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zombie rotten mcdonald

@AbandonedAmerica well, shit. I came out of a school of architecture that focused HEAVILY on pedestrian and traditional architectural patterns, any two or three of our graduates could have told them how to do this right.

11 comments
Abandoned America

@zombierottenmcdonald far be it from me to pretend I know more than you do on the subject with your background but it really seems like they needed to invest more in the surrounding area before a mall like this would ever be feasible

zombie rotten mcdonald

@AbandonedAmerica you're not wrong. But neighborhood oriented development can be led in two or three ways: residential infill (have done) retail / mixed use infill (have done) transit oriented development (like Portland/ Seattle, but you have to get people to get over their hatred of buses first). And then, don't call it a mall.

Abandoned America

@zombierottenmcdonald I honestly am unfamiliar with those terms but am fascinated by your take on it. I did my homework for why this place failed but it's no substitute for knowledge of the field.

zombie rotten mcdonald

@AbandonedAmerica Transit Oriented Development, in the NW: they restricted development to low and mid rise, and had to be located along transit lines, with parking located away from streets and emphasizing bikes. Residential development boomed, commercial followed, and the areas along transit lines were like a Sim City test site. So like all of us urbanists always said, people LIKE transit, density and living next to other people and maybe don't need McMansions.

zombie rotten mcdonald

@AbandonedAmerica yes, would need some kind of focus. In Milwaukee, the African American Community - for which I have done several hundred residential units and infill - are looking to fulfill the historic character that was known as Bronzeville before the white people killed it with a freeway, now has the most notable Black Holocaust Museum in the country. And then we tore down a freeway that cut the neighborhood off from downtown, and now connects to the arena where the Bucks are kicking ass

Abandoned America

@zombierottenmcdonald well, the freeway is a huge problem here too. Would be nice to see that go. Glad the Milwaukee project was successful

zombie rotten mcdonald

@AbandonedAmerica well, now I start to wish I took more 'before' photos of the wrecks that I have helped restore. I was part of a team that stopped demolition of the 8 story Manitowoc Hotel. We helped the alderman stop the demolition of one of Milwukee's TWO extant row houses. SO MANY SCARY BASEMENTS....

zombie rotten mcdonald

@AbandonedAmerica but frankly, I am an architect, and I love to build, not get overwhelmed by the degradation. - frankly, I sometimes find your postings a bit disheartening, through no fault of your own. Just gets a bit of a gut punch
how much of built America is disposable.

zombie rotten mcdonald

@AbandonedAmerica here's what I mean: our house is a rickety old kind-of Victorian that was one of the first built in the neighborhood, by permit records. Built for a doctor, and the layout indicates he may have had patients visit. It was built in 1904 - yes, it was built balloon frame, but modified....It has WAY more windows than any house at the time, and likely more ghosts than we've ever seen. But it is a stately lady, standing proud on a corner of the East Side.

Abandoned America

@zombierottenmcdonald I love stories like that and if you have any good distressed projects let me know if I can do before photos - and honestly I get discouraged by it too. But it's important to record because a) it's who we are, b) it is our present moment, and c) hopefully the sheer waste of it will change minds about wanton demolition. Not hopeful about c but it would be nice

Abandoned America

@zombierottenmcdonald honestly there are a lot of elements in what you're talking about that are super familiar from the Old Town story

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