The Cornell

October 24, 2014 Fall 2014 Issue II

PLANNER

Cover Photo: Reynold Boezi, CRP 1960, talking to students, faculty and alumni at the Turkel House, Detroit.

2Detroit has been much in the news lately—its protracted economic and social struggles demonstrated through white flight, bankruptcy, the possible sale of its esteemed fine art collection, the collapse of civic infrastructure and services, foreclosures, evictions, shuttered industries and vacant neighborhoods—leaving the city a potent symbol for America’s abandonment of its own people and communities. At the same time, alternate narratives of Detroit have also played out across the pages of newspapers and websites: of self-help and self-determination, revitalization and re-discovery, and opportunity. This September, Detroit was the destination for the annual Fall Field Trip conducted by City and Regional Planning for 44 (primarily) first-year masters students and three faculty members from the department’s programs in planning and historic preservation.

After arriving in Detroit early Thursday afternoon, the CRP group was given a lightning tour of downtown and some of the many projects being undertaken by Bedrock Ventures, the multi-faceted corporate umbrella for Quicken Loans owner Dan Gilbert’s many enterprises. The tour ended with a panel discussion of the projects by three company officials. Then, the group hopped on to the Detroit People Mover for a ride to the Renaissance Center, which led to dinner in Greektown and a two-hour cruise on the Detroit River, where we were joined by planning and design faculty and students from Wayne State, Lawrence Technological

University, and the University of Michigan. The students and faculty shared ideas, observations and contacts, as we passed by the waterfronts of Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. A night-time walk across downtown back to the hotel ended the first day.

Friday started with a visit to the internationally known Heidelburg Project, a multi-block, long-standing art installation created by Tyree Guyton, who joined us to discuss his work and vision. Then, we toured the Arden Park historic district with a guide from Preservation Detroit, followed by a visit to D-Town Farm with Malik Yakini, the founder of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network. Tours of the historic Fisher Building and the former General Motors Headquarters were followed by an inspiring visit to the Grandmont-Rosedale neighborhood, where a local development corporation is working hard to save both residential and commercial spaces and their occupants. Another short drive, and we arrived at the spectacular Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Dorothy Turkel House for the CRP alumni reception that is always a highlight of the field trip. Thanks to the generosity of the homeowners, we were able to enjoy food and drinks in the gardens, and self-guided tours of the recently restored home. Department alumni from as far back as the class of 1960, and as recently as the class of 2013, shared their stories of life after Cornell in the Midwest. But after too short a respite. we were in Midtown Detroit for a visit to the Detroit Institute of Art, and the exciting Dlectricity Arts Festival that extended outwards from the museum throughout the Midtown area. A late-night bus ride brought most of the students back to the hotel.

CRP GOES TO DETROIT by Jeffrey Chusid, Associate Professor

Continued on next page

Photo by Geslin George

Photo by Sean McGee

3Saturday was another glorious sunny day, and began with a drive through Corktown, by the enormous and empty Detroit Central Terminal, to the city of Hamtramck, which is wholly enclosed by Detroit. There, Mayor Karen Majewski gave an impassioned and information-packed tour of her small city both by bus and by foot—from the GM plant to the multi-ethnic main street to an extraordinary folk-art installation in a Ukrainian immigrant’s back yard. Then a drive from Hamtramck to the Detroit River revealed the relentless devastation of east Detroit: the enormous vacant Packard Plant: empty and isolated Victorian homes and businesses sitting in the midst of blocks of overgrowth and wildlife, the occasional pedestrian looking disconnected from both time and place. But near the water, and the eastern end of the city, came a visit to another set of historic districts: the Villages, followed by a tour of Lafayette Park, a 1960s urban renewal project designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and the morning ended at Eastern Market, the largest open-air food market in America. After a quick lunch and a bit of shopping from the multitude of vendors, food trucks, restaurants and stores that crowd the area, the group got on the bus for the long ride back to Ithaca.

There is no question that the city of Detroit and far too many of its inhabitants have been experiencing terrible episodes of deprivation and neglect, and that enormous efforts are required now, and will continue to be required for many years, to undo past decades of discord and disinvestment. But the CRP field trip aimed to show not just that, but also the reason that the effort is so necessary and so right: the extraordinary natural, cultural, and human resources of the Detroit area, along with the dedication and commitment of its residents towards a better future.

Photo by Xiao Huang

Student Reflections on Detroit:

“No matter the polarity, the future ofDetroit belongs to those who are committed to the realization of a better tomorrowthrough action.”

-John Southern

“There are as many problems as there are opportunities [in Detroit], and there are as many constraints as there are loopholes. Each person finds himself with a role to fill and in the process of surviving and thriving, perhaps they will pull the city out of its tomb.”

-Hien Dinh

“If I were living in the Detroit area, I would certainly want to visit [the Eastern Market] on a nearly weekly basis. There were tons of people selling, buying, enjoying the access to fresh produce.”

-Daniel Keough

“The most important lesson I learned from visiting Detroit is that hope arises where decline persists, that the extreme resilience of human resolution is not to be underestimated.”

-Meicheng Wang

“There was a different feel here [D-Town Farm], one of earthly gratification and connection, a feeling of something built because it was needed and because it was the right thing to do.”

-Bridgit Hohlfeld

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As our tour bus meandered through the empty streets just within Detroit’s city limits, I could not believe my eyes. The city was nothing like I had imagined and yet it was so much more than what I could have possibly sketched in my mind. The visions of crumbling facades rambling down the vacant streets of downtown Detroit on a Thursday afternoon were the very first images to catch my attention. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, I am familiar with the urban setting so I could not help but think about what the streets of Chicago would look like on a Thursday afternoon and felt the harsh difference. I could feel Detroit’s ghost breathing down my neck, as if weeping for its people. The energy of the city was nothing I had ever felt before in any other city in the world. This newfound connection with the City of Detroit quickly began to take on a whole new meaning for me and, coupled with our visits to Quicken Loans and then D-Town Farms, reshaped what Detroit meant for me—past, present, and future.

Quicken Loans, initially, felt like a breath of fresh air. It felt reassuring to see the extent of which Dan Gilbert was investing in the city, trying to revive it, and bring it new life. For a second I had forgotten about the ghost that had ushered me into the city. As the tour of the “Gilbert Empire”, as I call it, continued, however, the feelings of reassurance disappeared and were replaced with feelings of uneasiness. I began to ask myself how was it exactly that this company was helping the people who were still living within the city. Gilbert’s so-called empire is bringing in foreign investors, attracting young millennials from all over the country, and making the city into a “blank-slate” real-estate venture. One cannot help but ask what this means for the Detroit locals, 80% of whom are Black (US Census, Detroit Quick Facts). Interestingly, the day we toured Quicken Loans, four people of color were noted during our entire visit with “#BruceWatch” and all but one was service staff. Many in the group were wondering, frankly, “Why the hell were we brought there?” We would soon realize why Quicken Loans was our first stop on our tour of Detroit.

By Saturday, we had arrived at the gates of D-Town Farm, greeted by Malik Yakini’s warm, welcoming smile and down-to-earth attitude. It was a stark contrast from Bruce Schwartz’s glaring sneer, troubling “-isms” jargon, and clear devotion to Dan Gilbert. The tour of D-Town Farm allowed us a boots-on-the-ground view of the initiative to meet the immediate needs of the people of Detroit. We could feel the resilience of the residents, who are taking direct control of

their community and influencing a bright future by lifting each other up and brushing off the dust of a sad yesteryear. It was in this setting that what I had felt as the ghost of Detroit was no longer so much a ghost, but a soul of a city—there is a big difference. You see, I realized Detroit is not a ghost town; Detroit is full of soul, full of color, and definitely full of life – it has a heartbeat. The people of Detroit know what they need and they are working daily to carve a better path toward their community’s future through food security programs, solid community initiatives and workshops that aim to engage families and youth.

Still, they have a long road ahead of them and as we witnessed, there are many “Detroits” within Detroit, or cities within the city—many of which remain hidden and tucked away. While Dan Gilbert is doing a lot to revive Detroit’s downtown, we must realize the ways in which he is carrying out that revitalization. Who is being excluded and what does it mean for the future of Detroit? On the other hand, we see efforts like D-Town Farm that are aiming to mobilize another Detroit—completely separate from Dan Gilbert’s Detroit. Honestly, this trip was life changing and eye opening. Before visiting Detroit, I had envisioned it being an empty, desolate city. What could Detroit possibly have to offer to us as city planners other than the shell of what used to be magnificent Detroit, the Motor City? Yet slowly, I began to realize that Detroit is not a ghost of a city. Detroit still has a soul that is very much alive and vibrant. It is unfortunate that it required a trip to this forsaken city to see it for myself. Thankfully, I now have a new appreciation for the city and hope to continue following its new growth, finding ways in which I can support this city and its people, and make sure to spread the message to others across the country to help them understand the reality of Detroit.

THE GHOST OF DETROIT AND MEby Alia Fierro, first-year CRP

Photo by Alia Fierro

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Top right: Entering Detroit’s Eastern Market, the largest in the United States, photo by Gabriela Brito.Top left: One of Tyree Guyton’s pieces of art found at the Heidelberg Project, which incorporates the theme of time, photo by Jordan CleekMiddle left: A banner with the phrase, “There is no culture without agriculture” flying high at D-Town Farm, photo by Sarah Dougherty.Bottom: A scenic photograph on the Detroit river, which acts as the border Canada and the United States, photo by Gabriela Brito.Middle right: CRP and guests enjoy an evening boat ride down Michigan’s Detroit River, photo provided by Professor Chusid

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Q: What prompted you to write your first book?A: In this college when I joined it, no one expected anyone to write so much as an article. That was not the culture of the college. Architects do not write. I am not an architect but overwhelmed by architects and many of them became my personal friends and colleagues. There was no compulsion for an academic to write in this college. I did not write because I was required to, I wrote because I enjoyed doing so. And then I got hooked. And then it became kind of like a compulsion that I was imposing on myself. And here I am 15 books later.

Q: Next year is the 50th anniversary of your first book, is that correct?A: Yeah which is quite remarkable considering the fact that when I wrote it no one—even me—didn’t think of this as a particularly earth shaking kind of subject. There is a virtue in doing something first. Recently, I contacted the editor of the book to make sure that it will still be in print next year so that we can celebrate the 50th anniversary and she assured me that it would. There are only so many copies sold each year by now. Every library and person who is going to buy it already has it. It’s only when someone steals it from the library that the library would [buy it] now. But it went through a bunch of editions. I had never written a book before and so I had no idea what was going to happen with it. What happened was not typical of an academic book. It got reviewed in the New York Times, the Herald Tribune, the NY Review of Books, a journal of religion, and a journal of law. Reviews appeared in all kinds of strange places because it was a strange book. Like I said, the virtue of doing something first is not to be sneezed at.

Q: We know you have done a lot of work with aerial photographs, how do you feel about “drones”?A: I don’t know enough about drones to feel one way or the other about them. But I would love to have a drone because I have done a lot of photography and I just cannot imagine how much fun it would be to have one that could fly over you. I also cannot imagine how in the hell they can allow personal drones. It’s bad enough to have people careening around in cars texting and doing all kinds of stuff, but DRONES? My god this stuff is falling. We are now in danger of freedom as it is. Drones are not perfect and they could fall on us. Still I would love to have one.

“Life is just a series of accidents,” said John Reps when Zoe and Alia (editors) asked him how he became interested in planning. There have been an endless number of articles written about Professor Reps and his pioneering work in the field of planning, so Zoe and Alia wanted to go beyond the questions of academia and ask a different set of questions.

INTERVIEW WITH PROFESSOR JOHN REPS

Q: Do you have a favorite place on campus? A: Well it was the Olin Library. I used to have a study there for something like 40 odd years. I wrote fourteen and a half books there. I have great affection for this place. People used to ask me after I retire if I am going to stay in Ithaca. I said I cannot possibly be any place where I don’t have access to that library. Now, things are all changing and libraries are becoming redundant, but I like to feel books. I don’t know what your generation is going to make of it.

Q: What are you planning to work on next?A: There are a lot of undone things. I know more about the history of planning of Savannah, Georgia than anywhere else in the world and Savannah, Georgia was the book that I was always going to write. Just as I was finishing one book I would think, “okay now it will be Savannah” and then something else always came up and I would get going on another topic and I would always say I can always do that later. The Savannah plan is full of mysteries and I think I know a bit about where the plan originated. So do 4 or 5 other people and they have different ideas. It has become a kind of long-term running game. “Whose got the next theory about the origin of planning in Savannah?” I’ve had three different theories. It’s possible that I might finally get that Savannah book done. There are all kinds of mysteries about the plan. When you think about history, history is really a detective game. I have discovered that there is nothing more unpredictable than the past because some new fact or thought is always popping up. When we think about history we think that it’s frozen in time, that’s certainly not true because more and more stuff keeps popping up.

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This month, CU Pres Skorton launched “Engaged Cornell”, a $150 million plan to transform the undergraduate curriculum at Cornell by requiring all students to complete some form of engaged learning before graduation. This summer, I had the opportunity to participate in one of the programs Engaged Cornell will be modeled upon, the Cornell Urban Scholars Program (CUSP), sponsored by the Office of Engaged Learning + Research.

CUSP, historically associated with CRP and currently managed by Professor Richard Kiely, seeks to engage undergraduates with New York City’s social justice issues through meaningful internship placements at nonprofits. As preparation for the summer program, students complete CRP 3310: Social Justice and the City, a discussion-based course focused on a variety of issues ranging from community organizing practices to housing policy. Once in New York, we organized weekly reflection sessions and field trips to connect what we learned in class with what was actually happening on the ground.

My placement was at Regional Plan Association (RPA), a leading nonprofit advocating for metropolitan-scale planning in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region. Within the transportation division, I completed a research project related to the future of cars, highlighting changing trends in ownership and usage, the impact of emerging services such as Uber, and the potential of driverless car technologies to transform mobility and urban form. While my work only resulted in a draft whitepaper due to time constraints, the research will be valuable to RPA during its 4th Regional Plan effort, an ongoing project to create a once-in-a-generation comprehensive plan to be published in late 2016.

As Cornell moves to require engaged learning practices among all undergraduates by 2025, I can say with confidence

CORNELL URBAN SCHOLARS PROGRAMby Tyler Keegan, URS student

Are you a CRP ALUM doing inspiring work in the field? A STUDENT with an outstanding research project? Hosting a PLANNING EVENT and hoping to SHARE the news?

The Cornell Planner would LOVE to hear about it! We are always looking for engaging new content showcasing the compelling work and vibrant community that define City and Regional Planning here at Cornell.

Have a great story you want to share?

that experiences like CUSP truly make a difference in every aspect of the college experience. In addition to learning from a self-driven research project, I also learned a great deal about the planning profession from sitting in on RPA board meetings, hearing practitioners’ opinions on current events, and visiting different neighborhoods around the city. The program also gave me tools to critically reflect on what I learned, to integrate my off-campus experience with the curriculum of my classes at Cornell, and to understand the complexity of real world problems. With such a high impact on my own education thus far, I am incredibly excited to see the University commit to widespread engagement, with the funding to ensure such experiences are impactful and open to all students.

Undergraduate students in their Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior years are invited to apply for the 2015 CUSP cohort – visit elr.cornell.edu/students/programs/CUSP for info session times and application materials.

Photo provided by Tyler Keegan

If you have a story that you would like to share, the Cornell Planner staff can be reached at cornellplanner@cornell.edu.

We can’t wait to hear from you!

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SOCIOECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY OF RESIDENTIAL VACANCYAmanda Micklow

PARTICIPATORY TECHNOLOGIES AND THE POLITICS OF MATERIALITYJames Macmillen

CITY SERVICE DELIVERY UNDER AUSTERITY: COOPERATION AND PRIVATIZATIONYunji Kim Yunji

NEW ANALYTICAL METHODS IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION PLANNING: THE SOCIAL SIDEEmily Goldman

Nidhi Subramanyam, MRP ‘14, won the prestigious IDRC 2015 Research Award (in the Climate Change and Water category), out of about 200 applicants. IDRC is the International Development Research Center based in Ottawa, Canada. The award includes a paid year-long internship at IDRC and full support for her research project, ”Vulnerabilities and Responses to Climate Change in the Peripheral Municipalities of Kalyan-Dombivili and Vasai-Virar in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, India.” Earlier this year, Nidhi wrote a thesis on community acquiescence to development through Special Economic Zones in Tamilnadu, India.

Esther Wong, URS ‘10, MRP ‘11, presented an edited version of her master’s degree paper, “Public Spaces in Unexpected Places: Case Study from Hong Kong” at the Future of Places II conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina in September. Mr. Liong Phing Kwee (B.Arch ‘79) of Singapore made her trip possible.

Dan Schulman, MRP ‘16, will travel to the KwaZulu Natal province of South Africa to engage with the Swayimane community. With the continued partnership of the University of KZN, his team will develop a network map and supply chain analysis of community members, farmers, institutions, and stakeholders, directly utilizing technical and analytical skills learned from CRP. His team will provide a comprehensive report and capacity-building trainings based on field research and interviews. In addition, he will be leading his team in the exploration of gender and power dynamics with regard to feasibility and implementation. To help support Dan’s trip visit, www.gofundme.com/smartdan.

Michael Manville, Assistant Professor, gave a talk at the Cornell Club on September 22, along with “Gridlock Sam” Schwartz, NYC’s former traffic commissioner, about efforts to fight congestion in New York City. In September Manville published an article in the Transportation journal on political support for public transportation, featured later by Citylab and then also on KCBS Radio in San Francisco. Additionally, he attended the second meeting in Washington, D.C. as part of the NAS Transportation Research Board’s special committee, which evaluates the rise of Transportation Network Companies like Uber and Lyft. To view the article visit, http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/09/if-so-many-people-support-mass-transit-why-do-so-few-ride/380570/

Jennifer Minner, Assistant Professor, has received a $33,650 grant from the National Park Service’s National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT). The grant will support a project titled “Visualizing the Past, Present, and Future of New York City’s 1964–5 World’s Fair Site Using 3D GIS and Procedural Modeling.” Read the full article on the AAP website: http://aap.cornell.edu/news-events/grant-supports-research-use-3d-gis-historic-preservation-analysis.

ACHIEVEMENTS

SPATIAL HETEROGENEITY OF LOCAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE RECESSION: THE IMPORTANCE OF STATE CENTRALIZATIONYuanshuo Xu

FINANCIALIZATION AND THE REMAKING OF REAL ESTATE FINANCE: REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT IN THE BOSTON AREA, 1970-2012Peter Wissoker

CITY OF VILLAGES: LAND, GOVERNANCE, AND THE CHALLENGES OF PLANNING GURGAON, INDIAShoshana Goldstein

PhD Students: This month, CRP doctoral students are excited to share that on October 30, 2014 many of them will be presenting papers in Pennsylvania at the 2014 Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) 54th Annual Conference titled Big Ideas, Global Impacts. The following is a list of the doctoral students and the titles of the papers they will present:

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AAP NYC students tour Governors Island National Monument and Roosevelt Island, the latter of which is home of the future Cornell tech campus. At Governors, students toured the currently-in-restoration ferry terminal, Fort Jay (a preserved remnant from the Revolutionary War), and biked around the coastline on the last weekend of operation.

POSTCARD FROM AAP NYC

After years of anticipation, AAP Professor Michael Tomlan’s latest book, “Historic Preservation: Caring for our Expanding Legacy,” is set to be published in the next few weeks. This book is a result of a lifetime of work and Tomlan’s desire to produce an up-to-date synthesis of the field of historic preservation planning.

This book shifts focus from “what” is important, found in earlier books, to “who” is important in the field of historic preservation. While it is different from other books in this field, the approach is consistent with how the Cornell Historic Preservation Planning Program functions and the manner in which ideas are developing in the United States.

Historic preservation goes far beyond preserving historic

buildings. In his book, Tomlan explains historic preservation as a social movement directed at saving and caring for our cultural heritage. The topics discussed are drawn from hundreds of local examples across the country, most illustrated with dozens of photographs by the author. The intellectual framework is explored, as well the legislation, judicial decisions and executive orders that have guided decision making. Documentation, context and design are addressed, and, along the way, Tomlan illustrates why not all efforts that promote green design are preservation sensitive. Other topics include the economic and financial aspects of rehabilitation (contributed by Professor David Listokin of Rutgers University, a former visiting Professor to our Department), the need for advocacy and the significance of religion in addressing cultural heritage. In fact, a full chapter emphasizes the importance that religion has played throughout American history and explores how it is a key feature in revitalization and renewal of cities. This alone stands as a new contribution to the preservation and planning disciplines, in part reflecting on the programs and activities begun by Cornell alumni.

Going forward, this will be a required text for historic preservation planning classes in AAP. In addition, professors in other historic preservation programs across the country have been eagerly anticipating the publication of this book because it goes beyond the existing texts, which are out of date and insufficiently detailed to be helpful.

PROFESSOR TOMLAN PUBLISHES NEW BOOKby Zoe Siegel