I think a lot about underutilized space in New Rochelle. There is an extraordinary amount of it. My thoughts on this topic were re-ignited by Betaville, created by NYU-Poly, which is an "open-source multiplayer environment for real cities, in which ideas for new works of public art, architecture, urban design, and development can be shared, discussed, tweaked, and brought to maturity in context, and with the kind of broad participation people take for granted in open source software development."

http://bxmc.poly.edu/betaville

How cool! Right now, limited environments are available. Obviously, New Rochelle is not one of them.

Absent a malleable real-time virtual world to share, discuss, tweak ideas about New Rochelle, I think we should generate two lists: one, underutilized and distinctive spaces in New Rochelle; two, a list of unfulfilled community needs. The goal would then be to match spaces to needs.

I read an interesting article that I wanted to share with the New Rochelle community. I think it touches on a few topics of current (and past) interest. The article (and audio interview) explains the planning process behind the redevelopment of Governors Island from a largely-unused and underutilized space to an engaging parkscape:

http://urbanomnibus.net/2010/06/governors-island-creating-destination-re...

The most striking aspect of the article to me is the way that the designers and architects actively solicited public opinion. Not content with community forums alone, they solicited ideas through the use of post-it notes affixed to a Governors Island map. They then used data-mining software to look for patterns. Reflecting on these patterns helped direct the design of the island.

Reading this article led me to several key ideas/questions:

1) Transparent government not only guards against corruption, but it results in a higher quality outcome for the project as a whole.

2) What would happen if we applied this sort of civic outreach to planning in New Rochelle? What sort of responses would a New Rochelle post-it note campaign elicit? In other words, what sort of town do we aspire to live in?

I am a New Rochelle resident and I feel very strongly that the Armory should be preserved. Instead of viewing the Armory as problem that needs to be dealt with, we should view the Armory as an opportunity and a central focal point of our city. Forest City and New Rochelle have it backwards: rather than building newer and newer commercial facilities hoping to spur prosperity, we need to encourage unique, historical, and civic facilities that will make people want to visit and ultimately invest in New Rochelle. The proposal for a Monroe College facility is a step in the right direction. Other avenues should be considered as well, such as a performing arts center. Implicit in any facility should be the history of the Armory and the needs of our servicemen and women.