Sprawled Out: The Search for Community in the American Suburb

Sendik's opens; no tenant announcements

County Exec Scott Walker and Mayor Taylor cut the ribbon

Funniest part of the grand opening festivities: No amount of hoopla was going to stop shoppers from simply walking behind the stage and podium to get in and get their shopping done.

Sendik's is all they promised; excellent selection, carpeted(!) floors, good prices, very helpful and friendly staff, and pretty darn good sushi (which I just polished off as I write this). Connectivity and community-integration issues aside, this is a pretty fantastic store.

And, of course, even the aldermen who did whatever they could to slow the completion of this particular Sendik's were present to take a bow. Everyone's on the same team on opening day.

HOWEVER - no announcement of future tenants.

Mobile's Take: "Don't reduce bus routes and cut fares."

From Mobile's Take:

That was the common theme at last nights Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors public hearing on the 2008 Budget. This was, by far, was the largest crowd at this budget hearing that I have witnessed since I started going to these hearings many years ago. Parking was at a premium since every single space at the Washington Park Senior Center was taken and many had to park on the street and walk, as I had to do when I arrived at 6:40 PM for the 7:00 PM meeting. The Washington Park Senior Center Auditorium was standing room only for every single seat was taken.

More...

Things you can do on main street: The annual (and world famous) Anoka, MN Halloween Parade

IMG_1485.JPG, originally uploaded by johnruexp.

My in-laws happen to live in the Halloween Capital of the world. Click for a bunch of parade photos from downtown Anoka, Minnesota.

For contrast, here's the view from the entrance to Best Buy at the nearby (and downtown-killing) Riverdale commercial hell complex. No parades there.

Here's a little map to show proximity - and impending doom for downtown Anoka:

"Wealth has never yet sacrificed itself on the altar of patriotism." - Robert "Fighting Bob" La Follette

Somewhat off topic, but a truism worth noting as we enter a new week. Thanks to the Forward Our Motto blog.

Whither the Environmental Commission? Or, I think Mayor Taylor is a closet environmentalist

• 10/26 UPDATE •

According to Franklinnow.com, Mayor Taylor has decided against dissolving the Environmental and Economic Commissions:
"I had a discussion with some people in the community and city staff, and what I found out is the amount of staff time needed for both commissions can be rolled back considerably," he said. "If the staff can get their routine duties done, then we'll provide staff to those two commissions. In other words, we don't need to dissolve them."
______

To anyone tracking the depleted influence afforded Franklin's Environmental Commission, the eventual proposal to simply eliminate the volunteer body comes as no surprise. Developers trying to consummate deals in Franklin - - which is dotted with wetlands - - are no fans of the Commission, a group that threatens to lengthen the time it takes for them to deposit checks in their bank accounts.

But I really smelled something fishy when Alderman Steve Olson, who was originally elected on a pro-development platform, made the motion recommending 20 year-old Greg Kowalski to the Commission (the nomination was made by Mayor Taylor). Kowalski had been blogging for a while by that time and had already exhibited a degree of... youthful exuberance, let's call it... that gets him routinely excoriated by conservative franklinnow.com bloggers and publicly scolded (which was pretty over the top, I might add) by area activist Casper Green. The conspiracy theorist in me says that Olson saw Kowalski's outspokenness and "flaming youth" as a way to draw unflattering attention to the Environmental Commission, a group for which he has no great regard.

That theory crumbles a bit when you consider that Olson has said he's in favor of keeping the present Environmental Commission intact - - and why not? They aren't allowed to do much of anything in their current incarnation, so why not maintain the illusion for Franklin citizens - - rather inexpensively, I might add - - that someone is looking out for issues beyond fattening the wallets of developers?

This is why I think Mayor Taylor is a closet environmentalist.

In publicly proposing the end to the Environmental Commission, he's brought the discussion to the forefront. Who, other than impatient developers, was talking about the EC before? Now formerly ambivalent citizens are starting to wonder how the EC  - - the members of which are paid nothing - - could be allowed to slip into a state of uselessness and then disappear.

The story below also strongly implies that developer Mark Carstensen (he of Shoppes at Wyndham Village, etc.) was singularly instrumental in getting the eminently qualified Kevin Haley (who has been praised in this blog on many occasions) removed from the Environmental Commission. What the story does not mention is that Mayor Taylor then installed Kevin Haley on the Plan Commission, a much more influential body where Haley has been doing an excellent job, speaking truth to power regularly.

I perceive a silver lining here, to say the least. Hats off to Mayor Taylor for what may turn out to be a very savvy - - and surprisingly eco-friendly - - move.

Also, kudos to Annysa Johnson for closing her piece with this precious, revealing quote from Council President Lyle Sohns regarding his rather quaint vision of the EC's mission:

"If they [the EC] had some worthy project - how to get people to recycle more or how to get people to compost. But they don't want to do that."

••••

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Environmental panel fights dissolution

Franklin mayor wants to disband watchdog group

By ANNYSA JOHNSON
[email protected]

Posted: Oct. 24, 2007

Franklin - The city's independent-minded Environmental Commission has been going toe-to-toe with officials and developers in this fast-growing community almost since the commission was established in the early 1990s.

Its success can be seen around the city, in tougher development standards; stronger monitoring of quarries; and the preservation of high-quality green space, from the 40-acre Fitzsimmons Woods to a virgin prairie remnant in the midst of a luxury subdivision.

But commission members may have picked one fight too many.

Mayor Tom Taylor is proposing to disband the board as part of his 2008 budget, replacing it with a conservation committee with what he calls a more focused agenda.

Taylor said he's eliminating the panel, along with the Economic Development Commission, to lessen the burden on city planning staff assigned to support them.

But Environmental Commission members say they're being targeted for speaking out against projects favored by the Common Council, most recently developer Mark Carstensen's Shoppes at Wyndham Village, whose state permits are being contested before an administrative law judge.

"It's not just (Wyndham) but development in general," said Gregory Kowalski, a new Environmental Commission member who's been criticized by aldermen for comments he's made on a blog. "This council wants to rubber-stamp these projects, and they see the Environmental Commission as the only obstacle to getting developments pushed through as quickly as possible."

Kowalski and a group of current and former members and supporters will launch a petition drive this week to urge Taylor to not only retain, but also to strengthen, the Environmental Commission. [Online petition is here.]

Taylor, who notes a study three years ago recommended axing the two committees as a way to streamline government, said he's open to public input.

"But I still have staff concerns," he said. "There's only so many hours in a day."

Supporters of the petition drive include Taylor's predecessor, former mayor-turned-municipal judge Fred Klimetz, who established the commission.

"I'm not saying they're always right about every issue. But they have a viewpoint that should be listened to," Klimetz said.

"If there's not enough public interest, then that would be a sign that people don't feel a watchdog group like the Environmental Commission is necessary, which I think would be a real shame," he said.

Developers have long complained that Franklin's Environmental Commission, with its strict interpretation of the city's natural resources ordinances, has made it difficult to do business there.

The city has taken steps to diminish its role in recent years, including turning over the environmental review of new projects to outside consultants, which some argue have the potential for conflict of interest because they also do work for developers. But the constraints have grown tighter since members began raising questions about the Wyndham project in April, Chairman Kristen Wilhelm said.

"The mayor sets our agendas now, and he has them going through the city attorney's office," Wilhelm said. "We have no input."

Taylor said he's running agendas for both the Environmental Commission and the Economic Development Commission through legal channels to ensure they comply with notice requirements.

Taylor denies being pressured by developers or other officials to rein in the commission, though he said Carstensen raised concerns about former commission member Kevin Haley shortly before Taylor decided against reappointing him to another term earlier this year.

And in May and June, Ald. Steve Olson and Council President Lyle Sohns complained to Taylor in e-mails about commission members expressing personal opinions and weighing in on matters outside purview.

Sohns threatened to withhold approval of mayoral appointments until Taylor addressed their concerns.

Sohns said this week that he's "ambivalent" about disbanding the commission but sees no point in it continuing if it won't stick to the mission set out for it by the council.

"If they had some worthy project - how to get people to recycle more or how to get people to compost," he said.

"But they don't want to do that."

Wal-Mart loophole remains open in new Wisconsin state budget

RELATED UPDATE: On a secret ballot, Democrats who control the state Senate dumped Sen. Judy Robson (D-Beloit) as majority leader and replaced her with Sen. Russ Decker.

Something to consider as you look at your property tax bill. (Previously mentioned here.)

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A proposal by Sen. Russ Decker (D-Schofield) would have ended a technique that Wal-Mart uses to lower its taxes.

The department has claimed that Wal-Mart owes more than $17.7 million in back taxes and penalties because it has been illegally deducting as an expense rent it pays to itself.

Wal-Mart has claimed that because of the way state and federal tax laws intersect, the technique is perfectly legal, and the matter is before the state Tax Appeals Commission.

Under Decker's proposal, which the Democratic Senate added to Doyle's budget, the technique would have been outlawed.

That would not have affected the commission case but would have stopped Wal-Mart and other businesses from using the technique in the future.

Serving - not shunning - the neighborhood, continued

Commenting on my post about the new Sendik's and its lack of accommodation for the nearby neighborhood,  reader Terrence Berres tasks me with locating "evidence of a bygone era of such things being common." Because, he says "Old memories, old photos, and a drive through an old neighborhood usually show garbage cans out back, and maybe even the concrete bunker for ashes from the coal furnace."

He misunderstands me. I'm not talking about literally using multiple sides of a commercial building as a facade. I'm talking about taking care of the people who live nearby rather than shutting them out.

Remember, Terrance, that the downtowns of "bygone eras" served human beings, not exclusively vehicles. You could easily walk downtown and the storefronts - - public space - - welcomed you. Builders didn't need to make special accommodations as they should now.

To the left and right of the picture below, for instance, are block after block of houses that are served by this commercial street (there are apartments above shops as well).

(More photos here.)

Also, zoning wasn't so restrictive that you couldn't have a neighborhood grocer or drug store right on the corner of a residential block, like I did in my hometown of Wausau, WI. This store served the surrounding neighborhood; it's on a residential street (and barely survives today), and you can walk or bike to it easily. As a child, I bought most of my comic books right here:

We're not talking here about buildings literally having two or more sides that serve as facades; we're talking about making accommodations for neighborhoods in this modern "zoned" era by using the neighborhood-facing side accessible and a community amenity. In this particular case, it would have meant better use of the west side of the building and access for the neighbors, who now have to drive their vehicles in order to get to a store they can see (and hear) from their houses!

It doesn't have to be complicated. Below is the side and back of a commercial building in new urbanist Middleton Hills (these are the sides of the building away from the main road and facing the neighborhoods). They still found space for the loading dock and garbage:

It just takes a little creativity.

"Well, in all honesty, what were you expecting them to do for the back and side of their store?"

A note from Greg Kowalski - - who blogs at Franklinnow.com and Metro Milwaukee Development News - - reinforces my blog entry below (regarding Whitney Gould and Pabst Farms) where I lament the fact that people don't even know anymore what an effective neighborhood or community looks like; it's been that long since they were common.

In a post I made yesterday, I talk about the soon-to-open Sendik's at 51st and Rawson:

Now that the building is nearly complete, the missed opportunity is all the more obvious. To Rawson and 51st, Sendik's presents a nice facade. To the nearby neighborhood, it bears its unadorned rear end and a busy loading dock. The building was designed to exclusively serve vehicles, without regard to the HUMAN FACTOR - - i.e., the inhabitants of the nearby neighborhood.

What should have been a great neighborhood amenity is now effectively sealed off from a neighborhood that will nonetheless have to endure the extra noise and traffic without enjoying the benefits of a neighborhood grocer, cafe, and public space within easy walking and biking distance.

Greg noted that some "trinkets" had since been added to the bare side of the building; I replied that I was unimpressed. Greg then wrote:

"Well, in all honestly, what were you expecting them to do for the back and side of their store?"

In all fairness to Greg, - - though, as a person who blogs about development issues, he should know better - - his question reflects the gap in knowledge shared by the vast majority of people today. We have become so indoctrinated into the idea of strip malls behind asphalt setbacks that we cannot even wrap our minds around the idea that commercial buildings built in proximity to neighborhoods used to - - gasp - - acknowledge the presence of those nearby human beings and serve as an amenity to them; actually presenting a human-scaled entryway and/or outdoor cafe seating towards the people as well as the traffic.

How about containment for the loading dock and a welcoming, open area  - public space - facing the neighbors?

Examples:

The fact is, these options were never explored.

So you have this (plus "trinkets"):

"If this isn't good enough for you, tell us how you'd do it better. You'd probably criticize Shangri-La."

Above: Middleton Hills, WI

Whitney Gould of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a ready answer for people with, apparently, the time on their hands to actually call her and leave a phone message professing their ignorance on the topic of community planning.

Alas, we can hardly blame people for not knowing how communities used to be built; the sprawling, vehicle-dependent, developer-enriching, disconnected-enclave system of "planning" that we now experience has its origins just after WWII. There aren't many people left alive to remember the way things used to be.

Dream subdivisions already are a reality

Posted: Oct. 21, 2007

Spaces Whitney Gould E-MAIL

I received a lot of e-mail on last week's lament about Pabst Farms, that 1,500-acre residential and commercial development in Waukesha County. Most readers agreed with my observations about the project's generally uninspired design and planning; a few, including residents of Pabst Farms, defended the subdivision and told me to mind my own business.

The most provocative response was a phone message from an unidentified reader in Oconomowoc who challenged me to suggest an alternative. "If this isn't good enough for you, tell us how you'd do it better," he said. "You'd probably criticize Shangri-La."

OK, here goes.

Assuming that Pabst Farms ought to have been developed at all, the best outcome would have been a subdivision showcasing cutting-edge, eco-friendly design and planning - the kind of community that could sustain itself as gas prices climb, water gets more scarce and concern grows about the climate-altering gases produced by fossil fuels.

Instead of row after row of look-alike shops with slapped-on gables, you'd have distinctive, well-scaled buildings with sod roofs that could absorb storm water and provide insulation; maybe some solar panels. All the parking lots and driveways would be paved with porous material to minimize runoff. Businesses would be nearby, not across the interstate. Transit links would be extensive.

The housing would be a compact mix of well-scaled, energy-efficient, architect-designed homes, condos and apartments in a wide range of prices and in styles from traditional to contemporary. Minimal grass, to reduce water and fertilizer use. Rather, big swaths of trail-laced landscape abloom with drought-adapted native plants; and, in a gesture to Pabst Farms' origins, community gardens.

Does this sound like a fantasy? Guess again. Variations on my dream subdivision already have taken root. A few examples:

Prairie Crossing, in Grayslake, Ill. I first visited this lovely community north of Chicago in its infancy 10 years ago. Today it's a model of environmentally savvy development with a rich sense of place. The 359 single-family homes are traditional in style but varied in color, and they're full of energy-conserving features and bedecked with porches; more recently, 36 condos were added. Metra commuter lines are nearby.

The beautiful public spaces, including a village green, a skating rink and a lake, are easily reached on foot, as are shops and restaurants. More than 60% of the 677-acre development is open space, including restored prairies and wetlands. An organic farm within the subdivision supplies vegetables, fruits and fresh flowers to residents.

Middleton Hills, Middleton. The late developer Marshall Erdman, a devotee of Frank Lloyd Wright, started this 150-acre subdivision west of Madison in the mid-1990s with a master plan by the New Urbanist gurus Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk. The Prairie, Bungalow and Arts and Crafts architecture can be a bit stifling, but the architect-designed homes, duplexes, condos and stores are street-friendly and well-detailed.

The subdivision also is unusually accommodating to pedestrians: The streets are skinny, to slow traffic, with alleys to conceal garages and trash containers; shops and services are a few minutes away; and trails snake through a lush network of wetlands and open spaces.

Grandview Commons, Madison. Developed by Veridian Homes, this 235-acre subdivision east of I-90, off Cottage Grove Road, has been a bestseller. And no wonder. Its curb appeal derives from well-proportioned, colorful houses sited close to the street in a variety of styles and prices, from starter homes and apartments to condos, retirement units and single-family dwellings; flowering boulevards; handsome public spaces; and great views of the state Capitol. Offices and a retail center are easily reached on foot.

Nearly 1,000 such dense, diverse New Urbanist neighborhoods have sprung up around the country, according to Payton Chung, research coordinator for the Congress for the New Urbanism in Chicago. There are hard-nosed financial reasons to build this way.

A study by a team from Rutgers University and the Brookings Institution found that if only 25% of scattered growth was shifted to more compact land-use patterns, American taxpayers over 25 years would save $2.6 billion in water and sewer costs; $110 billion in road construction; and $420 billion in development costs. Those numbers don't even count the $24 million a day that could be saved in gasoline and other costs associated with driving.

It might not be Shangri-La, but it beats the alternative: a smear of auto-dependent, cookie-cutter development from sea to shining sea.

E-mail to [email protected] or call (414) 224-2358.

The center-less town center

The following is an opinion column written for a North Texas newspaper, but it contains important principles of community, connectivity and the creation of effective public space that are very relevant right here.

These principles are also routinely IGNORED here, specifically at the Fountains of Franklin Sendik's location and the underachieving Shoppes at Wyndham Village. We live in a collection of unconnected subdivisions (despite whimsically wishful proclamations to the contrary) where planning is determined by the whims of developers.

Do you doubt it? Ask anyone who routinely travels 51st street how the lack of a east-west, north-south grid - - due to developers building subdivisions without regard to proper traffic-relieving thru-ways - - has added an extra MILE or so to their commute.

Franklin's planning staff (aka "how can we grow in a smart and sustainable manner?") literally reports to the office of economic development (aka "how can we  grow RIGHT NOW"), which is simply illogical - - but explains quite a lot of what we see happening around us.

I've added boldface below to the concepts that apply best locally, and followed the article with some expansion on the relevant items.

From the Dallas Morning News:

The center-less town center

By Russ Sikes

Urban centers are sprouting in North Texas suburbs that until now seemed centerless. Southlake Town Center, Legacy Town Center and Addison Circle are three fine examples to date, and more will surely follow as the nation's fourth-largest metro area matures.

The new design motif is to build large-scale mixed-use centers to urban form on a grid of walkable blocks. Hide the parking and add a park, place a fountain or gazebo in the center, recruit a large hotel, some upscale clothiers and dining, the obligatory Starbucks or three, and a new Towne Centre is born.

I laud this development and view these urban islands as a boon to those of us otherwise adrift in a homogenous suburban sea. But herein lies a critique. The "islands" metaphor is a bit too apt, for these urban oases are entirely isolated from surrounding suburban fabric.

Because these places are bounded by major highways and wide arterial roads, virtually everyone who doesn't live on-site arrives by car. Even where connected by transit (Addison Circle), non-vehicular links connecting these centers with their surrounding environs scarcely exist. That diminishes them, because the presence of civic buildings notwithstanding (Southlake, Frisco), "destination shopping" is not the substantive equal of a genuine town center. To live up to their names, and their vast potential, town centers must serve as actual centers of what they connect to, not what they distinguish themselves from.

The potential for a normal walk to form a rich experience is a great reward of city life. The variety that makes this possible is delivered by accessible transitions in the urban landscape; for example, an ability to walk within few minutes from a quiet residential setting through a mixed-use zone of increasing density into an urban core of great activity. And porous, connected urban fabric is a prerequisite.

As an extreme example, Andres Duany points out that what makes Central Park in New York so stunning is the adjacency of this seeming wilderness to the densest urban life. I would add that accessibility is equally crucial. It is because no physical barrier separates these disparate realms that one's walk through blocks of intensely urban form can mutate within 60 seconds into a hike through the woods. If we want authentic urban variety in our region, this is a lesson cities throughout this area would be well-advised to heed.

In the context of suburban North Texas, better connection can result from two key changes: taming the high-speed arterials that currently function as barriers, and increasing the number and variety of linkages with adjoining neighborhoods.

Traffic calming on arterials is a discipline in its own right, but great results are often achieved by removing or narrowing lanes, adding on-street parking, planting parkway and median trees, and applying textured pavements near pedestrian crossings.

Enhancing connections with adjoining neighborhoods requires a tailored approach, since each case is unique. Pending support from the city and the neighborhood involved, additional roads can be added by converting cul-de-sacs into through streets. Perhaps an alley or service entrance can be converted into a one-lane entryway.

A simpler measure is to cut a gap in the brick wall that separates most subdivisions from the arterial behind them. The resulting narrow passageway is a gift to bicyclists and pedestrians, to young and old alike; that rare haven where people can pass, but cars can't. Through attention to form as well as function, such pedestrian portals, enhanced alleyways and single-lane connectors can even be artistically adorned to add the kind of quirky variety that contributes to a unique sense of place.

At traditional commercial intersections, proper infill can take the form a street-like matrix that mediates the connection between residential neighborhoods on one side and an urban enclave on the other.

However it is achieved, the resulting connection grid integrates the island into its surrounding community, augmenting commercial splendor with real civic value.

This is of course all novel to us here, where our new centers are still under construction.How will we know when an urban island has evolved into a true town center? When a walk to it is as normal and pleasant as a walk in it.

Russ Sikes is a founding member of the North Texas chapter of the Congress for the New Urbanism, which advocates principles of good place-making as a key to improving our quality of life. His e-mail address is [email protected].

_________________

• "Because these places are bounded by major highways and wide arterial roads, virtually everyone who doesn't live on-site arrives by car."

Franklin relies to an alarming extent on a one mile-by-one mile grid of COLLECTOR ROADS (see illustration below) to connect the city in a way that is useful only to vehicles. (Even our local walk/bike path requires a parking lot as it is not connected to any useful destination!) Traffic on these roads simply gets denser and denser, faster and faster, with no relief from logical internal grid roads; developers have been allowed to build subdivisions with no Comprehensive Master Plan-mandated provisions for thru-streets. These busy  collector roads are virtually impassible and uncrossable by pedestrians, and the "I can see it but can't get to it" phenomena is depressingly common here.

As luck would have it, Shoppes at Wyndham Village sits at the intersection of two busy (and soon to get much busier) collector roads that will be very, very daunting to anyone not encased in metal.

• "To live up to their names, and their vast potential, town centers must serve as actual centers of what they connect to, not what they distinguish themselves from."

Both Fountains of Franklin and Shoppes at Wyndham Village suffer a lack of pedestrian connectivity; in fact, both developments feel the need to further obscure themselves from surrounding neighborhoods because of their poor initial site design (see below). They serve vehicles, pure and simple, and ignore their immediate surroundings.

Note also how Franklin's civic buildings - - library, post office, "Law Enforcement Taj Majal Center," city hall - - are sprawled out from one another to the extent that visiting any combination of them requires a separate drive-and-park for each (bringing to mind the absurd sight last Halloween when a change of venue for a Plan Commission meeting on Shoppes meant that everyone present had to relocate from the "Law Enforcement Center" to the library - - and everyone hopped in their cars and drove en masse from one place to the other). Each building and facility is an island unto itself.

• "Better connection can result from two key changes: taming the high-speed arterials that currently function as barriers, and increasing the number and variety of linkages with adjoining neighborhoods."

Linking neighborhoods? Not in Franklin, home of the ubiquitous orange-striped "don't look over here" sign.

Do you know what that sign says? It says "we gave up and we gave in; live with it." And they are all over the place in Franklin, where developers are welcome to build a 300 yard road-to-nowhere, slam up some houses on either side of it, and flee the scene.

Do you think the developer of the road below often returns to point with pride at his/her handiwork - - the crooked and decrepit orange-stripe sign, non-landscaped street edge (virtually no planted trees), wide-open retention pond, constantly flipping houses, and complete lack of connection to a cul-de-sac mere yards away?

At one point during a Plan Commission meeting concerning Shoppes at Wyndham Village, developer Mark Carstensen expressed surprise and obvious annoyance when he was reminded that he would need to include space on the east side of the site plan for a future road. Connectivity is an alien concept to developers.

• "Enhancing connections with adjoining neighborhoods requires a tailored approach, since each case is unique. Pending support from the city and the neighborhood involved, additional roads can be added by converting cul-de-sacs into through streets. Perhaps an alley or service entrance can be converted into a one-lane entryway."

The Fountains of Franklin Sendik's site plan failure has been discussed here before. Now that the building is nearly complete, the missed opportunity is all the more obvious. To Rawson and 51st, Sendik's presents a nice facade. To the nearby neighborhood, it bears its unadorned rear end and a busy loading dock (see depressing pictures below). The building was designed to exclusively serve vehicles, without regard to the HUMAN FACTOR - - i.e., the inhabitants of the nearby neighborhood.

What should have been a great neighborhood amenity is now effectively sealed off from a neighborhood that will nonetheless have to endure the extra noise and traffic without enjoying the benefits of a neighborhood grocer, cafe, and public space within easy walking and biking distance.

• "A simpler measure is to cut a gap in the brick wall that separates most subdivisions from the arterial behind them. The resulting narrow passageway is a gift to bicyclists and pedestrians, to young and old alike; that rare haven where people can pass, but cars can't. Through attention to form as well as function, such pedestrian portals, enhanced alleyways and single-lane connectors can even be artistically adorned to add the kind of quirky variety that contributes to a unique sense of place."

In the Franklin tradition of "you can see it, but you can't walk to it," behold the Great Wall of Sendik's that stands between the store and its nearest human-scale neighbors. Want to get anywhere in Franklin? Better hop in the car.

Bottom line: It's not enough to have a nice Sendik's or "Shoppes" center simply appear in town. Great care has to be exercised in making sure that each new development, commercial or otherwise, integrates into and enhances its surroundings. Then Franklin can stop being a collection of disconnected islands -- and disconnected people! - - and become instead a vibrant community attractive to further highly desirable - and profitable - development.