May 16, 2005
Article: Students Try Their Hand at Urban Design
Y-Plan made the Oakland Tribune yesterday! Congratulations Team Holloway, and, of course, Team Smith -- it was a long semester, but we made it. The next big question is sustainability; how will students stay involved with the station and see the design ideas to fruition in a decade?
Students Try Their Hand at Urban Design
central station, education, historic preservation, planning articles, urban design
May 02, 2005
24 Historical Landmarks Named
New landmarks include Radburn and Chatham Village.
Radburn, Borough of Fair Lawn, New Jersey(1928-1936):
This community embodies the internationally acclaimed model of community design known as the "Radburn Idea," was designed in 1928-1929 by the planner-architects Clarence S. Stein and Henry Wright. Known as "The Town for the Motor Age," Radburn's design principles have influenced generations of community planning, including the three Greenbelt towns of the New Deal, many Federal Housing Administration-insured large-scale rental communities of the 1930s to 1950s, and new towns of the 1960s. Radburn was the product of the Regional Planning Association of America (RPAA) with the goal to promote social reform and improvement in the housing of moderate income Americans based on the principles of English Garden City planning.
Chatham Village, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1929-1956):
Internationally acclaimed model of community design based on Garden City planning, innovative methods of cost analysis, and pioneering efforts to reduce housing construction costs. Designed by local architects under the supervision of master planner-architects Clarence S. Stein and Henry Wright, as a philanthropic project by the Buhl Foundation to provide high-quality housing in a suburban, garden setting for clerical workers in Pittsburgh, PA. Building upon earlier work at Sunnyside Gardens, New York, and Radburn, New Jersey, Chatham Village is one of the most celebrated and influential projects to result from Stein and Wright�s highly creative, ten-year collaboration and the efforts of the Regional Planning Association of America (RPAA) to promote social reform and improvement in the housing of moderate income Americans in metropolitan areas of the United States. Immediately acclaimed as an ideal demonstration of neighborhood planning and cost-efficient housing, Chatham Village influenced the development of design standards used by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to approve large-scale, rental housing in suburban areas for federally-insured mortgages. It helped to shape the design and construction of the first federally-funded public housing projects under the Public Works Administration in the 1930s.
Article: Train Station Revival on Track
The West Oakland Train Station made the Oakland Tribune's front page today. The story puts a positive spin on the planned redevelopment just in time for tomorrow night's City Council meeting.
The stately Beaux Arts-landmark was closed after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 and vandalized by squatters in the years since. The empty land around it has been used to park trucks, store shipping containers and basically, collect trash. Reynolds and many of her neighbors are tired of looking at it and annoyed at activists who may hold up the new residential project.
Train Station Revival on Track
For a bit of contrast, check out the Just Cause Train Station Campaign, which takes a dramatic counter position.