There Goes the Neighborhood

Neighborhoods and places never stay the same. A new restaurant opens up every day, it seems, in my neck of the woods. But as with any good story, scribes tend to look for the conflict in such changes and trends. The other day I heard my neighborhood being called "transitional," which is not only off the mark (the transition has already happened), it suggests within that loaded word a level of resentment at the "newcomers." It's an inevitable, natural response. And yet, oftentimes, change is good. As we approach the anniversary of the Katrina nightmare in New Orleans, the media is trying to find signs that the city is in fact alive and on its way back to wellness. According to one report, two to three thousand young, well-educated professionals have descended on the city over the last year to blend into the city's fabric. Most have decided to make New Orleans their permanent home. Called the "brain gain," the newbies have integrated into various sectors of the city's community. As one new arrival describes it, "I believe in the power of place." Maybe a bit high and mighty, but needed in a place that continues to strive towards normalcy.

Of course, not all of these types of stories can be friendly and heart warming. West of Washington, D.C., in Loudon County, Virginia, the continuing push into the countryside, which has exploded in the last decade, has prompted the small, leafy towns in the western part of the county to fight off the newcomers. The "line in the sand" is Route 15, which currently separates the more developed eastern portion of the county around Dulles International Airport from the more rural western sector. Using ploys such as forming nonprofits to acquire targeted property and applying to the National Park Service to designate large swaths of land as a national Civil War battlefield, western Loudon residents are trying their best to keep out the unwelcome carpetbaggers with their traffic and McMansions.

Even worse, and the one thing all neighborhoods must be vigilant of, is the unwelcome newcomer of "blight." It was long a word associated with "urban renewal," which justified the wiping away of vibrant urban neighborhoods in the disastrous policies of "slum clearing" in the first few decades after World War II. Now, in light of the foreclosure fallout from the subprime mortgage market disaster, as we first discussed in "In With the Old . ." from March 28, 2007, "blight" is a term of art for vacant, foreclosed homes in otherwise vibrant neighborhoods. In Southern California, where one hundred houses a day are foreclosed on, there's the unique problem of what to do with the pool. Unattended pools are becoming mosquito breeding grounds, opening up the door to West Nile virus potentialities. In addition, another breed of newcomers, brazen squatters, is looking to take advantage of empty houses in prime locations. As one police officer noted, "If you know what you're doing, you can get six months in a place with a kick-ass view."

As one who is seeking to buy a home in the near future, the thought of all the issues that are raised when you commit to a place are mind boggling. Sure, you have to contend with all of the little and big things that need to be fixed and tended to in connection with the structure itself. But you also have to take the risk that your neighbors will be just as interested in preserving the neighborhood as a whole. With that to contend with, it's not surprising that the first reaction when the newcomers arrive is one of suspicion, rather than of welcoming with open arms. That only seems to happen when, like in the case of New Orleans, they are desperately needed.

Legacy Building

In honor of the death of Leona Helmsley, the "Queen of Mean" as she was called during the heyday of hate towards her in the early 1990's, I started thinking about the bad rap that generally feeds towards "developers" in general. A few times ago we discussed the instances where developers may go a little too far, all in the name of earning a buck. But it's interesting to look back on the life of Ms. Helmsley, as she was hated by just about everyone, but in the end, left a legacy of success in the world of development. Sure, there was a lot not to like about the woman: she was mean to her employees, she was sent to the slammer for tax evasion, she was successfully sued for her discriminatory views towards gays, she got her start as a real estate broker, etc., etc. But nobody seemed to quibble with the fact that she was very successful, along with her deceased husband, in orchestrating a splendid real estate empire. Hate the woman, not the game, as some may say.

A lot of good comes from those who are willing to build. Take for example in East Orange, New Jersey, where the long-decrepit Mayfair apartment building that required an emergency eviction of all occupants five years ago on account of the unsanitary, dangerous condition it had found itself, is experiencing a rebirth as a (relatively) affordable condominium building. Other major projects in the city are also signaling the beginning of a renaissance in this long-struggling place. On a downward turn since neighboring Newark's riots four decades ago, East Orange has turned the corner, lowering crime and attracting new development. The current owners of Mayfair, Mark Caller and Pinny Loketch of the GLC Group, have pinpointed another place where housing-starved denizens in this region can buy great places for less than what is usually demanded. Of course, those with an eye towards low-income residents rightly point out that the new development may equal gentrification. But at the same time, as in the words of the Mayfair's site manager, "What we're trying to do is rebuild a community here."

Another developer feel-good story comes from Fort Mill, South Carolina, where refugees from nearby Charlotte, North Carolina, and others, are flocking to the former sleepy mill town. One of the planned communities to be constructed is Kanawha, an "environmentally-oriented development," which at least sounds good. Aside from the environmental museum that would be part of the plan, there appear to be good people behind this project, including the York County Cultural and Heritage Foundation. In addition, the area will have access to light-rail service nearby beginning in the fall. The area has retained that small town character, even amidst the influx of new residents.

So even though developers deservedly get a bad rap for some of the things they pull from time to time, there are people in the business who want to go about it the right way. And even if they don't, sometimes the results allow some to overlook the nonsense that was required to get it done. Who knows, maybe when the hoopla surrounding Leona Helmsley's life fades from memory, all that will be left is the legacy of her efforts.

Lifelines

Last week, the New York area was hit with a mid-summer storm that brought a deluge of rain, not to mention the first tornado to Brooklyn in over a century. In the aftermath of the event, where New Yorkers were making new friends while waiting for the next subway train, or cursing to themselves while they sat in traffic on the region's parkways (which is where I found myself), a significant backlash hit against those who are in control of these lifelines of commerce and connections. The millions of people who crowd in and around the island of Manhattan rely on these modes of transportation to conduct their daily business, and their daily lives. When everything shut down for a time on account of a bit of rain (it was actually around 1.7 inches between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. that fateful day), people turned to the holders of the puppet strings of New York's transportation system for answers.

Generally, the response was one of being unprepared for the onslaught, as the severity of the storm was not expected by the transportation hierarchy. The finger pointing merry-go-round went from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to the National Weather Service to global warming. But in the end, after the water has drained away, the realization becomes how fragile the whole system really is. Together all of us head out into the world each day, seemingly, and in reality, in a multiplicity of different directions. Every commuter for yourself, so back off! But what we often forget is that we're all in it together, and need to work with one another to keep things running smoothly. And although the system appeared to crumble on the morning of August 8, 2007, in reality, it demonstrated how resilient New York continues to prove itself time and again. Within hours, most of the transportation network had been restored, and people resumed their daily tasks -- almost as if nothing had happened.

The fragility of our lifelines is a theme that has traveled across the nation recently. The deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis was a national story. In New York, we followed it with the same attention as anywhere across the nation. The fallout from this tragedy was a renewed effort to inspect the bridges across America. The result was a staggering number of spans that require some significant attention. Where the money will come from is another story altogether. The theme of precarious lifelines spans the centuries as well. Archeologists studying the ancient city of Angkor in Cambodia, believed to have been as sprawling as Los Angeles, have learned that the crumbling of the Southeast Asian metropolis in the 1500s may have been caused by the collapse of its highly sophisticated water management system. The sheer scale of the endeavor was its ultimate downfall. The caretakers could no longer maintain the system. The connections between our own transportation issues are instructive.

No matter how great our monuments become, we must keep in mind that without the lifelines that serve them, there is no way to sustain, or support them. The Angkor Wat temple stands as a testament of Angkor's fate. As American metropolitan areas have fanned out to the far reaches of the hinterlands, it is imperative that transportation remains at the forefront of any planning for the future. It may not be the most intriguing aspect of a new project, but it may very well be the most important.

You Want to See an Eyesore?

Driving down to my parents' place over the weekend, my wife and I drove past the enormous complex of heavy industrial facilities that line the New Jersey Turnpike located at the foot of the Goethals Bridge. Belching noise, smoke and smells unlike just about anywhere else on earth, the epicenter of why New Jersey got the reputation of being New Jersey got me to pondering the way in which land use choices can produce an uncomfortable and unsightly place to be. Luckily, only the people who travel past lucky Exit 13 of the New Jersey Turnpike are exposed to what is an ungodly place to be. Let me just say that I enjoyed the time I spent in New Jersey as a resident, and have nothing bad to say about the state. And the Garden State is not alone in having its share of eyesores that litter the landscape. The question becomes how state and local officials contend with them, and attempt to incorporate them into the prettier parts of the landscape.

Take for instance the situation in Florida, where there is a growing attempt to regulate phosphate mines that spread across the state. Near the Peace River estuary, three counties are attempting to block a 20,675 acre phosphate mine from opening in their territory. Concerned with the loss of forest land and wetlands over the last few decades, the counties are challenging permits that were granted by the State Environmental Protection Department. Sure, the environmental and economic effects of these huge open mines seem to be sufficient factors to drive the opposition. However, it seems strange that there is no discussion of the operation of phosphate mining itself, and the way in which it scars the landscape. There are regulations that require mine operators to refill the affected areas when the sought-after materials have been extracted. Yet, just like their counterparts in New Jersey, the locals around the phosphate mines appear to accept the existence of the intensive activity, for some form of a "greater good," provided there are no ancillary effects on their way of life.

Shifting away from Florida, what about the eyesore that has defined America over the last half-century: I'm talking about the omnipresent suburban commercial strip lined with garish signage, fast food restaurants, roadside motels and big box retailers. In a place where they know a thing or two about garish decor, there is an attempt to spruce up one such strip for the better. In Memphis, Tennessee, the immediate area around Graceland, the former home of Elvis Presley, has deteriorated over the years into a run-down stretch of Americana that could certainly use a facelift. As the anchor of the community, the new controlling owner of Graceland, CKX Inc., is looking to invest $250 million in upgrading the facility. Plans have been announced, just before the 30th anniversary of the King's death, to add a new visitor center, a hotel and a high-tech museum on 100 acres next to the tourist destination. The head of Elvis Presley Enterprises, which is now a subsidiary of CKX, boils down the issue. "We've continued all these years to be a major destination attraction with a busy, pretty unattractive street running right through the middle of it." Having visited recently, I can vouch for this assessment. The tourist center is located across the street from the actual home -- plans are to put everything on one side. However, the intention is not to insulate the facility from the community. "We don't want to create an island," the head continues," "We want to be a catalyst for the right kind of growth and the right kind of revitalization of the commercial corridors." Seeing the need to remove the eyesore, which oddly enough isn't Graceland, the people running the facility have a keen sense how to eradicate it from the area.

In a world where we're all being forced to get a little closer to our neighbors (take for example a recent article talking about the greater Los Angeles region), the threat of constructing something that will offend one of the neighbors grows ever greater. There are many ways to go about it, but as is clear from above, the fight to eliminate them is on. Something like the New Jersey industrial complex may be difficult to remove. But for those that have either fallen out of favor, or fallen out of style, the tide marches on towards something new. Of course, as is true for anything built in America, this "new" proposal will no doubt face its fate as the eyesore of the next generation.

A Little Desecration Every Now And Then . . .

Land developers have always been painted as willing to do just about anything to make a buck -- think Craig T. Nelson realizing in Poltergeist that he built a new subdivision on top of an old Native American burial ground. But what about good old George and Mary Bailey, who apparently built Bailey Park on top of an old cemetery in It's a Wonderful Life? No one seems to make a big deal about that. Regardless, the point is that no matter where or how one decides to build something new, it's likely that the project is bound to offend someone. The affront can be big or small, real or perceived. And sometimes, "hallowed ground" means the public space itself, at least from a Constitutional perspective. Take the recent New Jersey Supreme Court case where a homeowners' association won the right to restrict the posting of political signs in certain areas of the housing development governed by the association. And as is so often the case, the lawsuit started with an affront, with certain homeowners bristling at the association's restrictions against political signs, the use of common spaces for political meetings and limitations on publishing contrary opinions against the board in the association's newspaper. The significance of this case of first impression is too early to know, but will be played out in other courts over the next few years.

But beyond the worldly there is the spiritual world, which can often encroach on our space. Some projects can border on sacrilege, at least in some peoples' minds. For instance, in Pequannock, New Jersey, a wireless communications carrier has proposed constructing a 100-foot cellular tower shaped like a cross on property owned by the Bible Christian Fellowship Church. As a practitioner becoming very familiar with cell tower applications, this one seemed a bit unique. Wireless carriers have been searching for ways to hide their antennas for years, in such places as church steeples, flagpoles and structures that look (sort of) like trees. The cross option, in fact, has been used elsewhere. However, the thought of it no doubt causes consternation to those who have not heard of such proposals. As one local resident noted, "As a Christian, I wouldn't want to do anything that would denigrate the idea of the cross." Who knew that providing cell coverage would force certain Christians to test their very faith? Nonetheless, one Township councilman focused on the worldly. "There's a big difference between a man made structure such as this and natural vegetation such as trees." For the Church, they're just trying to figure out what's best for the institution, and the people it serves.

On the other side of the continent, in Navajo territory in New Mexico, tribal leaders are considering the construction of a $3 billion plan to construct the Desert Rock coal-burning generator facility that would emit over the course of a year carbon dioxide amounts equivalent to emissions from 1.5 million cars. The expected environmental opposition groups have entered the ring like Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Local citizens groups, including Dooda Desert Rock, or "No to Desert Rock" in Navajo, have also voiced their objections. Even Governor, and Presidential contender Bill Richardson has entered the fray, coming out against the proposal. But lost amongst the bustle is also the opposition from some Navajos who see the plan as a deadly "energy monster" that desecrates Father Sky and Mother Earth. With a history of exploitation when it comes to mining activities in the region, you can understand how the worries have manifested in the spiritual realm. Yet, this opposition received far less attention than the legal and environmental challenges. Nonetheless, it seems these concerns are part of the equation as well.

So how far should spiritual concerns encroach into the land use process? Obviously, as a public matter, and in a country ostensibly devoted to the concept of the separation of church and state, the answer appears to be self-explanatory. However, it is undeniable that one's religious beliefs cannot help but factor into one's opinion on such projects. No, this isn't the same as when people challenged John F. Kennedy's devotion to his country, claiming he would follow the Pope. Projects such as these question one's faith, especially if you have to look at them every day. Sure, there are other issues involved, but it cannot be ignored in such stark examples. Nonetheless, just as the Founding Fathers realized when they put their own finishing touches on the Constitution, circumstances change, as well as values. Just as courts will continue to parse out the meaning of the Constitution, religious leaders and practitioners will continue to determine how to define and redefine their faith, and what they want it to look like.