anchoragejoop

Loussac Place construction

2012-02-12T10:30:00.001-09:00

Just thought I'd pop by the site of the future Loussac Place going up between C and A Street for some photo updates. As mentioned in an earlier post, Loussac Place will be a compact neighborhood of townhouses replacing the earlier incarnation known as Loussac Manor which was built in the 1960s with 62 units for only low income families. The new Loussac Place will have nearly double the units at 120 with both low income and market rate housing.

Again for comparison sake:

New Years Update

2012-01-16T10:02:00.000-09:00

Happy New Years to everyone. I've been wanting to post this article from The Atlantic which covers the topic of how Tea Party members have been wreaking havoc at urban planning meetings across the country. I'm reminded of a similar case here in Anchorage in which the local Tea Party group, led by talk radio host Eddie Burke, held a discussion late last year on how the new Title 21 codes would further suffocate their freedom or whatever. The scary part was that the moronic Dan Coffey was the guest who was in the position of defending the codes. You know you're city's building codes are in trouble when they are defended by... well yeah.

Anyways, I also thought I'd post the latest from the newest project going up in Midtown. Located on C Street near Walmart, this three storey office quickly rose up late in December causing it to just miss my last construction rundown. No tenants have been cited yet. [Update] Yes, we do know the tenants! The building will be occupied by both ReMax and Dynamic Properties. I suppose they will play a location compliment to their next door neighbor Residential Mortgage, which is also in a three story building located a stones throw away.

More construction rundown

2011-12-04T00:22:00.003-09:00

I guess I should be more thorough in scanning the town before I rush off to publish my list of new stuff going up for the season. Yep, I have a few straggelers that got away, but it's better late than never to post them here right? You'll notice that there's no snow in these pics -- that's because I took these just before we got absolutley pummeled and thrashed by the nearly record breaking snowfall in November. But that's okay. Afterall, construction projects are always multi-seasonal, so it's not as if any of these are completed by now. And yes, there are a couple other projects out there such as the construction of a new Alaska Industrial Hardware (AiH) store, a fire station expansion in Muldoon, and an Olive Garden, but those are not exciting. Plus anyways, anyone in the Lower 48 will tell you that if you want fine authentic Italian cuisine, Olive Garden is not the place to go. Anchorageites salivating over the thought of dining out at that restaurant will learn this in due time (unless they're a big fan of endless bread sticks). On to the rundown:

Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center - Midtown

The Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center is building a new 42,700 sq. ft. building that will house their clinic currently located in Fairview (at 15,900 sq. ft.) thus more than doubling its medical space. ANHC is a non-profit that takes in patients with no insurance along with Medicare recepients. Because of this non-profit status, the group has been seeking donations to complete the building (at least for the last $2 million). If we are to go by the rendering, the building should come out looking pretty nice design wise. Of course, if you hadn't noticed yet, buildings rarely come out as beautiful as they are depicted in the artist rendering; But I can only imagine that this building will get better as it can't get any worse than how it looks right now [see above image]... yikes.

Providence Generations Project - UMed

As stated before, Providence has been on a roll these last five years and there looks to be no sign of slowing down. It turns out it's this building and not the one mentioned in the previous rundown that will house the newborn intensive care unit and other related mother-baby services. The umm... "Generations Building"(?) will also host expanded room for cardiac surgery and other surgical operations (basically this is where you would go should you indulge in too much Olive Garden). If you know the location of this building, you'll know that this building is totally hidden away on a road I learned only recently actually exists. It was the red crane towering over the hospital that led me to this hidden project. Design wise, I can't complain. Providence easily has the best looking set of buildings of any major hospital in Anchorage. I can't speak for the Native Hospital as I've never been in it, but even the interiors of the Providence campus are kickin'.

Unknown lowrise - Midtown

No sign was erected at the site of this project, so I'm pretty much left in the dark about this one. With the few intel I have, my hunch is that this four storey building will be for AlaskaUSA. It sits on the former location of the little building that once housed Pete's Sushi, and Red Robins before that, and a Mexican restaurant before that (which had really good fries). I'm glad to see the little restaurant building knocked down for it will further move that stretch of C Street toward being dominated by office buildings which make for quite a dramatic view (at least for Anchorage standards) as you drive northbound into Midtown on C. Just an interesting tidbit I thought I'd share: this is the third restaurant to be demolished to make way for a high density building in the last five years. Cat Fish Too (formerly Balto's) was of course flattened to make way for the 14 storey 188 WNL while The Last Frontier Restaurant off Tudor was demolished for a parking garage. [Update]: Yup, I can confirm 100% that this building will be for AlaskaUSA, with some space for lease.

Downtown Anchorage Throwback

2011-11-19T21:45:00.003-09:00

If you hadn't known yet, film crews have recently been scurrying around Anchorage shooting scenes for the movie 'The Frozen Ground' (at least that's what its called as of now) which will star Vanessa Hudgens, 50-Cent, John Cusack, and Nicolas Cage. On-location production actually should have wrapped up yesterday, but I can't say for sure. Whatever the case, film crews were spotted shooting at Merrill Field, Muldoon, Ship Creek, and a handful of other places while I myself ran into them in Spenard (where they revived PJ's for a night), and on 3rd Avenue just last night. Their most amusing shoot by far had to be on 5th and 4th Avenues. 5th Avenue was closed from 6pm to 10am Saturday morning as they took a portion of 5th Avenue back in time to the wild west days of Anchorage circa early 1980s when Downtown was a seedy haven of vice complete with strip clubs, massage parlors, and rowdy bars filled with men who just came back from the Slope. I sadly couldn't be there to see the shoot, but luckily we got the internetz to provide us with video:

What's funny is that while the surrounding business were turned into seedy 80s era establishments, the Polar Bar remained just as it is.

BTW for those wanting to get their retro Anchorage fix, there is a great website featuring 70s and 80s era pics of Anchorage by who I think is a UAF professor. His old Seattle pics are simply amazing as they have a lot more people and street scenes that really speak of the time. I highly recommend visiting that as well.

Return of the Granny Flats

2011-11-11T22:20:00.002-09:00

Ran into this article yesterday on how some cities across the country are now allowing for cottages to be built in the backyards of single family homes. Also known as 'granny-flats' (or carriage houses), they were more common back in the early 20th century before modern zoning codes brought an end to them. Historically built to house in-laws or other extended family, they can also be rented out if you seek to supplement your income as a property owner. You can still see many surviving backyard cottages in numerous cities ranging from Denver, to New Orleans, to Philly. According to the article, Seattle is now one of the handful of places looking to revive them as the issue of accommodating a growing population within the urban boundary comes to the forefront. A snippet from the article:

[...] "Like other mid-size cities that came of age in the first few decades of the 20th century, Seattle is made up largely of compact neighborhoods filled with single-family bungalows. Today, almost two-thirds of the city is zoned for single-family homes, so it’s harder for Seattle to accommodate its growing population -- the city swelled from 563,374 residents in 2000 to 608,660 last year -- without spreading farther and farther into the forests of the Pacific Northwest. That’s partly why the city saw backyard cottages as an attractive new alternative, a way to add affordable housing options without a wholesale redesign of the city’s signature neighborhoods."

Sounds like an idea worth looking into, imo. Increasing density at a suburban level while also allowing for a more diverse mixture of income levels and age demographics to settle in a neighborhood are the natural consequences that would come from this. Of course there will always be certain neighborhoods that would absolutley balk at the prospect of *gasp* renters moving into their hood. They certainly wont be having any of this...

Designing for Density

2011-11-04T14:46:00.004-08:00

Just saw an interesting article from The Atlantic: Cities on creating urban density that breaks the stereotypical negative views most Americans have toward density. Architect David Baker talks about the concept of "people per square mile", a measurement that runs consistent with the carbon footprint an individual is likely to have. What's particularly amusing to see in the images throughout the article however is the inclusion of a new neighborhood in Oakland that is strikingly similar to the new Loussac Place development going up between Midtown and Downtown Anchorage. Check it out for yourself.

Mountain View's comeback

2011-10-28T15:35:00.013-08:00

Just thought I'd throw out that there is an article on this months Alaska Journal of Commerce on the resurgance of the Mountain View neighborhood in Northeast Anchorage. With new houses, mixed-use buildings, a remodeled and reopened library, a new Clark Middle School and such, it's a given that a piece about the neighborhood would surface in the local media. Of course you can also head over to the Mountain View Forum blog for more on this historic neighborhood, wink wink.

[edit] --just noticed that there's also an op-ed written by Andrew Spinelli (president of the Home Builders Association, and presumeably president of Spinell Homes) on why he's not thrilled about Title 21 codes related to home building (surprise!). I'll go ahead and link this as well for those inclined to read it.

Seriously Dan? You're going to go there?

2011-10-21T23:42:00.006-08:00

Before I get into it, it should be explained that Dan Coffey, the former Assembly member who was hired by Dan Sullivan to mutilate the democratically formed Title 21 codes, is like the uncle at the table during the holidays who makes the rest of the family cringe whenever he says something. Now I'm not talking politically incorrect tirade or anything on that level, rather everything can be boiled down to a simplistic solution regardless of whether you're an expert or not as far as he's concerned. The Anchorage School District needs more funding, Dans response: "when I was a kid, we went to school in a quonset hut, and we came out fine" (paraphrasing for I don't remember his exact words in both quotes). Does mixed-use work? Dan says: "the only mixed-use building I see in town has no businesses in the ground floor". He was referring to the newish mixed-use building in Mountain View which actually does have businesses occupying the ground level including a GCI Store opening soon. But never mind that. Dan Coffey says he see's no businesses in the ground floor, therefore it's official: mixed-use doesn't work! All has been settled.

After the Anchorage Press published Ivan Moore's column that was critical about Coffey's developer friendly revisioning of Title 21 a few months ago, the Press kindly gave Dan the opportunity to have a response. Having read it, I thought 'hey, maybe Coffey does know what he's doing'. The credentials and experience related toward planning and zoning that he lists did seem more than adequate. But it turns out I should've known better. As if some of his proposed changes made public earlier this week weren't outrageous, he revives the Uncle Dan character I had long known as he throws the McCarthy Card at us. That's right. Responding to an interview question, Coffey states: "I don't believe central planning works. It didn't work for the USSR and it probably won't work very well for us". That one I can tell you did not need paraphrasing. I remember saying in an earlier post a year or two ago that Anchorage's development patterns were stuck in a 1950s mindset... I guess we now know whose mindset that is. All his credibility related to planning and zoning just went down the drain. It was thanks to Ivan Moore's latest column that this Coffeyism had surfaced. But indeed I really would like to thank Ivan Moore for giving attention to the Title 21 issue over the past few months. It's not a sexy issue that would grab the attention of readers, and I know they have papers to sell.. err.. to give away.

But I can't help but to go with Coffey's thinking here. Taking it to its logical conclusions, the Haussmann Plan that restructured Paris must have been communist. The same goes with the Commissioners Plans of 1811 for Manhattan. Bleeding red, they are. And that must surely explain why the world absolutely shuns the urban horror show that is Paris while embracing a good ole red white and blue freedom loving city like Houston, Texas which really has no zoning regulations to speak of (can you tell?). Even the early planners of Anchorage had to have been communist what with their pinko street grid that have letter streets running north and south and numbered streets east and west. Interesting tidbit: was actually the Alaska Railroad that laid out the grid. Guess that explains them being state owned, no?

Title 21 revisions made public

2011-10-20T14:25:00.008-08:00

Yesterday afternoon Mayor Sullivan made available the proposed revisions for the Title 21 land use code for all to see on the muni's website along with the decision made by the city on each of Coffey's proposals. A memorandum that summarizes the major proposed changes and their fate can be found on this PDF. If you wanna go hardcore, you can knock yourself out with the full 600 page Title 21 code as well. One thing I learned from the list of proposed revisions: turns out Dan Sullivan isn't that bad after all... not when compared to Dan Coffey! From my count (and don't take my word for it as I skimmed a bit), it appears that 21 of the 37 major proposals by Coffey had been rejected by the mayors office or only partly accepted. The major changes that the city did take up from Coffey include the elimination of two Midtown districts that would be zoned for mixed-use, the elimination of height limits for high rise buildings going up in Midtown, the elimination of diversified design standards for single family homes which would have prevented the sterile aesthetic look of cookie cutter subdivisions, and the elimination of requirements from developers to take up responsibility of nearby roads and drainage which may be effected by the addition of several new residences using such infrastructure (see the disaster that is Discovery Homes).

But it could have been much worse. Among Coffey's failed proposals were to reduce the Urban Design Commission's review authority to just one function: trail projects (!!!). Another proposal would have seen Title 21 codes take precedent over the Anchorage Comprehensive Plan in the event of code conflict. Similar to the first one, Coffey also proposed shortening (or "streamlining") the review process of streets and trails by reducing review practices currently used by the Municipality. While Coffey had wanted all mixed-use districts eliminated, the city has chosen to keep three but make mixed-use optional rather than required of developers. Developers who choose to build mixed-use in these areas will be given a re-zone fee waiver along with a faster approval process and administrative assistance. "The consultant" had also wanted to allow all types of telecommunication towers in residential areas though the memo claims that there was a misunderstanding and that it was not Coffey's intention to alter this. Other amendments that failed are as follows: "Reducing requirements for pedestrian connections and facilities" (only cul-de-sacs will lose the requirements, but who cares, they're cul-de-sacs), "Deletion of dumpster screening amortization", and "Deletion of townhouse landscaping standards" (only vertical curbs have been deleted), among others.

In the end, I'm kind of mixed. Particularly I'm kind of mixed on the eradication of height limits for Midtown -- but I'll go into that in another post. I am however satisfied that incentives will be provided for mixed-use buildings in the three areas that survived the cut while pedestrian connectivity has been spared along with the rest of the bulk of Title 21. The reduction of landscaping, which we all saw coming, is something that I wouldn't lose sleep over personally as I've never been to crazy for it. I have barely even gotten around to reading the existing Title 21, so I'll have to do more of that before getting a full scope of what is to come. For now, all I can say is thank goodness the other Dan is not mayor.

Anchorage construction rundown - Fall 2011

2011-10-05T13:51:00.008-08:00

oh man.. I'm clearly not the type who can be counted on to regularly update a blog. Thanks to those of you who have stayed around and enjoyed the ride. I don't know how the Perez Hilton's and Andrew Sullivan's of the blogosphere do it, but my respect goes out to them. In any case, my lack of updates has kinda led to a small bottleneck of construction projects around town not being posted even as they are about to cut the ribbon and open up shop, or even worse, have already opened up. I will not let any major project escape archive on this blog, so I'll start with listing projects that are about complete or already complete and then work my way down to projects just getting started. First up:

the terraces @ northpointe
Ah yes, what I love about the name for this residential project is that it contains three classic clichés that are common among new residential projects across the country. 1.) The project is spelled in all lowercase (and I respected their grammar choice by keeping it lowercase on the headline), 2.) they put an unnecessary 'e' at the end of northpoint, and 3.) the old @ symbol. Of course. Besides proving that they are too 21st century to settle for "at", it also scores the developers extra cool points because they get to use the [insert building type] @ [insert location name] template. the cottages @ citycentre. You see, what's not to love? Anyways I don't know exactly when they opened, but I imagine it had to be this summer. I regularly drive around the rail yard which these units look out towards and noticed these buildings taking shape during the winter and spring of this year. I appreciate that the developers (the same ones behind Aurora Square [scroll down]) chose more daring architecture which Anchorage could use a lot more of compared to the tiresome wood and slanted roof residential units. So here you are, the terraces @ northpointe, forever archived on anchoragejoop. [edit]: I should probably mention for those wondering that this is in East Government Hill near Elmendorf.

S Tower, Providence Hospital
The Alaska Journal of C ommerce refers to this building offhandedly as the mother-baby tower, but I think I'll just stick with the 'S' Tower... you know.. since there's a giant S on the building. Apparently the new building (I think 5 storeys) will be home to newborn intensive care and all the other good stuff that goes with newborns and their moms. Embarrassingly I didn't notice this building until it looked the way it does on the above picture after I just happened to drive by one recent day. Yea I know.. way to go me! But Providence has nearly doubled since 2006, so I wasn't surprised at all to see new buildings coming up almost unnoticed. A roundabout has been built nearby and will link this post-2006 portion of Providence with a new road leading to Lake Otis (and consequently a new intersection for Lake Otis).

UAA Health Sciences Building
A stone throws away from the new building at Providence is the UAA Health Sciences Building. Just as the new Integrated Science Building (brought to you by ConocoPhillips!!!) houses all the fields ranging from geology to astronomy, the Health Sciences building will consolidate all of UAA's... health sciences! This will be the first building in UAA's main campus to be located across the street thus ensuring that future generations will whine and moan about having to hustle from their Calculus I class past parking lots and a busy street to get to Biology on a crisp January day. A skybridge over Providence Drive linking the building to the main campus had been floated around a bit, but seeing that there is no bridge in the final product, it must have fell through. And that's a good thing as a bridge connecting the two would look ridiculous... not worse than the proposed bridge linking City Hall, the PAC, and the new Convention Center, but still bad nonetheless. The ribbon cutting ceremony for this building is October 7th.

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Health Communities Building

Of course! the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Health Communities Building building. Just like the last two, this building is also rising in the U-Med district in East Anchorage. At 97,000 sq. ft., the 5 story building will house the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consort.'s Environmental Health and Engineering division. They would be the folks in charge of building public health infrastructure out in the Bush. I haven't paid attention, but I believe ANTHC's main building is the one right next to it, built around 2006.

Three Cedars Office Building

Couldn't really find anything about this building. A search for the term "Three Cedars Office Building, Anchorage" yielded only dead end leads. The one page that did get me somewhere was a gallery of the groundbreaking ceremony on Mayor Dan Sullivan's Facebook page..... ermm, okay(?). Anyways, the building is rising near the corner of New Seward and Northern Lights right next to the new Walgreens that opened up earlier this summer in place of the old Midas. It's a bit of an odd location in contrast to where all the other office construction in Midtown has been these last several years, but there is a precedent for this as its clone, which was built about ten years ago, sits across the street. Not the most prettiest design facade wise, but I'll take it.

Mystery Building!*
It's a mystery! Sometime around August I noticed this little two storey on 3rd Avenue rise from what was previously just an empty lot across the street from the McKinley Apartment buildings. From the looks of it, it appears it will be either an office, or some sort of retail. I'm hoping retail. The block across the street has got to be the most densely populated in the state of Alaska (don't quote me on that... I might get a correction from Juneau..). Combine the two buildings across the street and you have 18 floors worth of residential units. And there's more residential in other nearby blocks too. Residents in the area have a couple restaurants (La Cabana, Kodiak Cafe) along with a laundromat, which really helps, in walking distance. But what about a grocery store? or a bank? A huge dilemma for downtowns across America that are not New York or San Francisco is that they often lack such basic needs. Boutique shoe stores, hipster coffee shops, and art galleries are nice, but some basic infrastructure is also needed if residents are to be brought in to develop a lively sustainable downtown that doesn't become a ghost town at 6 in the evening. But I digress. Hopefully this building will be leased for retail. We'll see.

*[edit] Thanks to a reader, it has been clarified that this will in fact be the new home for the Downtown Soup Kitchen. Okay, not what I was hoping for, but I'll easily take this over nothing. Here's a Flickr photostream dedicated to the project (check out their current building compared to their future digs... what a change!)

Loussac Place
I don't know why so many projects are starting ground breaking so late in the summer, but you can chalk up Loussac Place as another project that is guaranteed to see builders work in the bitter cold, Dena'ina Convention Center style. Unlike the other projects this fall, Loussac Place is a redevelopment that will serve the same purpose as its previous incarnation, that being low income residential. However unlike then Loussac Manor, Loussac Place will also provide market-rate housing units in addition to the low-income. The best part is that Loussac Place will hold nearly double the units that Loussac Manor held, going from 62 units to 120 (44 of those being market-rate). The new site will also hold a community center and retain the nearby basketball court while the Salvation Army, which sits next door, will build a recreational center. While people invested in the project tout its great location (no surprise), others may have a differing view. Yes, its location between Midtown and Downtown is great, along with the neighborhood being smack dab in the Chester Creek Greenbelt next to the community garden and sports fields, but lets not forget the roads surrounding it. For all practical purposes, A and C Street are mini freeways with three lanes each in which cars whiz by at 45 to 55 mph on both sides. Thank heaven there is a trail that goes under the roads, but even if I were a parent, I'd be cautious about the little ones. Overall though, I'm very satisfied with this project. These buildings will be arranged in a way similar to the development in Muldoon in which garages and their alleyways are hidden away while neighbors doors will face each other allowing for a more social and safe atmosphere. It will basically run parallel with what is called for in the revamped Title 21 codes. Replacing dumbed down 1960s suburbia with new urbanist development that responds to 21st century problems with 21st century solutions is definitely a step forward for this city.

click to enlarge

Re: Bubba's Anchorage or yours?

2011-07-01T16:22:00.004-08:00

I've been itchin' to update the blog for the past month after a year long absence, but it was this piece from Ivan Moore on this weeks Press that motivated me enough to get back to posting. With the completed Title 21 codes being "edited" in a backroom by former Assembly member Dan Coffey with the help of business interests on the Muni's dime, it's nice to see many people outraged over what's happening. I wouldn't have expected this considering the ultra exciting and exhilarating world that is municiple zoning and building codes... but citizens are aware and the Anchorage Press in particular has had its fingers on the pulse for the past few weeks. This weeks Ivan Moore column was especially direct:

[...] "I want a vibrant, modern downtown with great hotels, cool shops and pedestrian-friendly walking areas, with all the sleazy, decrepit stuff gone (the Avenue Bar especially). I want to be able to walk there, drive there, bike there or bus there and even in the dead of winter be able to get around easily without slipping over or having to hike over snow berms". [...]

Ignore the bit about the Avenue Bar... that's just personal tit for tat as he and the owner of the Avenue Bar are not best buddies... it's not a sleazy place btw. Also to the mayor's credit, he did introduce the idea of having People Mover buses operate with the same light changing tech as found in emergency vehicles so as to speed up bus service and provide further incentive for riders.

Anchorage finally gets a cruise ship

2010-05-26T14:06:00.003-08:00

Monday morning saw the arrival of the first cruise ship to make Anchorage a port of call in 25 years. Holland America's m.s. Amsterdam departed Seattle for a 2 week Alaska cruise that includes stops in Sitka, Juneau, Kodiak, Homer, and Alaska's largest city. In total, the m.s. Amsterdam will make nine stops in Anchorage this summer each with around 1,300 passengers and 600 crew members. Excursions that are offered to tourists upon landing at the Port of Anchorage include day trips to Talkeetna, and flights over Mt. McKinley -- something that other port of call towns can not offer due to their distance. Holland America also recently announced that the Amsterdam will be returning to Anchorage in summer 2011.

Spenard Reconstruction: My Take

2010-05-02T07:36:00.000-08:00

(click to enlarge)

Just thought I'd upload this little diddy I made on how I envision Spenard one day looking like. I wouldn't so much call it fantasy as it is more of a reasonable prediction on Spenards future within the next 50 years. The stretch in question is that of the intersection with Benson north to Fireweed Lane; the same stretch under discussion by the city as it looks to reduce Spenard from four lanes to three. While the city looks to bring Spenard into the 21st century and more in line with its increasingly bohemian and bicycle oriented culture, there are several business owners who prefer to keep Spenard in the 1950s. The problem with todays Spenard is that there is no turn lane which results in cars weaving in and out of traffic, cars collecting up behind left turning cars, and no bicycle lanes. Combine the three and accidents are waiting to happen, which they have. Some business owners and others who are simply uneducated will claim that construction on Spenard will result in another Arctic Boulevard fiasco in which access to businesses will be hindered by road and lane closures. Interestingly, these critics of Arctic are silent on the finished product that construction on Arctic Blvd has brought about. Critics claimed that reducing Arctic to two lanes will result in more congestion. In fact the opposite is true. Also, all businesses along Arctic have survived. If anything, opposition to Spenard reconstruction seems to be more about partisanship than the street itself. Newly elected Mayor Dan Sullivan stated in an ADN interview shortly before he took office last year that he is open to experimenting with reordering the layout of the road to see how tests fare. Yet the posters with the cruel caricature of former Mayor Mark Begich still hang in the windows of businesses that want to keep Spenard in the 50s.

While the city's current plans call for Spenard to go from four lanes to three (with a turn lane), my proposal seeks to narrow Spenard down to two lanes flat. In my plans I also added an intersection (a raised intersection at that). As we speak, the city is in the process of realigning one of the side streets that feed into Spenard so as to align with the opposite side street that leads to the Bear Tooth Theater. With this construction work happening, Spenard will finally have side streets that meet and make a four-way intersection possible. I decided to go ahead and add stop signs in one scenario, and a stoplight in the other for this future intersection. I also decided to add colored bike lanes, which have become more common in cities around the world along with bicycle boxes, which the city has been exploring. Bicycle boxes allow bikers to wait at a stoplight directly in front of motorists so as to be visible and not runned over by vehicles making right turns. Some may see narrowing Spenard down to two lanes as extreme -- but it's not. Once upon a time 4th Avenue in Downtown was four lanes. Today, at two lanes and a 25 mph speed limit, 4th Avenue is not going through any armageddon as some Spenard business owners predict will happen to them. Lets also not forget that half of Spenard is already at two lanes anyways. In this already existent two lane section of Spenard, Gwennies still serves huge breakfast plates to tourists, the Harley Davidson shop has doubled in size, one hotel expanded, two national chain hotels were built, and a Village Inn restaurant along with a few other businesses have opened. Just don't expect Spenard reconstruction opponents to remind you of that.

btw I should note that not all business owners along Spenard are opposed to the project. Among the major supporters of reconstruction is the owner of REI, the largest business in Spenard.

More classy condos planned for the summer

2010-04-17T18:19:00.004-08:00

The ADN just published an article that reports on the developer behind the trendy new Aurora Square development (seen above) and its further plans in both South Anchorage and Government Hill that are to come this summer. Taking a step away from the traditional and ugly condo projects that have sprung up throughout the Anchorage Bowl in the last several decades, the Anchorage based Lumen Group plans to build more condos that are far more classier in aesthetics, more energy efficient, and incorporate rooftop terraces for social gathering and private gardening. All the units built so far in Aurora Square have been sold while six out of eight units for South Anchorage's soon to be built Lumen Park development have been reserved. The niche market for these pricey homes include young professionals and seniors looking to downsize. For the nearly complete Aurora Square development, the target is professors and doctors who want to live near the U-Med district, as well as those in general who have double income and are childless. The Mountain View Forum blog reported that designers and artists have also snatched up units.

Anchorage Bike Plan unanimously approved

2010-04-02T17:09:00.005-08:00

Anchorage bikers rejoice! The Anchorage Bike Plan passed the Assembly. And with flying colors at that. While this news is already known to just about everyone in the city now, it deserves a spot on this blog and with good reason. As of now, the Municipality of Anchorage has 8 miles of bike lanes. In 2029, this will increase from 8 to 109 miles. I can't tell you the difference between a bike lane and a paved shoulder, but according to the ADN, Anchorage will have over 50 miles of paved shoulders in the city in 2029. As of now, we apparently have zero. Interestingly, we are also expected to get 4 miles of "bike boulevards". A quick google image search results in this. Embarrassingly, I can't exactly say how these "boulevards" work. If you look at this chart showing the stats on the expansions that are expected, you'll notice that the greenbelt trails such as Chester Creek, Campbell Creek, or the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail will jump by only about 15 miles in the next 20 years. The reason for this is because while those trails are great and all, they're purely recreational. If you want to do some nature biking on the weekend, great! But as of now, everyday biking in Anchorage is almost non-existent. It sounds foreign to us, especially if like me you were born and raised here in this auto loving town, but in many cities around the world people bike to everyday places like the grocery store, school, and *gasp*, even work! Perhaps my biggest culture shock when it comes to transportation came a few years ago when I visited Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Not that I wasn't expecting it as I knew that just about every road had designated bike lanes; rather it was the demographics and sheer number of people biking. On these bikes over there were young kids, old men, business men in suits, hobo's, and mothers with children (the children sat in these clever wheelbarrow like contraptions in the front). Biking wasn't something you do in a special Lance Armstrong inspired bike suit on the weekend. Biking was truly an optional form of transportation. So common was biking as a every mode of transport that bicycles have their own street lights at intersections. Near the main train station in the historical city center sits a bicycle parking garage. Yes, you read that right. A bicycle parking garage ...but as usual, I'm getting off topic...

The point is, cities in the United States are realizing the value in bicycle and other alternative modes of transport outside the car; and now Anchorage joins that list of cities that want to expand on this money saving and sustainable niche alternative. Indeed biking can be done in Anchorage and therefore technically is an option, but it's not a realistic and practical option. Even with every road in the city having a bike lane, biking from Downtown to Muldoon or Dimond is not exactly a conveinient thing to do. This is where the importance of city design and more specifically, Title 21 building codes, come into play. As of now the city is heavily tilted in favor of the personal automobile. As a result, parking lots dominate the landscape and destinations are placed far apart. Downtown is really the only part of town today in which pedestrians, drivers, and bikers are on more equal footing. Walking from the Captain Cook to Humpy's or the museum a few blocks down is easy. Walking from Midtown to Dimond on the other hand is unthinkable. The same applies to bikes, and a well designed city is very important no matter how many bike lanes you have.

AMATS moves Knik Arm Bridge to short term list

2010-03-27T08:59:00.002-08:00

As if we didn't see it coming, AMATS (the 5 member board that oversees federally funded transportation priorities for the South Central region of the state including Anchorage) has moved the Knik Arm Bridge project from the long term list of priorities back to the short term. Late last year when Anchorage Mayor Begich was still in office, he and two anti-bridge Assembly members voted in a 3 to 2 majority over the two pro-bridge members from the state DOT to move the project into the list of long term projects. This would mean that more immediate and much needed projects that actually affect Anchorage and Valley residents would take priority and become reality. But not long after this was achieved, the mayors from the Mat-Su including disgraced mayor Roger Purcell of Houston (not Houston, TX for you outsiders) took AMATS to court saying that public hearings on the decision were not made. The mayors from the Valley knew full well that if the court struck down the AMATS decision, then the process would start all over but with one major change -- pro-bridge Dan Sullivan is now mayor of Anchorage. Now the majority swings in the favor of the Knik Arm Bridge proposal 3 to 2. For those not in the know, AMATS decisions aren't usually done before the public in the first place. But of course the mayors of Houston and Wasilla see the bridge as a benefit since obviously the bridge landing will be in the Mat-Su and in turn bring opportunities of economic growth at the expense of the Anchorage economy and tax base.

If you've been following this blog for a while, you know I'm not supportive of this project. While I may be a cheerleader for steel beams rising into the air and just about any construction project going on in Anchorage (and the world for that matter), the bridge would be a death knell for the city for both business and residents. Figures already show that toll costs would take decades to cover the cost of the bridge -- a cost that is rising every year since the bridge committee known as KABATA was formed about 10 years ago. At this point the bridge is somewhere in the hundreds of millions... exact numbers are impossible to know as they keep changing every time the latest story on the Bridge to Nowhere is published. Should the bridge be built, funds from AMATS would be sucked dry by the bridge depriving both Anchorage and the Valley of important transport projects that were handed to us via AMATS by the federal government. Why blow what we have in federal money on a bridge that a news source found would actually take LONGER for Valley commuters to get from Anchorage to the Valley and back (in addition to paying a toll)? Most importantly, a bridge linking Anchorage with the sparsely populated western end of the Mat-Su Borough would inevitably lead to urban sprawl as far as the eye can see. Anchorage is in the process of replacing temporary strip malls, dusty parking lots, and other ramshackle buildings with more permanent easy on the eye buildings as developable land runs out and property values rise. From a visual standpoint, Anchorage is on the threshold of looking like a real city. With businesses and residents leaving the city, what happens to our tax base? City funds will drain, quality of schools and other quality of life issues will decrease provoking a further exodus and turn Anchorage into the likes of other cities in the Lower 48. We know these cities -- hundreds of thousands if not millions commute into cities only to repeat their 2 hour commute back in the evening. Unlike Phoenix, Atlanta, or Houston, among others that spread beyond the horizon, Anchorage isn't surrounded by flat plains. The cost to maintain miles and miles of sewer lines, streets, lights, etc etc is non existent due to our limited growth space.

I love my construction projects, but projects that come at the expense of the economic, social, and financial well being of every one of us is not cool.

btw I hope I don't come off as purely alarmist. A project being listed on the short term list doesn't mean that it will happen. Just a disclaimer..

People Mover device gets the green light

2010-03-20T06:58:00.002-08:00

Earlier last month the ADN reported on an idea proposed by Mayor Dan Sullivan in which People Mover buses would be equipped with devices that would allow buses to get through red light traffic. Already in use in other cities in the Lower 48, People Mover buses would use the same technology used by emergency vehicles so as to get passengers to their destinations faster via extending green lights or turning red lights to green. I decided not to bother posting the article here for the cynic in me thought this proposal wouldn't fly. Sure it was the Mayor himself proposing the idea along with a transit friendly Assembly majority, but I suspected that Assembly members would feel the wrath from backwards constituents and be pressured to vote no. Instead, the Assembly voted unanimously in favor of it! Starting next week, two bus routes will begin a one year trial period with results to be reported roughly a year from now. Read the article here.

Goregous Vancouver

2010-03-02T23:26:00.003-09:00

With the Olympics now over, I thought I'd pay tribute to the city of Vancouver BC with this awesome vid that shows just how idealistic (at least some parts) of the city are from an urban planning perspective. If you're a regular reader on topics within the field of urban planning and land use, you've probably lost count of how many times Vancouver has been brought up as an example for urban policy initiatives.

Anyways back to the video; it's just too good. You have the reliable mass transit, the residential towers in the background, the open public space filled with activity, and the peaceful lakefront in front of the central business district and BC Place.

While I'm at it, here's another neat video this time in time lapse:

Top 10 Significant Projects of the Last Decade

2010-02-15T22:19:00.030-09:00

Good to be back! If you read the previous post (scroll down), you knew that I could not attend to the blog for I had things to do in addition to the coming holiday season which is like a vortex that usually takes you in about a week or two in advance and doesn't let you recover until some time early January. It's rough. But I'm back, so lets get this blog back on the road and pretend the lull never happened... just don't scroll down to my previous post.

Anyways for a while I've been debating with myself whether to do this or not... One of my pet peeves has long been the annual end of the year review. You've all seen this. On just about every form of media be it newspaper, websites, or most notably television; end of the year reviews are just excuses particularly for cable channels to run old stock footage and not worry about new and original material for the weeks show. The end of 2009 was especially bad because it also brought in the decade in review. But hey, besides it being February for which I will stand out and get noticed by the masses for my two month late review, this last decade was one that Anchorage had not seen since the 1980s. If you lived here in the 1990s, you knew Anchorage was D E A D. The biggest thing to happen to Anchorage in the 90s was the arrival of Wal-Mart... oh and Schucks Auto Supply. Contrast that to the 80s for which Anchorage saw the new museum, Sullivan Arena, Egan Center, 5th Avenue Mall, Performing Arts Center, and two of Alaska's tallest (and still tallest) towers in Downtown. While oil doesn't flow down the pipeline in the great quantity that it did in the 80s, the 2000s were good to Anchorage if like me, you're into construction stalking. With that said, if anything in this world deserves a 10 year review, it's of course the projects that rised into the sky throughout the Anchorage Bowl. So lets get started with #10:

10. Alutiiq Plaza - Midtown
Not very well known due to its tucked away location, but I had to add Alutiiq Plaza to the top 10. It deserves it. In response to the old criticism of uninspiring bland office buildings that went up in the last 40 years, this last decade has seen a shift with an attempt to give nod to native Alaskan architecture. The first tries have been ugly as can be seen with the Alaska Native Hospital off Tudor Road. The architects of Alutiiq Plaza however are the first to have pulled it off successfully. Drive by this place at night and check out the native symbols on the pane of glass which are lit to give the building an even more charming look than its already nice daytime appearance.

9. Linny Pacillo Parking Garage - Downtown
For some years, Linny Pacillo was known by many in Downtown as the Meter Ferry. I don't know how many people she rescued by putting coins in nearly expired parking meters over the years (while irking the city), but her name lives on with the new Linny Pacillo Parking Garage. Opened at around the same time as the new convention center across the street in 2008, the garage was built to makeup for the large amount of parking spaces lost due to the footprint of the new convention center. A proposal for a skybridge connecting the garage to the Atwood office tower across the street has been floating around for some time now. We'll see if that ever gets off the ground.

8. UAA Consortium Library - UMed District
In its 50+ year history, I would say UAA (formally ACC) had two significant events when it came to new buildings. The first was the founding of the new campus in East Anchorage in the 1960s. The second significant event came in the earlier part of this last decade with the opening of the new consortium library. The exterior is one thing, but the interior is quite another with its daring use of colors, materials, and glass curtain that lets in large amounts of sunlight. This is without a doubt a break from the usual mundane and otherwise forgettable buildings sprinkled throughout the UAA campus. You don't have to be a student to check out the inside of this library for yourself. But you do need to pay for parking sadly. Check out the Consortium Library gallery at Flickr.

7. Arctic Slope Regional Corporation - Midtown
As mentioned earlier, an old complaint by Anchorage residents has long been the stock of unimaginative box shaped high rises in Midtown and Downtown. The early 2000s opening of the ASRC building in Midtown brought an end to that box shaped building streak. The ASRC was also the first major office building to incorporate Alaskan native elements for which a slew of imitators would follow.

6. JL Tower - Midtown
Near the ASRC sits the 14 storey JL Tower -- named after JL Properties, the developers (at least I'm assuming that this is why its called the JL Tower) behind this building. What I love about it is that it gives us sort of our own Empire State Building what with the LED lights on the buildings penthouse. Like the ESB, the JL Tower has its penthouse lit every night making it visible from many parts of town with special colors commemorating holidays or special events. My personal favorite light show is on Halloween night when the building pulsates orange in a frantic motion so as to give it a haunted house feel. Some shots of the JL at night here.

5. McKinley Tower Apartments Restoration - Downtown
A restored apartment building doesn't sound like a big deal worthy of making it on a top 10 list, but if you've been in Anchorage a long time, you know this is a HUGE deal! Built in the early 50s, the McKinley Tower was a survivor of the 1964 earthquake, but did not survive building code standards which resulted in its doors being shuttered some time later. In the 1970s a shady developer buys the building at a city auction and plans to convert the building to office use. In the meantime, shady developer decides it would be a brilliant idea to paint the building in a groovy pink and red paint scheme. The plans for a reopened office tower never materialize as shady developer runs into financial problems while also being convicted of murdering his wife. Meanwhile the city of Anchorage is left with a pink windowless abandoned building well into the 90s. Finally developer Marc Marlow buys the building and begins sanding off the paint in the late 90s and early 2000s. Marlow too has financial trouble and as a result, the building is left covered in scaffolding for about five years. Finally with tax breaks from the city and money from the federal government, Marlow is able to move the project forward again and bring back the McKinley Tower to its former glory. Since buying the building, Marlow tossed around the idea of making it a hotel, condos, etc, but the federal government required that Marlow restore the building to its original use and its original paint scheme for historical preservation if he is to get a piece of their money. My entire childhood consisted of seeing the building in its pink stage of life. Today I can't get enough when seeing the building at night with some of its occupants lights on and an occasional big screen tv in view. It's hard to imagine that it really is restored and inhabited. Last I heard, Marlow is now working on restoring the tallest building in Fairbanks, which also happens to be abandoned as well. Best of luck to Fairbanks.

4. 188 West Northern Light - Midtown
Speaking of the JL Tower and McKinley Tower Apartments, 188 WNL is another 14 storey building that is worth making the list. Unlike the nearby JL Tower however, the developers and architects of 188 WNL took a different approach to developing the site. Unlike other Midtown highrises, 188 WNL is built in a more compact Downtown style layout. The building is built up to the sidewalk, the bottom floor has space for retail stores or restaurants, and parking for the building is in a nicely hidden garage above it. This mixed-use tower is a text book example of what is expected out of more Midtown buildings as seen under the rewritten Title 21 building codes which call for a more dense Midtown in order to deal with the lack of open developable space in the increasingly crowded Anchorage Bowl.

3. Anchorage Museum Expansion - Downtown
First building in Anchorage to be designed by a high profile architect? Probably. In any case, 2009 saw the opening of the expansion wing to the Anchorage Museum after a decade of planning for such an expansion. Designed by British architect David Chipperfield, the new wing reorientates the museums official entrance to the west rather than facing the Federal Building across the street to the south. In addition to the new entrance and the parkland in front of it, the new building is equipped with modern security and temperature technologies thus allowing the Anchorage Museum to host more high profile events such as an Andy Warhol exhibit (which I think is later this year). More recently, an extension to the Folkwang museum under the watch of Mr. Chipperfield opened in Essen, Germany last month.

2. Dena'ina Civic & Convention Center - Downtown
Strictly from an architectural perspective, I would place the new museum ahead of the Dena'ina convention center. But when including other variables such as the publicity it received, the controversy in getting the project approved by voters, and its potential on raising revenue for the city in years to come, the Dena'ina takes the #2 spot. Rather than replacing the existing Egan Center two blocks north, the Dena'ina was built so as to become the main convention space while the Egan Center acts as spillover space for larger conventions and events. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but the Dena'ina absolutely trumps the Egan in floor space by leaps and bounds. The new convention center also takes pressure off the Sullivan Arena by allowing more Aces games to be played at the arena while gun shows, home and garden, and other floor shows move Downtown (at least in theory that's what was touted).

1. Concourse C - Stevens International
I know I have readership outside Alaska, so if you ever travel back to Anchorage, you don't have to go far to see what's new in the city. Upon getting off the plane, chances are you'll be standing in the most visited new structure in the state. Concourse C, which has been in the planning stages since at least the mid 1990s, finally opened in the summer of 2004. For any born and raised Anchoragite, seeing the new terminal on opening day was a big deal. For the first time ever, we now have those horizontal escalators that allow you to get past long stretches of hallway faster. The new terminal also now airs the CNN Airport network on the tv's in the waiting area! Even the baggage claim has flat screen tv's running advertisements! It's like we have a real airport now! So much of a point of pride has Concourse C became that it made the cover of the GCI phonebook! Twice!

Busy busy busy

2009-12-29T21:21:00.002-09:00

For the five people who regularly follow this blog, you probably noticed that it's been a while since I've made a new post. Good reason -- I've been incredibly busy since late November into December. Now it's the holiday season and I'm taking a break well into the new year. I figured I should post now just so people know I'm alive. I should warn however that I may not be able to make as many posts at least for the foreseeable future (next six months or so) as I have a lot of responsibilities ahead of me. I will indeed post topics I think are of importance though. Whether that's the ground breaking of a new construction project, the completion of one, news surrounding the Title 21 building and zoning codes, as well as any relevant urban related news in the lower 48 and/or around the world, I'll be sure to make the time as best I can to post it. Until then, have a happy new year, everyone.

Canadian tower bypasses parking requirements

2009-11-20T22:11:00.009-09:00

Kinda old (September 2009), but thought it was worth sharing: a developer in Toronto entirely bypassed parking requirements as mandated by city zoning rules and got the green light from the local community council. Like American cities (with the exception of New York and Chicago among perhaps others), Toronto's developers are also required to include a designated amount of space that is to be dedicated to automobile parking; but instead of fitting in the 140 parking spaces as demanded by city zoning in proportion with the residential units being built, the developer of a 42 storey tower in Toronto, Canada got away with nothing more than nine spots for car-share rental spots, and over 300 bicycle spaces. As the developer noted, including parking would have increased the cost of the units by $20,000. While the developer still had to go for approval of the city council by the time that this article reached press time in September, another local source says the tower is likely a go. This is far from an isolated case that is to be ignored, imo. While fitting in with Toronto's drive to "go green", the condo will now become a precedent for future developers to bypass the very expensive route of having to build a parking garage to accommodate cars. In addition, this new tower would have the effect of making other residential developers compete with the low unit prices which again means bypassing the accommodation of cars through parking spaces. This really sets the wheels in motion for a more environmentally friendly and liberal policy in Toronto's city planning in addition to providing precedent for other cities throughout North America. For those wondering, the tower is indeed located in the vibrant downtown Toronto only steps away from a subway and units have already been sold. +1 Toronto.

As for the Anchorage connection, you might have spotted an article in last Tuesdays ADN in which developers and planners who are re-crafting Title 21 codes are in a skirmish of sorts over parking and landscaping. Both are wanting to trim down on the amount of required parking while city planners want added landscaping which developers fear would offset the cost saved by less parking. I have to agree with the developers on this one. Besides discouraging investment or at least keeping costs the same, landscaping doesn't solve the need to make Anchorage more compact and still takes up land. It also means more manicured lawns and shrubs to maintain which includes even more use of water.

Crowne Plaza - Midtown Anchorage

2009-11-15T16:14:00.009-09:00

Well it has arrived. Crowne Plaza, formerly the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, opened its first Alaska hotel in Midtown around early fall. Unlike the uninspired flood of Midtown cardboard box hotels that sprouted throughout Midtown in the last ten years, the Crowne Plaza stands out -- and in a good way too. While its competitors use material that make the building look like it's made of cardboard, the Crowne Plaza features a facade of brick on the bottom half, and concrete on the top complete with arch ornamentation on the roof, an uneven facade of uniform windows, and a setback on the bottom after the first floor. The result -- a charming early 20th century style hotel that puts its surroundings, particularly the neighboring hotels nearby, to absolute shame. For those not familiar with the location, the new hotel sits a spitting distance from the also fairly new Marriot and Motel 6 -- both of which continue the ugly hotel style that should be greeted by the city with as much hostility as big box stores. The good news -- the Crowne Plaza sits on the corner of the block thus blocking the ugly hotels from view. Unfortunently the intersection of C Street and Int'l Airport Road and the area around it has a long ways to go, which brings me to another question: why here? Of all the places the Crowne Plaza and its developers could have chosen, why the southern industrial end of Midtown? Why Midtown in general, for that matter? When people think of Midtown, all that can be thought up is old 70s strip malls, parking lots, and a couple of 70s boxy highrises here and there. Southern Midtown, where the Crowne Plaza can be found, is even worse. To the south of the hotel sits self storage warehouses, industrial lots, auto-related businesses, oh and a carpet store. To the north, you have the Vomit Strip -- Applebee's, TGI Fridays, and the centerpiece of all things horrifying, the Golden Corral All-You-Can-Eat pigslop barn. For those not familiar with Golden Corral, it's the one place in which everyone around you weighs over 250 lbs., the food tastes like it came out of a microwave after being shipped in from its hq in North Carolina, and candy corn among other sweets can literally be scooped on to your plate like it was mash potatos -- even the old Royal Fork buffet knew not to go this far. Outside, the parking lot is more than twice the footprint of the building, ultra bright white lights shine down making it look like a car dealership at night, and a electric scroll sign that looks like it came from the 80s greets you and all other passing motorists on C Street. But now I'm going off topic... but I had to get my Golden Corral rant off my chest -- again.

Anyways back on topic, instead of being in its present location, I would have much preferred that the Crowne take the place of the Clairion Suites in Downtown -- another of those unoriginal and ugly slanted roof buildings. Besides fitting it with the more respectable Downtown, the Crowne hotel at that location would be across the street from the Federal Building, diagnal from the Anchorage Museum including the new museum wing, across the street from Nordstrom, and three blocks from the Performing Arts Center, and the Dena'ina convention center. Choices in dining include Humpy's, Bernie's Bungalow, Crush Bistro + Cellar, and Sullivan's Steakhouse among the surrounding blocks not to mention Orso's, the Brewhouse, Sack's, and the Snowgoose within the next couple of blocks after that. As stated earlier, the current dining options nearby the actual location of the Crowne in Midtown are Applebee's, Golden Corral, and TGI Fridays. Oh, forgot Ihop too -- can't forget that. Civically speaking, the Loussac Library is close by, but not close enough considering the walking to be done along the large stretched blocks made up of lonley narrow sidewalks runing next to 45 mph traffic and parking lots. Plus among the civic institutions, the library is really the last thing any visitor really cares to be close to. Among the cultural attractions, ummm... I guess the Alaska Bush Company strip club? It's just down the road in fact, next to the auto repair shop.

In the end, the Crowne Plaza hotel is a welcome addition to the cityscape. Its unique architecture is not only a first among the series of midsized hotels, but also a first in Anchorage architecture in general. Its location however is a testament to the haywire zoning and planning of this city.

what sits directly across from the hotel:

where the hotel should have instead been located:

Centerpoint West - complete

2009-11-06T19:41:00.007-09:00

Earlier this year I made a post regarding the construction of Centerpoint West, an eight floor office building in Midtown complimenting the already existing Centerpoint building and JL Tower. Unlike the previous high density buildings going up, I was kinda nervous about how this one would turn out. The reason for this was that in the artist rendering of the office tower, the building looked like it was coming out of a time machine straight from the 1970s or 80s. Well, nearly a year has come and gone, and while construction continues on the garage accompanying it, the building is pretty much done. How did the buildings actual appearence turn out? I can tell you it's imo certainly better looking than the yellowish/jungle green building depicted on the signs advertising office space. Then again as you probably know yourself if you follow these kinds of things, artistic renderings of how a building is going to look usually never match, and sometime are far from looking like the actual product (trust me, I've seen some really bad ones...). With that out of the way, the building still isn't anything special. Unlike its nearby neighbors with arched or wedge shape roofs, curved facades, colorful LED lights, or silhouette drawings, Centerpoint West takes a more strict modernist approach. This, I would like. The problem is while the architects took a different approach with this one, it looks like they did it while going for the lowest price possible. It basically looks cheap... really cheap. It's like the building is trying to replicate the much better looking 188 West Northern Lights tower which is similar in design with the building split with one side being strip windows and the other being all glass. It just doesn't work here. The materials used just look shoddy. And why green again? At least it's not gold (now that would've been realllly 80's), but the ASRC building is just nearby. I think light blue, or just clear like in the new convention center would've worked better with the gray. Other than that, the building has shaped up to be what was expected. I'm glad they went for a parking garage. That whole area, formally a trailer park, would've become a parking nightmare with all the new office towers and employees going in and out with less and less space to park. Centerpoint West is building #6 to go up in the area (known by few as "Plaza 36") since 2000 and more building(s) are expected to go up.

Dena'ina Center turns one

2009-11-01T12:43:00.003-09:00

Checkout the article on Sunday's ADN regarding the one year anniversary of the opening of the new Dena'ina convention center. Apparently, despite the downturn in the economy this last year, the center is meeting and exceeding estimated revenue projections made in 2005. Also, not a single event was cancelled this last year despite the economy while bookings for future events are going in to 2014. During this first year of operation, I've been paying close attention to the center and have since observed some goods and bads. For the goods: the convention center actually brings people to the usually empty streets of South Downtown. During weekend events, crowds can leave the center and cross the street to McGinley's Pub, Humpy's, or just all of downtown in general which wouldn't be the case had these events taken place in the far away Sullivan Arena -- the venue that formally housed some of the events now going to the Dena'ina. Yet the bad thing about the convention center is its very self. Though it's more welcoming than the parking lot that came before it, whenever the convention center is not is use (which is often), the whole block which the building occupies sits empty further contributing to the deserted anti-human scale street life that South Downtown has long suffered. While I supported the citys efforts at a new larger convention center since efforts began in 2002 and continue to do so, I hope this convention center will be the last of the superblock variety. To see the success rate of these superblocks, all one has to do is look across the street from the Dena'ina and look at the ConocoPhillips complex, or the 6th avenue parking garage across from that -- places that are too spooky to walk by after 6:00 in the evening.

I hate to sound like Debbie Downer on these things, but I can't help it. But I do realize you can't have a convention center complete with the street charms of 4th Avenue or G Street and because of this, I'm content with the center. I'm also pleased with the exterior (and interior) architecture of the building, which like the new museum, you can tell had no input from the majority Anchorage public (sorry guys -- but hey I was born here). Otherwise the building would look like something from the 80s with whales and mountains painted all over. The back of the convention center is indeed however, a nightmare. I especially feel sorry for the people in the small apartments across from it who have to see that monstrous site every morning.

BTW for those curious, events that have taken place this first year since its opening include Cedric the Entertainer, the International Beard and Moustache Competition, Damon Wayans, a Sarah Palin rally, AFN (twice now, sorry Fairbanks), the Oxygen & Octane Expo, a oil/climate change meeting with some of Obama's cabinet secretaries, and a barrage of events during the night that the state celebrated it's 50th in January among many smaller events. Here's to another successful year *cling*

Destruction leaves its trail in Downtown

2009-10-01T05:39:00.004-08:00

Earlier last month, I noticed a small cottage that housed a hotel on 9th Avenue was gone. About a week later, I noticed an abandoned building that once housed a florist in East Downtown had also bitten the dust. Now more recently, a building that sat in the shadow of the new convention center has suddenly disappeared. Now I know these are not demolitions that occurred a long time ago that I just now noticed -- I know full well that these three places were still around as recent as early August as I'm in the area just about everyday. Of course this is nothing new as Downtown recently saw the Alaska Experience Theater, a neighboring 60s/70s era two story office building, and the much beloved "Wings 'n Things" restaurant meet their demise in the last two years. The addition of this new round of demolitions makes this all more than just isolated events -- it's becoming a trend. I think it's safe to say, without having to do research into each of these new demo's, that the demand for parking is too great, and therefore there's land out there that would make more profit parking cars than being occupied by a building. That's exactly what happened with the Experience Theater in 2007 which I noticed hardly attracted tourists in the summer, and was just downright abandoned during the nine months of winter. Head out there today -- especially with The Lion King playing one block over at the Performing Arts Center, and the property is just packed with cars. I can only imagine how large of a jump in profits Mark Pfeiffer (the owner) is getting out of the land compared to its previous use. Ditto for the former site of Wings 'n Things which was also converted into surface parking.

The good news is surface parking is usually a temporary use of property, and thank goodness for that. Nothing is more embarrassing and pathetic than knowing a property makes more money parking cars than being occupied by a building. It says a lot about us as residents of the city and where our priorities are. And I'm not alone. Eradicating surface parking is usually the goal cities across the country have strive for and there has been much success. If you see old postcards of cities such as Seattle, Austin, Houston, or Sacramento during the second half of the 20th century, you'll notice many city blocks entirely occupied by surface parking that if you visit today, aren't there anymore as they house condos, retail, apartments, and offices -- much of them being built just in the last 10 years despite the parking lots being around for 40 years or more. The reason for this is that we have re-entered a pre-WWII paradigm in which city planners are once again developing cities for people and not the automobile. Boston, San Francisco, New York, (and soon Seattle) have dismantled their overhead post-WWII freeways that run through their downtowns; condos and apartments in this decade have replaced offices as the most common use of highrise for the first time in US history as many residents move into gentrified city centers, and street-car systems which vanished just about everywhere in the 1940s and 50s except for say, San Francisco and New Orleans are making a comeback in places like Seattle, Sacramento, Milwaukee, and even some unsuspecting places like Dallas, Phoenix, and Charlotte, North Carolina. But I'm beginning to go off topic here. The point is while many of these newly opened properties in the heart of Anchorage will eventually revert back from parking space to even more profitable larger buildings; catering to cars should never be a meaningful priority as it only legitimizes and encourages more auto use and thus continues the status quo of the last few decades in which private car is the only way to efficiently get around.

As there has been for many decades, the complaint of lack of parking (despite already having three public garages) in Downtown won't go away for a long time. But rather than doing what we have done for the past 40 or so years, the way to address the problem is to increase alternative options for getting around. Having condos and apartments in Downtown would be a start -- right now housing is only on the perimeter in Bootleggers Cove, South Addition, and Government Hill while the few housing inside the Downtown townsite (9th to 3rd Ave, I St. to C St.) is reserved for low income, or are half-way houses. While we may not yet have the demand for street-cars and are decades away from a subway, improvements to the People Mover in addition to new zoning and building codes from the almost complete Title 21 codes, which were made to be compatible by designating high density commercial centers in Downtown and Midtown and neighborhood town centers, would be a big help imo. After all, put a bus stop in a compact piece of real estate that houses large amounts of people living and/or working with limited parking, and there's bound to be a difference.

In the end, I probably shouldn't be writing this confidently on the idea that parking lots are indeed what will replace each of these properties. After all, Anchorage is for the first time in its history entering a problem no outsider would think can happen to a city in the vast state of Alaska -- running out of land. As available land shrinks, values go up, and urban infill starts to takeoff. A text book example of this consequence is the replacement of the former Balto's Restaurant and its whole parking lot with a 4 story parking garage and 10 story office stacked on top. Another is the uprooting of a decades old trailer court neighborhood that was replaced with a series of office buildings (and more on the way) off 36th Avenue in Midtown. Another reason why I figured I should pause and factor in rising land values and not just parking demand is because the building I mentioned in the first paragraph, which recently housed the offices of management overseeing construction of the convention center, and before that, housed offices to the AFSCME union (I know, because I worked there as a janitor) doesn't look to be the only building in that block getting the axe. It's next door neighbor, the Pioneer Building, which housed Stephens Fine Art, Sub Zero Micro Lounge (is it still open?), and more recently some corny Disney Store like tourist trap selling Humpy's t-shirts and mugs has city permit notices posted on its windows that say "demo". Considering that this building and its already razed neighbor are sitting on the newly designed and fashionable F Street between the PAC and the convention center, I think we may be seeing a project already proposed for the area come next spring when construction season starts again. The location of these two sites is just too good to be left as parking for a long time. I personally think the two sites would make a good location for 4 to 6 story mixed use buildings housing condos and apartments on the top floors, and retail/dining on the bottom floor. A similar building (see below post) is being proposed across from Town Square on the JC Penny parking lot. As of now, we don't have any type of medium sized building that serves this purpose. Right now Downtown has either small cottages, or overbearing souless office towers.

btw also worth noting, the annual Fur Rondy pancake feed also takes place inside the Pioneer Building. Certainly Rondy officials will have to find another location, or face an angry mob looking for there buttermilk goodness.

Downtown Anchorage: Now Complete

2009-09-11T15:14:00.005-08:00

With the leaves turning yellow and six minutes of sunlight being lost everyday, there's no reason for me to be thrilled. Winter is dreadful what with the constant darkness and most importantly, the halt on construction progress. Unlike last winter however, which saw E Street closed for nearly a year and much of Downtown covered in ugly orange construction signs and barricades, all of the improvements made to the Town Square area of town are formally complete. It kinda started off with phase one being completion of the new convention center and parking garage along with the redesign of F Street which was meant to draw a connection between the convention center and the Performing Arts Center two blocks down. After that, phase two started as E Street and parts of Town Square were shut down as pavement on the street was replaced with bricks, sidewalks were widened, parallel parking spots were eliminated, concrete planters and new light poles were added, curbs were eliminated, and a more formal entrance was developed for Town Square. Similar changes, btw, were made to the intersection one block south at 7th and E as it now sports a bottleneck intersection with brick sidewalks and I believe a raised intersection as well. Blueprints for the E Street Corridor suggest changes will actually span from Delaney Park Street to 3rd Avenue while actual changes seen right now only stretch from 7th Avenue to 5th. Whatever the case, construction for now has ceased right on time before the snow comes along and puts whatever remaining progress in a freeze.

Of course both phase one and two didn't come easy. Voters initially rejected the proposed convention center on the grounds of how it will be funded. Then the construction of both the center and the parking garage resulted in much limited parking space as both sites were being built on former surface parking lots. Phase 2 saw some humiliation as a raised brick intersection at 5th and E started coming loose as I believe cars and expanding ice took their toll on the blocks. The bricks had to be taken out and replaced with an awkward looking intersection made up of smooth slabs of yellowish concrete meant to compensate for the absence of bricks (they should at least shave brick patterns an inch deep into the slabs). Earlier before the brick embarrassment, a potential setback arose with the accusation by a assembly member toward then Mayor Mark Begich and the conflict of interest he had as the E Street Corridor Project which he promoted would go right by the Kimball Building, which houses the Kobuk Cafe partly owned by Begich's wife. The charges were dismissed by the Alaska Public Offices Commission which takes up such complaints. With these hurdles in mind along with a new city administration not likely to invest in such urban projects in its next 4 to 8 years, it makes this completion of projects all the more sweet. All these improvements already appear to be having a positive effect as a proposal for a mixed use building on what is now a surface parking lot has come to fruition. It'll be interesting to see what other new private projects will come about as a result of the rising property values from the improvements that have finally come to a completion.

click to view

Anchorage Museum

2009-09-03T21:03:00.007-08:00

For the sake of archiving (why else do I have a blog?), I figured I should acknowledge the fact that construction on the new museum has finally come to a conclusion a couple months ago complete with the ribbon cutting ceremony, public officials, and a fresh new exhibition on hand on opening day. The museum, particularly the exterior, is gorgeous especially when heading east down 6th avenue with its transparent facade and unique shape giving it the appearance that it's constantly in motion as you pass by it. Inside, the museum's new wing includes beefed up security and modern air temperature systems which besides allowing Anchorage to catch up to other museums, also allows it to carry more major exhibitions. I think it's later this year (or maybe next) that works from Andy Warhol will be on display (a must go), while before that there will be a showcase of ...Star Wars props *sigh*

It was the Anchorage Press that reminded me that I should post about the museum as they have recently reported on the birch trees now being planted in the yet to be finished park in front of the building. In addition, sidewalks have been widened dramatically and a stop light has been added nearby where cars previously had gone 45 mph without stopping until four blocks down. Word is the bus stop that sits in front of the future park will also get a major upgrade. Meanwhile on the other side of the museum, a curious looking windowless cube has been built (it's actually been there for almost a year now) which will house a planetarium. It's far from looking as cool as Upper Manhattan's Hayden Planetarium, but eh, whatev. One last tidbit -- the museum has apparently gone through a name change as brochures and other marketing material along with the front exterior simply say "Anchorage Museum" rather than the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. I approve.

Here's a link to another blog from someone who took plenty of interior shots along with his own reviews on the new wing.

The Great Budget Crisis of 2009

2009-08-08T18:44:00.002-08:00

Well the quickly growing amount of suggestions pouring into City Hall these last couple of days or so have made me come out of hibernation a little earlier as I couldn't resist but to publish my own list of recommended budget cuts and new taxes. Both the ADN and the Anchorage Press have been reporting on the flood of ideas coming in to the Muni. From taxing and legalizing poker rooms, reducing the amount of flower pots downtown (which seems to be getting the death blow from everyone), to -- who didn't see this coming -- legalizing pot and prostitution with a tax attached; everyone and their mother is enthusiastically jumping in with their own ideas on how to close the deficit.

I was thinking of going the Glenn Beck route and listing my "7 principles and 12 commandments" or whatever he does, but I figured my recommendations wouldn't be taken more seriously than anyone elses just because of creativity in presentation. Speaking of seriousness, I was tempted to go off and pull a London/Singapore by suggesting we have toll roads as those two cities recently have done (New York and San Francisco also recently looked at such ideas), but I knew I was just asking for it being this is Anchorage. Other ideas listed above such as regulating and taxing vice activities are also not that far fetched and I think it would be nice if we as a city could at least discuss that, but again, as the resident-cynic, I don't expect any of those proposals to be brought up. Then again, Wasilla of all places, and under Palin of all people, did get bars to delay their last call until 5am. New York City's last call is 4am. Anyways I'm going off -- let's just get to my recommendations for closing the gap:

1. - Halt all future road construction projects that involve new turn lanes, extra lanes, wider lanes, etc. We traditonally throw a ridiculous amount of money into new roads with every election that see's bonds up for vote. It's time that comes to a stop. If traffic gets worse because that new turn lane is not yet built, too bad. Maybe you should've taken the bus. I can let pothole repairs go and other upkeep of existing roads, but we have enough aspahlt layed on the ground. No more is needed.

2. - Tax churches and other institutions currently tax exempt. Jerry Prevo, Anchorage's Boss Tweed, strong armed the legislature from taxing his housing units next to his Baptist Temple in East Anchorage. From here on out, all buildings under church ownership that are not used for actual worshipping should be taxed. This includes housing, educational buildings, and giant ugly inflatable sports domes (I'm looking at you, ChangePoint). Perhaps there should also be a tax to UAA should they choose to go forward with the construction of a new arena. Like UAA does best, the new arena will take up forest land next to Providence Hospital rather than already developed land. The city's message to UAA should be "re-develop the Wells Fargo Center, or pay a hefty price".

3. - Tax extra to businesses that want to send human billboards to the side of the street. As everyone here has seen these last couple of years, the new fad is to pay homeless or teens to stand roadside holding a sign, sometimes doing a little dance, just so they can convince you to have your taxes done with them, buy a lotto ticket, or check out a furniture store going out of business. Speaking of furniture stores going out of business, there should be a hefty fine for businesses that litter the roadside with small lawn signs that advertise, oh I dunno... Morgans Home Furnishing, or Kitts Camera Repair...

4. - Charge extra tax to retail businesses that take up valuable industrial land. Right now Target is building a big box retail on the newly opened stretch of C Street between O'Malley and Dimond. The land in that area was intended for industry, but as has been done over and over, a national retailer quickly sneaked in and purchased land that not only allows for their presence, but also allows for the scraps that follow -- fast food chains, strip malls, and chain restaurants that serve dog food like TGI Friday's, Applebee's, or Golden Corral (Golden Corral is actually a pig slop barn -- my bad). Industrial land is already scarce, and we have enough commercial centers for new businesses.

5. - No more roadside landscaping. Even before the budget crisis, new traffic islands have been neglected as the grass grows tall and yellow. Take away the flower patch in front of the "Anchorage Welcomes You" signs. Thinking about replacing the wide concrete median with one filled with grass. Cancel it. Outside of Downtown, we can try to beautify the suburban mess that makes up most of the Bowl with band aids in the form of landscaping, but the results have historically been dreadful as upkeep is never consistant.

6. - Seek the State of Alaska's cooperation in shutting down KABATA and the bridge project. Though the last on my list, the city would get off to a great start by jumping on this recommendation first. The last thing we need is a 300 million dollar plus (I don't even know what the cost is anymore) boondoggle of a project that has struggled to find investors, threatens to send our tax base to Houston and Wasilla, and is only two lanes with a toll booth and a drive time longer than the Glenn Highway. KABATA itself has been a mess with the resignation of members (most notably George Wuerch and Henry Springer), PR disasters, and lack of adequate answers to many concerns -- all on the taxpayers dime. As it stands right now, the transportation board that oversee's major projects for South Central has voted 3 to 2 to shelve the bridge until 2018, however the mayor of Houston (the same guy who pulls drivers over in his personal BMW and has countless of YouTube-worthy squabbles with the city council) has taken that decision to court.

4th Avenue Theater: Sold

2009-05-24T17:33:00.005-08:00

Late last week at a courthouse down the street from the theater, the Lathrop Building which was held by Northrim Bank on foreclosure from Joe Gottstein was sold to Peach Investments of San Francisco. Since early in the decade, Peach had been interested in purchasing the theater with speculation that it wanted to convert the basement of the theater into a fitness center while the parcel of land directly behind the theater between the Key Bank (also owned by Peach) and First National Building on 5th Avenue would give rise to a 20+ story mixed-use building. As you probably know, the theater has been through a circus latley with the city, private foundations, its owner, and the bank all getting involved in these last few years as the theater changes hands once again since Gottstein bought the building in 1991. The theater itself has been out of operation since the 1980s and since then has played occasional host to your typical banquet, fundraiser, whatever. Preservationists, and rightly so, are concerned about what will happen with the building under the new ownership. I personally think the building will be taken care of under Peach, but we'll see what happens. One good thing about the theater being out of the hands of Gottstein is that with a much wealthier owner, the theater may see some serious TLC and aggressively seek opportunities to hold events or tenants. After 20 years under Gottstein, the theater seemed to be in a pergatory with nothing major happening. In fact I think we might be seeing action already taken as the front doors to the theater have been boarded up. I can't say for sure that the new owners are the ones responsible for this, but as someone who goes by the theater almost every day, I do know the wood was certainly not there a week ago. Earlier this year one of the display windows to the theater was shattered and remains with no glass.

BTW Peach Investments is indeed the same group behind the beautiful mixed-use 188 WNL tower on C Street between Benson and Northern Lights over in Midtown. I think this is why I don't feel too concerned about Peach being the new owner. Besides 188 WNL, the proposed Peach Tower behind the 4th Avenue Theater would also be a mixed-use building that is a level above the rest of the highrise inventory here in Anchorage. Mixed-use buildings are important in that they help foster street life by offering retail and other services on the bottom floor for the residents and/or the office workers above. Many of our highrise offices such as the ConocoPhillips building, or the new JL Tower don't offer that, and as a result their immediate surroundings are dead of pedestrian activity. Mixed-use buildings have surged in popularity, and in some cases mandated by city governments as they all contribute to more efficient economics. The proposed Augustine Energy Center for 6th and G Street will also be mixed-use as well as proposed Town Square Center on 6th and E. But I digress. What I'm trying to get at is that those who understand the need for mixed-use buildings usually come from the same school that embraces the concept of refurbishing warehouses and historical buildings into lofts or other uses. If you've been in a relatively big city in the lower-48 in the last few years, chances are you've seen many of these conversions taking place (many small cities are also seeing this happen). The idea of demolishing a historical building in place of a parking garage or a modernist bland building was a Robert Moses philosophy that flourished in the mid 20th century and peaked in the 60s with the demolition of New York's Penn Station. City planners have since learned from the mistakes made during that 50s-60s period and we're now continuing further into the Jane Jacobs philosophy. Of course we can never be sure that the theater will be saved, and people should be on the look out no doubt; but I hope and suspect the Lathrop Building is in good hands.

Creekside Town Center - Muldoon

2009-05-05T15:00:00.011-08:00

With what seems like a week now of nothing but cloudless skies and sweltering temperatures flirting with the 70s (quite unusual for late April-early May), I decided to do some cruising around town and went by Muldoon which besides being home to the new Tikahtnu Commons, is also home to the Creekside Town Center -- a project I admittedly forgot about and thought it was for whatever reason put on hold [edit: turns out it was put on hold for a few years]. Mark Pheiffer, the guy behind the controversial Downtown parking lot deal and hopeful developer of the Augustine Energy Center teamed up with Jerry Nesser (of Nesser Construction Inc., of course) to build a pedestrian friendly "town center" that would be home to a mix of retail and various types of housing. Since Pheiffer's announcement back in 2003 about his plans, some of the footprints for the project have been spoiled as GCI, Walgreens, and soon Wal-Mart have developed sections along DeBarr Road with status quo developments that aren't consistent with the Creekside Town Center standards. Still, the majority of land on the south side of DeBarr was eventually bought and is in the middle of construction as we speak.

Despite my very skeptical predictions for this development, my visit to the completed portion of Creekside made for a pleasant surprise to myself. Upon driving down the main avenue leading into the town center, the houses that face the street have no driveway nor a garage. In its place is the classic appearance of porches, stairs, and entrances that lead to a path separated from the roadway. There's not a snout-house in sight. Away from the main entrance are units that face each other with what looks to be a future stream of water that will someday run between the homes along with picnic tables and barbecue grills to the side. Though Creekside is just beginning to get its trickle of tenants, it's easy to visualize the neighborhood residents out by the stream with the barbecue going on a hot summer evening. Architecturally, it seems there is not one house alike as the facades of the homes stay diverse so as to make the area feel more genuine and not look like a giant subdivision that was built overnight. I'm very aware of the criticism of Disneyfying with the faux-historical architecture, but I think I'd rather see more Disneyfied neighborhoods like these than what we see elsewhere in the city. As for the garages and driveways, they're there -- they're just placed in the rear.

Anchorage's bike plan unveiled

2009-04-26T13:06:00.003-08:00

The city has released more than you could ever want to know on the recommendations set out by the Anchorage Bike Plan. Major proposals include bicycle lanes along A/C Streets from O'Malley to Benson, a bicycle lane on Northern Lights Boulevard from LaTouche Street down to Postmark Drive at the airport (along with a lane going down Postmark Drive itself), a connection uniting the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail with the new bike trail that runs along Ship Creek to Mountain View; and though not officially backed by the Plan, a proposal is made for a bike trail that runs alongside the railroad tracks from Spenard to Huffman. The Alaska Railroad by the way does not support the idea as they plan to increase the speed of their trains to 79 mph. The goal of the Anchorage Bike Plan is to layout a reliable network of bike lanes, shared roads, and trails to accomodate not for recreationist, but rather for bicycle commuters making errands to the grocery store or whatever in everyday life.

One problem with the proposed bike network is its conflict with the plans surrounding Downtown Anchorage. Upon skimming the PDF's, I found that recommendations go against bollards (or knee-cappers as I call them), and discourage bottleneck intersections -- an area where the sidewalk spills toward the street so as to give pedestrians a narrower road to cross. If you've been to Downtown latley, you know this is what they're all about. The bike planners concede however that with speeds in downtown at around 25 mph (and possibly down to 20 mph if downtown planners have it their way), it's better off for bikers to share the roads with vehicles rather than have a dedicated bicycle lane. According to the map though, 9th Avenue along the Park Strip would get a bicycle lane along with Cordova. In the end I'm satisfied with the compromise for Downtown as it is indeed a unique area planning wise.

Links:
Anchorage Bicycle Plan

Proposed Bicycle Network Map

New intersection for Midtown

2009-04-24T21:34:00.004-08:00

I talked about this earlier, but now it's actually happening. The intersection of West 40th Avenue and Arctic Blvd is just that -- an actual intersection. Installed right in front of the fairly new Alutiiq Plaza, its best to guess the stop lights that are putting a break to the long 40 mph stretch of Arctic are being added to accommodate the growing workforce that head over to Plaza 36 during the workday where the new JL Tower, Alutiiq Plaza, ASRC building, Centerpoint Financial Center, and coming soon -- CenterPoint West are all located. Before Alutiiq Plaza (seen on the above picture) was built, this portion of W. 40th Avenue didn't even exist; but my have times changed. From what I can recall, this is the second newest stoplight intersection to spring up on an existing road in Midtown in the last couple of years. The way I see it, the more breaks we put to these long stretches of roads, the better as Midtown transitions from suburban outpost to the new city center of Anchorage.

Another good thing about this new intersection -- maybe now motorists previously zooming by will actually notice the unique looking Alutiiq Plaza when stopped at the light.

Prop 6 Passes

2009-04-18T22:09:00.004-08:00

Just found out tonight while watching Channel 2 that Prop 6, the transportation and safety bond, extended its lead during the absentee count earlier today and has officially passed with a margin of 352 votes. As you may have heard, the bond was the closest race in this April's Muni election in which the yes vote was at one time barely losing to the no's during election night, then pulled up past the no votes by a margin of 2 votes up until today. Some of the funding, according to AnchorageTomorrow include:

- Construct Facility Improvements with ADA access and other upgrades to existing bus stops and transit facilities ($207,000).

- Replace and upgrade data processing hardware to improve efficiency, accuracy, timeliness and inventory control ($30,000).

- Replace major bus components, acquire Smart Card fare boxes and upgrade operating systems ($101,000).

The Smart Card acquisition is an interesting one which I had not heard about till now. Besides the above, Prop 6 will also replace cardiac monitors on ambulences and fire trucks as replacement parts for current systems are no longer manufactured. BTW as noted by a reader in my previous entry, the rest of the bonds supplied by the Muni and school district took a beating by voters (except road bonds of course) including Prop 5 which involved funding to reconstruct the entrance of the main library.

Prop 5 in Profile: New Loussac Library entrance

2009-04-05T10:42:00.003-08:00

As everyone knows by now what with all the illegally placed campaign signs lining up the roads across town, everyone and their mother will be on this Tuesdays ballot for mayor. But the mayoral race isn't all that is up for vote next week. Besides our 1600 candidates running for City Hall, Prop 5 for library funding is among the more interesting props up for vote. Besides proposing a new library branch for Downtown (which is awesome), the proposition also seeks funding to totally redo the entrance of the Loussac Library. Gone would be the stairs, the skybridge connecting to the Alaska Collection, and the drive through/drop off. In place of the stairs would be a ground level atrium with a large curtain of glass smartly facing towards the south while the road that goes through the library will no longer connect to Denali but would instead become a circular drop off surrounded by a new plaza that better links the library to the fountain.

Renderings of the new library proposals (PDF)

As for my mayoral predictions, this Tuesday will only be the filtering of the candidates. Failing to reach the 45% threshold, expect Croft and Sullivan signs to remain.

You gotta love it

2009-03-21T10:56:00.005-08:00

Just like the two previous summers, this summer will see more steel rise into the air over Anchorage. This year, CenterPoint West, off of 36th Avenue & CenterPoint Drive, will rise eight stories into the air next to the JL Tower -- roughly about the same height as the new Dena'ina Center in Downtown. Architecturally, the rendering of the building looks like something from the 1980s, but I suspect this is nothing more than a largley inaccurate artist rendition which is quite common when looking at other buildings in town and how different they look from their original rendering. A 360 space parking garage will be built west of the building, which only makes sense considering I didn't think the people at JL Properties would be able to fit another office building into the sea of asphalt which already gets filled to near capacity with cars during the work day. By the way, in order to handle the growing amount of work force heading to the area, it appears an intersection complete with stoplights will sprout up on the stretch of Arctic Blvd between 36th and Tudor in front of the also newly built Alutiiq Plaza. More good news, I think as we have too many long stretches of roads in Midtown that could use interuptions to tame and slow traffic down.

"The High Cost of Free Parking"

2009-03-10T22:17:00.002-08:00

That's the name of the book by UCLA Professor Donald Shoup, which four years since being published is seeing its influence filter into the policies of some American cities, most notably San Francisco. Shoup argues about the misuse of valuable real estate that is given away as "free" parking which causes a cycle that starts with subsidizing parking, promoting driving / decreasing transit ridership, laying more asphalt for expansion, and repeat -- ultimatley winding up with us asking why our cities are so anti-pedestrian friendly and ugly. Anyways InTransition just published a great article on this subject and how some cities are looking at the solutions provided in Shoup's book so as to combat the problem of excess parking.

InTransiton: Putting Parking into Reverse

Tikahtnu Commons shaping up

2009-03-07T12:39:00.007-09:00

The new Tikahtnu Commons continues to slowly but surely shape up as more of the retail stores announced to be in the new development start to put up their signage while doing finishing touches inside. Major retail anchors include Target (open since last Oct), Best Buy, Sports Authority, Kohls, and Lowes along with I think Regal Cinemas. I recall that the developers behind Tikahtnu promised that small local businesses will also have a presense in the new sprawl-mall, but so far the only "small" businesses I'm noticing are Gamestop, and Hard Slab Creamery. The latter I never heard of, but according to the googles, Hard Slab Creamery is a nationwide franchise... of ice cream, I would imagine.

But really, I've got to give it to these developers. From the way they sold the project, you'd be convinced that the CIRI backed Tikahtnu Commons would be a progressive "town center" like project with a mix of retail, offices, and other uses in a compact aesthetically pleasing area that would rival the also now disasterous Glenn Square across from the Northway Mall. Instead Tikahtnu Commons is turning out to be a case of a slow and ugly car wreck that in true rubbernecker spirit, we can't help but to keep tabs on and watch as this thing goes further down the incinerator. If this development is suppose to be as trendy as the developers have been touting for a while, then the 5th Avenue Mall in Downtown must be lightyears ahead when it comes to its progressive utilization of smaller space. Instead of coming from the 21st Century, Tikahtnu Commons is a sprawl of retail that comes to us freshly from the year 1959 when gas was cheap, land was plenty, and environmental concerns were non-existent.

Clash over the People Mover

2009-02-27T21:31:00.007-09:00

As you may have heard, acting mayor Matt Claman recently took the red pen to the People Mover and ended two bus routes serving Eagle River as well as end bus service on three days of the week that receive low ridership. Well this Tuesday saw the Assembly pass a resolution by a 9 to 1 vote disagreeing with Claman's cuts to the bus service. Unfortunately the mayors office is not required to obey the resolution and will therefore mean the resolution is nothing more than a letter written by the Assembly about how upset they are with him (yep, just got a Team America World Police quote in).

Anyways fast forward to today and Mr. Claman meets with UAA students in charge of a climate change panel that crafted a report on how the city should best take on the crisis of climate change. According to KTUU, one of the recommendations that was made is to "fully fund and expand the People Mover bus service as outlined in the city's long-range transportation plan". Ouch! It is indeed true though that the citys transportation plan is consistant with this recommendation as is Title 21 and its design codes that presume better bus services to conform with its rewritten standards.

...Clamans cuts to the People Mover are expected to remain..

Project in Profile: Anchorage Museum Expansion

2009-02-15T12:17:00.008-09:00

Just thought I'd go out this morning to take some pics of the new Anchorage Museum as it nears completion with just finishing touches left until it opens later this year. From the time the museum staff were seeking architects for a proposal, to the ribbon cutting ceremony not long from now, it will have been about seven years in the making for this project to be complete. At least for me, this project felt like an eternity, but maybe I was over-anxious for this one. By the way, on the bottom row I took a pic of the sign announcing the new museum which I didn't notice until now still pictures the old design proposal before architect David Chipperfield made the redesign.

click to view larger:

official website

Independent study: Nearly $700M for Knik Arm Crossing

2009-02-11T23:13:00.004-09:00

You may remember awhile ago the state DOT commissioned a consultant independent of KABATA to study the presumably higher amount of money it would cost to go ahead with the Knik Arm Crossing. KABATA put the new cost at around $683 million while this report has it at $686 million and over $800 million should the bridge be expanded from a two lane toll bridge to four lanes. Additonal costs such as construction oversight and other possible factors that could come into play were not included in this new calculation, according to the ADN. Overall, the report stated "The design and construction risks for this project are extraordinarily high," however the report also said success can be achieved if the parties involved in the bridges construction can come up with solutions when it comes to responsibility of handling the project so as to keep it above water.

Article

Obama: “The days where we’re just building sprawl forever, those days are over”

2009-02-10T23:23:00.003-09:00

For the President of the United States to utter this sentence is a big deal. It really is. Earlier last month in another post, I briefly mentioned Obama's appreciation for cities and his knowledge of the works of famous urban philosopher, the late Jane Jacobs. This consistency he has shown during the last couple of years during his campaign, and now presidency, is something that should not be underestimated as President Obama, who has high approval ratings and is seen as a generational leader the likes of which we haven't seen since Reagan or JFK, has a lot of clout and is in a position to alter the course of the American psyche and its attitude toward the unsustainable "American Dream" of urban sprawl that helped get us into the trying times we face today as a nation.

Obama's mention of urban sprawl and the need for investment in public transportation occured yesterday at the town hall meeting in Fort Meyers, Florida by the way. A transcript in fuller context is available here thanks to the Transportation for America interest site.

I expect sprawl to continue on; it ain't going away like that. But as we head into the 21st century with the urgent need to break away with the direction our country had previously gone on a variety of issues, the issues of sustainability both economically and environmentally will prove very challenging to the post-WWII/1950s era of city planning that took place during what was then a totally different country with a different outlook.

Beautiful Java Island in Amsterdam

2009-02-08T12:38:00.007-09:00

I was just looking through this photo set taken by a photographer over in Amsterdam Nederlands, specifically in Java Island, the former industrial docklands that were transformed into a playground for modernist architects as the area went from brownfeild to residential in the 1990s. Even without the gorgeous gables and circular street layout that Amsterdam is best known for, this place really came out looking nice. In the two times I've had the privilege to visit, I've never actually made my way to Java as the American in me was too much of a lazy ass to walk the long distance it takes to cross the harbor from the city center, but even from a distance, it's quite a sight to see in person.

Link

Anyways I post this because it got me thinking about our own brownfield by the sea for which the city has been trying to make lively and vibrant. For years Ship Creek has been in the cross hairs of attempted redevelopment into a tourist destination, but it's just not working out. The problem is tourists are in town for only three months of the year. In addition, elderly tourists -- who make up the majority of visitors here -- probably find the area too distant and not worth it to walk from downtown. Shuttle services offer rides to Ship Creek, but that's just not practical as a sole dependent. I think the most symbolic example of the failure for Ship Creek to materialize is what happened when an upscale restaurant that only appeals to tourists and special get-togethers opens up in the pit. Had it been a coffee shop or any sort of everymans diner that appeals to locals, specifically employees in the area who work for the Alaska Railroad, Anchorage Port, and the numerous distribution centers nearby, then I would expect the diner or normal priced restaurant to be able to sustain itself year around as it can be a place for workers to grab a bite during lunch hour. Instead, the swank and much hyped restaurant known as The Bridge went out of business in I believe less than a year. It's next door neighbor, The Ulu Factory, is still open, but business is obviously slow if you hadn't been down there latley.

If I were in charge of the redevelopment, this is what I would do. Give incentives for basic-need businesses (groceries, banks, coffeeshops, etc) to open up and cater to the workforce in the area as well as rezone land to intice developers to build medium to high density residential buildings that would house the businesses at ground level. This way even without the areas workforce present during weekends, businesses and the neighborhood in general can depend on its new residents to keep the place alive rather than depend on the three-month-a-year tourist. You've probably noticed this with 4th Avenue in Downtown during the winter as well. The place has been taken hostage by tourists since its reincarnation in the 80s and as a result, a very active street in the summer becomes a ghost town during winter, except for say Fur Rondy and the Iditarod.

Ironically if you've already seen the photos I linked of Java Island, you probably are left wondering where all the people are. I wonder that too, but I don't know the time of day, or day of the week when those photos were taken nor other variables that may or may not make the place seem dead. Whatever the case, I do think what we're seeing in Amsterdam is a smart way to make efficient use of land that happens to be available. Apparently demand for marine related industry is not high enough as the demand for residential space (which I suppose is understandable as the whole medieval city center of Amsterdam is thankfully under strict preservation and protection from new construction). BTW, work is under way on restoring an old building owned by the Alaska Railroad in Ship Creek with the hopes of turning it into office space. Our fingers will be kept crossed.

Northpointe Bluff purchased by the city

2009-02-06T11:40:00.003-09:00

Well it was only a matter of time before the city or the bank had to enter the picture on this embarrassment of an endeavor that it had worked out with developer Marc Marlow that involved putting up a "neighborhood of upscale single family homes and duplexes" on the site of the old raggedy Hollywood Vista Apartments in East Government Hill. Considering that this involved Marlow, shouldn't either party involved with his Northpointe project have seen some sort of financial hiatus coming? Don't forget the disastrous construction timeline it took to restore the McKinley Apartments downtown which was also under the watch of our good intentioned, but money troubled developer.

read story here (ADN)

In the meantime if you've been in the area, you can drive the twisty roads of the barren subdivision like it's one of those Formula-1 or LeMans Grand Prix road courses... it's pretty cool.

Completed Projects: A Year in Review

2009-01-25T00:01:00.002-09:00

2008 was a good year. Looking towards 2009 and further, 2008 may end up looking like a really good year. With our city and state expected to take a whipping economically for the first time in nearly a generation, 2008 will probably mark the end of the Project 80's revival of this decade. Thankfully, Anchorage held out long enough for us to watch a new era of major public and private buildings go up around town. They're new buildings that alter the skyline and because of their permanent change to the cityscape, deserve critique from its citizens. Then again, I'm probably just stating the obvious as everybody becomes an architectural critic when spotting new buildings. I just happen to run a blog about it :D

Please note that these are completed projects of 2008 that I'm reviewing, so the new museum, Clark Middle School, and other projects still in the works are not listed. Also be aware that I'm only speaking for myself when judging the appearance of these new buildings. This is not some prestigious architectural journal (you should know better by now).

Dena'ina Convention & Civic Center - grade: 7.5

Probably the most high profile project in Anchorage during this decade, the new convention center is an amazing, but controversial building standing in Downtown across from City Hall. I personally would overall give the Dena'ina my tip of the hat for not looking like the Egan Center just for starters. Seriously though, what I like about this new building is the huge and dramatic facade of glass that overtakes 7th Avenue. At night when the lobby is lit for an event, the front of the building from City Hall looks almost like an ant farm as you can see people going up, down, and walking across on all levels of the building. It's almost like peeling a wall to see the activity inside. The problem a lot of people have of course is not with the front facade of the building, but rather the exterior on the other three sides which some say looks like a warehouse. I too would have to say it took some adjusting for me to get used to the exterior on the other three sides, but I do think such a blankness to the building will allow for a more smoother aging compared to the Performance Arts Center which tries so hard with its architecture and decorations that 20 years later, the building is a bit awkward (I'll always have a place in my heart for the rings with dancing lights though). Speaking of the PAC, I would have to say that in contrast, the Dena'ina is all about transparency. Besides the front facade dramatically exposing all the activites going on at all levels of the lobby, the front white exterior has kind of a glow to it. It's almost like some of Apple's latest products over the last few years with that white-below-the-glass sensation happening. Take this Apple mouse for example. The PAC on the other hand looks like a concrete castle with something to hide inside. At least the PAC was built with room for street level retail. The Dena'ina on the other hand does not.

Linny Pacillo Parking Garage - grade: 6.3

Shortly after the Dena'ina Center broke ground, the surface lot that sits diagonal from the convention center site became the footprint for the Pacillo Parking Garage to makeup for lost space that the Dena'ina Center took away from Atwood Building employees. The garage has eight levels of parking, room for retail at the ground floor, and if you haven't noticed, some progressive modernist architecture. To put it in another way, "it looks like something from Germany" as one friend put it. Indeed while other new garages at Providence Hospital, the Native hospital, and around Midtown look like your textbook concrete structure, the Pacillo Garage clearly took a departure, and I'm so glad they did. For its high profile location, if we're going to get yet another parking garage, it better be something that's worth looking at. The retail level however is somewhat of a disappointment as it's hard to notice that there's a Northrim Bank at one end while the rest of the ground level sits tucked away beneath a very unfriendly gray arcade. Overall, I think the garage deserves a 6.3. While the garage fills a critical need and displays fresh architecture, it's still a parking garage. Not the most flattering type of building especially when sitting across the street from another parking garage. Hopefully the garage will soon see more life as Channel 2 KTUU reported last year that the owner of Glacier Brewhouse plans to open up another restaurant in one of the vacant spaces on the ground level. Cross your fingers.

JL Tower - grade: 6.8

Rising at 14 stories above Midtown, the JL Tower is one of the two new high rise buildings to go up in the city for the first time since the beginning of this decade. The JL Tower, which was constructed by (surprise!) JL Properties is one of the few other office buildings that went up in the former trailer park neighborhood now dubbed 'Plaza 36'. Architecturally, the JL provides a nice break from previous high rises as the building features a smooth curve starting from the base that bows and reaches to the top making it look as if there's an organic curved box partly trapped in a L shape rigid box that breaks free at the top. If you hadn't noticed yet, the tower offers a pretty sight at night as the mechanical penthouse of the building displays an impressive 360 degree wrapped light show made up of hundreds of LED light diodes. Sadly, the unique looking JL Tower sits quietly far away from busy C Street and 36th Avenue. The building could have served as a can't-miss visual anchor that would help define either or both of the two streets, but instead the tower acts like a low profile suburban office park as it sits in the middle of landscaping and a series of surface parking lots that put together could rival the Sullivan Arena parking lot. Speaking of which, the amount of landscaping and surface parking surrounding the building makes it clear that efficient use of land was not a top priority for the developers. I'm kind of surprised they even bothered to strive for LEED certification. Still though, not a bad tower at all.

188 West Northern Lights - grade: 8.8

Not too far north of the JL Tower, also in Midtown, 2008 saw the completion of another high rise tower officially known as 188 West Northern Lights. While the JL Tower had more in common with office developments around Midtown during these last few decades, 188 WNL is a revolutionary building for the central part of town. Unlike its nearby neighbors, 188 WNL has no surface parking, is built right up to the street, uses already developed land, and is mixed-use as it offers space for retail at ground level. All music to the ears of the backers of Title 21, the city's new zoning codes currently under review by the Assembly to acheive the goals of the Anchorage 2020 plan. With this sustainable and flexible layout, I expect the building to better weather the eventual urban densification of Midtown and the rest of the Bowl as developable land continues to shrink and compact urban infill continues to become a more attractive option as it has in other cities around the nation. While this new building shows off the best in civic responsibility, I think the post-modernist architecture of 188 WNL is more 'fun' to look at as it is more fresh and unpredictable in shape and lines compared to the JL Tower which I feel tries a bit too hard to please a more broad audience. If there is to be one thing that I have to whine about with this building, it's the ridiculous rocks that were molded into the sidewalks fronting the building. It looks like a redneck version of the post 9/11 barricade filled sidewalk surrounding the FBI headquarters Downtown. My wag of the finger for that.

Glenn Square - grade: 4.4

Over to Mountain View, though still partly under construction, I thought I'd consider this a largely finished project since all of the anchor stores are now open. All that is really left are three "pads" in the middle of the parking lot that are left for future development along with vacant spaces for small businesses, and if correct, I believe Century Theaters is looking at opening a theater here -- not 100% sure though. What I like about this development is its attempt at integrating mixed-uses into one area. Besides retail, future expansion foresees office space in the area as well as residential properties. What I don't like is the not so exciting presence of big box retailers (and boring ones too) such as Michael's, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Famous Footware. Seriously, to think that Mayor Begich even bothered to make a press release about the arrival of ...Bed Bath & Beyond. Sweet jesus that was embaressing for us. I know that we Alaskans go gaga for the arrival of the most mundane of chain stores, but now we're just scratching the bottom of the rusty tub. To get to the point though, the presence of these big box stores has me left scratching my head about this whole city backed plan to revive Mountain View. We're bringing back Mountain View by opening lower-48 chain stores whose profits return to their headquarters in the lower-48? Of course the Texas based developers behind Glenn Square claim to be helping in revitalizing the neighborhood with their new shopping mall, but it sounds more like an excuse to justify capitalizing on an incredibly rare large piece of empty land that was sold by the city. Anyways I'm starting to wander off -- back to the mall itself. Architecturally, there is nothing really to say. It's a Disneyland of lets-pretend/feel-good design. The clock tower specifically is a nauseating structure that appears to have the intent on insulting our intelligence. Are we suppose to fall over ourselves and be lured to shop there because it looks like one of those cozy minature christmas towns? I appreciate the effort in doing something unique, but I'll have to rate Glenn Square slightly less than a 5. Hopefully added residential and office space will one day redeem the Square.

Onto some smaller projects that were completed in 2008:

4211 Mountain View Drive - grade: 8.2

I like. Residential on top, room for retail on bottom. Looks a little too much like it was built overnight with prefab walls though. But overall, it's a fun looking little building that serves for the better in enhancing the aesthetics of the streetscape for Mountain View.

Grand Duchess - grade: 5.2

If this new store caters to our Duchess, where's the place for our Duke? Anyways, this new building located at Arctic and C Street makes for quite an interesting addition to the landscape in our grand dukedom. Just to be sure that you don't miss it, the building is painted entirley in hot pink and looks like a cross between a Ziggaraut and a Victorian era mansion. Victorian steel gates gaurd the parking lot from those unwanted filthy peasants. Though I think this building is a welcome addition in comparison to its neighbors, I think the Germanic tribe still overtake the Duchess down the street with their German immersion school which involved the remodeling of an industrial building and converting it into a sleek piece of property with soft shades of gray on its exterior as well as transparent orange paneling that lights at night. For that building (which re-opened in 2007), I would rate its exterior remodeling an 8.0 perhaps.

Embassy Suites Midtown - grade: 3.4

Why do local architects as of late feel the need to add exposed wooden trusses to their facades? First it was the new Carr's on Abbott, then KFC nearby, and now more recently, Target in Muldoon. With the exception of Carr's, the ornaments adorning the facade backfire, and the new Embassy Suites is unfortunately no exception. Besides this, the architects apparently felt that we needed more of the same shape and design that other Midtown hotels such as the Hilton Garden Inn and Motel 6 have. At least the main entrance is kinda interesting and new to the Anchorage hotel architecture scene (which must be a very exciting scene btw). This new hotel also results in the forced relocation of the beloved Benny's Food Wagon. There will be hell to pay for that.

The Sockeye Inn - grade: 5.8

Not much to say other than it looks okay. I suppose the fish scale facade of the building has something to do with why the business occupying the building was named "Sockeye". Glad to see the building taking up the street corner with the parking lot in the rear rather than tucking the building away from the street. Also glad to see the used car lot bulldozed to make way for this hotel.

Greatest bicycle accessory ever invented?

2009-01-17T00:13:00.003-09:00

Well they sure beat those little reflective placards. Behold the "LightLane". Indeed I will probably be retired or dead by the time Anchorage has the same amount of bicycle lanes as Den Haag in the Netherlands, but as you can see, the LightLane is your own personal bicycle lane that will go wherever you go despite the city you live in being absent of such lanes. Unfortunently of course, riding during daylight in a city empty of bike lanes will remain another story. BTW the LightLane was thought up by Altitude Inc.. As of now, there is no actual prototype in existance so far. Somebody better develop this thing fast though!

Freeze Project

2009-01-11T20:55:00.006-09:00

This weekend saw the opening to the Freeze art project over at the Delaney Park Strip, Elderberry Park, and the Museum. From what I've heard, the installations will be in place until sometime in early February. Obviously the city is experiencing the worst of winter in decades, but man up! ...I actually had to return home and pick up gloves before returning to the Park Strip on Saturday afternoon. Still, it's worth it as it exceeded my expectations and I'm sure you'll be glad you went as well. By the way, the project besides including many artists from around the world also includes numerous architects, many of those architects being from our own Anchor-town. Info on the specific works along with info on just who are these people behind 'Freeze' can be found at the official site - http://freezeproject.org/alaska/

BTW, I don't wanna give away why people are entering that snow fortress on the above photo, so I'll just say it's worth seeing what's in there for yourself *wink wink*.

*edit* Well with our high temps in the 40s and southern winds from the Pacific invading town, you better get down to see Freeze before it melts away!

PDF map of Freeze.

The Legacy of Mayor Mark Begich

2009-01-08T14:24:00.014-09:00

For those living in a cave, earlier this week we saw Mayor Mark Begich become Senator Mark Begich at the swearing in ceremony at the Capitol in Washington as he took over the seat formally held for the last four decades by Ted Stevens. With this new position, Begich could potentially continue his career for decades to come leaving a legacy for Alaska like that of his predecessor if not greater by the time he retires. While Senator Begich is just starting the prime of his political career, it's his handling of Anchorage that deserves tremendous respect and should not be forgotten. Not since perhaps the Knowles Administration in the 80s has Anchorage seen such great investment into itself. More specifically, when relating to urban issues, Begich has been a champion of responsible development and sustainability. From getting sidewalks actually plowed, to bus shelters across the Bowl, to the renovated McKinley Tower, what Begich has done for the city will go into history as a stark contrast to the slow growth and lack of urban responsibility of the 1990s.

Personally speaking, there were of course moments when I was not proud of moves made by our former mayor relating to urban issues. Begich's lack of action over the Wal-Mart controversy in Muldoon, his support of Glenn Square in Mountain View, and his plan to heal the intersection of Tudor and Lake Otis by simply adding more turn lanes were off puting, but hey, Mark Begich isn't Jane Jacobs. Speaking of Ms. Jacobs, President-elect Barack Obama is actually familiar with who Jane Jacobs was and the books shes written in the past about our cities and their urban issues. This doesn't mean Obama will be in lockstep with the urbanist mindset as he can't afford to exclude those in the electoral rich rural and suburban areas, but Obama unlike several of our last presidents does have the street smarts and knowledge as a resident and community organizer from Southside Chicago about what a city faces. I think the same goes for Begich. While Anchorage is a far cry from Chicago in terms of density, walkability, and social issues, Mark was born and raised in Anchorage and can appreciate the city like it's his baby in which he wants only the best future for it. But Begich also has to be practical if he wants to save his career.

With the not-so-proud moments that came during Begich's term, it's the good that came to Anchorage that in the end still outweigh the negatives. Look to the left of this post and you'll see links to the Anchorage Parks Foundation and Destination Downtown. Both were started during Begich's term, and both are proactive groups that are there to help get the public involved. Speaking of parks, Mayor Begich was successful in getting Anchorage voters to vote in 2006 (or was it 07?) for a parks bond. Something that hasn't happened in ages. The People Mover also got support from voters thanks to a mayor who believed strongly in our bus system. Anchorage voters were also swayed by Begich's pitch for a new convention center which would be financed by an increase in bed tax rather than residential tax. Other major changes that altered downtown include the expansion to the Anchorage Museum, the renovated McKinley Tower (formally MacKay Building), and the E Street Corridor from 9th Avenue down to, if things work out, a possible pedestrian bridge to the Alaska Railroad train station. A couple of other projects that would have altered the look of downtown but were not successfully given the green light included renovating the Delaney Park Strip, and building a multi-story mixed-use building on the corner of 3rd and H (the tower was cancelled due to the parcel of land sitting on weak Bootleggers Clay). Mark was however successful in getting a private developer to build a mixed-use tower in Midtown and getting businesses such as Credit Union 1 to open up a branch (the first bank in Mountain View in years) as part of a project to help revive Mountain View -- a neighborhood wide project also receiving the blessings of the mayor. Another historic neighborhood, Government Hill, also had Begich behind their back as the group behind building the Knik Arm Crossing (headed by former mayor George Wuerch) never formally received the support of our mayor. Begich did however take action and met with Mayor Menard of the Valley to work a deal for the creation of a transit authority that would oversee the linkage of the Valley to Anchorage via commuter rail on the existing tracks of the Alaska Railroad. Plans for the commuter rail are still being worked out.

There's certainly more good things that I can list coming out of the Begich Administration, but if there was one issue that got me out of my seat and applauding, it was the effort Begich put into working out a deal to save the 4th Avenue Theater. In the end, the building was turned down by voters to be under Muni property, but Begich gets an E for Effort for saving a treasure that could have been converted into a fitness center had a pair of developers had it their way (the developers eventually pulled out amidst the outcry from locals once it made print). Tonight, I think I'll toast my drink to our successful mayor and wish him many more decades of continued success. +1 Begich.

Alaska Then And Now

2008-12-31T00:42:00.006-09:00

If you've looked around Barnes & Noble or other book stores these last few years, you've probably seen this awesome collection of books known as "Then And Now". Seattle, Portland, St. Louis, New York, etc, etc have all had their own Then And Now books made, and now Alaska's number has apparently been called. If anything, I'm probably just showing my lack of awareness, because this new book from Thunder Bay Press was released way back in April of this year. My bad. I did however find it in time so as to make it a Christmas gift for the parents. For those not in the know, the Then And Now series puts a side by side comparison of urban streetscapes from past and present together for whichever city the book is on. While previous editions of the series focus on one city only, the Alaska edition looks at our big three (Juneau, ANC, Fairbanks). Images from the Anchorage portion of the book include a then and now look at the present sites of the PAC, Egan Center, Hotel Anchorage, 4th Avenue Theater, Kimball Building, and even the White Spot Cafe among others. While the book is definitely a keeper, there are a couple clumsy factual errors made by the authors when writing captions for the images that make you think twice before realizing that the error is on their part and not some sort of new revelation on Anchorage history. Nothing major though.

Anyways all this before and after talk reminds me of a couple years ago when I scanned an old postcard I had of Anchorage circa late 1970s and matched it with a shot I took in 2005 from the same location (that being Gov. Hill, of course):

(click to view larger)

Obvious difference: A/C Couplet added not too long after the first photo was taken linking Downtown with the port and Government Hill. Also note the expansion to the Hilton (then Westward Hotel) which blocks off the view we formally had of the Key Bank, Westmark Hotel (formally Sheffeild Inn) and First National Building as well as the top of the 4th Avenue Theater sign. The Marriott Anchorage however looms behind as a new architecturally welcomed addition in the 2005 photo.

Spenard transformation controversy continues

2008-12-28T00:58:00.003-09:00

I know it may start to become repetitive to our local readers whenever I post an article from the ADN that many of you may have already read earlier in the day, but I like to keep this blog as sort of a record/archive on all things urban related that even I myself can refer to when needed. Besides that, most of our readers actually come from outside. Ex-Anchoragites? Probably. Regardless, the holidays have been keeping me busy, but no I did not miss the extensive Sunday article 2 weeks ago on the long continuing controversy surrounding the transformation of a stretch of Spenard Road. Nothing really new in the article other than some new specifics on what will happen to an arterial road as well as the T-intersection of Fireweed and Spenard. Read the article and graphs here.

As for the Joop editorial, well I'm optimistic that the city learned from the nightmare that was the Arctic project. As a resident of West Anchorage and growing up attending West High, I can tell you that the span of Spenard from Fireweed all the way to Minnesota is indeed a disaster. Many seem to have a hard time believing that a two or three lane Spenard will be good for business, but look at the stretch of Spenard from Northwood to Airport Road in which Spenard goes from four lanes to two. Harley Davidson, Puffin Inn, and Gwennies(sp) Restaurant appear to be doing fine these last 20 years or so since the improvement while numerous new businesses such as hotels, dine-in restaurants, and a couple of coffeeshop trailers have sprung up in that stretch of Spenard over the last 10 years. Unlike lower Spenard however, the area of Spenard currently in question has something going for it that no other part of town has. Call it "hipster paradise" or whatever you want, but there's no question that Spenard has become what the city has long wanted Mountain View to become -- a bohemian district. From the numerous cafes, to the bicycle shops, to the ultra popular (and crowded) Bears Tooth Theater, Upper Spenard is culturally blossoming. What's hindering this new identity however is the 1960s era planning philosophy that puts cars and concrete as priority #1. Bicycle lanes, less surface parking, and mix-use buildings are some of the many solutions that will not get in the way of this new community as demonstrated in cities like Portland, Seattle, Vancouver BC, and other places that are taking smart growth seriously. Check out the visions had for Mountain View within the next 20 years as posted by Clark at his blog. Like 4th Avenue, Spenard and Mountain View can have their own hotdog vendors on the streets along with musical acts playing in a park. Lets not forget that west 4th Avenue itself was at one time a four lane road.

Bottom Line: Enough with the complacency. The Muni needs to reach out and be proactive in building its case for this great road improvement.

Anchorage in pictures

2008-12-25T19:21:00.012-09:00

Just thought I'd post some street scenes and architecture taken recently during the bitterly cold clear days we've been having.

Anchorage Park Foundation Report Card

2008-12-16T23:19:00.003-09:00

The Anchorage Park Foundation just recently finished adding up the critiques made by residents during the fall and have released its first ever Anchorage Parks Report Card with the final grades for each of the city's 54 parks. The final grades? Well it appears Little Billy will have to pay more attention at school. I didn't do an exact count, but it appears C's rule the map while F's and D's can also be found aplenty. Cheney Lake Park in East Anchorage along with David Green Memorial on 36th Avenue were the two parks that received A's. Hilariously enough, Minnesota Park (along Minnesota Drive) received an F. Can't say I'm surprised considering the trouble between the areas residents and its young rabble rouser's as covered by the ADN earlier this year or so. Anyways the Parks Foundation has the whole report card on its website along with a directory to help you find out which parks are in your neck of the woods.

Anchorage Park Foundation Report Card

joop in the dust

2008-12-13T22:18:00.002-09:00

For my regular readers who expect that usual update or two a week, my apologies for the neglect. As a student in UAA, combined with the holiday season, this time of the year can be pretty tough. My days lately have consisted of heading to school at 8am, leaving school at 7pm, and working at the job till midnight. As a result, I may have missed some important news concerning the Anchorage cityscape as I have had hardly any time to pick up the papers or watch KTUU and other sources. Thankfully school is finished, so I may have a bit more time to catch up on the latest.

On a related note, as someone who works the night shift, the new JL Tower in Midtown has been really strutting its LED's in recent time and has made my work near the building each night more interesting as a new light show on the tower seems to take place every night. I was wondering how long it would take, but finally a nearby resident in the area took out the camcorder and started putting some of the tower's light shows on YouTube. The producer of these light shows can also be found responding to some of the videos and is a cool guy who will answer your questions. In the meantime, enjoy this rare show:

Mountain View on the rise

2008-11-28T20:47:00.002-09:00

The Alaska Journal of Commerce published a great article this week on the continued revitalization of Mountain View. I don't know if I'd say Mountain View is destined to become the next SoHo as the article seems to imply, but seeing the effort coming from a barrage of local big muscle including the Rasmuson Foundation, JL Properties, Chevron, RIM Architects, etc (along with of course the Muni) does certainly paint a hopeful picture for this true Alaskan neighborhood. New buildings are also discussed in the article including the new Credit Union 1 which broke ground last month along with what looks to be a proposed two story building dedicated to artists or some sort.

While you're at it, here's a great blog dedicated to Mountain View by long time community organizer Clark Yerrington.

Vintage Anchorage

2008-11-24T01:00:00.000-09:00

So I was looking through my way-too-large stash of Anchorage photos when I found this one collecting dust in one of my millions of sub-folders. I don't know the exact year, but I'd place my bet at circa 1960. Obviously you can't miss the McKinley Apartment tower on the left next to the old native hospital. But what gives me a hunch that this was just taken around the early 60s is that the bright yellow Hill Building (now City Hall) is standing proudly in the center of Downtown. The building was completed in... I'm wanting to say 1959. Also noticeable is the Turnagain Arms Apartments (in red) right above the then low density Bootleggers Cove near the Inlet. By the way, check out the smooth grade of 5th Avenue as it goes down into Bootleggers Cove. For those who have driven up 5th from Bootleggers, you could clearly see the difference in steepness. I'd assume the '64 quake, which hit that end of Downtown pretty hard, was probably responsible for reshaping the steepness of that bluff. Have any corrections, more facts, observations, or comments? Feel free to respond. Oh, and of course, click the picture for a much larger version.

Hillside may get some... planning!

2008-11-23T18:10:00.004-09:00

Not really an interesting article, but the headline "As Anchorage expands, planners chart Hillside's future" is quite the attention grabber especially for some of our friends up in that neighborhood who may or may not be stocking up on weapons for the prophesied coming of the city planners! The article, published in Sunday's ADN, mentions how the city is looking to treat some of the problems to be had in the Hillside such as water runoff, city services, and commercial development. Again, if you need reading material to put you to sleep, this article is for you. If unlike me you are interested, there will be some public meetings regarding a plan for the Hillside to deal with such hard hitting issues facing the neighborhood. And yes, there's a website for the plan as well:

http://www.hillsidedistrictplan.com/

New bicycle racks for Downtown

2008-11-19T16:09:00.006-09:00

With bicycle ridership increasing up to 30% in the last year, the Muni invested $17,000 into 13 new bike racks for the Downtown area using state grants. Now if you attended the city's little civic block party earlier this summer, you may have noticed a booth in which a map of Downtown Anchorage was laid out in front with visitors being asked to pin down locations they'd like to see bike racks and even bicycle lockers. I can't confirm that this is the result from that survey earlier this year, but with new bike racks installed in popular locations such as G Street, 5th and D, and of course our beloved Snow City Cafe, it sure looks like the results have been delivered. The ADN is reporting that bicycle lockers are expected to later show up on the parking lot behind the Sunshine Plaza.

With this news, I decided to bravely trudge out into the subzero cold and check out the new racks for myself. The results: not what I expected. It appears that at least two different versions of the racks have been installed. One rack looks more traditional with its "curved sink pipe", while the other sits between parking meters with space for two locks. I guess the artistic street furniture now found on F Street and around the new convention center raised my expectations for more artistic and unique designs, but then again this is a limited budget from a state grant. Not that I'm complaining or anything -- I'm very satisfied! Below are my sightings of these new species in their habitat:

Among election winners: mass transit

2008-11-18T22:51:00.002-09:00

Besides Democrats making major gains in the election earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal is reporting mass transit also became a big hit for voters. No, this has nothing to do with Joe Biden taking Amtrak on a daily basis, rather mass transit initiatives around the country saw approval from voters that were twice the amount that usually pass in previous elections. Surprising considering the funding required for such projects especially in todays economic times (then again I suppose gas prices were on voters minds...). Click below for the article:

Mass-Transit Projects Fared Well at Polls (WSJ)

E Street project goes into deep freeze

2008-11-14T23:36:00.010-09:00

The Muni, through its website Destination Downtown, is reporting that the E Street Corridor Project is on hold. Thankfully, unlike the recent halting of projects around the country such as a major skyscraper project in Chicago (or for a more local level, the cancellation of Costco in Wasilla), the E Street project is NOT being canceled due to the economy or poor planning. As any Alaskan would know, "it's the snow, stupid". Construction shall resume in the Spring. Meanwhile here's some pics I took on how the project is shaping up so far with three personal observations that pop out to me:

First off, it appears the corridor will be losing the specially designed green light poles. The unique poles looked awesome when I was a young child, but just the other day I was thinking about how they have aged with their 80s look and that they should be replaced with traditional poles to integrate Downtown with the rest of the city. Next thing I know, I drive by 5th and E a few days later and see what appears to be the installation of new poles (stumps for now).

Perspective really helps in understanding just what is going down and I can't think of anything better to prove that than this shot of the new street curb placed further away from its original location. It looks like the new sidewalk will take up what was formally metered parking along with the right lane of old E Street.

Last, the intersection of 6th and E looks to be complete. Unlike the blueprints however, I don't see the darker colored bricks that were to be placed so as to appear pointing towards Town Square. Another thing worthy of mentioning is that the crosswalks are not just painted onto the bricks. They're actual slabs of concrete which I suppose makes sense considering the uneven brick surface that the intersections of 6th & E and 5th & E now present.

By the way for those interested to learn more about the specific project I was referring to in Chicago, check it out here.

Seattle shying away from daring architecture?

2008-11-12T00:00:00.002-09:00

No, this is not me being lazy to post original updates. I swear! I've been meaning to post this interesting op-ed piece published recently in the Seattle P.I. that has to do with whether Seattle's modern architecture is running too conservative for an otherwise emerging international city. While I try to stay away from the carnage of harsh criticism, critic Lawrence W. Cheek is apparently more than happy to tackle whatever building design has gotten in his bonnet.

On one building in Seattle, Cheek writes:

"Lake Union Center on the ship canal waterfront, exudes all the panache of a Baptist Sunday School annex".

Ouch. Anyways, the rest of the article is here .

Denali Project leases space in 188 Northern Lights

2008-11-10T01:00:00.001-09:00

If you opened your Sunday edition of the Anchorage Daily News, you may have seen in the A section an ad from the Denali Project in which they proudly announce their permanent home for its Anchorage headquarters-- 188 West Northern Lights in Midtown. That's right, the building that since its summer completion has sat disturbingly empty is finally getting its first tenant! To backtrack, earlier this year during Sarah Palin's AGIA bidding, BP and ConocoPhillips created a joint venture known as the Denali Project which was their own pitch for the governor to compete with TransCanada and the very few other bidders for AGIA. During the conference announcing the venture, the people at Denali announced an Anchorage headquarters as one of the numerous incentives that Alaska would get with this Denali Project. One has to wonder though, what was plan B? headquarter in Sitka? Of course they'll headquarter in Anchorage! Anyways the company is leasing 40,000 square feet which according to Petroleum News will be just enough for some 175 employees. Agreements on leasing were made in late October.

While it's great to see such a deserving building receive a tenant, there's also some irony as well considering who the tenant is. In 2006, the Alaska Journal of Commerce reported on some skepticism and concern about both the then infant JL Tower and 188 WNL possibly relying too much on the prospects of a natural gas line for an economic boom to fill their towers lease space.

Overall, it's going to be great to see 188 WNL finally have some of its interior lights on at night. You can watch that happen with this live view of the tower.

Glenn Square shaping up

2008-11-03T01:00:00.000-09:00

After doing a write-up on the Tikahtnu Commons retail development in Muldoon, I figured I'd at least give some exposure to its rival down the road, Glenn Square. To catch up on the basics, Glenn Square came to be after a Seattle/Dallas based company bought the land from the Municipality in a joint effort with the city to continue the Mountain View revitalization as well as provide retail to what has been a part of town underserved by retail (at least big box chain retail). Glenn Square occupies 25 acres of land that was formally home to a junkyard (my dad's junkyard) and a landfill. Unlike Tikahtnu, Glenn Square is billed as a mixed-use project that will incorporate office space into floors above some of the retail space. So far the city's electric utility branch ML&P has already signed for the future space. Unlike your traditional high density mixed use development however, Glenn Square is more of the same type of development seen in Anchorage for the last 40 years as the development flies in the face of some of the most basic principles listed in the Title 21 Rewrite. That would include the developments failure to put parking in the rear or side of the building along with failing to have businesses facing the street rather than a parking lot. The People Mover does have a bus stop at the site though. But overall, I'd have to say Glenn Square missed its target of enriching East Anchorage and Mountain View and will add little if any benefit to the community. Though Mayor Mark Begich has been a great motivator in truly mixed-use projects (including proposing a 10-story tower himself in 2005) for the city, his blessing of Glenn Square along with the Tikhatnu Commons were a mistake.

Links:
Glenn Square blueprint (PDF file). Note that the blueprint itself is a bit dated as it's missing the clock tower while presuming Best Buy as a tenant (Best Buy later opted out for Tikahtnu).

A couple more visuals courtesy of Irwin Development.

Highway to Highway Project public input continues

2008-10-30T20:55:00.003-08:00

Channel 2 just did a brief story on the DOT's planned Highway to Highway Project connecting the Seward and the Glenn. There's really no new information offered in this report, rather Channel 2 interviews the project manager for the Highway to Highway about what is being done as well interviewing a former transportation commissioner for the city who of course among many others has concerns about the projects potential negative impacts.

Watch the video

Also of interest:
Anchorage Citizens Coalition on the H2H Project

Official H2H Project website

Project in Profile: VA Clinic and Regional Office

2008-10-27T16:34:00.005-08:00

The Department of Veterans Affairs is overseeing construction of a new building that will house a clinic for outpatient service along with regional offices. The site is across the street from the new Tikahtnu Commons right before the Fort Richardson gates. Sorry about the poor quality of the second picture, but god was it bitterly cold that morning. I had to snap a picture while driving just to stay warm and cozy in my little car. Anyways as you can see, it's going to be a huge place:

New People Mover buses roll out

2008-10-27T15:58:00.003-08:00

The Alaska Journal of Commerce is reporting on its weekly paper today that the Anchorage People Mover now has 18 new buses on city streets. I personally don't know the make of the current buses, but the new ones are from New Flyer. A look at their website reveals some interesting sleek designs, but I also see some that look exactly like our current regular and DART buses. I guess I'll have to wait and see if any unusual looking People Mover rolls by in the coming days. Either that, or the new buses will be exactly identical to the ones in use since the 90's (hopefully not!). From the Alaska Journal article:

"Each 2008 New Flyer bus is equipped with automatic vehicle locators, passenger counters and computer-aided dispatching. Additional features include larger bike racks to hold three bicycles and a video camera system to enhance passenger safety and security".

Extra: Want to ride the People Mover, but don't know the schedule or map? Click Route Generator

As for the old buses, what will happen to them? Maybe they'll join this flickr pool.

ConocoPhillips Science Building @ UAA

2008-10-25T01:00:00.001-08:00

The ConocoPhillips Integrated Science Building on the campus of UAA is finally nearing the completion of its exterior facade. Construction for the building broke ground in 2007 and is expected to be open in time for the fall semester of 2009. At 120,000 square feet, the building will house departments focused on chemistry, astronomy, geology, environmental science, physics, and a few other disciplines under one roof. A parking garage to accommodate the building will be built in the rear with spaces for over 400 vehicles. Now for those wondering, the new building will NOT be part of the campus "spine"-- the network of buildings connected via skybridge walkways. Yes, that's right; If you're planning to major in bio-chemistry or physics next fall, be sure to wear a thick coat come winter. The Nothern Light (the school's paper) is also reporting that the parking garage will be far from the new building and will therefore offer shuttle rides to and from the ISB from the garage entrance. Besides the Integrated Science Building, UAA recently held a ceremony for the ground breaking of its new Health Sciences Building which will be built across the street from campus next to Providence Hospital. Interestingly enough, this building will have a skybridge attached to it so that it can be accessible from the main campus without students and staff having to step outside. It'll be pretty cool to see a skybridge hanging over the busy Providence Drive.

Now to make things clear, I personally don't like the idea of skybridges when it comes to crowded urban areas. I'm against the idea that has been floating around for the last few years of connecting the new Dena'ina Center to the Performing Arts Center via City Hall. Don't like it, don't want it. It takes away potential foot traffic from the street while disfiguring the architectural sovereignty of each building with the connection of a non-conforming bridge. Most importantly, in a crowded area such as Downtown, destinations are much closer. The campus of UAA on the other hand is a relatively low density area in which buildings are surrounded by acres of surface parking. With its extremely tight availability of available parking near the building along with the bitter winter temperatures early in the year, it can make for a living hell when doing the walk to and from your car. Now I understand the skybridges wont fix this particular problem, but UAA has got to realize when doing its longterm planning that it has to start doing infill construction. Until then, skybridges will remain a solution for at least part of the low density problem. My $0.02.

Anyways here's a vid from UAA on the new ConocoPhillips building:

ADN editorial on Anchorage's new Title 21 codes

2008-10-22T01:00:00.000-08:00

The staff at the Anchorage Daily News just recently published an editorial in which the newspaper takes the side of city planners and looks forward to the implementations of the Title 21 Rewrite which is in the homestretch of having its remaining sections approved by the Anchorage Assembly. For those still not in the know, Title 21, which covers zoning and planning, was ordered by the Anchorage 2020 Comprehensive Plan to be rewritten after decades of no alterations so as to address the need for alternative transportation, traffic calming, and having more sustainable use of land for the increasingly shrinking amount of available land in the Anchorage Bowl. Changes included in the rewrite of Title 21 range from small things such as having commercial properties with entrances accessible from the sidewalk, to designating Downtown and Midtown as hubs for which commercial and residential should be intermixed to give people greater freedom from having to rely on their car to make their errands or go to work. By the way, I'll always be sure update the joop and let readers know in advance whenever a public Title 21 Rewrite meeting is taking place later in the week. Meanwhile, check out the editorial:

ADN editorial on Title 21

Dena'ina officially opens to the public

2008-10-20T01:14:00.001-08:00

So over the weekend the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center officially opened its doors to the public to show off what capabilities the new building can handle for future events that the much smaller Egan Center just couldn't take on. I wouldn't say it was as crowded as I initially feared, but there was a good showing by the public, most of whom were just impressed with the interior of the new civic center. As I've said in an earlier post, the Dena'ina Center is blessed to have been built in the 21st century and not the previous. The Egan Center's purple walls, stale art, casino-like carpet, and total absence of natural light in the main exhibition room (along with obviously the second exhibition room underground), was not aging well, to say the least. Thank goodness they at least took down those bicycle-like streamers that once hung over the main room from the ceiling. Now those were really gaudy. The Dena'ina, on the other hand, is a breathe of fresh air that took me back to the opening of Concourse C at the Anchorage International Airport with its abundant amount of natural light, clean and minimalist design, and use of a narrower Native color palette whenever color was needed. I think it's safe to say the rest of the public saw what I saw and were pleased with the results.

Just to restate some basic info, the Dena'ina Center broke ground in 2006 after the public approved use of bed-tax to fund the entire project. The Center contains 200,000 square feet and has increased the city's capacity of convention space by more than 300%. Recently, the ADN reported that the Dena'ina will operate at a loss for its first year (scroll down for the post on that story). The building is roughly the same height as the Hill Building (aka City Hall... but it will always be Hill Building to me) across the street.

Some pictures from the weekend opening (click to view):

By the way, I was pleased to see that the new convention center has a concession stand built into the main exhibit room. That was clearly the make or break for me...

Tikahtnu Commons

2008-10-17T01:51:00.001-08:00

Monday saw the opening of the new Target stores in both Anchorage and Wasilla. While Wasilla's Target store sits on the former location of the Cottonwood Creek Mall, Anchorage's first Target sits on fresh land and is the first in a number of future retail and entertainment to open in the $100 million plus Tikahtnu Commons mall. Being developed by the CIRI Native Corporation in partnership with a Californian developer, the "big box center" as one CIRI spokesman put it, will sit on 95 acres on Muldoon Road across the street from Bartlett High School and near the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Developers behind the project have touted that the mall will offer five times the amount in retail space that the Dimond Mall currently has. More importantly, the Tikahtnu Commons hopes to separate itself from the image of messy suburban sprawl by offering heated and possibly covered pathways linking from store to store. The mall is also expected to offer space for over 70 small local businesses while a street with large sidewalks will cut straight down through the mall's huge parking lot and act as sort of a Main Street with retail buildings built up to the sidewalk with parking in the rear. Besides Target, tenants already signed up to later occupy space in the new mall include Best Buy, Lowes, Regal Cinemas, Pet Smart, and Kohl's. Of course Tikahtnu Commons will not be the first "lifestyle center" type of mall to hit Anchorage as Glenn Square, just minutes west of the Tikahtnu mall, will also offer a variety of national chain stores, space for local retail, and more pedestrian friendly design -- most of which have already opened.

The question I have however is will the Tikahtnu Commons live up to what it's promised to be in terms of urban design? Judging by the looks of its competitor, Glenn Square, the answer would be no. Back in 2006 when Glenn Square was only a name, developers behind the project announced that the mall would set itself apart from your typical strip mall by offering a sort of village setting that would play host to an active public space complete with retail and dining within walking distance. Instead, Glenn Square has come to resemble the parcel of land in Dimond in which big box stores sit side by side with an ocean of asphalt in front. The only difference here is that the long row of big box stores has been snapped in half so as to have the storefronts face each other with a large swath of parking in between. After all, there's not a lot of space in Mountain View like what Dimond could offer. Also, despite Michaels, Petco, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Old Navy being open for a while, the mall was always eerily quiet during my few visits to the mall this summer. Should we expect this fate to happen with the Tikahntu Commons? Could it be at even more of a disadvantage due to its lurking location on the edge of the city? Or will the larger number of retailers and its Main Street design (which Glenn Square doesn't have) give Tikahtnu a niche? Unlike what we see in sprawling suburbs of the Lower-48, the Tikahtnu Commons will not be able to sprout cookie cutter homes around itself to sustain good business as the mall will sit right next to Fort Richardson. Acres of untouched forest in the area is also off limits as it sits under Fort Rich claim. Now I'm not saying the Tikahtnu Commons will become a mini ghost town, but it really seems that both this mall as well as the Glenn Square mall have seen their time come and go. That time being the 1990's. We'll see how this will all unfold in the coming months and years.

Dena'ina Center opening celebration

2008-10-16T23:51:00.003-08:00

Just thought I'd remind those interested that the new convention center will have its official opening this Saturday and Sunday. As someone who has walked through much of the new place, it's definitely worth a visit. Included in the opening ceremony will be all kinds of displays and stuff for sale from snow machines and cars, to wedding event decor demos (sounds like something for me to avoid).

From the Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau

Boston Globe reports on Palin's anti-planning record

2008-10-14T16:03:00.005-08:00

The Boston Globe just recently published an article on Sarah Palin's stand against development zoning and regulations as mayor of Wasilla -- the latest in a number of nationally syndicated articles to be published on the subject since Governor Palin received the VP nod by Senator John McCain in late August. The article delves in a bit as to how Palin successfully gouged the Mat-Su Valley's libertarian/conservative emotions which included trumpeting the warning calls of creeping government building regulations that were seen as toxically mixing in with the continued economic growth Wasilla was seeing in the 90s. The article also interviews a local advocate who reveals that two reps with Fred Meyers were laughing in the hallways at a planning meeting as they were amused with how easy they were able to get their company's first store to be built with so little if any revising of their plans.

link to the article:
Anti-zoning key to Palin's early record

Project in Profile - Native Hospital Expansion

2008-10-11T10:07:00.008-08:00

Just thought I'd cover some of the lesser known projects well under way throughout the Anchorage Bowl to make up for the lack of fresh developments coverage as construction progress citywide starts to slow now that the grass is turning crunchy with frost in the morning and people rush to Johnson's Tire Service in a last minute panic to get their studded tires on.

One project that took me by a bit of surprise when driving west down Tudor recently is an expansion of the Alaska Native Medical Center. Okay that's not so surprising, especially considering the new building is rising next to the new parking garage. That area of town has certainly become a high-density free-for-all over the last 7 years or so. Kinda like Midtown in the 70s and 80s. One of my favorite restaurants, 'The Last Frontier' fell victim to this progress three years ago as the building was demolished to make way for the now just completed garage. Anyways the new building currently going up will serve as an expansion to the existing Alaska Native Primary Care Center across the street from the Native Medical Center and will be operated by the Southcentral Foundation (which also runs the existing ANPCC). According to the Foundation, the expansion will be 80,000 square feet and will serve to the needs of the growing number of patients relocating from the villages to Anchorage. The new building, or "Phase III" as they call it, is expected to be completed in late 2009.

Of course we haven't seen the peak yet. In an article last year for the Alaska Business Monthly, the administrator with the Alaska Native Medical Center mentions plans in the future for a parking garage north of the hospital along with a $123 million dollar expansion.

(click to view)

7th and C traffic lights flick on

2008-10-08T01:33:00.001-08:00

The intersection of 7th Avenue and C Street wasn't so much an intersection as it was more of an alley going through a highway. That was until late last week when the traffic lights which were installed later in the summer were uncovered from their protective sheets and put into operation. Since the discussions of an expansion to the Anchorage Museum of History and Art came to the forefront some years ago, the topic of reconnecting the museum to lively West Downtown also became part of that discussion. As my local Anchoragites can attest, while the Egan, Dena'ina, and Performing Arts Center as well as other attractions enjoy a close pedestrian friendly proximity from one another, the Anchorage Museum of History and Art paired with the Federal Building across the street have for many years become excluded from the "in-crowd" of downtown attractions as they sat on the other side of a busy three lane artery that is free of stop signs and where cars coming from the Glenn Highway or the port of Anchorage often accelerate up to 40 mph south toward Midtown. If you're not catching on, C Street is such a wide and divisive road that it has become the unofficial boundary line between West Downtown and East Downtown. Though the city has been making an effort for years now, East Downtown continues to lag way behind the lively West, and I think C Street may be a factor. Now of course a set of lights will not cure all the problems, rather there is still a long way to go; but it's start. Besides the lighted intersection, the proposed controversial Highway to Highway project would keep commuters on the Glenn Highway and direct them into the Seward Highway rather than having traffic leave the highway in large numbers and flooding into C Street like a gush of water breaking through a dam. And it's not just C Street that is a problem. It's also A Street, 5th Avenue, and 6th Avenue. In the meantime, it will be nice to see how things are next summer once the new museum is open and pedestrians are no longer having to make a mad dash to the other side so as to not become roadkill.

Title 21 public discussion

2008-10-07T22:05:00.010-08:00

This Thursday at noon the Muni will be hosting a brown bag discussion on the Title 21 Rewrite that is open for all who are interested. From the email:

"This is an opportunity to ask questions and learn about Anchorage’s recommended new off-street parking regulations relative to the other site development provisions in Title 21 that are now going forward to the municipal Planning & Zoning Commission for deliberation and action. The brown bag agenda includes a 20-minute presentation and 30 minutes for dialogue, Q and A. Participants will get an overview and have opportunities to ask questions about topics such as:

* How the required number of parking spaces is (and is not) changing;
* Flexible parking standards that recognize different project locations and characteristics;
* How the number of spaces affects user convenience, development costs, location, and Anchorage 2020 policies;
* Balancing quality and quantity: parking space dimensions, landscaping, and lighting; and
* Balancing trip choice: placement of buildings near sidewalks; maintaining driver convenience; required walkways; bicycle parking; share-a-ride and transit"

"The Brown Bag will be from 12 noon to 1 p.m. in the Planning and Development Center's Training Room, 4700 Elmore Road, Anchorage".

For those not in the know, Title 21 is the Municipalities guide that deals with planning and land use codes. It's been 400 years since it was last updated, but with the city adopting the Anchorage 2020 Comprehensive Plan back in 2001, a rewrite of Title 21 is needed in order to carry out what Anchorage 2020 calls for. This includes greater pedestrian friendliness, alternative uses of transportation, and more sustainable use of land. To respond to this, Title 21 is being rewritten with codes that include zoning changes, restrictions on surface parking lots, financial benefits for developers of mixed-use projects, and other new standards. The large stack of papers that is Title 21 is to be reviewed and possibly amended chapter by chapter by the Anchorage Assembly. Several chapters have already been passed, and if I'm correct, there's only a small amount left.

As you can see, I provided a link to the Muni's page on Title 21, but consider yourself warned! Any attempt to read every document relating to Title 21 without getting off your chair is certain to create severe blood circulation problems. If you must read it all, please take breaks and stretch every once in a while.

Dena'ina Center to operate at a loss

2008-10-07T00:37:00.000-08:00

First it was my story on Wasilla's suburban mess, now the ADN is reporting on the new convention center one day after I write a post about it here. Hmmm... are they getting their story ideas from yours truly? Eh.. maybe not. Regardless, the Dena'ina Center makes the front page of Mondays Anchorage Daily News with an article about how although the convention centers backers have been able to show off the buildings on-time completion along with maintaining its promise not to use property tax, the new building along with the Egan Center will operate at a loss for the first full year. To make things more interesting, the $1.47 million that is being projected as a loss into 2009 is way too close for comfort as the cap of funding from bed-tax is set at $1.6 million. Should that cap be exceeded, who will foot the bill? Okay, now that I've got you interested, read the article.

On a related note, another article on one of the art installations that can be found in the building (seen above^, left) thanks to the 1% art program, also from Monday's ADN.

A look inside the Dena'ina Convention Center

2008-10-04T22:27:00.017-08:00

If you didn't go to see some stand up by Damon Wayans and his son Friday at the new convention center, Saturday was your second chance. The Dena'ina Center hosted both the Alaskan Student Youth Conference, and a rally for the McCain/Palin campaign. Though neither event sounded the least bit interesting, that of course didn't stop me from mozying on down and wandering my way around the new building with camera at hand to get some interior shots. Just to remind readers, the Dena'ina Center is no doubt a significant addition to the city's total space for trade shows and conventions. The Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau claims the $111 million 200,000 square foot building adds a 300% increase to the total capacity the city can handle in convention and civic space. A look inside the building will make you convinced as it has for me. Despite the convention center occupying only one city block rather than 3 in a earlier proposal (which was voted down by residents due to its original finance scheme), the interior is ridiculously huge and will have to make you wonder what kind of trade show or event will demand the use of every room in the building. Unlike the Egan Center, the ceilings are much higher on each floor while the lobby at the entrance has a dramatic canyon effect in which there's nothing between the ground floor and the very top of the building. Most noticeably however, is the amount of natural light that floods into each floor of the building. Even on a cloudy day, you don't sense any need for artificial lighting to be on. I don't even recall whether the lights in the main hallways were actually on or not. This use of natural light really makes the building a nice alternative to the dark windowless Egan Center and Sullivan Arena. In a departure from its older brothers, even the main exhibition hall has windows. But before you even plot, no, you can't watch whatever is happening in the hall from the streets. Trust me, I figured it was a defect and that I can watch Damon Wayans through the window with a glass cup to my ear. Sadly that wasn't to be. Each window has giant blinds that can be pulled down come showtime. And yes, they were sadly pulled down. In the end, the new convention center brought me back to when the Terminal C Concourse at the airport opened three years ago. The modern minimalist architecture combined with an intense amount of natural light for a non-airport building is a first for a public building in the city (though it won't be the last once the new museum expansion opens a few blocks east). Before I sign off for today, I gotta mention that the Dena'ina Center was added by someone to the website of ClubPlanet -- a directory for nightlife hot spots. Here's what they say in a brief review:

"Dena''ina Center - Beer? Check. Newspapers? Check. Dena''ina Center, at 600 W 7Th Ave, offers your usual selection of imports, domestics, and so on. Craaaaazy, out-of-control entertainment? Ummmm… Not so much. Your odds of meeting "the one" here are approximate to what you’d find on a desert island (less, when you consider "Lost"), but your odds of finding a six-pack are damn near 100%".

I can't say I'm surprised by the review. Had the Dena'ina Center failed to supply me with an abundant amount of newspapers and beer that morning, I would have to question the motives and integrity of the developers behind this building. As for the "craaaaazy" out-of-control entertainment, I beg to differ! Clearly they didn't see Hobo Jim entertain the crowd at the McCain/Palin rally.

By the way, an open house to the public will be held October 18th just before the AFN conference begins. I shall return!

(click to view)

F Street improvements complete

2008-09-28T13:00:00.009-08:00

Although the F Street Connectivity Project actually came to a conclusion two weeks ago along with the Pacillo Parking Garage, I figured I'd dedicate a post solely to the new and improved F Street which is looking pretty nice on a rare sunny afternoon (for those of you outside the state, we've been having some rough weather). Like I said in an earlier post regarding the Dena'ina Center which sits on F Street, the area now feels like another city. New street lights, lamps, concrete designs, benches, bike racks, trash cans, and knee-capers (at least that's what I call them after a bad personal experience) have made the area blossom into a little oasis of 21st century urbanism that is certainly needed in a city that many dub "Los Anchorage" for its car-culture and fast paced low quality expansion south of Downtown. One thing that caught me off guard as I didn't really noticed it on the blueprint is the absence of curbs between the sidewalk and street. The whole surface of F Street is now leveled with only the colored concrete and knee-capers to the side differentiating between the street and sidewalk. Personally I'm kinda nervous of such a move as wise people will know never to underestimate the ability of Anchorage drivers to somehow screw up. If there's a will, they'll certainly find a way to make planners shake their heads. I'm reminded of when the South Anchorage neighborhood of South Port got its first roundabout a few years ago. Instead of turning to the right, some drivers gave up and drove straight over the grass island. If you're going to screw up on a roundabout, at least make the mistake of turning left, but going straight??? Anyways, one thing that appears to be missing is the canopy to hang over a portion of the sidewalk on the left side looking north. Was that plan scratched? Not that it was very important, at least for me anyway. All in all, I think the biggest winners from this project were the businesses that line the street. Sub Zero Micro Lounge, Dark Horse Coffee, and Stephens Fine Arts now have a sidewalk much larger than the one found on G Street. By the way, the new looks of F Street are expected to be child's play compared to the very liberal improvements that will come with the E Street Corridor Project. That's the project construction fanatics will be really looking forward to. Anyways, some additional pics for ya of the new F Street:

(click to view)

America's newest whipping boy: Wasilla

2008-09-27T10:21:00.002-08:00

Being that this is a blog based out of Alaska, I suppose I'd have to acknowledge at some point that my governor is running to be the second most powerful person on Earth. With that, these last three weeks or so have been quite amusing as we Alaskans watch the world's discovery of Wasilla (Sarah Palin's hometown for those of you living in NORAD) like rubberneckers at the scene of a car accident. It may be ugly to watch... but we have to watch! And oh is it ugly! As my fellow Anchoragites can attest, Wasilla has long been the whipping boy of our city as the lower income blue collar town of some 9000 residents is home to several taxidermy services, "saloons" instead of bars, and our favorite place to shop -- "Knik Kountry Liquor". Over the years, our young sister city in the Valley has not faired so well in fixing its image crisis. As Anchorage physically matures in its urban appearance, many of the trailer mobile homes being removed to make way for office buildings have been known to relocate to Wasilla which welcome trailers with open arms. Mobile homes headed down the highway to Wasilla... not the greatest image a town would want in the minds of potential residents and businesses. And as the national and international media parachute into town since McCain's choice of Palin as VP late last month, they too are now being exposed to the creepy crawly creature that is Wasilla, Alaska. But it's not just the issues of Palin's former church, or the high amount of underground meth labs that has the media talking in negative light about this town. It's also Wasilla itself and its urban form, or lack thereof.

"...A town that is a soulless strip mall without sidewalks" is how New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd gently put it when describing the urban scenery of our beloved Wasilla during a recent visit to the 49th state. The Wall Street Journal had a great article that went into detail about Wasilla's urban dilemma as it goes through the growing pains of fast paced suburbanization at the cost of making long time residents feel out of place while also loosing its honor as the starting line of the annual Iditarod dog sled race due to so many driveways and roads being cut through the Iditarod trail. "Wasilla has neither a planning nor a zoning board, and it shows", wrote Michael M. Phillips for the WSJ article. I think I most enjoyed the piece written by The New York Observer's Joe Conason who when interviewing a local school official (who shall remain nameless) proceeded to tear her own hometowns pride to shreds:

"Wasilla is a hellhole, even by Alaskan standards, where there are plenty of hellhole towns and villages. Wasilla is an ugly place that shows a complete absence of planning, design, or sense of public vision".

You know your city is bad when not only does it meet the basic hellhole requirements, but also impresses the Alaskan Division of Weights and Measurements in meeting the local standards of what constitutes a true All-Alaskan hellhole (North Pole, Alaska is #1). But to stop this from becoming a bash-Wasilla fest (which I know is tempting for many of you out there!), I think we have to acknowledge the fact that Wasilla is not the only city of its kind. Since the days when the automobile replaced the horse and the Interstate highway replaced dirt roads, Wasilla is only taking its cues from the rest of the United States. There's a reason why the Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Target, Burger King, etc. fit so well into Wasilla without the hassle of having to conform to some sort of specific building code. Anchorage is just as guilty of this too. Of course compared to Wasilla, Anchorage clearly cozies up to zoning and planning, but all one needs to do is look at the haphazard development in Midtown to see that most of our city history in the late 20th century shunned what we now have coming in the form of the developing Title 21 codes. It was all about winning the land-grab south of downtown and building whatever you wanted. And to this day we still have commercial building developers and state transportation planners who are still in this mindset that it's 1968 when concrete and the automobile was the way of the future. I have no qualms about the Highway to Highway project as it looks to be promising with a portion of the highway being buried underground, but the Knik Arm Bridge?? The thought of giving a long term future to what we've been doing in Anchorage for the last 40 or so years is insane and reckless.

With this in mind, can Wasilla ever pick itself up and plan for the future in a time where gas prices are continuing to rise, environmental concern is now mainstream, and the automobile backlash is sweeping towns and cities across the country? Maybe so, or maybe not. Maybe not in that an article from Newsweek interviewed a Wasilla city-planner who tells the story of a man back in the 1980s who was fired and had his effigy burned in the parking lot of the city office after attempting to tweak and add restrictions to the city's comprehensive plan. But then again, maybe there is hope. Plans are in the works for the Valley's first town center. Though totally artificial and nowhere near the center of town, Creekside Town Square could be promising. But then again the proposal is already swept into political scandal involving the mayor of Wasilla and a deal cut with the developers while The Frontiersman reports that the development will look more like the sprawl retail already found up and down the Parks Highway. Add to that the major disappointment of what Glenn Square in Anchorage has become in terms of being pedestrian friendly along with the plans falling apart for Muldoon's town center. Whatever the case, if Wasilla thought being the whipping boy of Anchorage was harsh, they might wanna prepare for the long term when it comes to how the Lower 48 will critique their towns physical appearance should Sarah Palin's star continue to shine nationally in the decades to come.

a leasing ad for Wasilla's Creekside Town Square:

JL Tower's LED display finally gets its due

2008-09-21T10:44:00.007-08:00

I was kinda surprised as I picked up the Sunday edition of the ADN this morning to see that the LED lighting of the new JL Tower made the front page. Ermm... the penthouse of the new building has been lit with blue, green, and even red (for a short time) since the dark nights of December '07. So why report on the towers colorful floodlights now? Well apparently the lighting show has finally been tuned after tweaking around with the display since late last year. Okay, well that's cool. What I find really appealing about the buildings nighttime appearance however, is the white floodlights from the ground that brighten the entire building facade. Despite making the building look as if it's clamoring for even more attention, I really liked the idea of bathing the whole facade in light (just as long as it's on only for the early evening and not the entire night). Anyways so todays article goes on to interview the developers at JL Properties as they talk about how they have used recycled materials as tabletop counters, exercise rooms for employees, a Kaladi Bros. cafe, blah blah blah. I guess what I found really amusing was the urban analysis that a consultant who was interviewed for the article used when describing the future prosperity of the area where the JL Tower sits:

"The building is a harbinger of what's to come... The area is attractive to builders because of its expanses of undeveloped land, especially compared to crowded downtown".

Expanses of land? More than half of the available land in that area is gone! Unlike downtown, which has public parking garages readily available to the benefit of developers, the developers behind 'Plaza 36' squandered the former trailer park neighborhood with acres of surface parking lots for their buildings. Each of the parking lots for the JL Tower, ASRC, and Centerpoint Plaza have a larger footprint than the building itself. From the appearance of it, it seems only the new Alutiiq Plaza and the AlaskaUSA Financial Center have more building and less parking (I could be wrong though). Anyways the consultant goes on to say:

"From a public transportation point of view, it makes sense to concentrate offices in one area because it's easier for workers to take the bus".

If we're going to talk about it from a public transport point of view, I think it would have been preferable that the buildings in the Plaza 36 area give up some of their ego and join the heart of Midtown rather than be on the edge of Midtown in a sea of asphalt. In other words, do what the developers behind 188 West Northern Lights did and build a tower that truly cares about the future of Anchorage. Unlike the JL Tower, 188 WNL is situated between Northern Lights Boulevard and Benson in front of C Street -- perhaps the most visible location in the city today. The building offers space for ground floor retail while the parking garage is snugged quietly into the building. A first for Anchorage that deserves positive recognition. Instead of the People Mover bus making a detour to serve the new Plaza 36 office park on the edge of Midtown, workers in the JL Tower could have walked to existing bus stops already in place in the heart of Midtown, had the JL Tower been located there instead of the edge. With that, here's a map that shows the remaining land available for the developers at JL Properties when including surface parking:

click to enlarge

Knik Arm Crossing resolution stalls

2008-09-17T00:02:00.004-08:00

With the national media now beginning to take notice on that other bridge to nowhere, Tuesday night saw the resolution asking for the Assembly to drop the bridge from its long range transportation plans stall a bit. It may first sound unbelievable when you hear that the Anchorage Assembly voted unanimously for the resolution, but before you react, there's some details you gotta know. Assembly members Dan Coffey and Chris Birch removed wording from the resolution that asks for the Assembly to immediately drop the Knik Arm Bridge from the city's transportation agenda. Instead, the bridge is to be re-reviewed by AMATS (the state and city transportation board) and again put before public testimony. Sheila Selkregg, when interviewed on Channel 2 later in the night, remained optimistic as she pointed out that the resolution still retains its ultimate motive of seeking whether the bridge should be dropped.

So it looks like we will see a repeat of what we saw in 2007 when the then conservative Assembly added the Knik Arm Bridge to the city's long range transportation plans. In other words, we will see more testimony from KABATA (the bridge and toll authority overseeing the project) as they answer questions such as the costs and environmental impact, while another public testimony before the Assembly is expected later. Unlike 2007 however, I predict the results will be different in that we will indeed see the bridge knocked out of the AMATS agenda of fund worthy projects. Why? Well as I've said in my previous entry, times have changed. I'm willing to go as far as to say the bridge today is more unpopular than it was last year. And if you were at the Assembly last year during public testimony like I was, then you know how passionately Government Hill residents and others were against this project. Supporters of the bridge in last years public testimony were a small minority. But now one year later, George Wuerch, the former mayor appointed to lead KABATA, has resigned. Henry Springer (or as I call him, Henry Kissenger's long lost brother) , who was KABATA's spokesman, also left along with the deputy director (who shall remain nameless since I don't know his name). On top of that, the issue of federal earmarks and bridges to nowhere are returning to the national headlines thanks to Sarah Palin, while gas prices have soared bringing Mayor Begich to sign a deal with Mat-Su Borough Mayor Menard to establish a regional transit authority earlier this summer. In other words, it appears this will be a slower death blow for the bridge rather than a fast one. Even without considering the outside factors that have occurred since last year, the Assembly has the votes to please Mrs. Selkregg and Patrick Flynn. It's not the public that decides in the end whether the bridge stays on the AMATS board. Here's my prediction on the voting that will probably take place later this year after public hearings:

Flynn: Drop the bridge
Drummond: Drop the bridge
Gray-Jackson: Drop the bridge
Sheila Selkregg: Drop the bridge
Claman: Drop the bridge
Gutierrez: Drop the bridge
Coffey: Keep the bridge
Starr: Keep the bridge
Birch: Keep the bridge
Ossiander: Keep the bridge
Johnston: Keep the bridge
Mayor Begich: Drop the bridge

Unlike last year, Drummond, Gray-Jackson, and Gutierrez have all replaced formerly conservative seats. In 2006, Selkregg replaced conservative Ken Stout (who was a very scary guy when looking at his philosophy of how urban development should be). Again though, I just wanna stress that if and when the Assembly drops the bridge, this will NOT be the end. After this, it will be up to Governor Palin to reallocate the federal money upon Assembly request.

Assembly to target Knik Arm bridge

2008-09-13T11:31:00.003-08:00

Perhaps it's news to some, but for many of us, all we were saying was "wait for it". And now that time is about to approach. Assembly members Sheila Selkregg and Patrick Flynn -- both of whom are members of the AMATS board (the state/city transportation agency) will be asking the Assembly next Tuesday to withdraw city support for the bridge and reallocate the millions in federal money to other projects such as upgrades to the Glenn Highway, and public transportation. Of course that decision to reallocate the federal money would come from our Sarah Palin. With the heat she's getting worldwide for lying about being against the 'Bridge(s) to Nowhere', I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up eagerly sending the 63 million in federal money back to Washington all for the delight of receiving positive PR. Anyways, before the Anchorage Assembly saw its massive change of seats earlier this year, the previous two members of AMATS were Dan Sullivan and Bill Starr. Representing the then conservative Assembly, both were able to get the Muni to support keeping money for the bridge. Times have changed since then however, and now a more liberal Assembly has replaced Sullivan and Starr with Downtown's Patrick Flynn, and Sheila Selkregg. Combine them with AMATS third member, the mayor, and you have a 3 to 5 majority (assuming the other two members who are state officials vote to retain support of the bridge). With the bridge project lacking an update on its current cost, its loss of George Wuerch and another member from the board overseeing the bridges construction, along with high gas prices and a renewed nationwide focus on what is being done with federal money, expect the Assembly to put a nail on the coffin for this one. I'll probably be at the Assembly to watch in joy.

Patrick Flynn's take

The walls come down

2008-09-06T19:09:00.010-08:00

Well today was a milestone of sorts for both the Dena'ina Convention Center and the Pacillo parking garage in downtown Anchorage. Concrete barricades that left a portion of 8th Avenue, G Street, and F Street down to one lane are now gone this weekend as construction on the convention center and parking garage wrap up. Also 7th Avenue between G and F is entirely open to traffic (yeah I had to drive on it right away) while the portion of F Street that was under heavy reconstruction this summer between 6th and 7th opens as well. Of course I could care less about becoming a traffic reporter as the real goodies to see were the sidewalks and the buildings themselves. New light poles, benches, facades, and overall street/sidewalk designs make the area of F and 7th look like an oasis, or a piece of another city that landed down in Anchorage. It's really a weird feeling... kinda sterile with that feeling of newness as your entire environment around you is new. But then again, we're not just talking about your typical street and sidewalk upgrades that happen around the Anchorage bowl -- we're talking about the overnight rise of an entirely new high density district in Downtown. It's one thing had the convention center, the Pacillo garage, and the brick pattern streets came one by one over a period of a decade or so, but we're talking about all of them opening at once. Anyways the opening to the public of the Dena'ina Center should be in mid-September -- perhaps on the 18th. I'm not so sure though because the ADN reports that it will be on October 18th. Heresy! I've been hearing radio ads announcing that Damon Wayans will be performing in the Dena'ina on October 3rd. I suspect the ADN has a correction to make... or maybe Damon Wayans plans on opening to an audience of 0. Anyways I did at least try in my own effort to get into the convention center this morning, but the doors were locked :(

E Street, F Street projects coming along

2008-09-01T14:27:00.004-08:00

Besides the Dena'ina Convention Center, and the Pacillo parking garage receiving its finishing touches, the E Street Corridor Project and the F Street Connectivity Project are impressively coming along faster than I had personally thought they would. Not that either project was expected to replicate the disastrous Arctic Boulevard rehab of 2006-2007, but I'm quite surprised with F Street in particular. While E Street is still nowhere near completion and will easily go into the 2009 construction season, F Street is looking like it will be open for traffic at any day now. Sure, unlike Arctic Blvd., only a short quiet stretch of F Street is getting reconstructed, but still, just 3 months ago there was a gaping hole in front of the Sub Zero bar. With that -- and the fact that F Street, like E Street, is to replace its asphalt with bricks, I was expecting construction to move into 2009. But now by the looks of it, F Street could be open by the time the Dena'ina Center opens in mid-September. Meanwhile, E Street is at, I'd say maybe 5% completion. 6th Avenue between G and D was totally shutdown this weekend as work crews tore up the intersection of 6th and E. Surely many of you on the road this weekend found out the hard way.

images:
F Street near completion, Raised intersection at 5th and E nearly complete, plant foundation

blueprint of the E Street plans (PDF)

Cuddy Family Park finally to open this weekend

2008-08-22T11:48:00.007-08:00

Well after who knows how many years, Midtown's Cuddy Family Park is finally set to have its opening celebration this Saturday. It's kinda funny as I remember way back in 2001 or so when Channel 2 sent out Jason Moore to cover what was suppose to be the quickest construction of a city park ever. With the shovel ceremonies in the background, Moore was reporting on how a large group of volunteer workers were to work around the clock and into the night so that the park can be open for the public 24 hours later. Perhaps the army of volunteers realized you're going to need more than a volunteer effort to create a sizable lake, eh? Anyways after many years of sitting there and even showing signs of neglect, the Cuddy Family Park is finally set to have its opening ceremonies this Saturday, August the 23rd. Just like any midtown family park, the ceremonies will of course include some sort of children's parade, remote control boat races, and food. Afterall, there's parks, and then there's family parks (you gotta watch for that).

Seriously though, I really am glad to see this park finally be complete. With the Municipality developing a master plan to urbanize Midtown, I suspect this park will act as a focal point for which its surroundings will be developed more responsibly. With large scale office buildings, and the city library already in its immediate surrounding, this park is just asking for a pedestrian friendly cityscape so it can become easily accessible more so than it can be now. Once that happens, I could see Cuddy Family Park becoming the park for Anchorage, trumping Town Square in Downtown in terms of foot traffic. After all, while Downtown is filled with gift shops and hotels, it's Midtown that has, for us locals, become the new downtown. With retail, cinemas, and non-touristy restaurants a-plenty, hardly any of us locals find ourselves spending time running errands in Downtown. Midtown on the other hand is in heavy need of some sort of public space.

To wrap it all up, I basically would like to see some major traffic calming on C Street, wider sidewalks, benches, lights, and sizable mixed-use buildings bordering the park.

CORRECTION: I guess I should have looked more into the history of the park before mocking the park's lack of construction progress through the years. Apparently the park did in fact open in 2001 and was only recently closed to create the pond and build the speed skating oval. Even more interestingly, the Muni wanted this parcel of land to be a park since 1983! Umm.. my bad.

New development proposed for 6th and E

2008-08-07T12:23:00.005-08:00

So I come back from a break in Europe to find out some developers are eyeing major opportunity now that the E Street Corridor project is under way. I say great! Judging by the sketch, I think the building looks gorgeous as it fits in nicely with its neighbors in terms of scale in the Town Square area. Also proof that not all new developments in downtown have to be "the new tallest in the city".

Now should the Town Square Center and the Augustine Energy Center (just two blocks away) rise from the ground simultaneously in 2009, I can't think of a better message to send that downtown is back. It's one thing to have great civic projects such as the new museum and convention center that invest in the city, but it's another should outstanding private developments such as the Town Square Center become reality. I think it's the private developments that really showoff downtowns viability to compete with Midtown.

188 WNL featured on Sunday's ADN

2008-06-22T11:57:00.003-08:00

An opinion piece in todays paper praises the new 188 WNL in midtown for its unique architecture and mixed-use layout that complies with the city's developing midtown plan as well as Title 21. Of course I gotta let you know the online version includes an audio slide show with commentary by a rep for Ruby Investment as well as the project manager. A good building deserves good press.

Latest happenings in the city

2008-06-21T14:01:00.007-08:00

Well this week (it was this week, right?) we saw the closure of E Street as the city goes through with its E Street Corridor plans (or "Enhancement Project", whatever you like). Now while the corridor plans will involve reconstructing E Street from 2nd Avenue to 9th Avenue, the portion undergoing change for now is just the stretch between 5th and 6th Avenue. If you have not seen the renderings yet, the changes will be obvious. I still think this will be risky as it may end up receiving the 'what were they thinkin'? line from onlookers in the future. Wider sidewalks, added landscaping, ice-free walkways -- that's great. But adding colored brick designs on the road... I don't know man... I've yet to see any other city do it, so I really don't know what to think in terms of whether it will age well or whether we'll see the design scrapped 20 years down the road and replaced again with regular pavement. Either way, here's a PDF from the contractors at CDW on the project.

Meanwhile the Post Office Mall (or whatever the building is named now) received a fresh coat of light blue paint across its entire front facade. Besides seeing a flourishing of activities with new shops opening inside, owner Jimmy Wong is planning to give the buildings exterior a makeover to align with the re-energized mall that will hopefully become more visually appealing and attractive for new business. A quick visit to the mall's official webpage reveals a sketch of how the new front exterior is to look. Distinguishing the buildings two main entrances: cool. Adding whales swimming on the roof: not cool. The whales better be tastefully done, otherwise we'll have ourselves a case of pink flamingos. I'm nervous about this..

Finally, though not so new, the neighboring building next to the 4th Avenue Theatre (which shall remain nameless) has been given a new facade treatment by its property owners. Before, I always thought the building looked depressed and ghostly. The gray paint scheme made it seem as if its original colors totally chipped away from the passage of time. Now, the building looks rosy and cheerful while managing not to go overboard in its faux brownstone architecture. Even a little wood frame has been added on the front, presumably left as advertising space for any future tenet. Judging simply on what I've observed over the years, the building has seemed to have a rough history of attracting any tenets, perhaps due to limited space, so I guess we'll see what this new look would do.

Begich and Menard agree to create transit authority

2008-06-14T12:24:00.005-08:00

For a while the Alaska Railroad has been saying they have been improving the tracks between the valley and Anchorage and that all that is needed is a regional transit authority to take it from there. Well, as of Friday, we got one in the works. Yesterday the mayors of both areas of South Central signed an agreement creating a transit authority with the hopes that commuter rail will become a possibility as soon as perhaps two or even 1 year (at least Begich seems more optimistic about it happening sooner). What does this mean for valley commuters? The answer is obvious. With gas prices according to one source only expected to fall back to 3.92 a gallon into 2009, the long waiting list for the MASCOT valley service into Anchorage will probably see major relief once the rail comes online. Great, great news fo sure.

Full story

In sorta related news, new assembly members with seats at AMATS are skeptical about KABATA's legitimacy on undertaking the Knik Arm Bridge project. No surprise. With the organization losing George Wuerch and its deputy director while also coming under criticism from Palin in terms of its budget handling, we could see a dead fish in the water.

Full story

Downtown development open house this Friday

2008-06-11T22:25:00.009-08:00

Well this Friday, June 13th will be the second annual sort of "open house" by Destination Downtown at Peratrovich Park at 4th and E from 5:30 to 7:30. Like last year, this years event will have reps of projects around downtown available for one on one questions and comments as well as renderings, charts, and all that other stuff that comes with the PR. I headed down to last years event and I gotta say, it was really great to see this proactive effort on the part of the city to inform the public on the going on's in this town. Now last years event had booths dedicated to the new convention center, parking garage, and museum along with some minor private residential projects. This year, I can't say there's a lot new going on. Hopefully I'll be surprised by some new private projects that I was somehow unaware of -- but knowing myself, if there's a project out there, I'm probably aware of it by now.

On a side note, I recently noticed that the city's 'Destination Downtown' website is now listing the Augustine Energy Center as one of the numerous projects in downtown. So the project is still on eh? Groundbreaking for the tower was supposed to be this spring. We'll see if a team repping the tower will be at Fridays event. Ditto for the newly proposed Crystal Plaza (though it may be too early). btw I'm also looking forward to playing in the worlds largest sandbox, as the Destination Downtown flier in todays ADN mentions.

Update - Well just as I had feared, there looks to be nothing major except for plans to plant trees and add bike racks. Other than that, no new developments. Reps for the Augustine tower did have a presence yesterday as our only private development this year, but other than that, nothing else new. Also no "worlds largest sandbox" which the ads on the newspapers were hyping. Lame.

Casual weekend observations

2008-06-01T14:43:00.013-08:00

Starting from the top: (1) Finishing touches are added to the exterior of the new convention center. (2) Two blocks away, some sort of wiring is added to the revamped JCPenney parking garage. As I can attest after doing a late night drive through downtown on Saturday, brighter lighting throughout the garage has been added. (3) Workers install saw cut texture at the intersection of F and 6th.

Full steam ahead for F Street this weekend

2008-05-23T16:02:00.005-08:00

The F Street Connectivity Project, which started on May 1st, is set to go under full construction mode this Memorial Day Weekend as 6th Avenue from G Street to C Street will be closed off to vehicular traffic. A separate project by the Alaska DOT will occur simultaneously between D and C Street, hence the long stretch of 6th Avenue being shut down. The F Street Connectivity Project will revamp F Street with the addition of new brick patterns both on the sidewalk and roadway, wider sidewalks, and pedestrian-friendly bottle neck intersections for both F and 6th, and F and 7th. The Town Square Donor Bricks presently lying in the affected area of this weekends construction will be removed and returned to Town Square at a later date. Stephans Fine Arts Gallery and Sub Zero Microlounge will remain open this weekend with pedestrian access remaining available to both sites. Alaska Gourmet Subs will also stay open with pedestrian access available from the City Hall parking lot.

F Street Connectivity Project blue print (PDF)

Official road closure notice

Muldoon Wal-Mart gets the last laugh

2008-05-22T23:21:00.006-08:00

Well it looks like Wal-Mart has become the overall victor in the seemingly endless battle between Wal-Mart/Sam's Club and the residents of the surrounding Muldoon neighborhoods. Wal-Mart will no longer have to comply with its previous "give-backs" to Muldoon which included a 2 acre park, a 200 ft. buffer between the big box development and the Old Harbor neighborhood, a plant filled median, and a plaza roundabout between the Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores. I have to wonder though, since when was a plant filled median considered an "amenity"? At least that's how the ADN described the median among other things now lost in the deal. So why does Wal-Mart no longer have to give Muldoon its plant filled median and other generous amenities? Earlier this year a judge ruled that the Anchorage Assembly's approval for Wal-Mart's rezoning was flawed as the Planning and Zoning Department was left out of changes made by the Muni and the public while Assembly member Dan Coffey had a conflict of interest that other Assembly members brushed off as being non-harmful to the process. As a result, Wal-Mart, now with its little piece of land zoned for commercial use, has decided to squeeze both its new Supercenter and Sam's Club into the remaining 33 acres which will have both buildings side by side with a large parking lot right in front of DeBarr Road old school suburban style! The remaining land that Wal-Mart bought for the Assembly approved rezone will be sold as they return back to residential use.

Now that this whole mess seems to be over, I say the Assembly deserves the humiliation. For Mayor Begich and the Assembly to bend over backwards for a business that would throw off entirely the Creekside Town Center master plan was frustrating to watch. Sure Wal-Mart owned the land, and it has a right to do what it wants so long as they meet the building codes of the area, but to rubber stamp Wal-Mart's demand to convert residential property into commercial was a demand we never had to meet. We could've just said "oh you own residential land around the commercial property too? That's nice...", and leave it at that. While Anchorage has spent years whipping up a sustainable 2020 plan that involves mass transit, compact development, etc, Wal-Mart's sudden barge into that particular area was an affront to the whole city as the Creekside Town Center project was beginning to get underway just across the street. In the end, I will miss that plant filled median that never was...

Condominium or fortress?

2008-05-19T15:27:00.009-08:00

From a distance, the new B. Street Commons look like a great addition to the South Addition neighborhood, but look closer and unlike its neighbors, the developers behind the Commons left something out from the front facade. What is it? They forgot the doors! Instead of having a front entrance connecting the condominium to the Delaney Park Strip, the main doors and garage have been tucked behind the building on a gravel filled alley. To add insult to injury, there are no windows on the ground floor of the Commons. Instead, all the front sidewalk gets is blank walls, those tiresome brown garden bricks, and presumably, a manicured lawn. Overall, while the B. Street Commons looks good from afar, closer inspection shows a building that seems to be afraid of its neighbors and therefore guard its ground level base while keeping its residents safe on the upper floors where they can watch the blood bath from their balconies.

Stevens International vs. Knowles Coastal Trail

2008-05-18T15:35:00.010-08:00

Once again we find ourselves with another partisan debate between Democrats and Republicans. At least in name only. As the ADN reports today, airport officials are seeking four different proposals for a new north-south runway that will run parallel to its existing runway in order to handle a growth in cargo traffic that is expected to continue into 2020. All four proposals will require realignment of the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail with the top proposal being the most dramatic as it will involve spilling in 130 acres of earth onto Cook Inlet to serve as new ground for the proposed runway. Proposal 3 will also run over what is now Woronzof Park while proposals 2 and 4 will be less dramatic and save the park, but will scoot the trail closer to the AWWU treatment plant (the stinky place). The Municipality bought what is now Woronzof Park from the airport in a 1994 land swap in order to build Kincaid Elementary.

With a public meeting to be held this Wednesday evening at the Coast International Inn, expect some emotional testimonies from both sides. I myself am not sure what to think of this. With a forecast by the airport showing continued growth for the next several years, a new runway sounds like a must, but at what cost to the trail, its users, and its wildlife habitat?

*Update - According to the ADN, the folks at Steven's International apparently took a beating at last nights public meeting in which, as I predicted, the Coast International Inn would be packed with trail users opposing the new runway plans. But get this: besides trail users, airliners were also against the proposals. Airport officials say the plans will be shelved... for now.

Alaska gas average highest in the nation

2008-05-17T15:20:00.002-08:00

Well who didn't see this coming? According to AAA, Alaska is number one when it comes to the highest average price for gas in the nation at just over 4 bucks a gallon. As of today, anchoragegasprices.com is reporting the highest price being in Wasilla at 3.96 while the ADN reported a couple days ago that the average for Anchorage was in the ballpark of around 3.89.

You know... I actually am somewhat surprised that Alaska now leads the nation in gas prices. For a while it seemed the bay area of California was leading the way while a couple years ago Georgia drivers were putting up with eight dollars a gallon for a brief period. As a born and raised Alaskan, I guess the mindset of immunity from troubles in the lower 48 are no longer a dream.