Sprawled Out: The Search for Community in the American Suburb

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"):

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. 

 

Sendik's Rising

P1000330.JPG, originally uploaded by johnruexp.

Sendik's at Fountains of Franklin is getting closer and closer to the finish line. More photos here.

A tale of two Sendik's stores

At his Franklinnow.com blog (the blogs there now have comments enabled) Kevin Fischer expresses his confidence in the viability of two Sendik's grocery stores in Franklin.

While I join Kevin in rooting for Sendik's to succeed at both locations (I predict huge success at 51st and Rawson), I think it's a mistake to underestimate the effect of TARGET on Sendik's AND the outlying non-restaurant businesses in the "Shoppes" complex (Drexel and Hwy. 100).

This is a fact: Sendik's and Target will be competing to a great extent. While Target may not stock meat or produce, they will carry the other staples that bring shoppers into a store like Sendik's, the sorts of high-margin incidentals that keep a store like Sendik's afloat. 

While they may be a charitable company, the Target business model makes no concession for integration into a community of retailers. They are set up for one-stop shopping.

For instance, Target will have a Starbucks right in their store. You don't do that when you are supporting a larger commercial area or attempting to energize a public space (i.e. a locally owned coffee shop in one of the outlying buildings).

This is part of the reason people look askance at developer Mark Carstensen's attempt to have his cake and eat it, too; he claims to be building a "high end commercial center," but he has made Target the ultimate arbiter of the site plan (which is very poor as a result). This is lucrative for Carstensen, but the high end commercial center concept is effectively sacrificed in service to "The Deal."

Target is absolutely fine in its place, but it does not "play well with others" in close quarters; in an area as key to Franklin's future vitality as the City Civic Center district, we should have found a way to make SENDIK'S the main anchor - - or, Target should have been limited to a LEASE arrangement so the site plan could be locally determined.

If you were to sit down with the Balestraris, I wager that in an unguarded moment they would reveal more than a little apprehension at being put into this situation. They are sitting next to a shark waiting to gobble them up, and they have NO recourse if Target becomes predatory; developer Mark Carstensen - - with whom they made their arrangements - -  now refers to "their part of the development" when referring to Target.

Also, no one has yet factored in the WOODMAN'S being built in Oak Creek. I used to shop at Woodman's near Madison about 15 years ago. It is a truly awe-inspiring experience - - - different from anything you're used to - - - that will bring over a huge number of mainstream Franklin shoppers who have little or no interest in a "high-end" meat department but love the idea of having 46 varieties of peanut butter from which to choose.

It would be great for Franklin if both Sendik's stores can thrive. However, I fear that poor planning at Shoppes at Wyndham Village has lowered that location's chances significantly.

Fountains of Franklin announces the "upscale".... Grill & Chill?

From the Fountains of Franklin press release:

Devo Properties, LLC announced that Bank Mutual and the upscale DQ Grill & Chill restaurant will occupy space at the Fountains of Franklin development.

The upscale DQ Grill & Chill, that is.

Nothing against Grill & Chill (it'll actually be a pretty nice establishment to have handy for nearby neighborhoods), but I think the developers in this town need to get together and come up with a more stringent set of guidelines for use of adjectives like "upscale" and - Mark Carstensen's favorite - "classy." Perhaps a good definition for an "upscale" eating establishment would be: Could you take a first date there without being ironic?

Here's the "upscale" menu:

Remember these?

Andy's on 51st and Rawson is open

... And they have Krispy Kreme donuts.

Across the street, Sendik's construction continues apace.

Fountains of Franklin: Sendik's Rising, Andy's nearly open

Admit it - that thing is going up fast....

Across 51st street, Andy's service station - - - now (improbably) considered part of the Fountains of Franklin complex - - - is nearly ready to open. Handy? Yes (for cars ). Exciting? Not particularly. The best one can say for it is that it's not entirely offensive.

As I noted last year, Andy's is yet another missed opportunity for Franklin: it should have been built up to the corner with no set-back and a sidewalk fronting the Rawson and 51st street sides, with parking and pumps all behind. At a plan commission meeting, Mayor Tom Taylor flattered the Fountains of Franklin developers by claiming this area "will be Franklin's downtown." This is not how you build a service station/convenience store downtown.

Back in August '06, I wrote:

An unfortunate development at 51st and Rawson here in Franklin, future location of an Andy's service center/car wash/"mini shopping center." The building will contain a convenience store/gas station, car wash facility, and leased commercial space. The intersection has a stop light. (Andy Khuller owns 18 gas station/convenience stores around the Milwaukee Area.)

Residents close to the site were wary of a typical commercial building invading their neighborhood, and it looks like they had every reason to be. Though not an architectural nightmare as far as the actual building is concerned (earlier submitted plans were less subtle; perhaps incorporating the huge letter "A" motif that is used on other Andy's buildings) the overhead plan reveals yet another quasi-strip mall fronted with asphalt: the city of Franklin's setback regulations for "B-3 Community Business District" zoning are enforced here, and we are treated to the sad site of another commercial building surrounded by a moat of asphalt built to accomodate 116 parking stalls (as required by city zoning).

There are trees and a retention pond placed on the corner of the lot; perhaps this was the element that the developer hoped would placate residents of houses right across the street.

However, it seems as though no thought was given to maximizing the intersection - - there are vacant lots on two adjoining corners - - by bringing the Andy's building right up to the corner, with parking and gas pumps behind (the two entries from 51st and Rawson remain). They might even have added a slight overhang to shelter the sidewalk so cafe tables could be added in the summer. The corner configuration would have the added benefit of concealing the car wash and inevitable line of cars that will accumulate on warm summer days. Then, if and when additional commercial buildings come to the remaining vacant corners and configure themselves likewise, you end up with a very nice crossroads.

Unfortunately, I'm told that the Franklin planning commission cannot reach consensus on a policy toward selective elimination of setback and parking requirements (in this case, the city mandates 40 feet for front yard setback). Hopefully this will change very, very soon.

Here's an example from Madison, WI, (where West Washington Avenue has been enormously revitalized since I lived there in the late 80s). Even though the station has parking and pumps out front, note the sturdy brick and second story windows - - office space or even apartments go there:

Here in Franklin, however, low expectations once again deliver stunning mediocrity.

Fountains of Franklin Sendik's is first out of the box

The race in on ...

From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

Franklin's first Sendik's grocery expected to open in autumn

By TOM DAYKIN
[email protected]

Posted: June 15, 2007

The first Sendik's supermarket in the southern portion of the Milwaukee metropolitan area will open this fall, one of the store's owners said Friday.

Work began this week on the 57,000-square-foot Sendik's at Fountains of Franklin, a Franklin retail and office center north of W. Rawson Ave. and west of S. 51st St. It will be the fifth Sendik's store operated by Ted Balistreri and his siblings.

"We can't wait to be here," Balistreri said during a groundbreaking ceremony. He and his family operate Sendik's stores in Whitefish Bay, Wauwatosa, Mequon and Grafton.

The supermarket is being developed by Devo Properties and will be leased to Sendik's, said Devo owner Greg Devorkin. He said Fountains of Franklin recently landed another tenant, a 4,000-square-foot Bank Mutual branch.

Franklin Mayor Tom Taylor said the Fountains of Franklin site a year ago had empty, deteriorating buildings.

"We are literally moving from eyesores to gems," Taylor said.

Franklin's population, estimated last year at 33,000 by the state Department of Administration, has increased 11.9% since the 2000 census. The city has about 40 residential developments under construction. Its population is expected to reach 45,000 by 2020.

Sendik's is an upscale grocery chain rooted in Milwaukee's affluent North Shore and western suburbs.

Other members of the extended Balistreri family, who own the Sendik's at 18985 W. Capitol Drive, in Brookfield, plan to develop a Franklin store at The Shoppes of Wyndham Village, a new retail center planned for the southeast corner of Highway 100 and W. Drexel Ave. Developer Mark Carstensen has not yet started construction.

Another branch of the Balistreri-Sendik family operates Sendik's stores in Milwaukee, Bayside and another Brookfield location, while John Nehring and Anne Finch-Nehring own a Sendik's in Shorewood.

Fountains of Franklin Sendik's still not in synch with their neighbors

Scott Lund, a homeowner in the subdivision adjacent to the Fountains of Franklin Sendik's, reminded me via a comment he posted here that there are still outstanding issues between the Sendik's developer, Greg Devorkin, and the neighborhood closest to the store.

Poor site design again rears its head; the Fountains of Franklin Sendik's site has been designed to serve vehicles, not people or the neighborhood next door. We've come a long way from the corner store.

Hi John,

As a neighbor in the Serenity Estates neighborhood I can tell you we are very displeased by the lack of cooperation we have received regarding our concern over the Sendik's development. While we have met with key city officials & the developer, as of today not so much as a single tree has been added to the site plan to address safety concerns or obstruct our view of the rear of the store, the loading dock & the delivery trucks. To the contrary, the existing 500 ft long mature treeline North of the proposed store was destroyed just over 2 weeks ago.

While we have voiced our issues w/the site plan at planning meetings & common council meetings, not once has a
contingency or stipulation been added to the forward motion of this development to attempt to address our concerns.

Although we are in support of the development & the much needed tax revenue it will bring to the city, the lack of support for the surrounding neighbors has been anything but pretty.