Case Study - Major East Coast U.S. Cities

Tia and I returned on April 27th from a 7-day whirlwind tour of all the major cities in the BosWash megalopolis sans Bos. This post will serve as a summary of what we liked and didn't like about our firsthand experiences in each city and on each mode of transportation.

For the record, here's the travel itinerary and transit systems used:

• Day 1 - Rochester to New York (RTS Bus 50, Amtrak Empire Service, MTA Subway N/4)
• Day 2 - New York to Philadelphia (MTA Subway 4/R, Amtrak Keystone Service)
• Day 3 - Philadelphia (SEPTA Subway Broad/Market-Frankford Lines, SEPTA Subway-Surface Trolley 34)
• Day 4 - Philadelphia to Washington (SEPTA Subway Broad/Market-Frankford Lines, Amtrak Carolinian, Washington Metrorail Red/Green Lines)
• Day 6 - Washington to Baltimore (Washington Metrorail Red/Green Lines, MARC Camden Line, Charm City Circulator)
• Day 7 - Baltimore to Rochester (Maryland Transit Administration Light Rail Blue Line, AirTran, RTS Buses 2/5)

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What we liked:

Brooklyn Heights, New York: Very quiet despite proximity to expressway due to cantilevered overhang (Brooklyn Heights Promenade)...superior italianate Hummelstown Brownstone architecture...Chip Shop on Atlantic's deep fried pizza, burger patty, and macaroni and cheese ball + Dry Blackthorn Cider on tap...Pete's Waterfront Ale House with Original Sin Cider on tap.

Upper East Side, Manhattan: Carl Schurz Park...Chicken Roll at Bagel Mill...reasonably human scaled urbanism, walkups 5 stories tall means less energy intensive going forward.

Amtrak, Northeast Corridor: Tracks owned by Amtrak themselves make for minimal delays...fast travel even on non-Acela trains between New York and Philadelphia.

Center City, Philadelphia: Loads of cultural history lessons...Rittenhouse Square and other squares laid out by William Penn himself always teeming with life, properly programmed around their edges...Underground Transit Concourse integrates 3 systems and provides huge capacity to serve patrons at times of heavy ridership...extremely narrow carriageways still intact with high quality townhomes...Reading Terminal Market, the best public market we've ever been to(compared to By Ward - Ottawa, Broadway - Baltimore, St. Lawrence - Toronto, Rochester Public, Central New York Regional, Eastern - Washington)...Prevailing scale of urbanism due to pre-1985 'William Penn's hat agreement'...general affordability of goods/food compared to the others...small size of blocks promotes walkability (carried our luggage from 30th St to Broad/Locust).

University City, Philadelphia: Amtrak's (Pennsylvania Railroad) 30th Street Station is simply magnificent. Well planned interior, integrated access to subway/trolley/commuter trains, dueling collonades reinforce importance of place and function, electro-mechanical departure board, seating in waiting area maximizes flow of foot traffic and proximity to gates...University of Pennsylvania campus massive, yet walkable, proximity to Rittenhouse Square.

South Philadelphia: Pat's King of Steaks, the original Philly Cheese Steak...9th Street quasi-arcaded Italian Market district, Anthony's Chocolate House's smore creation.

Alexandria, Virginia: Much more newer building fabric integrated into the original design than I expected...Saltwater taffy at Candi's Candies at King and Fairfax...malt balls at The Sugar Cube on Lee...would have liked to take an affordable river cruise, but were preempted by charter...good scale, walkability, transit connections.

The District: Union Station, quality allegorical sculpture inside and out, functions as strictly massive rail terminal more like a contemporary airport in layout and commercial offering...new Nationals ballpark reasonably priced, quality views, accessible by foot and metrorail...Metro System well laid out and maintains high standard of cleanliness, headway notification a plus...Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street is legendary...Eastern Market and accompanying 8th Street SE restaurant district very vibrant...once again sights abound for historical buffs and Democratic-Republic fans.

MARC Train, Camden Line: $7 frequent service from D.C. to downtown Baltimore.

Fell's Point, Baltimore: Excellent preservation efforts retain townhomes tiny by today's standards...good restaurant base...connection to Water Taxi...large scale expansion/restoration of Broadway Market about to commence...streetcar track still extant in belgian block streets.

Downtown Baltimore: Charm City Circulator, tremendous free electric-hybrid bus service between B&O Rail Museum to Harbor East, many electronic and internet enhancements...Sheraton City Center Hotel allowing us to check in at 9:45AM for some much needed rest.

Harbor East, Baltimore: Excellent urbanist programming for community of exclusively newer construction...well integrated into the existing street grid...good mix of retail offerings, office space, residential space, services even if overly upscale.

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There were a few experiences that were generally positive, but some subtext cast a dragnet that soured the place or service to some degree in our minds. Eastern Market almost fell into this category due to the loss of all other historic Washington D.C. markets (its size cannot possibly serve the entire district), comparison to the abundance of markets in Baltimore, and such dominant recent memory of Philadelphia Reading Terminal Market.

In contrast with Amtrak service along the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak service upstate continues to be plagued by issues related to leasing track from CSX and the lack of capacity on the old New York Central mainline. We were delayed for 45 minutes halfway between Rochester and Syracuse while a broken down freight was repaired and then moved out of the way. The trip was still more pleasant than driving to New York, but it made it that much longer.

We've generally had a good time at Baltimore's Inner Harbor and I don't know if it was the rainy weather or what, but I've kind of soured on the mall-like pavilions on Light and Pratt Streets. It seemed as though more shopfronts were empty than usual, but I did get the preposterously good 'Crab Pretzel' from Phillips Seafood Express, a soft pretzel with a crab meat/cream cheese mixture integrated into the gaps with additional shredded cheese melted on top.

I am never against a light rail system, and Baltimore's seems to have stabilized Howard Street to a certain degree (compared to Park Avenue), but its greatest utility is shuttling business travelers to the airport. This is a feature I have utilized, but now feel there is little future for air travel. This sounds like a guilty conscious issue I need to deal with. At any rate, the light rail will continue to have utility in shuttling passengers between Penn Station and the downtown proper as more MARC trains at more times during the business day service the Penn line.

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What we didn't like:

I feel I owe more than sentence fragments if I am going to criticize. Let's start with Midtown Manhattan. Penn Station is our collective national disgrace as far as I am concerned (considering what came before the current incarnation). The low ceilinged bunker of a train station in the basement of a basketball arena is our national monument to the unenlightened behavior of the 1960's that rejected quality and ornament in favor of the space age. Difficult to enter, let alone navigate, or god forbid sit down, we certainly got "what it admires, will pay for, and, ultimately, deserves." Another criticism of Midtown is the dehumanizing scale. Each avenue forms a canyon of hypertrophic urbanism, not necessarily poor programmed, but tremendously energy intensive (though not per capita), and impossible to operate/renovate without reliable energy inputs unlike the neighborhoods described earlier.

We had flown AirTran Airways a number of times, but never remembered being as cramped as we were on the 717 aircraft for our return home. Add to this the $15 checked bag fee, dehumanizing security procedures, interminable waiting periods, the inefficiency and pollutants per passenger mile inherent in jet fuel, and I can't imagine we'll ever voluntarily board a domestic plane again.

While its obvious that Philadelphia knocked our socks off, we were greatly disappointed in Penn's Landing on the Delaware. Created in a time that truly believed people would frequent an amphitheater made of poured concrete steps at extraneous and haphazard geometries, Penn's Landing is impersonal, overly caters to automobiling, and is isolated by the I-95 freeway. Honorable mention goes to Geno's obnoxious cheesesteaks across the street from Pat's who refuse to serve non-English speakers and sell the tired trope 'Freedom Fries.'

While the Washington Metrorail System itself was a big positive, the administration of fares is completely asinine. Unlike New York, where once one fills a Metrocard with money, it functions as a debit card regardless of who uses it, in Washington each person must carry their own card. A zonal system makes fares variable depending on which two stations you intend on travelling between. The situation is compounded by incorrect signage at stations which do not always reflect price increases. As such, fare is actually debited from the pass upon exit from the system, necessitating 'exit fare' machines to add additional money to your card. What does one do who doesn't have any additional cash? Are they doomed to ride the rails forever? The entire scenario gives the classic American heartland impression of 'Washington' making something overcomplicated in their efforts to do the opposite. In terms of daily and weekly passes, one can purchase weekly bus passes and daily rail passes, neither of which let you use the other mode of service.

The emerging Navy Yard neighborhood in Washington is falling into a trap in my estimation. While generally pleasing condo and apartment towers are going up, they are doing absolutely nothing at ground level for the pedestrian (in fact, the ground floor at Capitol Yards includes a security desk where we were forced to show official identification to be put on a visitor log). There doesn't seem to be a coherent plan to introduce retail as was done expertly in Baltimore's Harbor East mentioned above. The result is an impersonal neighborhood that is not only car dependent, but largely encourages car ownership through the ease of underground parking below each building.

Walking around a larger portion of Downtown Baltimore than usual, I noticed a pair of stunning trends. The first is that every single attraction in Baltimore, right down to Lexington Market, must have a sizable parking garage attached to the building. I don't have to say what this portends for street life, but the existence of the arrangement reeks of suburban fear of race and class. Baltimore, moreso than other places, has created surface level pedestrian impediments. President, Light, Lower Howard, MLK Jr, and Russell Streets all function as multi-lane (greater than 4) car movers that dissect downtown areas and add danger to pedestrian activity. A system of 2nd floor open-air walkways designed to connect Inner Harbor shopping with downtown hotels (though not advertised anywhere anymore) also diverts pedestrian life from the street, though Baltimore has begun removing some of these sections. One final minor gripe involves the B&O Railroad Museum not being open at 3PM despite posted hours until 4PM. It's my understanding there is an inclement weather policy. Seems that Baltimoreans are not a hearty bunch. I'll bet the place was a madhouse during the March snowstorms.

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And there you have it. Not much of a restful vacation, but that's just how it goes with us. On deck for the blog is a comparison of Scranton's 500 Lackawanna project to possibilities for the Renaissance Square block, more RIT downtown campus history, and of course the John Robert Smith meeting and lecture. All of this can and probably will be preempted by any big breaking urban development news, but stay tuned. Oh, and thanks to you, the reader, for an improvement in April traffic of 76% compared with April 2009!

Urban News Vol. 27

Hello all. Apologies for no preview post on Wednesday. Have spent all my free time the last two days dry-locking our front facing basement wall. Today's piece could be national, but this particular instance centers around Washington D.C.'s suburban conundrum. On a personal note, on the 4th day we were at our new place, we received a slip of paper advertising an ice cream social hosted by the neighborhood association just around the corner at our firehouse. Suffice it to say that in 5 years in Brighton and 3 years in Webster that this happened exactly zero times.

Gas Prices Apply Brakes to Suburban Migration

by Eric M. Weiss, Washington Post

Article Key Points:

• Land-use experts beginning to ask whether $4 per gallon is a psychological tipping point
• "There is a whole confluence of government policies -- tax, spending, regulatory and administrative -- that have subsidized sprawl" - Bruce Katz
• A gallon of gasoline costs more than $8 in Britain, Germany, France and Belgium according to U.S. Dept. of Energy
• Today, more than 99 percent of the trips taken by U.S. residents are still in cars or some other non-transit vehicle
• The policies have had a direct bearing on how and where people live and work
• Americans drove 9.6 billion fewer highway miles in May than a year earlier
• Last year, transit trips nationwide topped 10.3 billion, a 50-year high
• Home prices in the far suburbs have collapsed
• Transportation costs are now second only to housing as a percentage of the household budget
• Fairfax County has adopted a policy of transit-oriented development, demanding four Metro stops in a proposed rail extension
• "What were pluses of that lifestyle are now liabilities: a big SUV, a big home to heat, the energy needed to mow the lawn" -Tom Darden, Raleigh based developer
• Mayor Randy Pye of Centennial, Colorado, an supporter of the Denver Area LRT system, has been called a socialist by fellow Republicans for his pro-density and pro-transit views

First off, a lot of credit is due to Mr. Weiss for ensuring this story made it to a national newspaper. One of the consistent gripes of the pro-urban crowd (or any marginalized viewpoint for that matter) is the lack of attention paid to it by the mainstream media. Mr. Weiss takes it one step further by utilizing the vernacular of the peak-oil aware by characterizing the suburban boom as the era of cheap oil (how many people do you remember asking for money for gas or complaining about it in the late 90's? It's actually laughable now).

I am extremely pleased that Bruce Katz was included as a credible expert witness as it were. A carefully measured speaker not usually given to hyperbole, Katz and the Brookings Institution put a subconscious certified expert stamp on these proceedings.

It would appear that we still have a LONG way to go in terms of breaking people of the pre-programming regarding the virtue of personal transportation, but increased transit ridership is a start. I would caution against taking numbers like these totally at face value though. 50 years ago, the United States had roughly 175 million residents. To say we are matching ridership from that period is only an improvement over the greed ridden interim.

I will attempt not to go on a diatribe against Mr. Pisarski expect to say that his desperate "only answer" is heinously inefficient. I will lend him a modicum of credence on the telecommuting argument, but to say the bulk of workplaces will pack up shop and move from centralized locations to amorphous regions is wishful thinking. Let's take an example from Rochester. The Paetec Headquarters move is case in point. Their headquarters is currently in Perinton, significantly to the southeast of Rochester. Right now workers from Greece, Gates, Chili, and Irondequoit face a commute of upwards of 25 miles. Webster, Penfield, Brighton, and the City slightly less. A move downtown will certainly be at the expense of those who commute from various locales in Perinton, but to assume that the bulk of the workforce hails from there is likely erroneous (from what I understand much of the younger telecom workforce makes the Park Avenue neighborhood of the city home). Centralizing opens up opportunities for utilization of our limited bus system from all points with single seat commutes preferred by the less intrepid (or obsessive, hehe).

A couple little stream of consciousness notes...I can't decide whether these allegations of socialism against those who aren't always thinking of themselves are amusing, pathetic, or both...the map graphic is interesting in this case because we are talking about D.C. Anne Arundel County, Maryland could be considered an inner ring suburb area of Baltimore, at the very least in the North end...

Finally, I'd like to tack on something that was just brought to my attention this morning. Author James Howard Kunstler was on the CBS Evening News last night to provide input on a national piece entitled, 'The Decline Of Suburbia?'

Monday I will continue my look at the Downtown Charrette Report with the dynamic Main Street Focus Area which overlaps with many of the others previously profiled, yet is its own distinct object of focus due to its traditional place as the major 'outdoor room' of Downtown Rochester.

Urban News Vol. 15

Couple quick hits from around the country and our own backyard. The first should serve as no surprise to those who are in tune with my mission. The second is totally out of left field, but welcome nevertheless.

Home Prices Drop Most in Areas with Long Commute

by Kathleen Schalch, National Public Radio's Morning Edition

Article Key Points:

• House prices in metro-Washington have fallen 11 percent in the past year
• In Ashburn, VA, 40 miles from the center of D.C., values are down 18% with new construction halted
• In Washington, median home prices are actually up 3.5 percent from a year ago
• Recent studies suggest that buyers underestimated the costs of their long commutes
• Atlanta construction in what had been forests and farmland has slowed by more than 70 percent, but construction in town has held steady

If Washington D.C. proper is the only place in the area experiencing a median home price increase, then market forces are already beginning to compel the average thrifty suburbanite toward city living. Much like the increase in bicycles on the road, I'm beginning to get the impression that those making this fundamental shift aren't doing so to generate fanfare, but rather making regular sound economic decisions now that the playing field isn't tilted so badly.

RGRTA Reduces Bus Fare to $1
by Scott Fairbanks, RNews

Article Key Points:

• Standard cash fare reduced from $1.25 to $1
• Revamped business approach for the past four years erased a $27 million budget deficit and gave RTS a $19 million net gain
• Fare was last $1 in 1991

While this likely won't affect monthly pass holders like myself, this is excellent news for the community as a whole. The casual rider no longer has to worry about exact-change requirements and is much more likely to give the service a try as an alternative to expensive personal transportation. It also signifies an uptick in ridership and acts as a large advertisement to attempt to reach the critical mass necessary to add crosstown routes and possibly other transportation modes.