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Archive for the 'Urban Planning' Category
Hello All! and Happy New Year!
The first SPA meeting of the year will be Tuesday Jan 25th at 6pm in University Hall Room 521. We will have pizza and soda. On the agenda is dicussing how we want to run the new officer elections in February, programs for the CRP OneBook (Naked City by Sharon Zukin), and how to get started on all the ideas we brainstormed last semester, as well as any new ideas.
Also be sure to support the Arlington Hike and Bike Plan at the City Council Meeting Tomorrow at 5:30pm!
If you get my e-mails I am sure you are aware of the community garden in progress at the corner of Summit Ave and UTA Blvd. If not, UTA and the City of Arlington are working to start a community garden. Neither organization wants to run the garden but to turn it over to the community and task forces and a garden council are being established. Community members and several Alrington Non-profits have been trying to start a garden for a while and UTA and the City are making that possible for them.
See the detail on the facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Arlington-TX-Community-Garden/108564799211069
This garden could also be viewed as a way for UTA to affirm its relationship to Arlington and its residents by establishing itself as a member of the community as it continues to grow. Hopefully, there will be student interest in helping at garden works days and maintaining plots. One quality students posses that the garden architects need is stamina to put in all 80-someodd plots on build days. Over the long term people will need to maintain these plots. One plot is a lot of work but SPA plans to maintain a plot tened to by several interested members.
Volunteers are badly needed for the upcoming build days, to help put in the beds so this garden can take-off come spring. Fortunatly, the schedule is condusive for students. It’s a one-time deal, any of three days (Thursday Jan 13- Saturday Jan 15), and before the chaos of classes commence. Hopefully you can all make it!
Community gardens fit into current sustainability movements, are great educational tools, and can really help out some hungry folks with healthy foods!
Architect Tuomas Toivonen Raps on Urban Planning
Very cool rap on some historic urban planning utopian ideas and a current vision for the future of cities.
SPA Question of the ‘unknown time frame’ :
What is the best city you’ve personally visited?
….the worst?
What made them interesting or uninteresting?
What lessons can be learned?
Mark your calendars for these events:
Oct 28th 6pm in University Hall 13, Max Kalhammer, City if Dallas Bike Coordinator will be speaking. Bike planning is a hot topic right now so it will be good to hear what Dallas is doing!
Nov 2nd 9am at Fuzzy’s on Abram Street join SPA as we visit with Chuck Flink, the president of Greenways Incorporated. Greenways is the consultant for Arlington’s Hike and Bike System Master Plan currently under development. Mr. Flink will be in town to present the draft plan at some public meetings, and we will be meeting with him in between.
Nov 11th from 6pm on Happy Hour at Bently’s on Abram Street. Because the last one was fun!
Nov 18th, from 6pm to 7pm in University Hall rooom 521, the SUPA Alumni Panel. There are several Alumni set to be on the panel. For students it is a great way to network and ask question of real local planners. It was a success last year and hopefully will be again this year.
If you have any suggestions for events you would like to see let us know. we can probably make it happen. Anything from a volunteering day to a bring in a speaker on a specific topic.
Let’s dream a little!
Due to your extremely fine-tuned intuition and and complete grasp of every planning theory..you’ve been named Supreme Planner of the World. You have all the power and resources you could dream of at your disposal..and no council to worry about approval from..what’s your next move?
…the world’s largest charrette?
…the conversion of all roads to bike paths?
…immediate global wealth distribution?
…what would you do?
Modeled after UTA’s OneBook program, CRP OneBook intends to promote intellectual community building among graduate students, faculty, and staff interested in urban planning by selecting one book that fosters critical thinking, reflection and conversation about cities and city planning. CRP OneBook themes will be discussed throughout the Spring semester, inside or outside of class, hopefully creating stimulating conversations.
The MCRP faculty would like to invite students (who have enrolled, are currently enrolled, or will be enrolled in CRP courses) to submit their own book recommendations to be considered with the faculty nomination. Book nominations can be fiction or nonfiction and should:
* Be no more than about 300 pages in length
* Engage substantive, significant issues related to urban life, urbanism, cities, and city planning
* Be suitable for academic discussion and likely to engage critical thinking
* Be accessible and likely to be appealing to first-year CRP students.
Please email your book nominations including:
(1) title, (2) author, (3) year of publication, and (4) a couple of reasons for recommending it
to Michele Berry, SPA President michele.berry@mavs.uta.edu and to Dr. Ivonne Audirac audirac@uta.edu, MCRP Director.
Members of SPA and MCRP faculty will select the CRP OneBook from faculty and student nominations and announce it at the end of November. The deadline to email your book recommendation is November 15th.
We are eagerly looking forward to your book proposals!
PARK(ing) Day is an annual, worldwide event that inspires city dwellers everywhere to transform metered parking spots into temporary parks for the public good. Thanks to everyone who came out to visit our park!
An oasis in a parking lot.
Writeup in the Shorthorn
More pictures on Facebook
Special thanks to the Office of Sustainability and the UTA Police for their support. Thanks to Dr. Jeff Howard, Mike Garcia, Michelle Harvey, D.J. Badon, Clyde Sebastian, Jeff Boswell, Calloway’s Nursery, Michael Berry, Eric Ward, and some anonymous friends who all helped SPA create the park using very little funds. And thank you to all the SPA members who helped out and everyone who came out to enjoy the park!
See you all next year?
SPA Question of the Week #2 – What’s your concentration? and how did you choose it?
If you are undecided it is ok..what are you interested in?
Non-MCRP students can answer too!
