country, the assumption is that suburban development will continue just as it has the past sixty years. This assumption is shared both by the developers themselves and their opponents. The developers expect the current "downturn" to reverse before long. From the opponents' point of view, the assumption is based on their legitimate fears and heartaches about what they've seen heedless development do to the American landscape. Consequently, whatever mental energy is left after the parking debates get tabled is dedicated to fighting over projected suburban expansion.

My personal view about this is apparently radical -- though I am a man of modest habits and philosophy. My view is that the suburban project, per se, in the United States is over, finished. Like, totally. You can stick a fork in it. What you see is basically all that we're going to get. Not only do we not need anymore of it, but we have way too much of what is already on the ground. We don't need anymore suburban housing pods, and the ones already out there are going to hemorrhage value (and usefulness) as far ahead as anybody can imagine. We need more retail like we need 300-million holes in our heads. Ditto suburban office capacity. Ditto new roads and highways.

Precarious

Precarious, originally uploaded by johnruexp.

I observe daily this death-defying trek to the mailbox by an elderly gentleman on Franklin's pedestrian-averse 51st Street.

This is where the nearby quarry promised to build a useful pedestrian path before they apparently diverted their funding to the scenic (and much-used-by-me) - but none-too-useful - Oak Leaf Trail connector path, which was going to be funded by a federal grant and the local group, JOLT, anyway. 

You know the path I'm talking about: It's the one that requires a parking lot in order to be accessed. I kid you not.

Former Alderman Don Dorsan pushed hard for the quarry to make good on their promise to create a useful, community-building 51st street pedestrian and bike path. This path would have created a safe passage for Franklin High School students and residents interested in traveling sans car to, for instance, Sendik's and whatever else Fountains of Franklin has up their sleeves.

No dice. Short-sighted political manuevering won out. The quarry is off the hook.

So, I personally get a great running and biking path that serves me just fine (though I have to drive my daughter and her bike to it if she wants to use it). Meanwhile, this gentleman hopes to survive another trip to the newspaper tube across the street.

Sad news at the Franklin Post Office

Do you see that space above? It's inside the "conveniently located" Franklin Post Office. That defiled space is where the single greatest innovation in Franklin Post Office history used to reside - - until recently.

It was the home of the self-service package and parcel machine. Instead of racing to get to the P.O. during business hours and then waiting in line  you could walk in 24-7 and push a few buttons, slide that credit card, and out came a postage decal ready to affix to your box or oversized envelope. It made you feel like George Jetson. No lines, no hassle.

So we don't have jet-packs, vacations on the Moon, or mechanical smart-aleck maids; who cared as long as we had the wonderful self-serve package machine?

But now it's gone - - some P.O. honcho decided it wasn't getting used enough here. The lady at the counter said she gets about 20 complaints a day about its disappearance.

Boomgaard, and now this. The downward spiral ...

Civic pride: Franklin provides example of terrible street design for national organization

The folks at Smart Growth America didn't have to look far when searching for an example of terrible, hostile-to-pedestrian street design to illustrate their article on Complete Streets bills now before the House and Senate - - they grabbed my photo of the gauntlet-like entrance to Franklin's Pleasant View Elementary School (see screen shot above).

Congratulations, Franklin - - national recognition!

UPDATE: The Smart Growth America people were nice enough to update the photo caption on their site; now the whole world is aware that it's indeed Franklin, Wisconsin that makes its most vulnerable citizens walk a ditch and brush against traffic on the way to their daily destination.

See also:
Complete the Streets: The upcoming Drexel-Shoppes test, and
Complete the Streets pt 2: Saner streets for Franklin?

Why site design matters (and why "landscaping ratio" does not)

The world of strip malls. A nice, 68-degree day; behold the treacherous route between buying an audio adapter plug at the 27th Street Radio Shack and walking(!) to a Jimmy John's subway shop that's a mere 120 yards away.

Ah - but there are PATCHES OF GRASS, so the site is probably well within "minimum landscaping ratio" requirements.

A community built for vehicles.

UPDATE:

Contrast the pedestrian-killing scene above with the walker-friendly (though grass-free) crossing below:

Strange roads, and "Why do Conservatives become Socialists when it comes to highway spending?"

This week I took my inaugural drive down 31st Street, which now connects Drexel and Rawson - - a few hundred feet from 27th Street, which does the same; brilliant. Other than its use as a back-way out for Northwestern Mutual's new parking ramp, the road is fairly useless at this point (it'll undoubtedly help once the YMCA gets built, though; the road will seem much less superfluous at that point).

And it's wiiiiide. On a positive note: sidewalks begin at the Northwestern Mutual entrance and run to Rawson.

(Click the picture below to go to a collection of 31st Street photos on Flickr)

31st Street, Franklin WI, originally uploaded by johnruexp.

Meanwhile, the very next north-south connection from Drexel to Rawson doesn't come for another mile west on 51st street, reinforcing Drexel's status as an overused collector road with no gridwork connections to tame traffic.

GoogleMaps is a bit out of date; 31st goes all the way through. But nothing else does.

Poor planning. And expensive; 31st street comes out of the city budget as part of the incentive package to Northwestern Mutual when they - - evidently - - hinted that they were getting offers from other cities as they were contemplating building their addition and might just vacate that big building.

Weird roads like 31st Street make this quote all the more relevant (and makes you almost sure that this guy has been to Franklin):

A city's internal transportation system - the layout of its streets and roads, the layout of streetcar systems and subways - determines the character of the city, how its citizens live and work. It has less to do with the direct engines of wealth creation. Build subways and people will live in dense neighborhoods and walk to corner stores; build broad suburban streets and they will live in subdivisions and drive to the Wal-Mart.
-Alex Marshall (How Cities Work)

Recently, Marshall asked the nonmusical question: Why Do Conservatives Become Socialists When It Comes To Highway Spending? at Governing.com.

(Via The Political Environment.)

See also this perspective on the question from the UK (hence the spelling): "Why are roads favoured by the right and trains by socialists?"

An excerpt:

What is it about roads that attracts the Right? Surely they must, by now, realise that the freedom afforded by the car is illusory, since, as usage rises, the extra societal costs of more people getting on to the road outweigh by far the benefits. And the simplistic view that roadbuilding is the answer has been widely discredited. There is a gaping intellectual gap in the Right's thinking which environmentalists and public transport supporters should be more adept at exploiting.