And Waterwards,

Is "The Inward Shift of Construction" a thing?

After reading my post on the revitalization of my hometown (Allentown, PA), one may be inclined to conclude that outside the stone's throw of downtown, the rest of a once great city has succumbed to a land of unruly spectacles and police handcuffing.

While such events are undoubtedly amusing to my eyes from a 5th floor balcony, what if police cruisers were replaced by motorboats? What if the actions of birds and trees brought down the stillness of inner-city Allentown?

Not surprisingly, the general public is just beginning to miss their mother, mother nature. But man cannot create nature; nature creates and moves the man, where she can cast her dearest hug.

Allentown's Lehigh River cannot baby-sit for the people, so naturally the people are attempting to mother-sit the waves. With the demise of an iron mill, the city is finally attempting to close the gap between the people's desires and reality.

The Allentown Waterfront project plans to glue the city to the river, through the construction of a waterfront park backed by high-end offices, retail, and studio apartments. A layout is shown below:

If Downtown Allentown were to compare to College Avenue, the upcoming river-front could easily be mistaken as an analogy of the Penn State campus. Such a generalization of this space is only partially true. True, finding a sizable body of water near Penn State is akin to finding a needle in a haystack, but Pollock Road is home to, you guessed it, zero stores or restaurants.

Waterfront drive is different in that it combines elements of College Avenue and Penn State itself, while importing in that all-exotic backdrop of a river. Six new office buildings will be constructed, each overlooking the water on one side and a sect of retail, Chipotle's cousins, and condominiums on the other. The tallest buildings will be approximately six floors high, reminiscent of Penn State barring East Halls and Old Main. One example, 645 Waterfront Drive, is shown below:

Just take a look at all the people socializing (or maybe skirmishing) in a vast, open plaza surrounded by shrubs and that occasional ornamented light-post. Could very well be a college campus from afar!

There is no denying that the waterfront will in a way play tug-of-war with downtown. When a site 2 miles away is attracting business attention to construct outwards, away from the historic, yet old-school Hamilton Street.

Nevertheless, such a development is only a subset of a larger American trend: millennialism. Generation Y is strikingly more outgoing and sociable than their baby-boomer parents. The office has transformed from the cubicle to the undivided computer-row to now small rooms of collaboration. A waterfront development is very university-esque in social interactions, and extends the transformation of the office outside its brick and mortar facade. And when the homes (in this case, luxury condominiums) are brought to the office, the interactions from sunrise-to-sunset will only elevate with the rising of the moon.

Our living and working spaces are designed by our social desires. Geography is very much a social science in addition to the usual architecture and engineering often portrayed. Designing environments balancing work, communication, and relaxation serves as a bedrock to how and when we plan our agenda books and that all-essential date (no, I am not in such a relationship yet).

I hope you had a fun time reading through my honestly over-obsessive love with urban planning! I has been a pleasure to write these posts.

Sources:

http://thewaterfront.com/buildings-2/645-waterfront-drive/