Our Members Thoughts
What do you think about the progress of events regarding Columbia's downtown redevelopment?
Views expressed here may or may not reflect the view of Bring Back The Vision.
Congratulations to General Growth Properties
Emily Lincoln
Bring Back The Vision
October 2008
Bring Back the Vision, a group formed two years ago to support the urbanized redevelopment of Columbia’s downtown, congratulates General Growth Properties for completion and submission to the county of a plan that begins the process leading to the final approval of an amazing opportunity for our city and our county.
From a financial standpoint, the plan will mean millions, even billions of dollars of revenue to the Columbia Association and Howard County Government over its 30-year implementation.
Far and above the dollars, we can begin to dream and imagine the ways our lives can be changed. Yes, we will study the plan and no doubt find some small changes to be made. Yes, traffic will forever be the primary concern of some; however, we can now know what is promised and begin to imagine what is possible. We can think in terms of destinations instead only in terms of traffic lights. We can anticipate individually owned restaurants, boutiques, art galleries, “gathering spaces” to meet and share coffee or whatever with our friends, a downtown that invites more people to walk and connects them in the process.
Imagine the path around Kittamaqundi completed, a renovated Merriweather donated to the community. Imagine a Symphony Woods that is a destination, an interesting place where you can walk, enjoy the preserved and restored woods, your children can enjoy nature, you can attend a concert or, perhaps, drop in at a state of the art Library surpassing the excellence of the present one. Downtown could become an area where there are spaces for artists to work, even live. And, imagine the downtown redesigned and connected so we can walk or hop on a shuttle.
There are many things that could have happened to Columbia’s downtown. It could have been sold in pieces to various developers doing more of what is there now. We see General Growth and the plan presented as more than we could have hoped.
Fear Not, Columbia's Future Beckons
Emily Lincoln
Bring Back The Vision
August 18 2008
In a few weeks, General Growth Properties (GGP) will present its plan for the redevelopment
of Columbia's downtown to the county for approval. Most of us who have seen the
exhibit at the Spear Center are impressed by the thought, research, talent and effort
GGP has invested in the effort to give our community's downtown what it has so sadly
lacked and for so long.
Just imagine walking downtown from The Mall in Columbia to Lake Kittamaqundi and
from either attraction to an enhanced Merriweather Post Pavilion and Symphony Woods,
where extensive reforestation and forest restoration have preserved that lovely
property.
Imagine walking on new streets past green spaces and public art, and past attractive
housing, with some of it above shops and some of it in the "affordable" category.
There will be bike paths, some narrow streets lined with trees, parking garages
hidden behind U-shaped buildings and impressive storm water management to contribute
to the health of Columbia's lakes and the Chesapeake Bay.
There will be a number of opportunities to enjoy outdoor dining and meeting your
friends. GGP has clearly listened to Columbia and Howard County, and clearly understands
our needs. Yet, there are still some observers who express fears. Those fears concern
new residents and traffic when, in fact, we have needed more people to come to downtown
to bring it to life.
There are fears that Symphony Woods will be destroyed, when the reality is Symphony
Woods, its trees and plantings, are in poor condition. This new plan will restore
its health. Some people forget the increased revenue that will come to the county
and to the Columbia Association and fear expense.
Finally, there are still those who seem to fear that GGP will make some money on
the project. The corporation will spend hundreds of millions of dollars on each
phase of the development and, hopefully, will profit. Those who raise this fear
again seem not to remember that Jim Rouse developed Columbia to financially profit
(as well as to accomplish the other goals we all justifiably remember and revere
him for).
As to making a profit, Rouse said, "This was no residual goal. ... It was our prime
objective."
Let us work positively with GGP so our city and our county can finally have the
downtown and amenities so deserved.
I Want My Old Columbia Back
By Dennis Lane
The Business Monthly
August 2008
What happened to Columbia?
When I was growing up here, Columbia was a really happening place. But that's not
so much the case these days.
When I was a teenager living in Bryant Woods, Columbia was big news. The Rouse Company
wasn't just building another suburban tract home development; it was building a
complete city, full of new ideas on land planning, governance, health care, religious
tolerance and education.
This was cutting edge stuff back then.
Don't get me wrong. Columbia is still a nice place to live. It still gets national
recognition as just that ... when combined with Ellicott City, anyway.
But the Columbia that I knew as a kid, the Columbia that was setting new standards
for community development, the Columbia that was doing exciting things on a grand
scale, is not the Columbia I know today.
That circumstance didn't transpire overnight, of course. The decline came gradually.
Some trace its origins back to the day that Jim Rouse stepped down as the chairman
of the company. Others go back further, to the opening of the company's Faneuil
Hall Marketplace in Boston, when The Rouse Company seemed to lose interest in the
suburbs as it turned its creative energies toward cities.
Over time, Columbia became just another large real estate development. Its newer
parts looked just like thousands of other real estate developments throughout the
country.
Columbia passed into middle age. And it grew comfortable with itself.
Now that comfort is being challenged. Ironically, it is a new developer that is
giving Columbia the chance to recapture its glory days.
When General Growth Properties (GGP) acquired Rouse in 2004, it put a hold on land
sales in town center. Prior to the acquisition, Rouse had been selling land to other
concerns, rather than developing it itself. Town Center lacked a comprehensive long-term
plan.
And GGP saw an opportunity to change that.
The development company went out and enlisted some of the top architects, planners
and consultants to help draft a vision of a town center that would once again position
Columbia at the forefront of community planning and green development. They bought
in Alan Ward, a principal of the firm Sasaki Associates. His accomplishments include
work for the Beijing Olympics.
They bought in Gail Dexter Lord, the president of Lord Cultural Resources. Gail
was involved with the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. They bought in Keith Bowers,
the founder and president of Biohabitats, a company that specializes in regenerative
design, conservation planning and ecology restoration. They bought in Jacquelin
Robertson, founding partner of Cooper, Robertson & Partners. He led his firm's design
work on the planned community of Watercolor in Florida.
This collaboration of innovative planners is similar to the gathering of planners
that The Rouse Company assembled more than 40 years ago. This is the same sort of
collective planning energy that gave Columbia its original appeal.
So far, however, many in Columbia have greeted this new burst of energy with skepticism.
Consider the reaction to GGP's plan that calls for significant changes to Symphony
Woods and Merriweather Post Pavilion.
The planning team chose to make this area a centerpiece of a revitalized town center.
They envision a new Symphony Woods that would be accessible to more people year
round.
They have even suggested that the current central library be replaced with a facility
more closely akin to the world-renowned public library in Cerritos, Calif. The Cerritos
Millennium Library is an 88,000-square-foot, three-story facility with more than
300,000 books. It was named the best public library in 2004 by Reader's Digest.
The planning team suggests that it would best be placed at the entrance to Symphony
Woods, with new connections to the mall and the pavilion.
This apparently was too much for middle-aged Columbia. Last month, the Planning
and Strategy Committee of the Columbia Association (CA) passed a motion, by a 3-0
vote, that called for future plans for Symphony Woods to include the following:
maintaining the natural setting, revitalization of the existing forest, providing
for a gathering place including community events and no new buildings or roadways
in the park.
It appears that they were having a difficult time seeing the forest from the trees.
The committee even went so far as to suggest that a carousel might be a more appropriate
amenity for the park. They did not address the ecological degradation that has taken
place in Symphony Woods over the years that the park has been under their stewardship.
Streams in the park have serious erosion problems. Invasive plants are taking over
and many of the trees are sick. Wetlands are failing.
GGP plans for Symphony Woods include a reforestation program for more than 22 acres,
a forest management program for 57 acres, 4,800 linear feet of stream restoration,
five acres of wetlands enhancement, two acres of new wetlands - and 9,200 new trees.
Fortunately, enough concerned Columbians showed up at the meeting where this motion
was to be voted on by the full board. At the end of the evening, the motion was
amended to allow for limited new buildings and streets, and connectivity and accessibility
to the rest of town center.
The turnout and resultant public testimony from "enlightened" residents gave me
some encouragement. It indicates that, for some at least, Columbia has not lost
its nerve and sense of experimentation.
I hope that's true. I want my old Columbia back.
Dennis Lane blogs about Columbia and Ellicott City at
www.wordbones.com.