Keeping Up with the Joneses
So I just got done watching Big Ideas for a Small Planet on Universal HD (channel 780 on Time Warner), it’s also on Sundance (channel 157). An episode just made me very, very jealous. The episode chronicled the South Waterfront District development in Portland where developers are aggressively marketing what they’re referring to as the “20 minute lifestyle” (i.e. people are no less than a 20 minute walk, bike, or mass transit ride away from anything they need). After watching 30 minutes of streetcars zipping around, trams carrying riders away on overhead lines, bicycle lanes unhindered by auto traffic, buildings with solar cell roofs and awnings, corner markets, and cafes, I needed to learn more. I had a serious case of keeping up with the Joneses. Here’s the summary…
The South Waterfront District sits on a skinny piece of reclaimed industrial land immediately south of downtown Portland. As I mentioned above, the land is REALLY well served by clean, quiet, efficient mass transit. A bicycle trail connects the site to downtown along the water that allows riders a non-stop route to the city. I think this quote from the website sums it up:
Bike and pedestrian paths weave into downtown, over bridges and along the river. The tram and streetcar come right into the neighborhood connecting you to OHSU’s Marquam Hill Campus and Portland’s best. Both are slated to be completed in 2006. Roads and infrastructure improvements in the area have already begun. From its very conception, The River Blocks has put access to public transit at the forefront of its master plan. You won’t have to wait for it to come to you. It’s already here.
If anyone needed evidence that developers are lured by investments in mass transit…there it is. On every condo website, there’s an overlaid map of the streetcar system (I’ve never seen COTA stops being advertised as an amenity by our local developers). Speaking of the developers, they’re busy throwing up high-density, mixed-use, LEED certified housing. One the Big Ideas for a Small Planet show, the developers were so proud of their product, they were all buying units.
Here are some of the buildings going in…
Atwater Place is a 23 story mixed-use building consisting of 212 units ranging from $399,000 to $3.9 million (760 to 3,750 square feet).
The John Ross (suprisingly, not named for our acclaimed Alive! reporter) is a 31 story mixed-use building consisting of 286 units ranging from $199,000 to $3.5 million (635 to 5,000 square feet).
The Meriwether is two mixed-use towers with 245 units ranging from $169,000 to $1.9 million (starting at 600 square feet).
There are also two more towers that have just been proposed which clock in at 224 and 323 units each.
Before this turns into a full fledged “move to Portland” sales pitch, I’d better cut to the chase. When I was watching, I started thinking, ”we’ve got some of the same pieces right here”!
1) As far as the “20 minute lifestyle goes”, we’ve got that here, although it’s not as sleek and well planned. I’m living proof, and I’m sure that our other downtown residents can say the same.
2) At first glance, the site looks and awful lot our own Whittier Peninsula. It’s a former brownfield site immediately south of downtown with beautiful, scenic river views.
The obvious peice were’ missing is the sleek mass transit connection. If you click around on the links provided, you’ll quickly see how hard the developers are marketing the lifestyle change that comes with disassociating cars from our lifestyle. They’re all touting close proximity to the streetcar line, bike path, and car-free connectivity to anything you’d ever need. I’m sure our local developers would love to do the same.
If you build it, they will come. Developers, residents, conventioneers, and employers will all come. Because they’ll develop a bad case of keeping up with the Joneses too.
I was just in Portland, and the mass transit was great. I took the light rail from the airport to the block of my hotel across the street from the convention center. That cost $2 — can’t beat that. Plus, since the convention center is within their “fairless square” area downtown, I could take the light rail into downtown for free. Once there, it was really easy to walk around to restaurants, etc.
There is no way a visitor to columbus could have this kind of experience with the way the city is configured. I really hope it changes. I think streetcars would be a great first step
Very cool. I do look at those prices and wonder if that would even be possible here in Columbus. But I love the general concept, and could see the Arena District to Buggyworks becoming something like this.
[...] on the topic of what Columbus should be or could be, Cap City Savvy has a post, “Keeping Up with the Joneses“, which just leaves me cold. The prices on all those Portland condos average pretty high, and [...]
Columbuser.com » Columbus monoculture said this on July 5, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Matt,
I thought the same thing about the prices, but I’d bet that people would’ve said the same thing about that area of Portland “pre-streetcar”. Check out the main development website…they really sell the lifestyle and give the neighborhood a sense of place. I think that would still appeal to anyone in Columbus without school-age kids.
You’ve also got to consider that the people moving in will have low utility bills (LEED certified) and won’t have to deal with the second largest line item on their budget (their car). That frees up a lot of money for the mortgage.
Yeah, we live in the Arena District and between the tax abatements and being able to sell one of our cars, we are able to spend more on a home than we would in the ‘burbs. So, there is some balancing even with a higher mortgage.
Well, we wouldn’t be living in the ‘burbs anyway. We love it down here. And we’re excited for the new ballpark to get finished. I think that is going to make this area even better, along with other developments that will come. If only we had streetcars!
[...] course Portland is mentioned, as it is here and here: And in Portland, Ore., the poster child for such development, officials say the streetcar system [...]
Columbuser.com » WSJ streetcar overview said this on July 13, 2007 at 3:01 pm