“Local street markets generate twice as many jobs as big supermarkets and sell goods at half the price of the supposedly cut-price retail giants, research shows.
Planning decisions that favour the building of huge outlets over established smaller markets could result in fewer jobs and less choice for local communities, a report by the think-tank the New Economics Foundation (NEF) warned.”
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Jane Jacobs, who died last month at age 89, is best known as the author of the influential 1961 book, “The Death and Life of Great American Cities.” Much of what she wrote is still relevant to 21st century challenges and discourse about smart growth, planning and land use regulation, urban revitalization, historic preservation and architectural design.
“San Diego architect Teddy Cruz, and his firm Estudio Teddy Cruz, have been working along the Mexican border for years. Cruz’s newest design is for two affordable housing and community center schemes for immigrants in the border town of San Ysidro, California. The plan was developed with non-profit community center, Casa Familiar, whose client base is mostly Spanish-speaking.
Cruz’s inspiration came first from discussions and brainstorming sessions led by Casa Familiar. It also came from a critical approach to the trends in new urbanism, which he says “only address aesthetics, creating a fake facade of difference without considering the lifestyle of the community.” He says the downtown redevelopment of San Diego is an example of this kind of “suburban planning,” meaning that he feels it is dressed up in high-end urban aesthetics without addressing zoning policy for higher density or affordable housing options.”
The success of Atlantic Station, a large scale mixed-use urban development, proves the need for a more pedestrian friendly environment in auto-dominated Atlanta.
The Nashville Farmers Market’s new director says the market has to change to survive, but some merchants think he just wants to see them and their low-income customers go away.
Phil Myrick and David O’Neil returned to the Republic of Georgia to work on market projects in two small towns, Akhaltsikhe and Ninotsminda.
Phil and David assisted community members in Ninotsminda with creating a new central market. The site of the new market is now empty, but the market is planned to be up and running by this September.
Amazingly, PPS’s former COO Aram Khachadurian is now living in Armenia, an hour’s drive from Ninotsminda, making cheese and raising cattle!
Aram Khachadurian, who was PPS’s COO from 2000-2001, is now living in Armenia, running a cattle farm and making cheese! Phil Myrick and David O’Neil recently visited the farm, which is just an hour’s drive from Ninotsminda, a village in Georgia where they were working on a PPS market project.
PPS’s favorite street vendor, the Dosa Man of Washington Square Park (a.k.a. Kumar) shows off his new grill. In the program of the Vendy Awards last fall, Kumar said he wanted to get a new grill with more space, so that his customers don’t have to wait in such a long line. Now able to make three dosas at one time, the wait will be cut down, making the vending cart more profitable – and more delicious!
Next month, two outdoor food markets will open in Lower Manhattan. Every Saturday, these “hybrid” markets, like weekly markets in Europe, will offer more diverse products than a strictly defined farmers’ market. With local makers of guacamole and sorbet selling alongside organic farmers, Nina Planck, former director of the New York City Greenmarkets, is striking a symbolic blow at the farmers-only Greenmarket model.
Another round of controversy concerning the Parks Department’s redesign of Washington Square Park.
This time, the issue at hand is the amount of plaza space in the center of the park. The latest lawsuit brought against the plan claims that the new plan will reduce the size of the central plaza (surrounding the fountain) by 33%. However, the Parks Department believes the real figure is closer to 23%.
Arthur Schwartz of Community Board 2 said: “To my mind, the plaza is the gathering place. I think the design is trying to discourage the gathering place and make Washington Square more of a quiet park.”
We’ll see what happens over the next few weeks and months.
If you haven’t been following the story, the battle over Washington Square Park has been going on for the better part of the last 2 years. PPS studied the park last summer, at the request of the Washington Square Park Council.
“We want our market to be for everyone in the community,” says Janet Bachman, a market vendor.
Urban planning theories are meaningless without citizens involved in their community.