Danielle Thoe, a University of Michigan graduate student in urban planning, explains a concept for creating a boulevard for pedestrians and bicyclists to navigate better the I-94 overpass along South State Street. (Photos by the writer.)

The Nov. 27 meeting included a presentation by four graduate students in urban and regional planning. They had analyzed the corridor between Ellsworth and Stimson, which the city has also been studying. The presentation came in the context of a draft report currently under review by planning commissioners, with more than 40 recommendations to improve the corridor. [.pdf of draft report]

The students approached their work by identifying changes that could have an immediate impact on the corridor, while also looking at more visionary, long-term goals. Shorter-term suggestions included replacing and widening sidewalks, and adding new sidewalks in sections where there are none.

A more ambitious idea is to transform the broad center turn lanes on the I-94 overpass into a protected bicycle/pedestrian median. Currently, navigating the freeway interchange on foot or by bike is daunting. The approach could serve multiple purposes. If bioswales and landscaping were in place along the outer edges, it would help with stormwater management and provide a physical barrier between vehicles and pedestrians/cyclists. The greenery would also have visual impact for people exiting the freeway, indicating that you’re entering a city that values the environment and alternative transportation, according to the students.

Creating a sense of identity along the corridor was a common theme, with an additional focus on safety issues, stormwater management, and functionality/aesthetics.

The meeting was attended by four of the eight current planning commissioners, as well as planning manager Wendy Rampson. The commission is expected to make a recommendation on the city’s draft corridor plan at either its Dec. 18 or Jan. 3 meeting. The Ann Arbor city council would need to approve the plan before any action is taken toward implementing its recommendations.

State Street Background: Ongoing Study

The city planning commission and staff have been discussing improvements on South State for years. It was brought up more than two years ago at the commission’s April 2010 retreat, as one of the priorities that the body hoped to address as part of a broader effort to look at all of the city’s major gateway corridors, including Washtenaw Avenue to the east, Plymouth Road to the northeast, and North Main Street.

A year later, at an April 2011 work session, planning commissioners and staff talked about issuing a request for proposals (RFP) for a consultant to take on the work. About $150,000 had been set aside for a consultant’s study. But when the project moved to the city council for approval, a majority of councilmembers at that time were reluctant to make the expenditure, and the funding was not approved.

Planning staff took on the task instead, and planning commissioners were briefed on progress at an October 2011 work session. The work included interviews with businesses, residents and other stakeholders, public forums, and online feedback through the A2 Open City Hall site. For more detailed background, see Chronicle coverage: “South State Corridor Gets Closer Look.”

The area of study has focused on a roughly 2-mile stretch between Stimson Street at the north end down to Ellsworth in the south, and includes: a major intersection with I-94; Briarwood Mall; the large Hidden Valley Club apartment complex; acres of land owned by the University of Michigan, including its golf course and a sports complex; large office buildings, including 777 Eisenhower and UM’s Wolverine Tower; several hotels near Victors Way and Broadway; and a research park development near the corridor’s south end.

A draft report – including more than 40 overall recommendations for improving the corridor – was presented to commissioners at their Sept. 18, 2012 meeting. [.pdf of draft report]

Recommendations in that report are organized into categories of the city’s recently adopted sustainability framework: Land use and access, community, climate and energy, and resource management. Among the recommendations are: (1) Evaluate use of vacant parcels for alternative energy generation; (2) Evaluate integrating public art along the corridor; (3) Evaluate use of open land for community gardens; (4) Assess and improve high crash areas along the corridor; (5) create boulevard on State Street between Eisenhower and I‐94 to enable safer automobile, bicycle, and pedestrian movement; (6) Consider utilizing vacant parcels for athletic fields and recreation facilities; (7) Develop a pedestrian and bicycle path along the Ann Arbor railroad that will connect the planned Allen Creek bikeway to Pittsfield Township through the corridor; and (8) Resurface roads in the corridor.

Each recommendation includes several related action items. The report also provides a section that organizes the recommendations into each of three distinct sections of the corridor: (1) from Stimson on the north to Eisenhower Parkway; (2) from Eisenhower south to the I-94 interchange; and (3) from I-94 to Ellsworth.

UM Urban Planning Charrette

On Nov. 27, four University of Michigan graduate students in urban planning met with planning commissioners and staff to present ideas for transforming the South State corridor. Christian Roadman, Katy Ryan, Liz Treutel and Danielle Thoe – studying for master of urban planning degrees at UM’s Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning – spent about an hour explaining their proposals and talking to commissioners about the area.

Christian Roadman began the presentation by saying the group tried to strike a balance between identifying low-hanging fruit that would have an immediate impact on the corridor, while also looking at more visionary, long-term goals. Their suggestions primarily focused on safety, stormwater management, and functional aesthetics – not beauty for beauty’s sake, he said, but rather how to incorporate public art into functional things like signs or fences.

Christian Roadman, a University of Michigan graduate student in urban planning.

Overall, the students felt that the corridor lacked a sense of place, Roadman said. They wanted to develop that sense of place immediately when people enter the corridor off of I-94, and from there to build a feeling that “I’m coming into a unique city.”

Danielle Thoe highlighted the existing sidewalks, which she described as dilapidated and “disappearing.” In some stretches, there are no sidewalks at all, and in many spots they are narrow and very near the street, close to fast-moving vehicles. She noted that one easy solution would simply be to install new sidewalks, which would make pedestrians feel safer and make it viable to walk down the street.

Creating wider sidewalks would also be a benefit, Thoe said. Although there are bike lanes along parts of South State, the motorized vehicles travel fast and don’t always respect those bike lanes. Nor are the bike lanes welcoming for all types of bicyclists, she noted. It’s not likely a family would feel safe riding bikes along South State to the mall or restaurants there. Widening sidewalks would address this by creating multi-use paths for pedestrians, runners and cyclists.

Continuing south, Thoe pointed out that the intersection of I-94 creates an even greater problem for pedestrians and bicyclists trying to safely navigate across the bridge through heavy traffic and turning vehicles. The UM students suggested transforming the broad center turn lanes into a protected bicycle/pedestrian median over the freeway. Wide green stripes could be painted on the streets to indicate a crossing that would lead to the median.

Katy Ryan told commissioners that such an approach could serve multiple purposes. If bioswales and landscaping were in place along the outer edges, it would help with stormwater management and provide a physical barrier between vehicles and pedestrians/cyclists. The greenery would also have visual impact for people exiting the freeway, indicating that you’re entering a city that values the environment and alternative transportation. After going over the I-94 interchange via this center path, the cyclists and pedestrians would cross back into regular bike lanes and sidewalks on the other side.

Liz Treutel then highlighted other medians along South State, which are concrete but poorly maintained, with weeds growing through cracks. The suggestion is to change those medians into functional spaces for stormwater management with native plantings, and perhaps incorporate public art there as well. Vegetation in the center medians would make the road seem narrower and more inviting.

Treutel described some ideas for public art, with the goal of providing a cohesive identity for the entire corridor. Artwork displays could be changed biannually or quarterly, to bring change and excitement to the area. Public art could be incorporated into bus stops, signs and fences, such as the one along the UM golf course at the corridor’s north end. Other examples include a pedestrian bridge that could be designed in a creative way, or having a community contest to create different kinds of Ann Arbor wolverine sculptures, akin to the fiberglass cows exhibits in New York, Chicago and other cities. Also mentioned were tree sculptures, like the metal works designed by the artist Roxy Paine. [There is precedent for metal tree sculptures in Ann Arbor – as two are installed in West Park, funded by the city's Percent for Art program.]

The goals for the corridor should be to increase development with the goal of placemaking, Thoe said – reflecting the identity of Ann Arbor. Longer term, changes in zoning code could encourage a reduction in setbacks, with new buildings constructed closer to the street and parking in the rear. Ultimately, the hope is to create a true corridor, she added, that draws and guides people into the city while simultaneously introducing them to the city’s values and culture.

To describe why change is needed, Roadman described his own experience on his first trip to Ann Arbor. He traveled here on the Megabus, and disembarked at a South State Street park-and-ride lot. There was no sense of being in a special place – the location and first impression didn’t get him as excited about the city as it potentially might have, he said.

Thoe listed some possible next steps, prioritized by the ease of implementation – from installing sidewalks and bike/pedestrian paths to road resurfacing, zoning changes, and development of a bus rapid transit (BRT) system.

Ryan wrapped up the presentation by saying they had a great time with the project, and became really invested in the ideas.

UM Urban Planning Charrette: Commission Discussion

Planning manager Wendy Rampson asked about the issue of identity. When the students talked about Ann Arbor’s identity, did they mean the city or the University of Michigan? Danielle Thoe replied that they hadn’t been envisioning a UM-centric identity, but certainly the university would be part of it, especially since UM owned so much property along the corridor. Thoe  described the city’s identity as intellectual and innovative – a place where people would want to stay, whether or not they had attended UM.

Drawings by UM urban planning students of possible changes to South State Street in Ann Arbor.

Planning commissioner Bonnie Bona said she sensed that the students had been a little restrained in their approach. She encouraged them to push their ideas even further. For example, she suggested putting in a center-lane pedestrian/cycling boulevard along the entire stretch, from the planned roundabout at State and Ellsworth all the way north, perhaps to another roundabout that would bookend the corridor at Stimson.

Katy Ryan replied that they were concerned about presenting ideas that might seem too much like a pipe dream.

Commissioner Ken Clein mentioned the idea of having a version of New York City’s High Line, an elevated park. Christian Roadman said the students had talked about the need to improve bus routes. He liked the notion of vertical integration, like creating an elevated pedestrian/cycling path built over a lane dedicated to bus rapid transit. Rampson observed that traffic engineers can come up with some innovative ideas, if they’re prompted to think creatively.

Rampson liked the idea of viewing the medians as pallets for other purposes, like rain gardens and public art. She also said she was fascinated by the idea of sculptural signage. David Diephuis, a resident who attended the session, floated the idea of using large sculptures to evoke specific destinations, like a huge bed to point the way to hotels along the corridor.

There was some discussion of using tree sculptures to create a canopy along a central pedestrian/bike median. That prompted Diephuis to look up the Roxy Paine sculptures on his iPad – he noted that they cost a minimum of $1 million each. Jennifer Olmstead, the Taubman College’s career services and alumni network coordinator who had facilitated this project, wondered whether Briarwood Mall might view the idea as a branding opportunity – with trees emphasizing Briarwood.

Clein joked about a tie-in with local history. Harry Bennett, the head of security for Henry Ford, lived in the Ann Arbor area along the Huron River, in an estate called Bennett’s Castle. Bennett built realistic-looking concrete trees that were designed so that his gunmen could stand inside the trunk and shoot through slots, Clein said. So there’s precedent, he said, adding “not that we should have any shooting.”

Referring to sculptures and other possible artwork, Roadman observed that there’s a fine line between just putting something there for art’s sake, versus using artwork to create a cohesive sense of identity.

Clein noted that the city has been struggling with the identity of South State for a long time. Many people see it as just a drive-through area between destinations, but clearly there are a lot of people who view it as more than that, he said. The ideas presented by the students have addressed this issue, bringing in the concepts of sustainability and the “tree town” reputation of Ann Arbor. The ideas have real viability, he said.

Next Steps

The city’s draft South State corridor report is being reviewed by planning commissioners, who are expected to vote on it at their Dec. 18 or Jan. 3 meeting. Their recommendation would be sent to the Ann Arbor city council, who would be asked to authorize the plan formally to be distributed to adjoining jurisdictions – including Pittsfield Township, which the corridor abuts.

At that point, there would be a formal 42-day comment period before the plan’s formal approval process. The city would hold another public meeting on the plan during that 42-day period, according to planning manager Wendy Rampson.

When the plan is approved, city staff would begin identifying ways to implement the recommended actions, including identifying funding sources.

Next regular meeting: Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012 at 7 p.m. in the second-floor council chambers at city hall, 301 E. Huron St., Ann Arbor. [Check Chronicle event listings to confirm date]

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Pre-premiere socializing at the Workantile Exchange for films on urban planning and forms of local government. (Photos by the writer.)

The first film, “The Great Street Toolkit,” focuses on urban planning. The second, “The Council-Manager Form of Local Government,” is an introduction to how the council-manager system is different from a strong mayor system. The city of Ann Arbor uses a modified version of the council-manager form.

As Westphal himself noted lightheartedly, it was the “true wonks” in the audience who stayed for the second film – on council-manager government.

And it turns out that most of the 30 people in the audience were true wonks.

But linked indirectly to the evening in multiple ways was one person who was not in the audience at all –  local developer and downtown property owner, Ed Shaffran.

The wonks included people like Wendy Rampson, head of planning for the city of Ann Arbor; Ed Koryzno, Ypsilanti’s city manager; Diane Giannola, Ann Arbor city planning commissioner; Doug Kelbaugh, former dean of the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning; and Steve Bean, recent independent candidate for mayor of Ann Arbor.

Doug Kelbaugh, former dean of the University of Michigan College of Architecture and Urban Planning, talks with Wendy Rampson, head of Ann Arbor's planning staff.

Westphal, a video producer and urban researcher, will be recognizable to many Chronicle readers as one of the city’s planning commissioners; he also serves on the city’s environmental commission. His previous work includes the film “Insights into a Lively Downtown,” a case study of Ann Arbor.

Each of Westphal’s new films had a running time of 23 minutes, and there was opportunity for the audience to discuss the content of the films before, between and after the showings. Prompting much of the discussion was how the material in the “Great Street” film relates to the Washington-to-Huron block of Main Street, where the Workantile Exchange itself is located. The Washington-to-Huron block includes a number of banking opportunities: Citizens Bank, Chase, KeyBank, and PNC Bank. In addition, Comerica is located just north of Huron, in the One North Main building.

But as the “Great Streets” film makes clear, neither professional planners nor Westphal are fans of banks as a ground-floor use in a downtown environment. [The film was funded in part by a grant from the Urban Design and Preservation division of the American Planning Association.]

Westphal has expressed the same view before, most recently in an early November presentation he made to his colleagues on the planning commission. Describing a surveillance camera photo of a bank robbery in progress, said Westphal: “What I’d like to convince you of tonight is that there are two crimes being committed in this photo. I contend that what this thief is stealing from the bank doesn’t even come close to what underused banks, like this one, steal from the vitality of a downtown.”

Kirk Westphal answered questions as the credits rolled.

And in an opinion piece published in the April 5, 2009 Ann Arbor News, Westphal expressed the general view that ground floor uses should be regulated in the zoning code to give preference to “active uses” – like retail stores, cafes and restaurants.

So how did Ed Shaffran factor into the evening?

When Westphal’s opinion piece was published in The News, it appeared side-by-side with one from Shaffran, who’s a downtown property owner and developer, and who offered a view opposing Westphal’s. From Shaffran’s piece: “On a theoretical level, to say a bank is not an active use and should be located to a secondary street borders on National Socialism.”

The impetus for the two opinion pieces was the city’s A2D2 rezoning initiative for downtown Ann Arbor, which at the time was being debated by the city council. The original A2D2 proposal included some restrictions on ground-floor uses in certain areas – preference was given to active uses. But those restrictions were removed from the version of the A2D2 rezoning that was approved by the Ann Arbor city council in November 2009.

And Shaffran, as it turns out, was featured in a serendipitous cameo in Westphal’s “Great Streets” film, which included footage shot by Westphal in downtown Ann Arbor. In the frame, Shaffran can briefly be seen walking towards the camera east along Liberty Street, talking on his cell phone.

At left: Jesse Bernstein, chair of the board of the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, chats with Ray Detter, president of the Downtown Citizens Advisory Council, before the film premiere. In the foreground is Trek Glowacki, co-owner of the Workantile Exchange.

Another Shaffran connection to the film premiere: He owns the building at 118 Main St. that houses the Workantile Exchange, where the films were shown.

And it was the Workantile Exchange itself that generated some of the conversation after the “Great Streets” showing. Why? Parade examples of non-active uses of space are banks and offices. And the coworking space offered by the Workantile Exchange is somewhat similar to shared office space. Does coworking space constitute an active use in an urban planning sense?

The day before the showing, Trek Glowacki, co-owner of the Workantile Exchange, explained to The Chronicle that one key difference between a coworking space and a shared office arrangement is the business model. In a shared office space, every tenant would have an assigned desk, and the rent for the space would be divided equally among the tenants. If a tenant moves out, the remaining tenants would pay slightly more rent. If tenants were added, the rent would decrease accordingly.

In contrast, the Workantile’s coworking space doesn’t guarantee a permanent desk in a specific location. The furniture is on wheels, and will be configured differently on any given day, depending on who shows up to work, when they show up, and who they might be collaborating with. The Workantile is calibrated to a culture that is inherently more collaborative than an arrangement where the only expectation is that you pay the rent for your desk. This community of coworking is a key part of what Glowacki describes as the Workantile’s role in the city’s economic development.

So, the monthly fee paid to the Workantile is not a desk rental, but rather a membership that gives access to a working community and the expectation of a contribution to that community. The space itself includes all the typical amenities that you’d expect in an office, including access to two conference rooms.

Window view of the Workantile Exchange last Wednesday night.

The configurable space inside the Workantile makes it suitable for hosting various kinds of events. For example, on Friday, Dec. 3, the same day as Midnight Madness in downtown Ann Arbor, author David Erik Nelson, a Workantile member, hosted a book-signing event for his latest title, “Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred.” The book is written for parents who’d like to make things with their kids – like boomerangs. With all the tables rolled to the walls, there was plenty of room to fling the boomerangs around the main floor. The Workantile Christmas tree is now bedecked with boomerangs.

And of course the space is suitable for hosting a film premiere.

So one of questions at the conclusion of the film came from the Workantile’s Glowacki, who told Westphal to be honest: Is the Workantile Exchange an active use of space?

Before answering, Westphal wanted some clarification about what the usage patterns were. Glowacki told him there was generally someone working 20 hours out of every day. Westphal noted that the use was certainly more active when Mighty Good Coffee had its storefront at the front of the space – but in September 2010 Mighty Good moved up the block to a new location at 217 N. Main St. Now, the whole space is occupied by the Workantile.

At a meeting of Workantile coworkers soon after Mighty Good Coffee departed, they discussed possible alternatives for the area previously used by the coffee shop’s store front. One idea batted around at the meeting was rotating window displays showing off the work of members. Attractive windows offering things of interest to pedestrians is one feature that Westphahl’s “Great Streets” film highlighted as important for a vibrant downtown.

From outside the Workantile on Wednesday night, the film premiere taking place on the other side of the glass wasn’t necessarily accessible to every member of the public – the sign on the door indicated a private event was taking place. But through the window it was clear the space was filled with activity.

Dave Askins, editor and co-founder of The Chronicle, is a member of the Workantile Exchange.

The PNC Bank building in Ann Arbor, at the corner of Main and Huron, illustrating planning commissioner Kirk Westphal's point that banks tend to create urban "dead zones."

A request to add a parking lot at the University Bank headquarters in the former Hoover Mansion was revisited during public commentary – the proposal had been discussed and postponed at the commission’s Oct. 19 meeting. Bank president Stephen Ranzini returned and spoke during public commentary on Nov. 3, citing additional reasons why commissioners should grant the request, which planning staff had recommended rejecting.

Later in the meeting, commissioner Kirk Westphal reprised a cheeky slideshow he’d given during the recent annual conference of the Michigan Association of Planning. One slide showed an image of a bank robbery taking place, as Westphal narrated: “I contend that what this thief is stealing from the bank doesn’t even come close to what underused banks, like this one, steal from the vitality of a downtown.”

Commissioner Evan Pratt also gave a presentation that he’d delivered at the conference, focused on the use of roundabouts as an alternative to a traditional intersection, or the “axis of evil.” Their presentations were given in the “Pecha Kucha” style – Chronicle readers might be familiar with a similar format if they’ve attended Ignite Ann Arbor events.

Intersecting the topics of parks and planning, but without the playful overtones, commissioners passed a resolution recommending that city council distribute a draft of the Ann Arbor Parks & Recreation Open Space (PROS) plan to neighboring communities and stakeholders, as required by state law. The draft plan, revised every five years, will be posted on the city’s website for public feedback after council approves distribution.

University Bank: Redux

At the commission’s Oct. 19 meeting, a proposal by University Bank had been postponed. The request was to add more parking by creating a new parking lot behind the bank’s headquarters in the building known as the Hoover Mansion on Washtenaw Avenue. The proposal would also allow up to 10 additional employees to work at that location. The planning staff had recommended denial of the request, stating that the project impacts natural features and doesn’t offer an overall benefit to the city. However, commissioners asked planning staff to work with bank officials to come up with an alternative proposal for locating new parking.

At the Nov. 3 meeting, bank president Stephen Ranzini spoke during public commentary, making a case for why the commission should approve the bank’s request. He covered many of the same points made in a letter he’d sent to commissioners, dated Oct. 21. [.pdf of letter from Ranzini]

He told commissioners he’d returned to speak to them to highlight some points that he didn’t have time to cover at the previous meeting. To make the building site and grounds sustainable for the long-term, “something must change,” he said. “The status quo is not sustainable.” The 3.4-acre site in Ann Arbor Hills consists of potentially 12 lots, which in today’s market are worth $300,o00 each, he said. But the building on that site was recently appraised at only $2 million. In addition, the cost of operating the building as an office, on a per-square-foot basis, is more than triple the market rents of offices elsewhere in the city. He said that when the bank bought the building, they beat out another potential buyer who would have put in a condo project that would have caused substantial damage to the building.

Ranzini noted that the idea of putting parking on the circular drive in front of the building was discussed at the Oct. 19 meeting. He read a statement from a local attorney, who said that parking on the driveway will increase the likelihood of collisions, and isn’t a good solution.

Ranzini also responded to another proposal mentioned during the Oct. 19 meeting – that bank employees be encouraged to use the AATA bus system. Ranzini stated that two-thirds of the bank’s employees live outside of Washtenaw County. He read a statement from one of his employees who lives in Canton, and who said that it’s unreasonable to suggest that they take public transportation. The employee would have to leave his home two hours earlier and take two buses in order to get to work, even if he used the Park & Ride lot at Plymouth and US-23.

Since the October meeting, Ranzini said he’d talked to the couple who had spoken during public commentary against the project. [They are Gerald and Sheryl Serwer, and had cited concerns over aesthetics and drainage issues.] Ranzini said that prior to the Oct. 19 meeting, he’d talked with them and they didn’t mention their opposition. Another speaker during public commentary at the Oct. 19 meeting, who lives behind the bank, had never responded to any communications from the bank, Ranzini said. And a third speaker, he said, had previously been offered $10,000 worth of landscaping to screen his property. “He’s unreasonable, and we’re never going to reach agreement with him,” Ranzini said.

Ranzini said he thinks the couple who opposed the project might change their minds. In addition, he was meeting on Monday, Nov. 8 with the city’s planning staff “to see if we can get their opinion changed also.”

Finally, he said there are many more Ann Arbor voters among the bank’s employees and customers than the four neighbors who expressed opposition to the project.

There was no discussion among commissioners about the project.

PROS Plan Distribution

The one action item at the Nov. 3 meeting was a resolution to recommend that the city council approve the distribution of the revised Ann Arbor Parks & Recreation Open Space (PROS) plan to neighboring communities and stakeholders. Jeff Kahan, in his staff report, told commissioners that state law requires that adjoining communities and other stakeholders be given the opportunity to comment on master plans like this, prior to adoption. After distribution, these groups have up to 42 days to respond. After comments are received, the planning commission is required to hold a public hearing prior to adopting the PROS plan as an element of the city’s master plan. It’s then forwarded to city council for final adoption.

The planning commission will have the opportunity to discuss the content of the plan in early 2011. Amy Kuras of the city’s parks and recreation unit has been working with an advisory group for the past year to update the PROS plan, which was last revised in 2006.

No one spoke during the public hearing on this agenda item.

PROS Plan Distribution: Commissioner Deliberations

Bonnie Bona asked Kuras how the distribution list was determined – who decided what groups should be asked for input? Kuras said that state law requires distribution to adjoining communities and entities like utility companies. The city staff has added others to the list, including the University of Michigan and the Washtenaw County health department.

Bona said she noticed that the Norfolk Southern Railroad was included, but not Ann Arbor Railroad. Kuras agreed that Ann Arbor Railroad should be added.

Noting that the commission had held a working session on the PROS plan with suggestions for changes, Evan Pratt wondered whether the commission could get a document highlighting changes that had been made as a result of those discussions. [For Chronicle coverage of that June 8, 2010 session, see "Ann Arbor Planning with the PROS"] Kuras said she could provide a summary of changes that are being recommended, compared to the 2006 plan.

In broad strokes, Kuras said, she tried to align the PROS plan more closely with the city’s master plan documents, such as the land use element plan. The previous PROS plan included several subjective statements about the administration and structure of the city, she said, and they tried to take out that subjectivity. In addition, the PROS chapter on the parks action plan more closely reflects the city’s overall goals and activities, Kuras said, particularly related to capital projects.

After city council approves distribution of the draft plan, Kuras said she’ll post it online and in other venues, such as local libraries, for public input.

Outcome: Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution to recommend that the city council approve the distribution of the revised Ann Arbor Parks & Recreation Open Space (PROS) plan to neighboring communities and stakeholders.

Pecha Kucha: Fast, Funny, Edgy

The Ann Arbor-based Michigan Association of Planning (MAP) held its annual conference last month in Detroit, and participants included several Ann Arbor area architects, urban designers and other planning professionals. Sessions presented by local experts included:

• LED billboards and LED signs, with Don Wortman of Ann Arbor-based Carlisle/Wortman Associates and April McGrath of the city of Ypsilanti.
• Planning and community-based food initiatives, with Larissa Larsen of the University of Michigan.
• Integration of design into the community planning process, with Norman Tyler of Eastern Michigan University and Ilene Tyler of Ann Arbor-based Quinn Evans Architects.

In addition, two Ann Arbor planning commissioners – Evan Pratt and Kirk Westphal – and city planner Jeff Kahan participated in a “Pecha Kucha” session. At the Nov. 3 planning commission meeting, Pratt explained that Pecha Kucha events were started by young urban designers in Tokyo. Presenters have seven minutes to cover their topic, and can only display their 20 slides in their presentation for 20 seconds each. The idea is to make your point quickly and inject some energy and humor into the talk. [It's a similar format to the popular Ignite events, including those held in Ann Arbor.]

At the Nov. 3 meeting, Pratt and Westphal gave a reprise of their Pecha Kucha presentations. Visuals are a crucial element of the presentations, which can be viewed on Community Television Network’s video-on-demand: Westphal’s talk begins at the 31:35 minute timecode; Pratt’s begins at the 39:45 mark.

Pecha Kucha: Why Too Many Banks Are Bad for Downtown

Westphal began by noting that ever since the financial crisis of the early 1900s, it became customary for banks to build lobbies much bigger than they needed to be. That way, even when banks were busy, it would never feel crowded and remind people of a panic. That wasn’t so bad when people actually did their banking at the bank, Westphal said.

He showed a slide of what appeared to be a surveillance camera shot of a bank robbery taking place. “What I’d like to convince you of tonight is that there are two crimes being committed in this photo,” Westphal said. “I contend that what this thief is stealing from the bank doesn’t even come close to what underused banks, like this one, steal from the vitality of a downtown.”

His talk would focus on why too many banks are bad for your downtown, what you can do to break free, and how you can justify taking action.

Banks are oversized and generate little pedestrian traffic. They were oversized even before ATMs and direct deposits, he noted – now, there are mostly tumbleweeds blowing around inside them. The buildings are a hugely inefficient use of space in general, but the really sad thing is that bank buildings are usually ugly and always boring, he said. [He illustrated this point with an image of the former National City bank, now PNC, at the corner of Main and Huron in Ann Arbor.] At worst you get marble-clad fortresses that have been known to frighten small children, he quipped. At best, you get a couple of windows with ads for high-yield CDs and a bouquet of silk flowers, if you’re lucky.

The last reason that banks are bad is that they’re dead at night, Westphal said. Can you think of any successful downtown that didn’t begin as an active night spot? he asked. Every bank displaces a business that’s more likely to be open past five o’clock. And once one comes in, they typically like company – banks tend to cluster. So the question is, how many banks does it take to make a street not worth walking down?

Downtowns have an edge over malls and suburbia only when there are interesting things to see between your car and your destination, Westphal said, and each dead area interrupts a good downtown experience. So a lot of communities feel that banks run amok are bad, he said, but the good news is that cities can embrace banks without letting them kill our streets. We can’t wait until they’re a problem, he noted, because it’s too hard to undo this kind of damage.

There are two ways to be pro-active, Westphal said. One way is to implement a spacing requirement between banks to keep too many from moving in – Chicago, for example, has a 600-foot requirement. That compares to Ann Arbor, which in some places has five banks within 300 feet. Other cities prohibit banks from being on first floors.

The other strategy is to limit the percent of linear street frontage that banks or other inactive uses are allowed to occupy. The “dead” use has to be wrapped by active uses, like shops and restaurants, so that it doesn’t create a dead zone. Dozens of cities across the country have applied these types of ordinances to banks, Westphal said.

How do you justify these types of regulations to property owners? he asked. The fact that even the game Monopoly has moved to electronic banking likely isn’t persuasive, he noted. You might hear the argument “Let the market decide who I rent to.” Most people are free-market advocates unless it comes to externalities, he said. An externality is a side effect of something you do that doesn’t affect you personally, he explained. Pollution from factories is one example – the polluter might not care that people outside the factory are getting sick, so the government has to regulate this externality. Likewise, a property owner who rents to a bank and kills foot traffic around them is imposing a huge negative externality on surrounding businesses who need walk-by traffic for their livelihoods, Westphal said.

When the planning staff proposed an active-use ordinance a couple of years ago, Westphal said, he was intrigued and did a straw poll of three businesses near his office – two restaurants and a bookstore – that seemed to be cut off from the “good” part of Main Street by inactive uses. [He showed a slide of the block of Main north of Washington, on the west side – Citizens Bank is located at that northwest corner.]

He asked them if they had any observations about being located next to a bank. He said he wasn’t expecting to hear much, but the first person told him without hesitation that it’s “terrible” – people see a building without activity and don’t cross the street toward their businesses. The next manager related a story about walking behind a guy who was showing his parents around town. When he got to that corner, the guy told his parents that “Main Street kind of ends here – let’s go down the other side.” Hearing that was like a kick in the stomach, the manager said.

Hurting your neighbor’s business is an externality, Westhpal said. During the debate about the active-use ordinance in Ann Arbor, a property owner [Ed Shaffran] wrote a letter to the editor of the Ann Arbor News, saying that to describe a bank as not being an active use “borders on national socialism,” Westphal reported. [Westphal also wrote an opinion piece, published by The News, in support of active-use regulations.]

An online commenter on the Ann Arbor News website wrote: “Better yet, the granola-and-tofu fascist set should pack their bags and move to a country where the government can control the minutiae of their lives.” But what the commenter may not know, Westhpal said, is that young professionals are leaving Ann Arbor in droves for a fascist country that does control banks – it’s called Chicago.

Ann Arbor’s proposed active-use ordinance was opposed by property owners and was dead-on-arrival at city council, Westphal said. Some say that incentivizing active uses might have worked better, and they may have been right, he said. But city officials can’t afford to be wimps about controlling the business mix downtown, he added.

“Let me be scandalous and suggest that we take a page from the shopping center playbook,” he said. “Like it or not, they continue to take traditional downtowns to the cleaners.” Westphal said he personally doesn’t think shopping centers capture the best of a downtown, but they’re certainly good at eliminating the worst. If you want to make a mall manager laugh, ask if they allow panhandling or banks inside, he said.

He then showed a slide of the inside of Briarwood Mall, and challenged his colleagues to find the mall’s version of the bank in the photo – it was an ATM kiosk. “Mall fascism at work!” he quipped.

Westphal said that one of the things he loves about downtowns is their truly organic feel. But like any garden, he concluded, you have to control the weeds.

Pecha Kucha: Roundabouts

Pratt, an engineer by trade, began by saying the point of his presentation was to identify elements that people should consider in situations where it’s reasonable to contemplate having either a roundabout or a traditional intersection.

Roadways are the most dangerous facilities on the face of the earth, he said – in the U.S., 650 people die each week on roads, or the equivalent of three jumbo jets going down. What if three jets crashed each week – what would the media do with that? He noted that a quarter of these fatalities occur at intersections, or the “axis of evil.”

So what are the alternatives? There are social benefits to improving safety and mobility for everyone, he said, as well as to eliminating delays at intersections. Financial and environmental gains are also goals.

But some roundabouts don’t work, he said, showing a slide of congestion around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. We can do better, he said.

Conventional wisdom says that you can move more cars by adding more traffic lanes, Pratt said. He showed a slide of an intersection where 22 lanes converged – as a pedestrian, how would you like to walk about that? he asked.

In many cases, it’s not the best solution to add lanes. Maybe there isn’t space, or you’ll be taking away property that could be developed as taxable property. He paraphrased Einstein, saying we can’t solve problems using the same thinking we used to create them. “Just adding lanes is really not the best way to go in all situations,” he said.

So what are people doing? One example Pratt gave is a roundabout “retrofit” at the intersection of Geddes and US-23. The main benefit is that you don’t have to install a wider bridge. A case study at US-23 and Thompson Road showed an $8 million savings to put in a roundabout, he said, compared to a traditional intersection. There are no right-of-way issues, and there’s a financial impact for having fewer crashes, he said. The social benefit is a 90% reduction in fatalities – what if there were only 65 fatalities every week, rather than 650? There’s also a savings in health care costs for the serious injuries caused in accidents, he noted.

Where should roundabouts be considered as an option? In situations where there are capacity issues, safety issues, right-of-way or other issues that constrain the number of lanes, or where there are a lot of left turns, Pratt said. But the real benefits, he added, are for pedestrians. Roundabouts typically include “splitter islands,” so pedestrians have to cross only a few feet of traffic at a time.

Roundabouts also mean just 25% of the decisions to make compared to a traditional intersection, Pratt said. Rather than 32 vehicle-to-vehicle conflict points in a typical intersection, he said, there are only eight in a roundabout. There will still be accidents, he said, but typically they’ll be just sideswipes.

Pratt showed an example of the conversion of an intersection in Ashley, N.C. As a traditional intersection, pedestrians had to cross six lanes of traffic – it would take him 24-30 seconds to walk across, and he’d get the “Don’t Walk” sign well before crossing. Seniors and disabled people don’t want to navigate more than three lanes, he said.

As a roundabout, there are two eight-second crosses to make, buffered by a “refuge island” in the middle. There are also “aesthetic opportunities,” he noted – landscaping in the islands.

For larger roundabouts, you can install HAWK signals for pedestrians to use to control traffic flow, Pratt said – he noted that Ann Arbor’s first HAWK is being installed at Huron and Chapin. [A presentation on the signal was given at the Nov. 4 city council meeting. There are currently no traffic signals there – nor is it a roundabout.]

Pratt concluded by saying there are alternatives to traditional intersections, and people should consider the triple-bottom line of sustainability – the social, financial and environmental benefits – when considering their options. His final slide showed an image of a hospital in Bahrain that was located in the center of a roundabout – Pratt said he didn’t recommend it, but he wanted to show that “there are a lot of crazy things that people have done in the middle of these roundabouts.”

Present: Bonnie Bona, Erica Briggs, Jean Carlberg, Diane Giannola, Evan Pratt, Kirk Westphal, Wendy Woods.

Absent: Tony Derezinski, Eric Mahler

Next regular meeting: The planning commission’s Nov. 16 meeting has been cancelled. The group next meets on Tuesday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. in the second-floor council chambers of city hall, 100 N. Fifth Ave. [confirm date]

Kirk Westphal seems to recognize the guy on his video-editing screen. (Chronicle file photo, June 2010.)

“[My wife and I] were on a run in Central Park one night and we thought, we love New York but we’d be open to going someplace else,” Westphal recalls. When asked by his wife where he would want to move, Westphal’s automatic response was one that surprised her: Ann Arbor. “Her jaw went to the floor, ‘cause she didn’t think I knew anything about Michigan,” Westphal says, “which I didn’t.” The next day, Westphal’s wife searched online for jobs at the University of Michigan, and found an open faculty position at the School of Music. “One thing lead to another and she got that job,” Westphal says. “It was a message.”

Though Westphal may be a recent “import from New York,” he has already accumulated a range of community service experience in his six years here in Ann Arbor. Westphal serves as vice chair of the city’s planning commission, having been a member for four years, and also holds a spot on the environmental commission. He’s also serving on the design guidelines task force that is working on the final piece of the recent rezoning of downtown, known as A2D2.

While talking with The Chronicle, Westphal jokingly asked that the headline not reflect just one of his commitments to public service for fear that one commission or the other might be offended. He was alluding to the typical “Know Your” pattern for headlines The Chronicle uses for profiles of public servants: “Know Your AATA Board,” “Know Your DDA Board” or “Know Your Library Board.”

Westphal began his public service while earning his master’s in urban planning at UM. “I got to know the mayor,” he explains, “because I took his class in public policy school … I had also asked him about keeping me aware of any opportunities to volunteer.” [Mayor John Hieftje teaches a course as a lecturer at the UM Ford School of Public Policy: "Local Government, Opportunity for Activism."]

Westphal got his start in Ann Arbor community service on the city’s Housing Policy Board, to which he was appointed in March 2006. He served on that board just a few months, until September 2006. “And then,” he says, “when an opening came up on the planning commission, I applied for that and got appointed.”

With his interest in urban planning, Westphal’s participation on the planning commission proved a good fit. His appointment to the city’s environmental commission is rooted in that body’s practical need to have a representative from the city’s planning commission. “The environmental commission’s by-laws require a liaison to the planning commission, so I volunteered for that.”

But beyond filling that administrative need, Westphal continues, “There is such a huge environmental implication to land use and I felt like I could be useful in helping to bring in that perspective to environmental issues.” Emphasizing the connection between the two commissions, Westphal notes, “Any time there is a rezoning of something, it has an environmental impact, whether it’s stated or not. Every planning decision has far-reaching environmental consequences.”

Kirk Westphal's bag with button: "My other car is the bus." (Chronicle file photo, June 2010.)

The expected eco-friendly lifestyle of an environmental commissioner is one that Westphal exemplifies. “I actually just recently took advantage of something I found out about from the last email I got from the city, where the state and DTE are subsidizing energy audits and also offering incentives to complete the recommendations of those audits.  I’m happy to say that we got it recently and it was a fantastic analysis.” Later in the interview, he noted with pride about his family of four: “We are a one-car family. It’s biking and busing distance for both my wife and I.”

Like his move to Ann Arbor, Westphal notes, “My career path sort of happened accidentally.” While in New York, Westphal worked doing traditional market research, often purely quantitatively focused, usually for advertising agencies. As an undergrad, Westphal studied economics at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.  Soon, however, “I started to be the person that they would send out to the street, with a videographer and a microphone to ask people questions about what beer they drank, where they shop for pantyhose,” Westphal adds, “You name it, I researched it.”

“That always got so much more attention, rightly or wrongly, than the $10,000 quantitative research report we hired someone to do,” Westphal says. Realizing the effect such videos had on people, Westphal’s interest in filmmaking grew. For his thesis in graduate school, Westphal began independently making videos on urban issues. He considers his first video and thesis film, “Insights into a Lively Downtown,” to be his most memorable. “The basis of the video was my going out and first asking people, pedestrians around Ann Arbor, what they consider to be the heart of the city, and they could define that any way they wanted.”

On YouTube, the 20-minute video has received over 26,000 views since it was posted in early 2007, and is currently one of the first search results returned on YouTube for “urban planning.”

“It helped reinforce the message to me,” Westphal says, “that it’s great to recommend books to read about urban issues, but you can really reach a whole new segment and more casual observers just by doing a video. I don’t know what that says about our culture, but it did generate a lot of interest.”

After earning his master’s in urban planning in 2006, Westphal opened Westphal Associates on South Main Street.  While Westphal is the only full-time employee of the company, he often hires videographers to help with particular projects. Westphal focuses on a small number of projects per year, though they tend to be larger assignments, he says.

One of Westphal’s upcoming films is an educational video on the council-manager form of government. His client in that case was the Michigan Local Government Management Association. He’s previously done video work for MLGMA on the awareness of the council-manager form of government. At time stamp [4:19], this video [link to YouTube] features Westphal asking several different people on the street the same question: “Have you ever heard of the council-manager form of government?” Hilarity ensues.

And recently, Westphal received a grant from the Urban Design and Preservation division of the American Planning Association to film “a more broad interpretation of my first film … on how to make downtown streets more attractive, more viable.” The project, called “The Great Street Toolkit,” will soon be available on DVD, though most of his videos are posted on his YouTube account [KirkWestphal] as well.

But upcoming work on Ann Arbor’s city planning commission will also focus on areas of the city outside the downtown. “There’s a new R4C/R2A  study committee,” Westphal explains. He hopes that the study committee will provide an opportunity for the planning commission “to talk about people’s visions for those neighborhoods and how they’re changing and what people would like to see.”

[From the city's zoning code on R4C: "... intended to permit dwelling units to be arranged one above the other or side by side ... to be located in the central area of the City, in close proximity to the central business district and The University of Michigan Campus." From the city's zoning code on R2A: "This district is intended to provide residential areas in the City which are suitable for 2 single-family attached dwellings occupying 1 lot."]

While Westphal’s commitment to the planning commission remains strong, he says, “I think if I volunteer for anything else, there might be some issues at home. The babysitting budget has already been blown on night meetings for these commissions.”

Hayley Byrnes is an intern with The Ann Arbor Chronicle.

Local developer Peter Allen and Stephanie Simon, a student in Allen's urban development course at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Simon was part of a student team that had developed a project for the Library Lot – they presented their work to library board members on Dec. 17. (Photo by the writer.)

It was a telling moment. A group of graduate students from the University of Michigan had just finished making presentations to members of the Ann Arbor District Library board. They were part of a class on urban design taught by local developer Peter Allen.

Some of their class projects had focused on development of the Library Lot, and two teams were on hand to show their work to the board.

When they were done, Allen talked about why the student perspective was important – for the worldview they brought, and the insight they could give on how to make downtown Ann Arbor attractive for the 25 to 35-year-old professional.

The moment came when Prue Rosenthal, the board’s treasurer, asked this question: “How many of you plan to stay here?”

Silence – then some awkward laughter. None of the six students, it turns out, intend to stick around Ann Arbor after graduation.

That alone isn’t a big deal – it’s a small sample, after all. But it was striking when combined with the vision these students had for downtown development – a vision very different from what’s typically proposed for Ann Arbor, or from what actually gets built. But it’s a vision that, if realized, might compel these young professionals to make a life here.

I was able to watch the students’ presentations, both at the Dec. 17 meeting at the library as well as earlier that week, when six projects were showcased during a three-hour class meeting on Monday, Dec. 14. Their task had been to pick one of three sites in Ann Arbor, and develop a proposal that would help create a lively, liveable, transit-oriented town.

Some common themes emerged from their work, providing a lens through which to view the city’s current efforts to develop the Library Lot. More broadly, their projects raised questions about what might be possible in downtown Ann Arbor – and highlighted challenges that developers would certainly face to get there.

Student Visions for Ann Arbor

Since 1981 Peter Allen has been teaching this interdisciplinary course, or classes similar to it, as an adjunct faculty member at the UM Ross School of Business and Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. One of the main components is an exercise in developing a specific site in Ann Arbor – Allen selects places that in theory could be developed, and asks students to do the research and come up with proposals that are as close as possible to what a real developer might make.

This term, three sites were selected: 1) the Library Lot, atop a city-owned underground parking structure being built next to the downtown library, between Fifth and Division; 2) a city-owned lot on Fuller Road, where a joint city/UM transit station and parking structure are being developed; and 3) riverfront property owned by DTE Energy – known as the MichCon site – and the adjacent Amtrak station, near the Broadway Bridge.

Emily Tsiang, an MBA student at the UM Ross School of Business, describes Broadway Mills, a project that her team developed for Peter Allen's course on urban design. She gave a presentation at the Dec. 14 meeting of Allen's class. (Photo by the writer.)

At the Dec. 14 class, six teams gave presentations – two for each site. Elements of each project varied, depending on the location. The MichCon site, for example, includes heavily contaminated areas that any developer would need to remediate. And the Fuller Road site had to be designed to include a multi-modal transit hub, on the assumption that a high-speed rail line would be part of that location.

That said, there were many common threads among the six projects. All put a premium on density, and on a mix of different uses – hotels, restaurants and cafés, retail shops, groceries, offices, apartments or condos.

Most mentioned that retail and restaurant tenants needed to encompass both national chains as well as locally-owned businesses. Some students even cited specific stores they thought would appeal to young professionals, like Express, Brooks Brothers and Zara. (I was a bit surprised to hear that Brooks Brothers appealed to young professionals, but I’m willing to believe.) “Basically, we want to steal business from Briarwood Mall,” said Peter Sotherland, a masters student in urban planning.

Other similarities: All of the proposals included tall buildings, some designed to the maximum height allowed by the A2D2 zoning changes – one as tall as 17 stories. Most proposed public space, either park-like settings or plazas, and some incorporated areas envisioned for outdoor performances or public art.

The developments were, without exception, designed to be accessible for pedestrians and cyclists, with the assumption that residents and visitors would have access to public transportation, or be within easy reach of whatever services they required, from grocery stores to health clubs.

Students also followed a similar process in developing their proposals, regardless of location. They were asked to identify stakeholders that would be affected by their projects, and their reports included an analysis of those different perspectives. For the Library Lot site, for example, teams met with Ann Arbor District Library director Josie Parker to find out what features of their developments would be seen as assets or detriments for the library.

That library-as-stakeholder approach taken by Allen’s students contrasts rather sharply with the approach now being taking by city officials – and theirs is not just an academic exercise. They’re currently evaluating actual proposals from actual developers for the Library Lot in response to an RFP (request for proposals) for that space. But the library is not represented on the RFP review committee, and the committee did not solicit the library’s feedback – though library leaders are providing feedback anyway. [Chronicle coverage: "Two Library Lot Proposals Eliminated" and "Library Lot: What Should Go on Top?"]

Library Lot: Thinking Big

The students’ Library Lot proposals reflected another approach differing from the one that the city is taking: The projects took into account a much wider scope than just the development on top of the underground parking structure.

The issue of master planning – or rather, the lack of it – came up during a Dec. 21 library board meeting, when board members discussed what they’d like to see in a development next door, and the implications a development would have on the library’s future. From a Chronicle report of that meeting:

Margaret Leary said she liked the idea of a hotel and conference center. She then spoke more generally about the kinds of things that would affect the downtown library. It’s crucial for the library to know what’s going on top of the underground parking site, she said, because it will affect how the library designs its own building, when that project is ready to move forward again.

And it’s not just the underground parking site, Leary added. The library will be affected by what happens to the surface parking lot at the northwest corner of Fifth and William – formerly the site of the YMCA – and by what happens at the AATA’s Blake Transit Center, adjacent to that parking lot. What’s needed is a master plan for the whole area, she said.

[For background on the AATA project, see Chronicle coverage: "AATA Board: Get Bids to Rebuild Blake"]

The student teams who developed proposals for the Library Lot connected that space with surrounding properties.

A proposal called “Library Gardens” extended its scope to Liberty Plaza, the multi-tiered city park at the southwest corner of Liberty and Division. The project called for making Liberty Plaza into one level and connecting it with an outdoor amphitheater/ice skating rink to the south, which in turn would lead into the proposed Library Lane, a small road running between Division and Fifth next to the library. Library Gardens also envisioned using the former YMCA site – now a city-owned surface parking lot at the northwest corner of Fifth and William – in part as a community garden.

Likewise, a proposal called “City Center” incorporated Liberty Plaza, the library, the UM Credit Union property just east of the library, and the former Y site. Presenting the team’s project to the library board on Dec. 17, MBA student Sara Jones said they took inspiration from Washington D.C., as well as cities in Europe, to make the area a focal point for downtown Ann Arbor. The plan called for building a new library on the former Y site, and using the property vacated by the current library as part of a complex of four buildings, including a hotel, offices and apartments. The project also envisioned creating new pedestrian-friendly streets within the block – a restaurant row, fashion avenue and a street modeled after a European market.

The student proposals are quite detailed in terms of their market and financial analysis, though obviously there are real-world considerations that in some cases they sidestep. For example, library director Josie Parker noted there are constraints on vacating or selling the downtown library property – linked to the library’s historical connection to the Ann Arbor Public Schools – which make it unlikely that they would pursue that option.

Still, the student projects contain an element that’s missing from most development proposals that come before the city. Perhaps it’s that the students are emboldened to take risks – there’s really nothing at stake for them, after all. Perhaps it’s that they’re not grounded in the city as it is, but rather as it could be – as they’ve experienced in cities elsewhere, places where they’ll move when they graduate.

After hearing their presentations, library board member Margaret Leary said she felt discouraged about the ability of Ann Arbor to ever realize the kind of vision that these students laid out. The two student projects she’d just seen were better than any of the six proposals that had been submitted to the city for the Library Lot site, she said. [Two of those six proposals were subsequently eliminated by a review committee. Copies of all six proposals are posted on the city's website.]

Leary described her experience as a former Ann Arbor planning commissioner, noting that the commission couldn’t even get approval to allow accessory dwelling units in the city – a zoning change that was originally seen as low-hanging fruit, she said, but that was “flattened” after two years of public debate.

How is it possible to focus on the greater community good, she asked, when some people will pick apart each project based on their own pet goals, from affordable housing to green space? Even when those goals are desirable for the community overall, if every project is forced to address them, then creative development is stymied.

Peter Allen told the board that getting political consensus was the biggest obstacle to any development project, “but I think you can build consensus around this site,” he said. He urged the board to take a leadership role – the library has built great public trust, and now needs to step up and help create a master plan for the area. “You need to be driving this process,” he said.

Some Final Thoughts

The demographic that these graduate students represent has been cited repeatedly as an important one for the city’s future – and for the state’s, for that matter. The Ann Arbor Region Success initiative has identified the development of a young professionals network among its priorities.

So following up on her own question – the one I cited at the start of this column – Prue Rosenthal asked what would compel the students to stay here.

One student talked about how she hadn’t needed a car, until she moved to Ann Arbor. The city either needs a better public transportation system, or more businesses within a walkable distance to housing – like pharmacies and groceries that aren’t overpriced, she said.

Active nightlife was another draw – things to do 24/7, whether it’s nightclubs or restaurants or just people out and about. In fact, the energy of people – the thrum of activity, of different kinds of people going about their business or play – was a strong allure. And that kind of energy, not coincidentally, was what their development projects sought to foster.

But if there are lessons to be drawn from these students, it’s not just in what they envision for Ann Arbor, but in how they would attempt to achieve their goals – like talking to stakeholders and taking seriously their input, and taking a far less piecemeal approach to projects that will transform the city, for better or worse.

Perhaps because I’m not from Ann Arbor – though I’ve lived here 13 years, and plan to stay – I’m most intrigued not by what the city was in the past, but by what it will become. And I hope Peter Allen’s students will return some day to see how things turn out.

Editor’s note: Added to this article on Dec. 31, 2009:

• BroadwayMills.pdf
• NoMo.pdf
• ArborDepotPark.pdf
• ArborGate.pdf
• LibraryGardens.pdf
• CityCenter.pdf

The southern-most roundabout on North Maple Road was the site of teeter totter ride No. 170.

[Editor's Note: HD, a.k.a. Dave Askins, editor of The Ann Arbor Chronicle, is also publisher of an online series of interviews on a teeter totter. Introductions to new Teeter Talks appear on The Chronicle.]

I first met Zak Branigan outside the UPS store at Westgate shopping center, when I was dropping off a load in the course of my bicycle delivery duties. He’d recognized me by the sign on my bicycle trailer for ArborTeas, which is run by a friend of his, and alum of the totter, Jeremy Lopatin.

Subsequent email correspondence to recruit Zak to ride the totter led him to suggest the middle of a roundabout as a place to teeter totter. With three such junctions recently constructed on North Maple Road, and others planned at Nixon and Plymouth as well as on Geddes and US-23, Ann Arbor area drivers are getting more familiar with these road intersections where traffic flows one-way around a central island. I figured Zak was kidding. He wasn’t. It turns out he’s something of a roundabout geek.

It’s one of the briefer Talks on the Totter, but we were out in the middle of the roundabout for long enough to see people we knew drive by. Zachary Branigan’s Talk also touches briefly on his work with Habitat for Humanity.