Issues and Ideas

The Beginings of the Black Experience in Community Development

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For Black History Month, I am reposting my series on the Black Experience in Community Development, as well as my motivation for writing this blog. Also, I am celebrating leaders in community development on my Facebook page This is post one, a brief history.

As planning and architecture in their modern notions did not come into being into well into the late 19th and early 20th century, many of the modern terminology for neighborhoods, architecture and neighborhoods did not exist. Therefore, I’m going to use a few major historical periods to describe how black families interacted in their built environment.

Slavery

Before slavery, those who would become African-Americans lived in close-knit villages, where they farmed,hunted, educated themselves, worshiped and built community. Everyone knew everyone and everyone helped each other as much as possible,pending no ethnic or tribal conflict. Slavery uprooted this institution, but only temporarily.  Although plantations in themselves are an example of self-sustain enterprise, Blacks were forced to maintain this structure, for no pay and substandard housing and accommodations. However, they recreated their own family structures on the plantations and eventually helped themselves escape and be freed.

Segregation

During the Jim Crow years, African-Americans had limited opportunities to patronize mainstream (read: white-owned) businesses. If the business served them at all, it was at the back door or on one side, but not the other. For this purpose a whole network of black owned service businesses existed. These businesses were often nearby residences, churches and schools, such that a walkable community was formed. This dense community also provided a return to the village concept of African villages.  In addition, blacks, along with huge chunks of the general population at this time rode buses in high numbers. Because of the reliance on public transportation, the Montgomery Bus Boycott was a major economic, as well as social and political statement.

Urban Renewal

After World War II, the FHA funding patterns, Interstate Highway funding and building and other urban renewal policies picked up steam. However, these policies supported growth into the suburbs, where often, due to the policy of redlining, blacks were kept out of certain neighborhoods. In addition to being kept from going to the suburbs, black neighborhoods were often seen as slums, blighted or just inferior due to already evident prejudices. Thousands of neighborhoods were shut off or destroyed thanks to suburban highway projects and mass teardowns, which in some cases remained as vacant fields or empty storefronts.  Money or support moved to the suburbs, which were seen as the future of development. Whites fled inner-city neighborhoods aided by Federal Housing Administration mortgages with low rates and restrictive covenants, preventing Blacks from moving along with the white families. Blacks left behind were ignored and once clean and safe neighborhoods declined. Many Blacks were forced into government housing when displaced by “urban renewal” projects. Over the years, “the projects” became synonymous with drug activity, welfare queens and over-all laziness. When Blacks were allowed to move into suburbs, it was to those that were all Black or in the process of becoming all Black. The flight to the suburbs of professional Blacks was the death knell of many neighborhoods.

However in recent years, glimmers of hope have appeared in traditionally black neighborhoods, as well as a number of significant green-living movements. Stay tuned to find out more about those movements, as well as steps we can take to completely include blacks and other people of color into beneficial sustainable community measures.

Greensboro, Issues and Ideas

Five Ways to Kill the Inferiority Complex in Community Building

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Loser

I think a major layer of community building is the inferiority complex. I’m seeing it again as we are preparing to welcome Trader Joes into our community. We spend too much time thinking we need to spend money on expensive stadiums and art centers to be more urbane. If we are over that demon, we bemoan not having an H&M, Shake Shack, Trader Joes or whatever chain store, restaurant or “hot new establishment” that likes to over-hype themselves and make us think we are less than as a city without them.

I like to break down the battle within our civic psyches as the recognition of the setting and the unknown lights. I define the setting as the physical, cultural and emotional space of our cities, that other people compare and judge. It’s what already exists, but we see as being mundane or even demeaning. The unknown lights can also be mundane for some, but they are more positive activities. They are also activities that would be celebrated, if they were in a different form or from a different place.

For my hometown of Greensboro, the setting is:
-A mid sized city (270,000) in the traditional United States South (North Carolina)
-Economic devastation, brought on by the loss of textile manufacturing, something that established Greensboro as a worldwide leader.
-Racial polarization, from key incidents in 1960, 1979 and as city residents have lost jobs and look for explanations
-A shifting center of wealth to the northwest quadrant and outside of the city limits into townships that now serve as bedroom community suburbs.
-A lack of vision for many poor and middle class inner-city neighborhoods, including residential downtown
-An airport that is only a connector and not a hub

And our unknown lights are:
-A school system that is graduating 83% of its students and 100% of those that attend its alternative schools, which are run much like magnet schools in other districts.
-A very vibrant and equal local food market. Co-ops, farmers markets, community gardens and gourmet grocery continues to grow. Communities are mobilizing to provide links to fresh food and necessities.
-A vibrant arts community, with city funded arts classes, an award-winning regional theater company, a unique museum project funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation,neighborhood street festivals and independent handmade markets
-Low-cost downtown living
-Highway connections to larger cities and the entire nation
-Halfway(3 hours each way) to the beach and to the mountains

While some of the setting and the unknown lights are subjective, they are often based on objective notions of how cities run or people think they should be run and built. Killing this complex will help us all appreciate the homegrown elements of community and urbanism we already have. We also may save time and money by not running out to build just to be politically correct or keep up with the Jones’.

So I leave you with your weapons to destroy your city’s inferiority complex.

-Identify your setting and your unknown lights
-Take one part of the setting, gather a group and work on fixing it
-Take one unknown light and work on making it known
-Stop over-comparing your community to the point of disrepair and accidental destruction
-Be creative and repeat the other steps often to fix problems and encourage your community.

What is your setting? What are your unknown lights? What will it take to get rid of the inferiority complex in your city?

Image credit: Flickr user Gary Junglingunder a
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) license

Uncategorized

Four Ways to Bring Income Back to All of Greensboro

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Downtown Greensboro

The news picked up on the latest Pew Research Center study stating how income inequality has increased tensions here in America.Nowhere has this inequality grown greater than in my hometown of Greensboro. Yes Weekly has a great spread on how our poverty zone has extended far beyond it’s original barriers and how old money neighborhoods have gotten richer. It also talks about  how the loss of textile, tobacco and furniture jobs have killed our middle class, much like in Detroit where automakers have cut back.

With a neighborhood getting rejected for grocery again (thankfully these guys aren’t leaving), it leaves me to wonder what will it take to get our community back. Here are are four things I think we need:

Continue Building Our Public School System and Universities– We are graduating more students our of our public school system than ever before, thanks to a push to diversify education opportunities and drive students to subjects that interest them and provide job opportunities. The Gateway University Research Park will also provide opportunities for undergraduate and graduate level students. Yet, just making sure we look to our own universities first before we go outside to find labor is also needed. We should also be willing to train and not afraid of losing a competitive advantage.

Encourage Quirky Businesses Downtown and Wherever Else They Fit– Our downtown is growing, not from the chain stores that still will not locate there, but from people who have built successful online and co-businesses. However, if the community keeps looking down at these businesses or if people from outside still think we don’t have quirk and hipness in our business climate, they will stay away.

Flesh out the 2025 Comprehensive Plan– The YES article cites the need for East Greensboro to get proper infrastructure, which is identified as a priority area in this plan. We still have a AAA bond rating. Forget the folks who hate borrowing. Water and sewer will pay our bills if it’s for the right kinds of projects.

Start and Stay Small With Our Businesses and Organizations– I think everyone’s looking for someone big to fill our holes, whether it’s the big grocery chain, a big manufacturing plant or a big tech company. Yet, these big companies have large profit margins that require them to go where major markets are, not where they need to be. If we continue to work on bringing farmers markets, small tech firms and other enterprises that are small on purpose, but numerous, then we will have more legal options and more well paying options for people to work. I love this business venture, Fork in the Road, which uses temporary farmers markets, food trucks neighborhoods and meal planning classes to help communities eat better. Also, residents have the opportunity to operate their own food truck and take a cut of the profits. Theft and overhead costs are reduced by not trying to maintain major storefronts.

There are many more solutions, but there are in fact solutions to many of our community problems. While there will still be challenges, we have hit the bottom. We have no where else to go but up.

Image Credit: Mark Millerunder a
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) License

Issues and Ideas, Raleigh

Raleigh: The City as an Oak Tree

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Shimmer Wall

I spent my New Years weekend in my adopted hometown of Raleigh. I watched as they dropped an acorn to ring in the New Year, a nod to the city’s designation of the “City of Oaks”. I hung around for a couple of extra days as well to chill out. As part of my vacation, I was banned from using my computer or tablet and ordered to go window-shop and relax.While on that 24 hour sabbatical from my most trusted device, I begin to think about how Raleigh itself has the planning structure of a tree.

Downtown literally is at the bottom of the city, forming the roots. Then, the universities and the older suburbs inside of the beltline(I-440) make up the trunk of the tree. All of the suburban roads that start at the beltline (Glenwood Ave. Extension(US 70), Wake Forest, Six Forks, Capital, Falls of Neuse, New Bern, etc.) make up the branches.  Occasionally, you have a Milbrook or a Lynn Rd as cross branches and the branches are sort of framed between the beltlines(I-540 is the outer beltline).

With this pattern in mind, other parts of Raleigh’s sprawl come into play. Each branch has a lot of flowers(flowers being grocery, service retail, schools, churches and occasionally a mall). Branches also have many, many leaves (residential space). Yet, just like a real tree, some branches connect, but others never will meet. Branches will fall, but they return to life. I think of both downtown and North Hills as examples. 12-13 years ago, both were almost dead, now they are the center of a new energy. The universities and their innovations, as well as the laws made at the General Assembly water the roots and seeds that fall from the branches fuel nearby areas (RTP, Cary, Durham).

What do you think? What implications does this idea have on planning for the future in Raleigh? Does this bring some sense into the chaos that Raleigh seems to be sometimes?

Photo Above of the Shimmer Wall of the Raleigh Convention Center. Credit: Flickr user JeffreylCohen via a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.

Greensboro, Issues and Ideas, Wishes

My Four Wishes for the Urban Fabric, 2012 Edition

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Stars!!!

Last year, I wrote a list of wishes for 2011. Looking back, a number of those wishes have come true. The Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship, a beloved start-up incubator, is set to get remodeled and become bigger and better.We have the promise of HondaJet expanding in Greensboro. I witnessed the Greensboro City Council get better from the front lines.  Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods are set to arrive. More apartments are getting built downtown. My car is paid off.

With some of my wishes fulfilled, now I look ahead to my 2012 wishes for the urban fabric. These wishes are a bit more personal, as I see myself as having a greater responsibility for advocating for an urban future.

Walking and Biking More (Even When It’s Cold and Rainy)

I got better about walking last year. When I am downtown, I make it a point to only park once. I attempted to purchase a bike, but it was just the wrong time and the wrong price to do so. This year, I’m just going to walk. I may live in a suburban area, but it will not stop me from walking the quiet streets. I’ll park farther from the door of my office. I’ll use airport shuttles and public transport when I visit places that have great systems. And I’ll keep calling for places that don’t to get their act together.

Becoming More Integrated Into the Better Places Movement (Formerly known as New Urbanism, Smart Growth, Third Spaces, Sustainable Communities and Community Development)

I was happy to see that the New Urban Network has become the Better!Cities and Towns site. If you are reading this on the site, you’ll notice I changed my tagline. If not, the tagline is now “A young black woman’s attempt to create real community.”  I also am working to broaden my own voice. Last year it was great to ride the novelty of being the Black Urbanist, however, this year I am working to add even more meat and raise awareness of more community issues. Accessibility and shared community need to be something all income levels enjoy. While people love having larger homes, they also like having options to walk to corner stores with fresh fruit and safe places to gather that aren’t geared to commercialism or privatized to the point of no entry. That’s my crusade for this year and I will be taking it to a number of venues, to be announced,  as we continue into 2012. Also, enough with all the different labels. Community is community and we all know what it looks like when done right.

Reducing My Dependence on Chain Retail

This one is hard. I am a mall rat. Also, if I fail to support my local mall, we will lose some of the good remaining retail near my home. However, I realize more and more that the possessions I have do not matter as much as the people I have and that I share said possessions with. I think that I can make the most of being in a suburban area, by reducing my car trips to shopping areas and taking up more DIY projects. Also, when I can, I want to carpool. My belly will love it when I stop going to Bojangles as much and I’ll begin to use the things I already have more and save for travel.

Becoming More Competitive In a Glocal Market

Yes, I used the word Glocal. I am hoping to become location-independent in the next few years. This way, I could pick areas that are walkable/bikeable, but reasonably priced. Many bastions of walkability area are  too affluent and pricey for the space provided. However, a nice small town with a lot of downtown stock (Sanford, NC and many New England towns come to mind), would be perfect. I could even set up a more permanent shop such as a coffee shop or fruit stand if I wanted, because I have an income stream that allows me to contribute to an area that needs it.  I am still open to being somewhere large and already vibrant, but without commuting expenses. I would like to start a family. Unfortunately, there is a great fight for urbanist and family friendly areas that are affordable. I want to set roots so that I can help ease that transition for myself and others.

My 2012 wishes are so big,  some will not come true in 2012. My goal is that I plant the seeds for all four of these activities and then watch them grow in the coming years. I was inspired by meeting so many different people in 2011 who have different approaches to placemaking. I feel like we all have a responsibility to let people know how we can all live better and to find incremental ways to repair the sprawl in our own lives. And that, is a major wish granted.

Photo credit above Flickr user: karusimionato under a CC BY-NC 2.0 licence

Issues and Ideas

Smaller Retail for a Smaller Buying and Consuming Era

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Reusable shopping bags

Image Credit: Flickr user Luca Penati

Are we still building our retail outlets for a bygone era? One where everyone piles up big at Walmart on a regular basis? Where gas makes going long distances just to shop at regional centers easy as pie? Where houses are unlimited equity lines of credit? Where people have the kinds of jobs that just let them shop at will?

Big boxes lay empty. More homes are  built in downtown areas that encourage a more urban lifestyle. Gas prices are insane. Home foreclosures are at numbers not seen in nearly a century. Yet, I still hear stories of retailers who build for all of these market conditions. Yet, this is not what I would consider neighborhood retail. Neighborhood retail is where our present needs to be and our near future needs to go.

What currently passes as neighborhood retail looks one of three ways. First, is the Wal-Mart on one side of a six lane highway from a Home Depot. Second is the rapidly decaying strip mall that was the first replacement of  a downtown retail spot. Third is the new “lifestyle center” that attempts to look like downtown and provide a walkable experience, but still has miles and miles of parking that only gets used during Christmastime.

There is a smaller version of traditional village style retail, but it’s still few and far between. The areas are either extremely poor or extremely rich and not reaching the middle class, who seem to be disappearing from the retail conversation too.

In addition, despite all their market research, department stores and the supermarkets themselves are getting it wrong. Yes, people are coming to the stores and spending millions. However, it’s not for the factors that you think.

It all boils down to customer service and price. Customer service is the hallmark of true neighborhood retail. It adds experience and loyalty. Price will get people in the store, but customer service will keep them coming back.

I know a number of people who hate going to the malls, the Wal-Marts, even the supermarket because it’s so big. Yes, it’s great to have all those objects, but we as a nation should think long and hard about how our retail can better serve our communities. Developers like the million dollar payoffs of big stores, but more chains are understanding the value of small.

The smaller these chains are, the more small fish that can jump into the pond and that can work together to provide good livelihoods and a more variable shopping experience. These smaller stores also cost less to staff, heat and cool. Even though staffing is reduced, there are more opportunities for more companies, bringing back the argument of the market.

When I began writing this post, I had in mind stores that were doing things right and wrong. However, I felt it best to let everyone else sound off as we speed into 2012. Which stores are getting neighborhood retail right? How can the ones that are getting it wrong get right?

This post is a part of a Blog-Off on Neighborhood Retail Check out more information about it here.

 

Uncategorized

It Comes Down To Words-Thoughts After Another Atlanta Trip

Sign: Get Social
This sign has no words, but I think it symbolizes community. Credit: Flickr user The Waving Cat

I had the pleasure this week of going to Atlanta for work training. I had the opportunity to fly out of my home airport (Piedmont Triad International), ride the MARTA to and from the airport and hotel and stay in the heart of Midtown at the Georgian Terrace.

Before I get into my main story, I want to say again that Atlanta is a pleasant surprise as far as the strides it has taken to be more urban. While the region as a whole is sprawling out of control, those who are fortunate to live in the city proper, especially around MARTA in and north of downtown, have more transit-friendly options. Also, grocery stores, drug stores and even department stores such as Target and IKEA are marking their spot right in the middle of town. What I really loved was seeing houses of faith, trendy bars, furniture boutiques and other trendy stores several blocks around Midtown and witness houses of faith, reuse shops, furniture boutiques and a great variety of restaurants and bars mixed into these big time chains and all in walking distance. MARTA was clean and moved on-time. I’ve written before about Atlanta’s efforts to be more cognizant of TOD. With what we saw with Raquel Nelson, we need to keep working to deal with unsafe intersections, bus stops and train stations, as well as affordability of safe, village-style spaces.

I was also reminded again of how sad things have gotten in the Piedmont Triad (not really international any more) Airport. While they have put up a nice welcome sign similar to what you find at RDU, there were several gates where the chairs were gone, jetways were shut off or non-existant and no airline signage was visible. There were few restaurants and the ticket and baggage areas are very outdated. Thankfully, funding was approved to make improvements at the airport, as well as new companies coming into town to create demand. However, a new airline just went bankrupt at the airport. Only time will tell if the aviation industry as a whole and PTI can be saved.

What I wanted to get to in this trip reflection is the concept of words. I was on the MARTA heading back to the airport on Friday and they announced that at a particular stop, the Main Street Urban Renewal District or something like that was one of the attractions. I thought it was interesting to have those two concepts married together, especially in a city like Atlanta.

I had been thinking about the kinds of labels, words and terminology we use to discuss this discipline. What are we doing? Is it economic development or community development? Urban renewal or new urbanism? Placemaking or mixed-use development? All these things have different meanings, different feelings and different levels of effectiveness in conversations.

No matter what term is used, care should be taken to portray what we do as positive as possible. We should work to broaden mutual understanding of the sense of place, not narrow it so that only the select few can understand.

Some of my favorite words/phrases to describe the movement are placemaking,the return to Main Street or the return to the village. I feel these words get to the core of what we try to do when we do things like new urbanism, TOD, or even just open up a community center. This work is sorely needed now with the economy closing opportunities for the individual, but strengthening group opportunities such as co-ops, farmers markets, libraries and other places where people can share resources and build social capital.

What about everyone else? What are words that stick out to you to describe this concept? How do we use the right words?

Traveling as An Urbanist

Live from CityWorks(X)po

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Well, I’ve been home in Greensboro for a few hours now and really, just marinating on what I learned. From the power of seeing Nikki Giovanni in the flesh and feeling a kindred spirit. Also, getting the question answered on how she drives inspiration from being in a place like the Roanoke Valley. From watching Theaster Gates keep it real and make a few folks squirm, yet remembering having a chance to have drinks and pick his brain a little the night before. And of course, scaring Jim Kuntsler a bit by snapping a now missing photo and really praying that we find something to at least keep the Internet going, when the other non-renewable resources die.

I am thankful for Ed Walker and Co. for allowing me to see the value of the small city. My mind begins to forget some of the afternoon speakers, because I was too busy cooking up my own big idea. Plus, some of the best presentations will be on YouTube and I was ready to go out and create. I also want to give a shout out to all the folks I had intimate conversations with, who were not officially on the conference program. I wish I could have had a few more dinners, another sleepover party and another concert to hang out with you at. Good thing is, most of you are local to Roanoke and the rest of you give me an excuse to visit other areas of the county.

I’ve written down my big ideas in my most private journal, because I’m not ready to launch them quite yet. I’m not sure I’m in the right phase of my life, or have enough local support. I’m also creating some of the plotlines in my head as I speak.

Nevertheless, every city should do this, take time and convene all it’s change agents, historians, placemakers and the like and talk about how we can make a difference. I may submit my ideas here, but in the meantime, I’ll be coming back here more often to keep these conversations of diversity in placemaking going.

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Welcome again from Roanoke this Saturday morning. 24 hours from now, I expect to be somewhat sad because I will no longer be in the company of such wonderful people and ideas. Then I remember that for many of you, this blog and the press coverage and the Facebook and the various other media outlets are your only door into the action in the convention hall. Well in light of that, here are some of yesterday’s highlights

  • Toni Blackmon opened us up with thoughts, dance and a wonderful video of her Sisters of the Circle art collective for young girls. Another program housed under the umbrella of the Jefferson Center, this program helps refugee and immigrant girls, as well as a few local girls, become more confident. Also, Toni spit out some freestyle and got the crowd going with a few fun volunteers
  • Kennedy Smith! Amazing how a cute idea to start a downtown soap opera has turned into a career of presenting great ideas for downtowns, many of which she showcased for over an hour yesterday afternoon, keeping us riveted and inspired to do more.
  • Then after Kennedy’s morning presentation, we had the queen of biking in America, Mia Birk. She’s a great example of how someone who did not have the benefit of growing up in a big city, took something a simple as biking(which she began as a gift from her brother) and turned it into a national model, beginning in Portland and now in DC, Boston and other areas considering bikeshare systems. I was especially moved when she talked about her stepfather coming over to the bike crowd.
  • Katherine Walker’s account of “civil disobedience” or “performance art” made me think of the recent articles on criminalizing the homeless and how the bad economy and the Occupy movement are helping folks see how dumb it is to limit the impact of public space.
  • Ben Hewitt has become the darling of agriculture. He may not know much about urban ag, but he knows a thing or two about making the land pay like it used to and it’s reaching all of the foodies and new ag acolytes through his books. According to him, local food shall:
    • Feed the locals
    • Be circular
    • Be based on sunshine
    • And offer viability to producers

The rest of the afternoon ran long, but was full of great ideas, from Ken Farmer’s dispatch from the Project for Public Spaces on the power of 10, Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper and the notion that no movement can do it alone and Danielle Morrison with the play deficit and Stewart Mease with his unserviced workforce(that would be me square in that demographic), we had a boatload of inspiration.

The party then moved out and across the streets. I took in a great exhibit at the Taubmann Center, of Nick Cave’s work. this man creates these amazing neo-tribal costumes in Chicago, then has people dance in them and be photographed in them. You can take pics in the exhibit, but just Google him and see what I’m talking about.

We then all ended up at the Walker’s beautiful apartment, after a few stops at Freeze, a cool vintage clothing store/coffee shop and Lucky, a swanky soul food joint that lights up and extracts the citrus oil in its cocktails. Apparently, Ed thought up the conference sitting right there at that bar, so it was cool that we went to the nucleus of the party.

I’ve also gotten network with great leaders, past, present and future and look forward to another day of fun. I’m going to include the pictures tomorrow in one big swoop. Also, if you are concerned about me in the snow, there is none here, just a nice cold rain :(. I’m still tweeting here and there @blackurbanist. Check that out for my in the room thoughts. Also, Roanoke Valley locals, check out http://envisionroanoke.com/

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Good morning from Roanoke. Internet was spotty in places, so I’m just now getting back to recaping the first day. We heard a lot of great inspiring ideas, some of which I’m including below (in paraphrase)

Ed Walker- People are doing sophisticated things in big cities, but no more sophisticated than what’s going on in Roanoke

Bob Lambert- Some of this information may change the course of your career. Less and less the size of the city makes a difference. If you can’t be a leader, make sure you are the first follower and one of the best supporters

Nicco Mele- I think we are near the end of big. I herald the return of craft in America.

Also, we heard from Ruth Milligan, who showed a great video of how TEDx is creating ideashare around the world and opening up communities. I hope to bring either at TEDx or PechaKucha to Greensboro soon and this inspired me. We also heard music from 13-year old guitar prodigy Gabe Moralis, were treated to a private show by blues/jazz/justdarngoodmusic singer Megan McCormick, and great local gormet barbeque from a local vendor who’s name escapes me right now. I’m about to rush off to breakfast, but stay tuned to pictures from yesterday shortly.

 

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Got to Roanoke safely and found a nice place I’ll term “mountain urbanism”. With all these peaks, even the box stores have to behave better. Hotels a bit too far of a walk to the exhibit hall, and there are no sidewalks, but looking forward to parking downtown and exploring. Pictures to come…
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I’m honored to dust off the pixels of this site to file some live blog and coverage of the inaugural CityWorks(X)po, beginning today and running through Saturday in Roanoke, VA.

I’m looking forward to a weekend of collaboration, good food and good ideas on cities. Come here to this post over the weekend as I update it with notes, pictures, and maybe interviews of conference participants.

Greensboro, Issues and Ideas

The American Expat, In America

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Luggage

Like this luggage, sometimes I linger in the sunset at the crossroads of whether or not it’s worth picking up the baggage and moving on. (Credit: Flickr user: C.M. Keiner)

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about my post graduate school place of residence. There are days that I would like to spend that time in Greensboro around my many friends. However, on other days I feel like my talents could be better used elsewhere. I would set sail on the high seas and I’ll never look back here save visiting family. But many other days I’m in the middle. Should stay in Greensboro and keep working with the system to make changes or leave Greensboro and go be an ambassador for the cause of building Greensboro?

This last sentence is an idea that’s been bandied around by Aaron Renn and several others. Renn’s version is the cultivation, sometimes by the original city’s chamber of commerce, of alumni groups for cities. The idea goes something like this. Say I went to DC. I would get together with the Greensboro Former Residents Group. We would dine on Stamey’s Barbecue, fight over Tobbaco Road bragging rights and take special trips home for the Wyndham Championship golf tournament. We would get tickets for the ACC tournament at the Verizon Center. Most importantly, we would have a special fund for scholarships for Greensboro resident high school students to go to college in DC and we would help recruit businesses to Greensboro. With this being a DC club, we’d probably have political sway too.Your alumni group would and should look and feel different.

I brought this idea of American expats up to say that its ok. Boosterism only goes so far if you can’t get a job in your hometown. Right now, I have my schooling and a nice job with a nonprofit to hold on to. However, if things change or a better offer comes somewhere else, I’ll once again leave my hometown and go to where that opportunity is.

I asked my Twitter and Facebook friends about this idea and got a lot of shout outs along with couple of serious answers.

Asa Yoel(@asayoel) is a student at UNC-Charlotte, but reps Staten Island. He told me via a DM that he felt he couldn’t do what he was doing in Charlotte in Jersey. That something being studying transportation and urban affairs at UNC-Charlotte. Fortunately, Whitney Muse (@arieswym) gave me lots of positive answers about her hometown. Originally from Philly, she moved to Jersey to Rutgers for college, home for a while to work with the Obama campaign, and is now doing grad school in DC and hoping to do international affairs. She has nothing but love from Philly and believes she could have achieved her dreams there. However, with a full-ride to Rutgers, she was taking that and running with it.

The Pew American Mobility report has stated that 50% of Americans do not live in their hometown.  I say this to caution anyone who wants to slam their hometown, either for no opportunities or slam others for not staying in a place. I find that entrepreneurs can make it anywhere, while those who need the structure of an office are at the whim of where the jobs are.

I am not sure where I am on that yet. Meanwhile, if I ever decide or get an opportunity to leave, I would. However, I’ll be proudly carrying a case of Natty Greene’s beer and talking to anyone who will listen about the opportunity to go to a wonderful city in NC with five universities, cheap office space and nice homes and history.

Issues and Ideas, Traveling as An Urbanist

Are We Missing Major Place-Making Opportunities With Our Airports?

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Terminal 2, RDU

Yes, this looks cool, but I think I’ve seen this airport before…(Image Credit Flickr user: Evil Jess

Floating through airports over the summer, I have noticed how remarkably similar they are. I would think  an international building with the ability to showcase the local culture would in fact be that showcase. Instead, I’m seeing  the same generic architecture. I feel that the airport, as the million (and lately billion) dollar showpiece of your town , should be unique in not only architecture, but in the content that it sells and displays.

When I arrived at Raleigh-Durham International Airport on the way to the CNU 19 in Madison, WI,  my first response was a series of oohs and ahhs. The arches, the glass elevators, the pre-security Starbucks and sandwich shop, the big windows, I was amazed. Then I started thinking, somehow this all looks very familiar. The baggage claim with the ticketing floor terrace was Baltimore. Same with the security tables between the restaurants. The arches I’ve seen in Detroit, Indianapolis, Charlotte. Everybody has windows.  Even in Madison, without the arches, there were windows, beige and the feel of the constricted and shed-like RDU Terminal 1. Great, I’m thinking now, we have always had an airport plan that’s bland and adds nothing to the character. Yes, the art is different and cool, but when did big arches come to symbolize air travel?

At this point you can go ahead and ask why I should care? It’s just the airport. You come in and you go out and you are only there as long as it takes to get on a plane. However, we all know you can spend a minimum of two hours preparing to get on a plane, 30 minutes getting into flight, the time of the flight, then about 30-45 minutes to exit. This of course assumes that there is no layover. If that’s the case, you are stuck in a building with processed food, stale air, overpriced wi-fi and horribly uncomfortable chairs. You might be able to pay to access an airline lounge, but it’s not worth the expense.

So what do I think airport authorities should encourage out of their architects? What kind of experience do I want in the airport?

First of all, I like the Tampa model for architecture. Tampa’s main building has a nice mid-century modern, golden age of passenger air travel feel in their main terminal. Once you go upstairs, you are then invited into the 21st century, through people movers that take you to one of five spoked terminals, each of which reflects a different tone and character. There are still windows so you can see the planes, but it doesn’t all look the same. Also we could add chairs at the gate that don’t have the bars, in case people do in fact need to sleep at the airport.

For what’s sold in the airport, the airport needs to reflect Austin’s model, with a ban on chain restaurants. RDU is about half and half. Still, my true home airport of Greensboro only has one restaurant and I assume it’s locally owned, but even it may be controlled by that airport franchising company . Same with the stores. Outside of a few duty-free and magazine shops, having a store like the Motown store in Detroit is excellent for establishing the meaning of a place.

One last amenity that should be offered is a family wing. Similar to the USO lounge for soldiers and families, maybe around Christmas and other major holidays, one of the airline lounges can become a family area, so that families can calm their children down and keep them from being loud  on planes or tired young professionals can catch a few hours of sleep on the way home from visiting parents.

But I digress, what do you think your home airport should have or look like? How can we make our airports better places?

A Black Queer Feminist Urbanist Resource created and curated by Kristen E. Jeffers