Blog 2: Legibility, Identity

Taylor, Joseph, Deborah, Reyna

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From Left to Right: District, Path, Landmark, Node, Edge

The Short North is a commercial area located near downtown Columbus. Just as every city can be defined by Kevin Lynch’s “five elements of the city”, so too can the Short North area be defined by these. The first of these elements are ‘Paths’. They are the routes by which people can travel throughout the area. In the Short North, these would be the roads and sidewalks. Primary routes in the area are North High Street and Route 670. Both of these are major paths that help to move a large volume of people into, through, and out of the area. The next of these elements are ‘Edges’, or the boundaries of the area. The Short North is bounded by the Victorian Village to the west, the Italian Village to the east, the Arena District to the south, and OSU to the north. The third of these elements are ‘Districts’. Districts are distinct areas within the city. Even districts of Columbus such as the Short North have smaller districts of their own. The Short North contains the Arts District, which comprises most of the Short North, the Convention District, and the North Market District. The fourth element is ‘Nodes’, which are distinct points that link the city or area. In the Short North, these would primarily be transportation facilities, such as intersections, the on-ramp to 670, parking garages, COTA bus stops, and car sharing facilities. The final of these five elements is ‘Landmarks’. These are specific places that allow a person to assess their surroundings and determine their physical location. Landmarks in the Short North include various parks, the Convention Center, the North Market, and the Short North’s signature metal arches.

The Short North was designed to be a vibrant, traditional community of it’s own while simultaneously being integrated into the downtown area. The vision statement for the Short North as stated in The Short North Design Guideline reads, “The Short North will remain a vibrant, mixed use destination comprised of varying building types and densities, respectful of the historic fabric yet supportive to new building forms and types, celebrating the arts and supported by a full range of transportation and pedestrian modes without over dependency on the car”. The Short North makes very efficient use of it’s land. The Short North is built vertically rather than horizontally, creating a higher density, pedestrian friendly space that encompasses a rather small land area. The Short North has a focus on commercial retail but also features residential and office space. To conserve land area, apartments and offices are located on the upper floors of buildings while retail is located on the ground floor. This usage of buildings seems relatively stable throughout the Short North, making it a very mixed use neighborhood. The mixed uses in the Short North help to make it a relatively softer area in terms of development. Most of the Short North could be redeveloped fairly easily if the people wanted to do so. There are some hard areas located throughout the Short North though, such as the Convention Center and the North Market. These places are unlikely to be redeveloped due to their physical, economic, and cultural significance to the area.

Together, the Elements can create a sense of place and impacting experiences for a user of the space. Often time, certain elements by themselves can be impacting. For example, one may associate a memory with a certain path or find a district such as the Short North Arts District impacting in their life. However, it is the combination of these elements that creates a city or a place to live.  For people to interact and truly feel a sense of cohesiveness, parts must interact with each other to create a flow between people. For example, a certain path in the city may be a central route to an important point or node. The elements must work together to both impact the public by evoking a sense of community and creating a circulation pattern that reinforces the idea of neighborhoods and a general place to live

Talking about security and protection, the three most complained security issues in the short north are: panhandling, open container, and illegal camping. To solve these problems, the Short North Ambassadors created patrol tours that are responsible for watching the street and developing a sense of security and protection for the community.In addition, the short north can be divided in two areas: High Street and housing space. The High Street is a place with huge movement of people and vehicles, and this movement makes people feel safer there. On the other hand, at the housing space there isn’t a lot of movement, which makes people feel insecure. In other words, the circulation of people makes the users of the place feel secure.

The short north could be improved by working to incorporate some of the positive elements that were lost during the area’s transition from a poor, high-crime area into a hip arts district. Boarded up stores and scummy bars have been replaced with expensive restaurants and galleries. Gentrification has replaced working class residents with well-educated young professionals. This process has forced out many of the creatives who gave the district its identity in the first place, as they can no longer afford to live in the area. By reintroducing more affordable housing, the Short North could attract a more racially and socioeconomically diverse community.

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SLOTH SQUAD- THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

The Engineering Campus of The Ohio State University is outlined (left) on a map taken from Google Maps. It is the home of the College of
Engineering, and contains buildings such as Hitchcock Hall, Knowlton Hall, and Bolz Hall. The portion of campus also contains multiple restaurants and parking garages, as well as several other educational buildings. In general, the area is relatively legible. While there is not a lot by way of signage, the buildings are all labeled relatively clearly. The restaurants have hanging signs in the alleyways, and the parking garages are well indicated. The streets are labeled with standard street signs, and the crosswalks are clearly marked. Hard areas include the buildings themselves, since they are well integrated with the rest of campus and are home not only to different classrooms and offices, but also to a lot of hardwired technology and equipment. These areas include the Austin E. Knowlton building, home to the School of Architecture, and the David F. Baker Systems Engineering building, which is home primarily to computer labs and classrooms. Some softer areas would include the large space between Knowlton and Hitchcock, which serves no other real purpose than a pathway. That being said, throughout the school year, there are some events that take place there, like the College of Engineering Activities Fair and various other informational sessions. Additionally, while the buildings which contain the restaurants and retail shops are hard features of the area, their contents are less-so. The bookstore was just added this semester, and techHub only moved to its location at the beginning of the Autumn semester. Of the buildings in the area, the softest would probably be the Enarson Classroom building. It is currently going through some changes, with the movement of the bookstore and the techHub out of it and into the alleyway just outside. Additionally, it houses no offices or major computer labs, only classrooms. The classes that use those rooms would not have to meet there, though losing the space would be inconvenient. There are several landmarks present within this portion of campus. The first, and most obvious, is the so-called Garden of Numbers, located just outside the Enarson Classroom Building. This is a series of large, decorative numbers and other mathematical symbols, and is pictured to the right. The second, and less well-known landmark is the red metal statue located outside of Hitchcock Hall. The area is full of paths, as it is one portion of campus almost entirely covered with concrete sidewalks and brick walkways such as the one pictured on the left, which is located between the Northwest parking garage and Dreese Laboratories. There  are other pathways through the Garden of Numbers and between Knowlton and Hitchcock. In our example Woodruff represents an edge, which breaks apart the different districts in The Ohio State’s campus. North of W. Woodruff is considered residential while South of the edge includes the  mathematics, engineering and architecture districts that make up the neighborhood. In addition to being a district in and of itself, Knowlton can be seen as an edge of the region, and is pictured on the bottom left. It is both the beginning and the end of its district, and is on the outskirts of the area in its entirety. Another example of an edge would be the stadium, as it provides a clear shift from the land being used academically to the land being used recreationally. There are several districts within the area. The first (and most obvious) is the Engineering portion, which is also the largest. It includes such buildings as Dreese Laboratories, Hitchcock Hall, Bolz Hall, and Baker Systems Engineering. The second is the Architecture district, which really just contains Knowlton. The third district is the food and retail district, which is pictured on the right and contains such restaurants as Oxley’s and Buck-i-Mart, and shops like the OSU Bookstore (Buck-i-Mart is also a marketplace) Additionally, there is techHub and a Huntington Bank branch. The largest node is the plaza outside of Oxley’s Cafe, which is a major intersection in pathways, and contains benches and landscaping. Another example of a node would be the previously described area between Knowlton and Hitchcock, which is not only between two districts, but is frequently a study spot on campus in the warmer months. This is pictured on the right. Love for numbers is clearly expressed in the neighborhood with the Garden of Numbers and stone pieces in the walkway imprinted with equations and significant symbols. The identity of the people is supported independently, at the techHub and engineering labs, also as a community, via representation of the work being accomplished and the creative nodes designed by innovative students. One conflict students face is using crosswalks. Using crosswalks to cross busy streets can be dangerous. Some crosswalks have signs to help pedestrians cross busy streets safely. One problem with this is it can disrupt the flow of traffic. An alternative to help benefit drivers and pedestrians would be to add a walkway above the street allowing traffic to continue to flow below while simultaneously allowing pedestrians to safely cross. In order to make this area less pseudo-industrial, it would be nice to add some more grassy areas, potentially in the plaza previously mentioned. The area is a huge part of campus, and is going through a process of modernization to fit with the changing times and simultaneously fit into the mold set by its primary purpose: to educate the students of The Ohio State University.

 

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Petricorp – The Short North

The area that we chose was the Short North. A lot of this Columbus district is a home to small businesses, restaurants, and housing.

These photos represent hard and soft areas. The first photo is an example of a soft area, where development or re-development could occur. The second picture is of an old, abandoned convince store (and an ugly billboard) just a block or two from the Short North in Italian Village. We could consider almost the entire district of Italian Village to be a soft area, with lost of run down and abandoned buildings, as well as unused land. Although there are several nice businesses and houses in Italian Village, there is also great deal of room for improvement.  The third photo is of Goodale Park. This park could be considered a hard area, with no indicators of it going anywhere.

As for legibility, the Short North is very legible, or easy to navigate and read. This particular district is focused around High Street, running from approximately 5th Avenue to Vine Street. It is very easy to maneuver throughout the district by car and by foot, thanks to the continuous sidewalks and crosswalks. The elements of path, edges, nodes, districts, and landmarks make the area very legible because they make it clear to observers where they can travel and how spaces within the Short North relate to each other.

When it comes to both improvements and conflicts in use for the Short North, our group agrees on the fact that more sidewalks are needed off of High Street. Although High Street has a lot of sidewalks, the intersecting roads don’t all have sidewalks. Also, the crosswalks on High Street need to be more defined. Since this district is very busy, a lot of people travel on foot, and it should be as safe as possible for pedestrians.

The Short North certainly gives people a sense of place. The mixture of businesses, restaurants, and housing makes the area very popular among the local community as well as visitors. The first photo represents a sense of place very well because it shows the mixture of old and new buildings along High Street, as well as showing the artwork that is very popular in the Short North. The photo of the brick alleyway gives the city a sense of culture and uniqueness.

Our group would say that the Short North is a new urbanist neighborhood due to it being pedestrian friendly, it accommodates cars, and mixes land uses.

As for a sense of security and protection, the Short North does very well. Reading reviews of the district on Yelp, nobody has said anything negative about the district. Most reviews are praising the area for always offering something new, it is full of culture and opportunity, and is the perfect place if you want a walkable urban area.

Paths – These photos are shots of sidewalks down High Street, highlighting the businesses in the area. It is clear that these sidewalks are intended for movement. High Street itself is a path but it is intended more for movement of cars. (Second photo from Google Images)

 

Edges – For an edge example, we have one of the area’s famous arches. The mark segments of the Short North and the northernmost and southernmost instances of the arches mark the northern and southern boundaries of the area. The second photo is of a victorian house in Victorian village, just a few steps out of the Short North. There is rich architectural history of Victorian Village that can even give the Short North more of a sense of purpose. Victorian Village acts as an edge along the west side of the Short North. 

Districts – This picture is a sign just off High Street on Buttles Avenue that identifies two of the main districts, mostly residential, that are tangent to the Short North, Victorian Village and Italian Village. Since the Short North is technically only composed of the stretch of High Street containing the arches and business, it seems appropriate for us to include a small portion of Victorian and Italian Villages as parts of the Short North.

Nodes – The first photo is Skully’s Music Diner. As a popular Short North Destination, Skully’s is the center of much traveling and a clear point of reference. The second photo is Goodale Park. Goodale is definitely one of the major nodes of the Short North, hosting many events and festivals throughout the year. The final photo shows shops along High St. Like Skully’s, these boutiques are destinations for consumers who seek out the local businesses of the area and often orient their “mental maps” based on their favorite shops.

 

Landmarks –  These photos depict murals (the second of which is on the wall of Jeni’s). There are murals all over the Short North on the sides of buildings, showing the vibrant art scene. Murals function mostly as landmarks rather than nodes because they serve as points of reference (helping one to navigate the area), but (sadly) cannot be entered like nodes. Due to the fact that Gallery Hop makes these same murals travel destinations each month, it might be possible, however, to view them as nodes.

 

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German Village

Comb Over Inc.

German Village is a historical district of downtown Columbus.  The village was developed between 1840 and 1914, when many German immigrants settled the area.  This explains the presence of the German heritage in the city of Columbus.  The commercial and residential parts of this district are interspersed throughout, rather than separated into specified sections, creating a whole community in itself.  German Village has been under historic protection since 1989.

Hard and Soft Areas:

Basically, all of German Village is a hard area because it is protected as a historical district of the city.  New developments and demolition are highly unlikely due to this historical status.

Soft areas would include the renovations needed to preserve original character.  The perimeter of the district could be subject to new developments, such as the McDonald’s.

 

Legibility

German Village is legible because it is easy to navigate by both foot and car, due to its foundation of a grid.  Most of the streets are two-way streets, which helps the legibility of vehicles.  There are many sidewalks in the town to benefit pedestrian legibility.

Five Elements

—Pictures and Captions—

 

Conflicts

There are conflicts with the walkability of the town, specifically pedestrian crosswalks.  There are not enough

crosswalks, and the crosswalks that do exist do not force the cars to stop to allow pedestrians to easily cross.  Due to the dispersed commercial buildings throughout the residential area, it is more difficult to go from business to business without a car because often the businesses are on opposite sides of the town.  Also, while the brick roads add character to German Village, they are not well maintained.  They are very uneven, and the snow cannot be cleaned off well enough, leaving the walkways and roads very icy.

Sense of Place

Yes, German Village definitely has a sense of place.  The German presence of the area gives it a strong cultural identity.  The environment and architecture are unique to the area.  Most of the street names and business names are from German descent.  The brick roads and local restaurants and shops add to the character of the district.  The high social activity in the park exhibited the sense of community of the neighborhood.

Type of Neighborhood

This city is neotraditionalist because it has a mixture of homes and businesses, small lot sizes, and walkability. The houses are fairly small and many people live within walking distances of local stores. This neighborhood promotes people walking, riding a bicycle or bussing before driving. Neotraditionalist cities are designed so that people won’t need to drive. While the city promotes walkability, there are certainly improvements to be made to enhance this experience for its residents.

Improvements

There should be more stop signs and cross walks to slow down vehicles and

create a more pedestrian friendly environment.  The brick roads and sidewalks could be better well-kept.  There could be street lights to help enhance safety at night.

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Columbus Arena District

Plan B Solutions

The Arena District is a newly developed area located north of downtown Columbus. The area was once home to the Olentangy Industrial Cluster, but the area began to steadily decline leading to its eventual abandonment. The renewal of the area began in the late 1990’s and has continued on through the 21st century. The Arena district is named for the Nationwide Arena and is host to various entertainment, commercial, and residential areas.

 

Hard and Soft Areas:

Before development began on the area, the whole arena district was a soft area. Over the past twenty years the majority of the area has been revitalized leading to it being mainly composed of “hard” areas. These hard areas are mainly situated close to the Nationwide arena where there have been several new developments. However, on the outskirts of the main area there are several places that could be considered “soft” and would be open to new development. One of those are pictured below.

Legibility:

The arena is very legible and easy to navigate. It is well planned out and allows for several different ways to navigate the area. There was little traffic when arriving making it easy to arrive and find the various activities the areas has to offer. There are plenty of walkways and sidewalks that also allow for easy navigation through the area on foot.

 

Five Elements:

Path

Landmarks

Landmarks

Node

Edge

Conflicts in Uses:

In our visit we did not come across too many conflicts in the area. It was well laid out and had a good synergy between automobile and pedestrian commuting. Although, this could have been due to the time that we visited the area. If we had gone to the area at a later time, it would have been far harder to navigate to the various activities that are hosted in the area.

Sense of Place:

Despite how new and well developed the area is, we did not feel that the area had a very good sense of place. This was mainly due to the generic architecture and similarity to many other arena districts that we have been to. The area is very nice, but there doesn’t seem to be anything exactly notable about the region compared to other arena districts. This could be due to the small amount of landmarks that the area has outside of the arena it is named after and the arch at McFerson Commons.

Type of Neighborhood:

I would say that his area is most like a new urbanist neighborhood due to its friendliness to pedestrians and mix of recreational and commercial areas.

 

Improvements:

Due to the relatively new development of the area, there doesn’t seem to be much that could be improved about the area. It is well organized and has a modern aesthetic that we think fits well with the area.

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The Ushers

Area: Dennison Place/The Circles

On January 23rd, we surveyed and wandered around the Dennison Place neighborhood. The neighborhood is located west of Neil Ave in between King Ave and W. 5th St. It is located near OSU Medical Center and Battelle, yet remains a secluded and quaint neighborhood. Using Kevin Lynch’s 5 Elements we saw paths that there were four distinctive roundabouts at every intersection, back alleyways that contained garages, trash cans, and telephone poles, and well lit sidewalks. Neil Avenue acted as an Edge that separated student housing in the east from permanent residences in the west. The houses in Dennison Place were all the similar architectural style, which acted as district for the area. The nodes can be defined as the small park located in the middle of each roundabouts as well as the churches located on the edge of the neighborhood. Finally, the churches and parks acted as a landmark as well as a school that was located on the side of the area.
The land use was mostly for residential purposes with the exception of a church, parks, and a school that were scattered around the area. The area was very interesting as it used roundabouts for every intersection in the neighborhood. The area had a very compact feeling where each house were placed very close with each other. Each house had its own small front yard and small backyard so it still had a homely feel to the area.
The area was very well laid out in a uniform pattern, yet each house had its own accent and personality. It was clearly intended for a long term residential area. The roundabout created an open space that made it feel like a community, where neighbors could meet and hangout. The alleyways were used to hide away telephone poles, wires, and trashcan. This created an aesthetic pleasing visual of the neighborhood.
Overall, the area felt really safe with well lit sidewalks and fences for their backyard. The roundabouts caused cars to drive slower in the neighborhood, so it did not feel threatening when a car passed by. Since the edges helped seclude the neighborhood from other districts, it honestly felt like a compact suburban neighborhood. Dennison Place certainly did not feel like it was close to the OSU campus nor like it was near a main road.

Improvements:

The only improvements that we saw were needed were pedestrian walkways on W. 5th Ave. We noted that the road wasn’t really traveled a lot by pedestrians. However, it still felt unsafe and a hassle to cross the road when cars would drive pass at 55+ mph.

Hard and Soft Areas: Dennison Place is a local neighborhood located off Neil between King Ave and West 5th Ave. Many of the homes are within The Circles are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and date to the late 1800’s.  There were not many soft areas. One lot in particular was empty right in the middle of the neighborhood, as well as a few outdated apartment complexes that could use modernization or a simply a facelift.

Legibility & The Five Elements:

Paths– Well lit streets offer a sense of protection and safety in the area. Going with the compact nature of the neighborhood, the back alleys were utilized with garages, electric poles, trash, recycling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edges– Neil Avenue functions as an edge separating the student housing to the east from more permanent residences to the west.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

District– housing with similar characteristics and architectural styles to identify the area

Nodes–  roundabouts, the church and the park can be considered nodes. The roundabouts were the highlight of the area, helping to slow down and direct traffic while being aesthetically pleasing. Each roundabout had a unique landscaping design and they all were constructed of cobblestones to blend with the surrounding historic homes.

Landmarks– Churches, School building, park

 

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The Lucky 7

 

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The City Seekers: Easton Identity

     

1. Identification of the Five Elements: The five elements are paths, edges,districts, nodes, and landmarks. A path is a channel in which an observer customarily, occasionally, or potentially moves. Edges are the linear elements not used or considered paths by the observer. Districts are the medium-to-large sections of the city, conceived of as having two-dimensional extent, which the observer enters inside of, and which are recognizable as having some common, identifying feature. Nodes are the strategic spot in a city into which an observer can enter, and which are the intensive foci to and from which he is traveling. Lastly, landmarks are another type of point-reference, but the observer does not enter in them; they are external.Within Easton, each of these elements are represented and can be identified. The paths within easton are both the roads leading into the shopping center, as well as the sidewalks and pathways throughout. The roadways leading to the shopping center act as paths of entry and accessibility, while the sidewalks act as paths for pedestrians to get around and maneuver through the large shopping center. The edges for Easton would be the large roads surrounding it which act as cut-offs, or barriers, to prevent expansion beyond such points. This includes the major freeway I-270. Easton would be considered a shopping district. There is a south and north side of outdoor shopping, and then an indoor shopping complex which stands between the two. The node would be the large indoor shopping complex, since it acts as a central spot in which pedestrian can enter and exit. It is often used as a point-of-reference in identifying where people or objects are. Lastly, the major landmark at Easton would be the Central Park Fountain. It’s a place of convergence and reference that is there for aesthetic and to beautify.
2. Analysis of Land Uses: Offering something for nearly everybody, Easton has both indoor and outdoor shopping areas. The outdoor stores are, overall, a bit more extensive and finer dining in comparison to inside the central mall. The streets are set up in a relative grid-like pattern, though most land within the immediate outdoor shopping is exclusively for pedestrian traffic. Parking garages are in place (other than one lot on the east side) to minimize land area needed for parking.
   
   A bit beyond the immediate outdoor shopping area on all sides) are superstores set up strip-mall style such as target, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Best Buy, etc. Each with major parking lots, these are not pedestrian-friendly areas to access. Hotels are also in the mix here. An “athletic district” is present on the west side of Easton, which contains a huge outdoor soccer complex, and indoor soccer/lacrosse facility, and a ice skating/hockey rink. South of all this are apartment complexes.
   
   A lot of undeveloped land still exists in the area. This is obviously “soft” area. I’d imagine the huge soccer complex will be be turned into something more profitable as well, eventually. The central shopping area is well-established and pretty modern. A “hard” area, considering it is not going anywhere any time soon.
3. Discussion on Cohesiveness of the Elements to Create a Sense of Place and Legibility: Easton is primarily comprised of an inner grid intricately placed within an outer system of curvilinear paths. This stark contrast between types of paths exists in terms of walkability as well, with the perpendicular paths being far more pedestrian-friendly. The inner grid becomes even more pertinent within the city plan when the boundaries are examined. Easton is centrally boxed in among four major curvilinear roadways. These roadways, which are primarily viewed as paths used to heighten accessibility to the Easton area, subtly act as boundaries, or edges, preventing further expansion across such major divisions in the land. Highway 270 to the east also serves as a primary edge to the area, dividing standard suburbia from the shopping hub. The Easton Center area is organized logically with north and south districts, separated by the pedestrian node that is the Central Station Building. While this node and multiple other nodes are essential for legibility, the most important and most hierarchal place at Easton is the Central Park Fountain. This serves multiple, essential purposes in establishing a tremendous sense of place at Easton. First, the fountain is the location where multiple pedestrian paths converge with each other and with multiple mobile paths as well. This central hub of the area, while it may be greater in traffic than the other nodes, creates a sense of place by using the fountain as a landmark.
4. Creation of Sense of Security and Protection: Easton has a small force of security officers that they call Guest Assistance personnel. These personnel handle all security situations at Easton, emergency or not. Personnel walk all around the Easton area and have cameras to monitor all of the common areas. There is also an extensive network of “Call for Assistance” stations around the area. These can be used to report emergencies or even just to have them come jump your car. Overall, the Easton Guest Assistance personnel give the area a strong sense of security.
5. Suggestions for Improvement: One of the things that Easton could improve on is its schools. Easton is home to Mifflin High School. This high school has particularly bad ratings compared to the surrounding high schools. This is an aspect that needs immediate attention in Easton.Another aspect of Easton that could be improved is the transportation through the mall areas. The Easton Town Center is the most popular place to go in Easton. It draws in high volumes of citizens everyday. To help decrease the risk of auto accidents through the mall area, public transportation should be increased to allow for a smoother flow of traffic through the area.