Minimal Landscaping in Urban settings

It is only something I noticed doing some of my research for 3D model purposes.  Of the places I have read about and seen (and believe me, there are a lot of places), I have noticed fairly minimal landscaping in the streetscapes.  Some streets do have some of the basic items: trees and grass strips, but there are some scenes with almost no landscaping to speak of. 

Suburban placed in Urban

This stemmed from conversation about the 3D models and the general ideas of urban infill and suburban retrofitting.  A question from the discussion concerned the demolition of urban and long established environments for the creation of completely suburban entities.

"Is suburban-to-urban redevelopment in urban areas, the only option?"

I'll give a few thoughts to outline.

East High Street model, Hamilton Ohio, 2012 ("the preview")

Greetings all,

I apologize for yet another delay in posting.  I've been caught up in the next 3D sketchup model and admittedly I can bury myself in these things very deeply.

This post is a break from what I thought would be the blog format of looking at the past models, reviewing them and highlighting anything learned since then.  Instead, we're skipping around in the listing taking a brief and informal look at the most recent model, East High Street, Hamilton Ohio.  The reason for the switch, demand from others, which goes to show what could happen if you just ask me.

Hamilton Crossings 3D Model Part 4 - Follow Up

Previously on Planner 47 Blog

Hamilton Crossings was uploaded and reviewed (the relevant part can be found here)

And now the follow up.

Hamilton Crossings 3D Model - Part 3 (Review/Wrap Up)

Model: Hamilton Crossings Retrofit
Location: Hamilton, Ohio
Original Completion Date: February 2010

Part 1
&
Part 2

This post is the review and wrap up of Hamilton Crossings Retrofit.  It is a look at key elements of the model, notable items and a generalized evaluation of the work.  There is also discussion on influences on other models and ideas gathered from this exercise where possible.


Buildings:


Since the buildings and designs are based on the Hamilton Plaza model, its primarily a like for like evaluation.  The designs are more simple and rudimentary, though that works out better for a conceptual design.  Later models show more detail being put into the buildings and layout, though currently speaking this is a double-edged sword that will be described as the blog moves forward.

Hamilton Crossings 3D Model - Part 2 (Tour)

Model: Hamilton Crossings Retrofit
Location: Hamilton, Ohio
Original Completion Date: February 2010

Part 1
(just in case you missed it)


This is the tour portion of the model, the part where screenshots are shared of the sketchup model in question.  After this is the review and introspection, but for now, please enjoy the model.


The main entrance area:

Looking down the "main street" strip for the model

Hamilton Crossings 3D Model - Part 1

Model: Hamilton Crossings Retrofit
Location: Hamilton, Ohio
Original Completion Date: February 2010

This is the second of two 3D model projects for Route 4 shopping centers.  The other model, Hamilton Plaza (wrap up found here, follow up here), was completed before this one.  Overall, for Hamilton Crossings I wanted to keep some consistency with Hamilton Plaza while still trying some design and facility variations.

Hamilton Plaza Follow-Up

Follow-Up

This is the "last thoughts" portion of the post.  I score the model and give a brief explanation why it received said score.  I also thought it would be amusing to give awards (and/or anti-awards) about notable items within the model.  This includes things caught myself or comments from others that have viewed the model.  There is also a Final Score which ranges from 0 to 10, whole numbers only and they are relative to the entire line of 3D models created.  A final note, this type of review post might be expanded to other topics in urban planning, design and architecture, and other related items.  It all depends on what I come across or what others bring to my attention.

And so, without further delay...

Hamilton Plaza Wrap-Up/Review

First off, my apologies for the delay, there were a few other projects I had to complete.  Work is also proceeding on some newer Sketchup 3D models.

Without further delay, the wrap up for Hamilton Plaza 3D model.

Model: Hamilton Plaza Retrofit
Location: Hamilton, Ohio
Original Completion Date: February 2010

The first thing that comes to mind each time I see this model is the fact that I was incorrect, as this wasn't my very first urban planning retrofit/architecture retrofit 3D model (a post on that is coming).  This still doesn't take away from the other main point I gather when looking back on this model - how far I've come and how far I have to go in terms of 3D modeling in Sketchup.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th

RiversEdge at Hamilton Ohio - 3D Model Proposal (Night time)

Brief Overview:

RiversEdge is a Hamilton, Ohio project, involving the construction of a river overlook, multimodal path and park.  Construction is underway and RiversEdge is expected to be a multi-use park facility for featuring concerts, various events and being usable year round.

Hamilton Plaza 3D Proposal (Part 2)

Previously... on the Planner 47 blog

Its basically some origin story, just go look at the previous post to catch up already.

And now... the continuation.

The Hamilton Plaza 3D model overall:

It falls in line with the "suburban retrofit" type of thinking though on a basic level when taken as a whole.  Buildings are perpendicular to the existing shopping center and brought to the point where it resembles an urbanist development.  The buildings extend to the street in question, State Route 4 and amenities for walkability and bikeability are accounted for.

Looking at the south most building

Looking from the lighting "park to art" at the next northern building

Hamilton Plaza 3D Proposal (Part 1)

About this:

This is one of the first 3D models I created in the capacity reflecting this blog.  It started out as a request from a friend of mine, asking if there was a way to make a variant of the Hamilton Plaza shopping center.  (See below for a Google map of the location).


View Hamilton Plaza Shopping Center in a larger map 

Briefly, I wondered about the request, thinking it wasn't worth it, but as I remembered horrible suburban shopping center after horrible suburban shopping center, I quickly reconsidered.  Thanks to this one request, the path of 3D modelling in an urban planning sense truly opened up and unfolded before me.  As a slight aside, I'm thankful for that co-worker because without it, none of this would have started.  Though, some might regret it as this blog evolves (don't say I didn't warn you).


3D model of existing conditions:

While you could use the streetview function of the above map, I'm kind enough to provide the 3D sketchup approximation of the existing Hamilton Plaza shopping center.

Aerial/Birdseye view of the project and the surrounding area

Overall strip center

Time for your closeup Hamilton Plaza

Frequently Asked Questions (Version 1.0)

Frequently Asked Questions (Version 1.0)

The Welcome Mat

Welcome to the Planner 47 Blog.

What is this about?

Well, I've been constantly asked to make a blog to share my work with and here it is.  Primarily this will focus on urban planning and related subjects but specifically my best trade is 3D modelling.  Other than that the idea is for this blog to look at planning ideas, other thoughts on planning and other random (but related) items I can come up with.  Content is to be released on a loose time schedule but be sure to check in for new additions.

Enjoy.