opportunities for improved design along Myrtle Avenue
Transform 143 Waverly Ave from a vacant lot into a usable community space.The site is located next to the Bank of America on the northeast corner of Waverly and Myrtle. There is steady pedestrian traffic in this area and plenty of offices, restaurants and residences. There is currently no ‘resting’ area along this section of Myrtle. In addition to the planned pedestrian plaza, this site could offer a nice respite from the street, while still allowing good street views of the car, bike and pedestrian traffic along Myrtle Ave.
Explore opportunities for sidewalk dining. Some sections of the sidewalk along Myrtle Ave are wider than others and with the very abundant dining options in the area; it may be feasible to allow a narrow strip of tables for sidewalk dining in front of certain restaurants. This will increase the presence of people on the street and therefore visual interest and vibrancy.
Develop existing but latent connections: Pathways exist, but are blocked. Pedestrian movement will stimulate greater use of the plaza area, and improved access will help eliminate isolation of the site, potentially increasing economic opportunity for adjacent businesses.
Resolve issues of scale: Awareness of development potential on Myrtle Avenue can inform design suitable for current and future conditions.
To include a two-way bike lane, or one way, whichever proves to be more apt to the site conditions.
To use materials that are less hardscape and work more synergistic with inclement weather conditions (rains, snow/snowmelt, heat-island)
The site should provide various forms of interaction: altering elevations to create exciting new walking-sitting-exercise paths as well as instances of vegetation, water retention, etc.
Include some form of mass amphitheater like spots for gatherings
Mitigate the noise pollution and air pollution from the bus and truck traffic Need trees and places to sit Make use of traffic dividers between feeder road and myrtle between hall and emerson (solar array)
Address pedestrian congestion in front of grocery store at hall and feeder street
As much as parallel parking on Myrtle Avenue is necessary for the community members to be able to run errands without walking a longer distance, loading and unloading seems to be an issue on this busy street. Some meters should be strategically be replaced with loading zones. A few exist but there are still many trucks blocking traffic on the Avenue. This, and vehicles making left turns together lead to congestion on Myrtle Avenue.
White Castle has been the eyesore of Myrtle Avenue for quiet a while and the franchise should let go of this location. Inexpensive food which feeds those who cannot afford more expensive diets is probably one of the only arguments one can bring up for keeping White Castle on Myrtle Avenue. With White Castle gone or even “downsized” the north side of Myrtle Avenue can compliment the Pedestrian Plaza which is being designed across the street. With traffic being an issue on this stretch of Myrtle Avenue, why not decrease roadside parking and adding a metered parking lot at the corner of Steuben and Myrtle.
For Myrtle Avenue, there seems to be a disconnect between Hall and Classon Avenue, cutting this area from the entire Avenue. This is particularly the case near the superblock where the building densities change, the business types alter and the pedestrian traffic slows. I would suggest landscape installations to help beautify the area and not make it seem that the Pratt buildings draw a divide from the rest of the street. I also suggest programming on the street such as having a food kiosk or newspaper stand so that people have a reason to stay in this space. I would also suggest adding street furniture: both permanent and movable.
The abundance of open lots and vacant land interrupts the pedestrian experience and contributes to overwhelming stormwater runoff as well as heat island effect. There is an opportunity to redesign these spaces, not only to reduce these negative affects, but mitigate against them.
The area has limited seating options and no bus shelters.
The collector / service road between Hall and Emerson challenges the human scale of Myrtle Avenue; it also complicates street intersections while muddying the urban legibility, both for motorist and pedestrian.
The proposed pedestrian plaza along Myrtle Avenue will need to address various contrasting building and commercial types. The Pratt Store, Myrtle Hall, and 545 Myrtle Ave. building provide a stark contrast to the older tenement and row house style buildings as well as to the demographic and economic nature of many nearby businesses.
The plaza will need to provide warmth and comfort to the sterile facades of the newer buildings while still connecting visually and spatially to the older buildings, housing smaller businesses.
The presence of gas stations and nearby industrial land use lots provides a challenging design issue for a continuous streetscape--future developments should attempt to reconnect the street line while not completely pushing out these services.
potential design amenities for Plaza:
Focus space and seating closer to Hall Street, where there is the most pedestrian traffic.
Remove parking slip and use entire space for plaza.
Add water feature that kids can play in
- Fountains can help muffle traffic noises and create calming atmosphere; people like water
- Influx of new families to neighborhood – place for kids to play
Add shade trees
- This stretch of Myrtle Avenue is particularly barren and becomes very hot in the summer
Create trellis with greenery for shade cover, water retention & cooling effect. NYC plazas often use umbrellas for shade in street plazas. While umbrellas do provide shelter from the sun, a Green Trellis would be more permanent and provide the additional benefits of (minor) water retention and filtration, and cooling during hot summer days. There is a general lack of trees along this section of Myrtle Ave. and this may be a good way to introduce some green to the area.
Replace the existing concrete/asphalt with porous pavers. Use the NYC regulation Park Pavers for the plaza area, and research porous road surfaces that can withstand car traffic if they are redoing they actual road area as well.
Pedestrian-scale lighting
Improved crossings and connections
The site should provide various forms of interaction: altering elevations to create exciting new walking-sitting-exercise paths as well as instances of vegetation, water retention, etc.
Include some form of mass amphitheater like spots for gatherings
Mitigate the noise pollution and air pollution from the bus and truck traffic
Need trees and places to sit
Make use of traffic dividers between feeder road and myrtle between hall and emerson (solar array)
Address pedestrian congestion in front of grocery store at hall and feeder street
When constructing a pedestrian plaza, the designers should take into consideration the safety of the community. This plaza can lead to both a gathering place and friendly environment for families as well as solicitation of crowds who may disturb the community. An amenity which can benefit the community is free wifi for individuals to work in the open area. This brings Pratt students off campus and young professionals will find this appealing. The combination gives a real world opportunity where students are no longer in a library surrounded by other students.
Parents want to feel safe with their children walking and running around the Pedestrian Plaza. A fountain which stretches along Myrtle Avenue on the north side of the Plaza will both set a boundary between the street and plaza and will look and sound soothing to the eye and can even be used for drainage purposes.
Finally, the new Pratt building, along with the existing Pratt Store, does nothing to connect the university with the neighbourhood –– physically nor emotionally. The lack of Myrtle-facing entrances as well as heavy rod-iron fencing seem to do quite the opposite. This needs to be investigated, and, perhaps, solved through design.
Properly oriented seating will most likely be situated in a fashion that emphasizes the busy and engaging foot traffic of Myrtle Ave.; the challenge will be balancing the inward draw of future commercial developments along the southern side of Myrtle with the existing and evolving businesses of the Classon Ave. and Hall St. ends of the plaza.
The generally large and unconventional size of the plaza site will also provide opportunities to include substantial amounts of flora and permeable surfaces, to help soften the lack of human scale in the newer developments.
