tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post2561494816130301709..comments2024-03-17T20:47:31.628-07:00Comments on Salem Breakfast on Bikes: Virtues of Downtown Mid-rise: Salem Needs more Height!Salem Breakfast on Bikeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15618055627843335993noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-27672256327421304402013-12-15T09:38:34.135-08:002013-12-15T09:38:34.135-08:00That's a great point about ratios! There'...That's a great point about ratios! There's a good bit of talk out there about 1:1 and 3:2 street enclosure (building height:street width) ratios. <br /><br />You can really see how it works at <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=salem+oregon&hl=en&ll=44.939628,-123.037198&spn=0.004944,0.012177&sll=37.6,-95.665&sspn=44.530962,99.755859&t=h&hnear=Salem,+Marion+County,+Oregon&z=17&layer=c&cbll=44.939568,-123.037223&panoid=nstBZscs7bUyladPzXJaHw&cbp=12,297.37,,0,-6.9" rel="nofollow">the intersection of State and High</a>. The Bligh/Pacific Building (La Capitale) of two stories and the Hubbard Building of four stories both look undersized, even puny, relative to the street; only the Masonic Building of 6 stories is really proportioned right. It may look strange at first because it is on an island with parking lots on both sides of it, but a full block of five and six story buildings would look splendid and frame the broad street right! (Those downtown streets have 99 feet of right-of-way!)<br /><br />The <a href="http://photos.salemhistory.net/cdm/search/searchterm/guardian/order/date" rel="nofollow">Guardian building</a>, which burned in 1947, was scaled like the Masonic Building. It was on the southwest corner of Liberty and State, where the bank is today. We used to have more midrise height, but the carburbian move out to the edges meant those buildings were replaced by parking lots or lower-rise commercial buildings. We were de-densified, too.<br /><br />Kaid Benfield has <a href="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/why_i_support_the_dc_building.html" rel="nofollow">a good discussion of the DC situation</a> and points out that Paris is a tremendous city of the midrise.<br /><br />(Also, and perhaps I should have included this in the original, here's a link to <a href="http://photos.salemhistory.net/cdm/ref/collection/max/id/666" rel="nofollow">an image of the Griswold block</a>, the predecessor to the furniture building on what is now the gravel corner lot at State and Commercial. The building was three stories. I love the way the windows are grouped into 3-4-3. The Schreder Berg grocery signage is pretty great, too. The building was torn down, and maybe it was a fleabag hotel, but there's a lot to like in the modest detailing and sidewalk level merchants circa 1940.)Salem Breakfast on Bikeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15618055627843335993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-88924905191765844672013-12-14T21:58:42.810-08:002013-12-14T21:58:42.810-08:00I sure appreciated that letter. My response was s...I sure appreciated that letter. My response was similar (high rise? I'd settle for mid-rise!). Somewhere someone made the case that for a street to be walkable, the buildings should be at least as tall as the street is wide from curb to curb. That is why I think in downtown Salem our buildings are not high enough to balance the extreme width of the street. Portland has some big streets downtown too but the height of the buildings make their streets more inviting to walk.<br /><br />Speck made a good defense of DC's height restrictions. He points out that you can get a lot of density out of five story buildings without going to Manhattan style high rises. Curtnoreply@blogger.com