Amazing Street Reclamation in Wodonga, Victoria

Eric Fredericks • Monday May 12, 2008

David Engwicht is truly a magician, as this excellent Streetfilm by Clarence Eckerson Jr. demonstrates. If you’re never seen him speak before—he’s quite good and very entertaining. I guarantee you’ve never seen anything like him and probably never will again. In a good way!

Wodonga, Victoria in Australia, is just across the Murray River from Albury, New South Wales. Albury is perhaps more glamorous than its sister city across the river, but they are both pretty much like your typical smaller Midwestern cities from what I recall of my brief visit there in 2002. That’s what makes what they’re doing in Wodonga so special: any place in the world can do what they’ve accomplished. It just takes some willpower. Many cities and towns do something like this once per year. Lucky ones can accomplish this once per month. Why not strive for once per week in your community like Wodonga does?

 

Category: Third Places •• Region: Australia •• Comments

Day 25: Millennium Park's Crown Fountain - Chicago, IL

Eric Fredericks • Thursday July 26, 2007

Chicago is right up there with San Francisco as my two favorite cities in the US. And it’s not just because I grew up in Illinois and am a die-hard Chicago sports fan.

Chicago is a major, world-class city right in the heart of the Midwest. There is almost nothing Midwest about the city, except for the attitudes of the people. The skyline is spectacular and sophisticated, and far exceeds any other skyline in the US. Unlike Atlanta, which also has some beautiful skyscrapers, the skyscrapers at the street level are generally designed to pedestrian scale and are not oriented to the automobile. Outside of the urban core, there are many great walkable neighborhoods that have 2-5 story buildings and a more cozy feel.

I shot this photo at the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park, just one month after the park opened in 2004. The fountain displays the faces of Chicago and was very popular on this warm summer day. In fact, the entire park was swarming with people—but in the good way. It was a very mellow atmosphere.

I could write for days about Chicago and the park, but for sake of the series and my sanity, I won’t. However, I do want to point out one more feature about Millennium Park. The Chicago Bikestation is also located here, just a short distance from the Chicago Lakefront Path, one of the best shared use trails in the country. The downside of the Bikestation is that it’s now sponsored by McDonalds (Did I just write that? Oops.).

Per usual, I have many photos of Chicago and Millennium Park in the photo gallery, along with my photos of an architectural boat tour of the Chicago River.

This article is a part of the Exploring the Walkability of America in 30 Days photo series.

 

Category: Third Places •• Region: Chicago •• comments [2]

Day 11: Centennial Olympic Park - Atlanta, GA

Eric Fredericks • Thursday July 12, 2007

Today, we head to the South to the land synonymous with sprawl—Atlanta, Georgia. I shot this photo in Centennial Olympic Park last year. I love fountains and water features, and I found this one enjoyable—even on a blustery and chilly day. Overall, while the park has some great features, I feel pales in comparison to Olympic Park in Sydney, Australia. To be fair, Atlanta’s park is much more centrally located than Sydney’s and does not have as many of the venues nearby.

I invite you to read my previous in-depth articles about both the good and the bad of Atlanta. You can also see more photos from my visit there.

This article is a part of the Exploring the Walkability of America in 30 Days photo series.

 

Category: Third Places •• Region: Atlanta •• comments [1]

Day 10: Dodge Fountain - Detroit, MI

Eric Fredericks • Wednesday July 11, 2007

In keeping with the Midwestern theme, today we visit Detroit. Yes, Detroit. Probably not a place you’d expect to be high on the walkability radar—and you’re right about that—-but there are a few things worth seeing.

Pictured here is the Dodge Fountain in Hart Plaza downtown. The angle is a bit tricky on this fountain. I didn’t have a lot of time to shoot comfortably because the people around the fountain were becoming a little too persistent in trying to get me to interact with them. I don’t like strangers to hold my cameras unless in the right situation, but I have the feeling this situation was not going to be favorable. At any rate, I still think it’s a cool photo and reminds me that even in the worst places, there are always great places to go.

The Detroit Riverfront is quite beautiful, situated on the Detroit River, just across from Windsor, Ontario. It looks like they’ve added even more attractions since I was last there in 2003. I know there’s been a lot of revitalization and lofts constructed near Comerica Park as well.

While Detroit had many beautiful buildings and monuments to see, there is one very sad fact that I have to point out. The day I was there, a beautiful Saturday fall afternoon, there were no people. At least not the amount of people I would expect to see in a downtown. It’s really uncomfortable to be in a place with huge buildings and no people. The only place I saw people was the MGM Grand Casino, and so I went there. I don’t enjoy gambling that much, but I think I did win $10 throwing some change in the slots.

I went to visit someone the next day who lives about an hour outside of Detroit. I told him that I went walking around downtown taking photos by myself the previous day. He was shocked. “I can’t believe you went walking around there by yourself. You’re very lucky you didn’t get shot or killed,” he said. He reminds me of this every time I see him. My rebuttal: “Well, there was no one even there to shoot me.” So, there you have it. I really didn’t feel that uncomfortable and would likely walk around for photos again. I’m probably a little more adventurous than most people, though. I enjoyed my day there. I would suggest doing a little research beforehand to find out just how dangerous it really is.

You can see my photos of Detroit here. You may be pleasantly surprised.

This article is a part of the Exploring the Walkability of America in 30 Days photo series.

 

Category: Third Places •• Region: Detroit •• comments

What is a Walkable Neighborhood: The Epiphany

Toby Boyce • Friday February 16, 2007

When Eric invited me to become part of the Walkable Neighborhood network, I was honored, and when he asked me to write some articles, I was, again, honored. Then I sat down at the computer and … nothing.

I was haunted by the same question, “what is a walkable neighborhood?�

Of course there are the “rules� that determine a walkable neighborhood. However, living in predominately-rural Midwest, I was struggling to fit my circle into that square-opening. So, I did what I usually do when writer’s block hits me … I went for coffee. And that was where I received my answer.

I wasn’t sitting in my normal Delaware coffee shop, but rather out on the town. I stopped in the morning at a shop on a busy street. Sitting for 20 minutes, I was the only customer to enter the store, the rest going through the drive-thru. Later in the day, I ended up at the same chain but in a more “walkable� location. And that’s when the epiphany happened.

• The two friends looking for an apartment to rent together in the corner,
• The couple in the process of splitting up on the couch,
• The prerequisite number of teenagers studying,
• The older men sitting reading the paper,
• And of course the busy working executives on the cellular phones coming and going with the business deals.

They – each and every one of them – are the definition of what makes a walkable neighborhood. “But Toby, they are so different,� you say. Exactly! The majority of our communities will have all these people in it. But is there that one location that they ALL will congregate? It doesn’t have to be a coffee shop, but it will see people relaxing and being themselves and a cross-section of your community.

Then you can apply the “rules� to the community to determines its walkability. However, without having the heart of a walkable community the walkable factor becomes simply a “stage� full of actors.

Walkable communities place pride on the community and the walkability just happens.

That’s a walkable neighborhood I would be proud to call home.

Toby Boyce is a Realtor with Disbennett Real Estate Company in Delaware, Ohio, and author of www.delawareohrealestate.com .

 

Category: Third Places •• Region: Columbus OH •• comments

Photos from the 2006 Chalk It Up Festival in Midtown Sacramento

Eric Fredericks • Wednesday September 6, 2006

Each year, Sacramento hosts a Chalk It Up festival over Labor Day weekend in Midtown’s Fremont Park. The festival is located in my neighborhood, and sounds of the local musicians naturally lure you out of your dwelling to check out the fine artwork from local artists. The artwork was simply amazing again this year, and I shot several photos. I caught one of the local artists, Dawn Pederson, in action. She has produced some of the most beautiful drawings at the festival the last couple of years. She is pictured in the photo below.

More photos and comments after the jump. >>Continue Reading This Article>>

 

Category: Third Places •• Region: Sacramento •• comments [3]

Video: The Sacramento Farmers Market Revisited

Eric Fredericks • Sunday August 13, 2006

Today, I went to one of the Sacramento Farmers Markets located under the Capital City Freeway in Downtown Sacramento (at roughly 6th and W for the townies). This time, I came equipped with my new camera and shot the video above. It is much better quality and much longer than the previous video. I had previously written about this particular farmers market and the importance of farmers markets in general. However, since the Sacramento Farmers Market is one of the most popular search terms for my site, I feel that I should provide a little more information for our guests. So, here is the information on each of the 12 Sacramento Farmers Markets:
1.
EVERY SATURDAY
8:00 AM – Noon
Sunrise Mall
Sunrise Blvd.
(Behind Sears Auto)
Open All Year
2.
EVERY SATURDAY
8:00 AM – Noon
Country Club Plaza
Watt and El Camino
(Butano Dr. Parking Lot)
Open All Year
3.
EVERY SUNDAY
8:00 AM – Noon
State Parking Lot
8th and W Streets
(Under Freeway)
Open All Year >>Continue Reading This Article>>

 

Category: Third Places •• Region: Sacramento •• Comments

The Things You See in a Walkable Community

Eric Fredericks • Tuesday October 11, 2005

I ran across a ridiculously interesting site this morning via the Sac Top 25. Another blogger from Sacramento has reportedly quit his day job to become a beggar and see how much money he can really make in one day. He usually goes out begging dressed in different costumes, some of them are hilarious. I can tell from his pictures that he usually stands at a very busy Sacramento intersection on a freeway off-ramp. I drive through this intersection nearly every day, but I do not believe I have seen him before (Yes, unfortunately I have to drive to work. But I do carpool). UPDATE: Now I don’t have to drive to work anymore!! Living AND working downtown is fantastic!

While I will not go as far as to say that I fully endorse what he’s doing, I think it is an interesting experiment and it is definitely worth your time to check out his site, Panhandling Worldwide. UPDATE: The website is now offline. Apparently the experiment did not work.

 

Category: Third Places •• Region: Sacramento •• Comments

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