An Urbanist’s Look at Palm Springs, CA

Palm Springs is actually more pedestrian-friendly than you might think. Oh sure, many places do not have sidewalks and the residential areas all have front-facing garages but the city (and its neighbors in the valley) do have some redeaming qualities.

First, Palm Springs is organized on a large grid of North-South and East-West Streets. Within the grid you will get weird curving streets and no sidewalks in the residential areas. This is not unlike Oklahoma City where I was raised, the large grid helping to keep you oriented as to where you have been and where you are going.

Some of the areas within the grid are not developed, possibly a result of Indians owning/controlling alternate squares in the grid. I also read that Palm Springs fell on hard times in the 70s and 80s and it looks as though some things were torn down during these decades.

The area certainly has bounced back as a tourist mecca, at least in the cooler winter months. In a few months the temperatures will be so high the tourists will stop coming for the summer. Palm Springs enjoys a lively downtown area.

This evening was their weekly street festival but even the night before the sidewalks were full. For 15+ years now they’ve been closing the main street for about six blocks to allow artists and food vendors to showcase their work. I’m not much into that sort of thing so I stuck to the sidewalks for the most park.

The main drag downtown is filled with an eclectic collection of buildings, many of which open to the sidewalk. Of note was the lack of bicycle racks despite a fairly good number of cyclists.

Many of the restaurants have open seating along the sidewalk as Palm Springs is a place to see and be seen. Misters help cool you off on those hot days.

Again, nearly every restaurant has either opening windows/doors or an open patio adjacent to the sidewalk. In addition to the misters to keep you cool, most places have heater to keep you warm as the temperature tends to drop considerably as the sun sets. Given that Palm Springs can manage good outdoor seating despite their weather extremes you’d think we would do more of this in St. Louis.

A good bit of the storefronts are from the modern age, minimally detailed. Yet, their large expanses of glass and interesting overhangs compliment the more traditional buildings.

The above view is looking just West of the main street. As you can see, the mountain range is very close to downtown leaving only a few blocks of development before you get to the base. This varies throughout the area with the mountains being enough distance back for a subdivision or two while at other times the mountain comes up right next to the main road. Mountains, the ultimate in urban growth boundary.

The downtown has one parking garage, offering free parking. On the night of the street festival we drove into the garage like so many others. It was not until we got to the top that we realized not a space was to be found, it was completely full. By having free parking they encouraged everyone to drive and had no way to communicate the garage was full.

One of the best buildings downtown is one that I think is reasonably new. Above you get this first glimpse into this 2-story building with balconies and lots of detailing.

Getting closer you can see a mix of materials, textures, colors and patterns. The open doors and those enjoying dinner on the 2nd floor add multiple layers of interest. It should be noted this building is located on the West side of the street so it will be in the shade before the other side of the street would be, helping it be a bit cooler.

The buidling is actually symetrical around a courtyard with a fountain. Multiple tenants are located within the building. For example, while one restaurant is on the ground floor another may be upstairs. From an urban perspective, the design is flawless.

Getting out into some of the neighborhoods you get your typical 50s and 60s tract houses although usually behind a privacy wall. In some cases, such as above, you get truly spectacular modern architecture behind impressive landscaping and a security gate. This home was on a list of noted mid-century modern homes.

A few tidbits:

• The late Sonny Bono was mayor of Palm Springs before being elected to congress.
• Palm Springs has a large wind farm at the edge of town, generating enough power for the entire valley.
• Wind & sun are plentiful but water is not.
• The area is diverse with a large gay & lesbian, jewish, latino population.
• Annual income is actually low due to the large number of retirees and folks with second homes.  However, wealth is everywhere, a little too often if you ask me.
• A 1962 Urban Renewal project relocated most of the black population who settled a town nearby via a prominent African-American in the area.
• Their bus system, known as Sun Bus, includes solar panels on the bus shelters.
• Don’t even think about finding a 24-hour grocery or drug store.
• More information at Palm Springs wiki.

Steve Jobs on Education: Technology & Teacher’s Unions

Steve Jobs, the charismatic co-founder & CEO of Apple, Inc. is considered by many to be pretty liberal, with healthy contributions to democratic candidats. Al “Inconvenient Truth” Gore is on Apple’s board of directors. Jobs, a self-made man, is ranked #132 on Forbes’ recent list of world billionaires with an estimated $5.7 billion to his name, not bad for a college dropout.

Jobs spoke last month at an education reform conference in Austin Tx, from an AP story:

Jobs told the crowd about his vision for textbook-free schools in the future. Textbooks would be replaced with a free, online information source that was constantly updated by experts, much like the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

“I think we’d have far more current material available to our students, and we’d be freeing up a tremendous amount of funds that we could buy delivery vehicles with — computers, faster Internet, things like that,” Jobs said. “And I also think we’d get some of the best minds in the country contributing.”

But Jobs is not one of those that thinks technology alone will solve our educational problems, from the same article:

Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs lambasted teacher unions today, claiming no amount of technology in the classroom would improve public schools until principals could fire bad teachers.

“What kind of person could you get to run a small business if you told them that when they came in they couldn’t get rid of people that they thought weren’t any good? Not really great ones because if you’re really smart you go, ‘I can’t win.‘

“I believe that what is wrong with our schools in this nation is that they have become unionized in the worst possible way. This unionization and lifetime employment of K-12 teachers is off-the-charts crazy.

Ouch, not exactly towing the liberal line here huh? As you might expect, Teacher’s unions all over the country have been critical of Jobs’ statement. But does he have a point?

Have unions become so big and so controlling that they themselves are the big bully in need of controlling? Unions originated to protect workers against tactics of managment but who will protect both the workers and management against the union bosses?

It is called Nature, Not Undeveloped

In driving to Palm Springs Wednesday we took the long and scenic route though the desert mountains rather than the highway. Although a few houses existed among the native plants it was about as rural as you can get.

A narrow two lane winds its way through the very rocky terrain and we stopped at the one lookout that actually had any sort of man-made platform.  The view was spectacular — not a strip mall or tacky subdivision in sight.  To many such an area would be termed “undeveloped” but I prefer to think of it as natural.

Miles and miles of land which, thankfully, would be difficult to develop.  I know that I can come back in 20 years and be assured this will likely look much as it does now. 

Reaching the end of the mountains you can see the Coachella Valley below, thousands of feet below.   Palm Springs is one of nine or so municipalities in this valley.  The mountains act as a natural barrier against sprawling too far — although everything I saw was very low density.

Today we drive back to San Diego via the highways (uh, freeways in California) and I am sure the experience will be quite different.  More developed, less nature.

San Diego Spring Break: Urbanist Gone Wild

This week I am vacationing in sunny San Diego for Spring break from graduate courses at Saint Louis University. But I am never fully on break, yesterday I checked out a number of areas of the region and thought I’d share a few with you.

Above is an on-street motorcycle/scooter parking area in downtown San Diego. So while those on cars must pay $6 to park in the lot behind, those with more reasonable modes of transit were able to park for free. Really small and light scooters, such as my Honda Metropolitan, would still be vulnerable to theft if left in the above area not locked up. Still, this is a highly effective use of space.

Adjacent to a major trolley line is a small parking lot with a Flexcar, allowing members easy access to a car for those times they need one.

San Diego’s trolley system has some interesting differences with say Portland’s streetcar.  In reality, technology these days is developing and blending so quickly the differences between streetcar, trolley, tram and light rail and getting muddied. In the downtown area the trolley acted pretty much like a streetcar, stopping every 4 blocks or so.  However, as I took a suburban line toward Mexico the distance between stations could be measured in miles and the trolley acted more like a regional light rail system.
Above is a trolley with 3-4 cars at their 5th Avenue station.  The first thing you will notice is no raised platform.  The very front door includes a ramp for those needing wheelchair access.  In the extreme left of the image you will see a regular door open with a couple of steps and a final step slides out when the door opens.  Given how the wheelchair requirement is handled as a special case, the remainder of the system is pretty simple.  I did notice people boarding with bicycles or child strollers having difficulty.  Someone with physical disabilities but not in a wheelchair would also have issues with this set up.
Like St. Louis’ lightrail system, this operates on a honor system basis so their are no gates.  Just buy your ticket and board.  Unlike St. Louis, however, you must pay more for the greater distance you are traveling on the system.

When you approach a stopped trolley the doors do not open.  You press a button on the side of the vehicle to activate the door.  Similarly, from the inside when you reach a stop you press a button to open the door you wish to exit.

I took the above picture while riding their trolley, showing a large area of downtown that has been rebuilt at a high-density residential neighborhood. Being adjacent to their CBD with easy transit access to other areas makes this a desirable place to live. However, I understand developers in other parts of downtown have gone too far and they have a glut of condos, more so in high rises.

This is just around the corner from the prior picture. In the foreground you can see the track and the yellow “stand behind” line. Here the street width was divided up to allow a single flow of one-way traffic with on-street parking on one side.

A few blocks away two new buildings surround the existing trolley line. The building on the left is a good 20+ floors while the one on the right is more like 8 floors. Again, cars and rail transit don’t mix here but by creating a narrow space it works well.

I took San Diego’s Blue Line trolley all the way to the Mexican border. The building in the background on the right is the customs office for those crossing the border on foot or bicycle.

To get to dowtown I took a city bus while runs along a major street just a block from my friend’s house.  I noticed they have several brands/models of bus but most are what we will have eventually, a “low-floor” bus pretty much like those used in our region by Madison County Transit.  In these buses the floor is very low and when the bus stops it lets out some air on the suspension system and the floor is pretty well even with the curb height.  This makes boarding & unboard much easier and faster.  At the rear of the bus you get an area that steps up a bit above the rear axel.  Like the trolley system, you pay more depending upon where you are going.

I’ve got lots more to see while in San Diego including a couple of grocery stores with underground or rooftop parking.

Please Feed The Reg Parking Meters

Back in November 2006 I brought you a review of the two types of electronic parking meters being tested on South Grand – Pay-N-Display and Pay-Per-Space. At the end of February 2007, the study came to an end and regular meters returned.

I’ve not heard anything from the Treasurer’s Office on the outcome of the study. I still personally prefer the Pay-N-Display as it allows more cars in a given space depending upon the size of the car and the parking skill of the driver.

Overall, based on my own experience, the test went well. However, on several occassions I attempted to use the credit/debit function and it was not working. Lacking any change I simply left my car unpaid and managed to avoid tickets. However, had the machines accepted dollar bills I would have gladly paid.  The lack of bill acceptance was a big drawback in my view.

Did you use the test meters?  What was your experience?