CP&DR

Sisters of Notre Dame Meet HUD

Feb 1, 1999

Morris Newman, Trends, Vol. 14 No. 02 Feb 1999

The late James Michener once wrote a novel called THE SOURCE, which told the story of a single piece of land in Israel. The metaphor of the story was an archeological dig: the reader went back in time, as if removing layer after layer of soil, uncovering a different story with each stratum. I could never finish the book, to tell the truth: The writing was dry, and the book was a bit of a doorstop. Still, I admired the conceit that any given piece of ground had a good story to tell, or indeed many storie...

The Suburban Novelty Made Urbane

Jan 1, 1999

Morris Newman, Places, Vol. 14 No. 01 Jan 1999

The proposed expansion of Farmers Market in Los Angeles raises an important question: Can "theme-park" architecture co-exist with "real" urbanism? By now, everyone is familiar with the coming urban apocalypse known as "Disney-fication" or "the theming of America." Outside of Las Vegas and Hollywood Boulevard, this phenomenon has largely been limited to suburban "entertainment centers," which are usually anchored by multiplex theaters and sell fast food and other "impulse" items amid an atmosphere of...

Morphing Houses in Downtown Upland

Dec 1, 1998

Deals, Morris Newman, Vol. 13 No. 12 Dec 1998

In the Animorph series of children's novels, teenagers receive a forbidden power from space aliens: the ability to "morph" or change their natural form into those of various animals. This morphing ability enables the children to do many things otherwise impossible for human beings, such as performing reconnaissance missions in the form of hawks, or fighting underwater in the form of sharks, and literally becoming flies on the wall. (This last-named ability is a source of envy among journalists.) If ad...

Ahwahne Principles Survive a Sandstorm

Nov 1, 1998

Morris Newman, Places, Vol. 13 No. 11 Nov 1998

An interviewer once asked the celebrated designer Charles Eames how he dealt with the issue of accepting compromises in his work. "I have never been forced to accept compromises," Eames replied, "but I have willingly accepted constraints." The answer is a subtle, even wily, one; it's the kind of statement whose truth slowly creeps on you and changes the way you think. Eames, in effect, issued a challenge to all designers to regard constraints not as forces that erode design, but as the very...

Controversy Swirls Around Proposed Bay Bridge Re-Design

Oct 1, 1998

Featured Articles, Morris Newman, Vol. 13 No. 10 Oct 1998

Disagreements both petty and profound continue to swirl around the proposed rebuilding of the Bay Bridge. The $1 billion proposal, which is intended to replace the eastern portion of the bridge damaged in the Loma Prieta quake, seems to please no one except officials of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown is vexed that the proposed design will cast a shadow some prime development sites on Yerba Buena-Treasure Island. In the East Bay, mayors of the cities ...

State -of-the-Art Redevelopment

Oct 1, 1998

Deals, Morris Newman, Vol. 13 No. 10 Oct 1998

Something about the development agreement between Chiron Corporation and the City of Emeryville reminds me of the relationship between Paul Newman and George C. Scott in "The Hustler." In that movie, you recall, Newman was the young and talented pool shark, while Scott was the older, calculating gambler who backed up the bets of people like Newman, in hope of taking a considerable cut if he won. The movie is perhaps not the best analogy. There is nothing dark or underworldly, for example, in the r...

Sacramento County to Buy McClellan

Sep 1, 1998

Economic Development, Morris Newman, Vol. 13 No. 09 Sep 1998

McClellan Air Force Base near Sacramento appears likely to make a strong transition to private industrial use. Sacramento County has decided to purchase some 2,400 acres - about two-thirds of the base - for $90 million, or almost $40,000 per acre. At the same time, Lockheed Martin Corporation has submitted a bid for a giant Air Force contract that would employ thousands of people on the industrial part of the property that the county plans to buy. McClellan is scheduled to close in 2001. The coun...

The Power of Grid

Sep 1, 1998

Morris Newman, Places

Restraint is rarely touted as a virtue in urban design. Often, instructors in the History of Urban Design tend to treat the subject as a series of Greatest Hits - of grand interventions by such magnificently meddlesome people as Andre LeNotre or Baron Haussman or Robert Moses. Teachers in graduate seminars rarely show slides of, say, a Midwestern town and exclaim, "Look at how well the urban designers held themselves back!" The blockbuster mentality makes the current master plan of Mission Ba...

State Urges Policing of Land-Based Securities; Waterford City Attorney Faces Charges

Aug 1, 1998

Featured Articles, Morris Newman, Vol. 13 No. 08 Aug 1998

The current system of regulating municipal securities, including Mello Roos and Marks Roos bonds, is "inadequate" and "encourages non-compliance", according to a new report a state task force. Noting the alarming rate of defaults among land-based securities, the report recommends creation of a new municipal bond law-enforcement division within the state's department of justice. The findings and recommendations have been praised by both government officials and some industry observers, although at...

Another Big Deal in Long Beach

Aug 1, 1998

Deals, Morris Newman, Vol. 13 No. 08 Aug 1998

Four years is a long time in most life situations. In four years, a child can learn to walk, talk, and become a social being. A stand of bamboo can grow 20 feet. The governor of California can serve out a complete term, and a pair of flies can generate several billion offspring. But in the glacial pace of planning, four years is the blink of an eye. That's why the completion of the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific in the City of Long Beach is such a notable accomplishment. After a public investment...