PORTFOLIO OF KASEY KLIMES
I N T E R A C T I V E M A P O F VA C A N C Y
Following the urban exodus of the 20th century, vacancy is a major challenge in St. Louis.
S T. L O U I S , U S A
second highest vacancy rate in the country; one in five properties is abandoned.
INDEPENDENT
Population has declined to a mere third of its former peak. By some counts, the city has the Vacancy is concentrated on the city’s north side, the historical result of overlapping and self-perpetuating momentums like racial red-lining and white flight, post-industrialization, exclusionary zoning, poverty, and crime. Today the city struggles to provide services to sparse
BROKEN TOPOGRAPHIES A N E X P L O R AT I O N O F P U B L I C LY- O W N E D VA C A N C Y I N S A I N T L O U I S
Zoomed out, the Broken Topographies provides an interpretive understanding of vacancy concentrations. The adjusted transparency of properties creates a kind of heatmap effect as their clusters overlap.
BROKEN TOPOGRAPHIES A N E X P L O R AT I O N O F P U B L I C LY- O W N E D VA C A N C Y I N S A I N T L O U I S
The size of a property’s representative bubble corresponds with the square footage of the lot. Hovering the mouse provides the address, property type, neighborhood, area, zoning code, and assessed value of any property.
populations and control the crime that festers in the aftermath of neglect.
I created an interactive map of St. Louis’ publicly-owned vacant properties
Most vacant properties have been absorbed by the city’s public land bank,
by pulling multiple datasets from the LRA and the city’s urban planning
called the Land Reutilization Authority (LRA), but a user-friendly interface
department, geocoding their properties, querying and joining them with
for researchers and buyers to explore and spatially visualize these properties
shapefiles in QGIS, styling the resulting geospatial data using CSS and Tile-
has not been available until now.
Mill, then hosting the layers on a custom-designed basemap using MapBox. The result is Broken Topographies.
BROKEN TOPOGRAPHIES A N E X P L O R AT I O N O F P U B L I C LY- O W N E D VA C A N C Y I N S A I N T L O U I S
A more accurate parcel view is displayed when the map is zoomed in further. As with the bubble view, aqua signifies a vacant lot, orange signifies a residential building, and gray signifies a commercial, mixed use, or industrial property.
BROKEN TOPOGRAPHIES A N E X P L O R AT I O N O F P U B L I C LY- O W N E D VA C A N C Y I N S A I N T L O U I S
The interactive tool is designed to integrate into the existing framework of the public land bank’s data. Clicking on any property provides a link to that property’s page on the public land bank website, where pictures and other information can be found. 2
E A S T M I D T O W N P U B L I C S PA C E P L A N N E W YO R K , U S A GEHL ARCHITECTS In 2013, Mayor Bloomberg and the Department of City Planning proposed the rezoning of East Midtown. Under the context of increased density, Gehl Architects was asked to devise a public space plan for the district. I oversaw the creative direction, collection strategy, data processing, and communication design of our survey. The result was a series of graphical posters used to inform policy decisions and assist public workshops for stakeholder input. Shown here is a small sample of this work from East Midtown Places for People.
Quality Criteria
49th & Madison
Lever House
Seagram Building
Pedestrian Traffic
Lexington & 53rd SE
Weekday Weekend
Protection against Crime & Violence
Protection against Unpleasant Sensory Experiences
Invitations for Walking
Invitations for Standing & Staying
Invitations for Sitting
Invitations for Seeing
Invitations for Hearing & Talking
Invitations for Play & Recreation
Lexington Ave between 51st & 52nd carries over 100 pedestrians per minute (6048 per hour) during the weekday morning rush hour.
Aesthetic Quality
Northern Vanderbilt Ave carries about half as many pedestrians as along Grand Central Station.
Positive Aspects of Climate
Very Good Good Neutral Poor Very Poor
57th St
57th St
Protection against Vehicular Traffic
Dimensioned at Human Scale
Pedestrian & Cyclist Injuries
57th St
2011-2013
Notes
Lexington & 51st-52nd West Sidewalk
Injuries
26900 7350
The south sidewalk of 42nd between Parke Ave & Madison Ave carries over 87 pedestrians per minute (5238 per hour) during weekday midday peak hours.
23950 5250
Lexington & 51st-52nd East Sidewalk Madison & 49th-50th
42nd & 2nd Ave 57th & 3rd Ave 50th & Lexington Ave 42nd & Lexington 53rd & 3rd Ave 53rd St
Pedestrian and cyclist injury data collected from New York City DOT.
47350 14150
Daily traffic indicated from hourly counts between 8:00am and 7:00pm
Park Ave & 51st NE
12 10 6 6 6
15300 5200
50th St
8950 5250
34800 12850
50th St
16900 5550
2nd Ave & 48th-49th
50th St
38650 9800
30450 8700
JP Morgan Headquarters
9950 48th & 2nd Ave -Lexington
46th St
17550 2900
Park Ave & 46th-47th
Park Ave & 47th-48th
18300 10250
42nd St
Comparisons
Manhattan Elsewhere
80,000
East Midtown
40,000
20,000 Grand Central Station
20,000
0 34th St & 5th Ave
Broadway & 32nd St
23rd St & Union Square Madison Ave & 16th St
42nd St & Park Ave
53rd St & Madison Ave Madison Ave & 49th St
Park Ave & 47th St
Lexington Ave & 52nd St
3rd Ave & 50th St
0
Public Space Use & Quality Criteria Weekday Peak Weekend Peak
54th St
Public Space Use & Quality Criteria Weekday Peak Weekend Peak 49th St
Notes
Notes 53rd St
Lexington Ave & 53rd D 38 25 The most popular activity is sitting on benches (52% weekdays, 35% weekends).
Quality Grade
people at 12:00pm
50th St
Stationary Activity data gathered every second hour between 8:00am and 8:00pm on Tuesday, July 16th, 2013 and Saturday, July 13th by Gehl Architects.
Madison Ave & 49th F 37 15
The most popular activity on weekdays is standing (26% weekdays, 13% weekends).
Quality Grade
49th St
Park Ave & 47th F 35 13
Notes
Pedestrian volume data gathered hourly between 8:00am and 8:00pm on Tuesday, July 16th, 2013 and Saturday, July 13th by Gehl Architects.
Pedestrian volume data gathered hourly between 8:00am and 8:00pm on Tuesday, July 16th, 2013 and Saturday, July 13th by Gehl Architects.
Park Ave South Park Ave
Public Space Use & Quality Criteria Weekday Peak Weekend Peak
Park Ave
Madison Ave
Lexington Ave
Lexington Ave
Stationary Activity data gathered every second hour between 8:00am and 8:00pm on Tuesday, July 16th, 2013 and Saturday, July 13th by Gehl Architects.
Lexington Ave
60,000
40,000
Park Ave & 42nd SW
Park Ave
80,000
60,000
48th & Madison
Madison Ave
5th Ave
3rd Ave
Lexington Ave
Park Ave
5th Ave
Madison Ave
42nd St
3rd Ave
Lexington Ave
Park Ave
Madison Ave
5th Ave
16300 3700
3rd Ave
73300 24150 42nd St
people at 4:00pm
people at 6:00pm
The most popular activity is standing (44% weekdays, 61% weekends).
Pedestrian volume data gathered hourly between 8:00am and 8:00pm on Tuesday, July 16th, 2013 and Saturday, July 13th by Gehl Architects.
Quality Grade
people at 12:00pm
48th St Stationary Activity data gathered every second hour between 8:00am and 8:00pm on Tuesday, July 16th, 2013 and Saturday, July 13th by Gehl Architects.
people at 10:00am
48th St
people at 4:00pm
49th St
49th & Madison Ave B 46 14
52nd St
people at 4:00pm
23,700/Day 9,250/Day
6000
Park Ave
C
Quality Grade
people at 12:00pm
Pedestrian Activity
16,900/Day 5,550/Day
6000
4000
4000
3000
3000
3000
2000
2000
2000
1000
1000
1000
11:00am
12:00pm
1:00pm
2:00pm
3:00pm
4:00pm
5:00pm
6:00pm
7:00pm
people at 12:00pm
30 people at 10:00am
0
8:00am
9:00am
10:00am
11:00am
12:00pm
1:00pm
2:00pm
3:00pm
4:00pm
5:00pm
6:00pm
7:00pm
17,100/Day 4,300/Day
6000
4000
10:00am
10
Quality Grade
people at 10:00am
Pedestrian Activity 5000
9:00am
F
46th St
5000
8:00am
people at 2:00pm
47th St
The most popular activity on weekdays is standing (63%), and cultural activities on weekends (31%).
8
people at 6:00pm 48th St
5000
0
11
The most popular activity on weekdays is sitting on benches (52%) and socializing on weekends (41%).
people at 6:00pm
Pedestrian Activity
The most popular activity is standing (87% weekdays, 29% weekends).
48th & Madison Ave B 40 18
Lexington Ave & 52nd (East) 23 6 F people at 12:00pm
people at 6:00pm
Quality Grade
people at 4:00pm
The most popular activity is standing (45% weekdays, 38% weekends).
Quality Grade
people at 4:00pm
Madison Ave
Quality Grade
Quality Grade
Park Ave & 46th
JP Morgan
The most popular activity is sitting on benches (65% weekdays, 58% weekends).
Lexington Ave & 52nd (West) 15 11 F The most popular activity on weekdays is standing (49%) and sitting at cafes on weekends (71%).
0
45th St
8:00am
9:00am
10:00am
11:00am
12:00pm
1:00pm
2:00pm
3:00pm
4:00pm
5:00pm
6:00pm
7:00pm
Grand Central Station Public Space Use & Quality Criteria Weekday Peak Weekend Peak Notes Pedestrian volume data gathered hourly between 8:00am and 8:00pm on Tuesday, July 16th, 2013 and Saturday, July 13th by Gehl Architects. 43rd St Stationary Activity data gathered every second hour between 8:00am and 8:00pm on Tuesday, July 16th, 2013 and Saturday, July 13th by Gehl Architects.
Grand Central Station D 39 86 The most popular activity is standing (61% weekdays, 49% weekends).
Quality Grade
people at 6:00pm
people at 10:00am
Park Ave & 42nd C 57 97
42nd St
The most popular activity is standing (37% weekdays, 51% weekends).
Quality Grade
people at 6:00pm
people at 10:00am
41st St
Pedestrian Activity
36,650/Day 12,100/Day Park Ave
6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0
8:00am
9:00am
10:00am
11:00am
12:00pm
1:00pm
2:00pm
3:00pm
4:00pm
5:00pm
6:00pm
7:00pm
4
B I C YC L E I N F R A S T R U C T U R E R E S E A R C H COPENHAGEN, DENMARK DA N I S H I N S T I T U T E F O R S T U DY A B R O A D
blueprints in in bicycle Blueprints Bicycle infrastructure Infrastructure
Despite international acknowledgement of Copenhagen’s place as an innovative leader in bicycle infrastructure, little research from beyond Danish borders has been dedicated to dissecting the design elements that support the city’s cycling mode share of 55%. This study aims to illustrate and illuminate the small-scale aspects of Copenhagen streetscapes as well as the macro-scale design of the broader network of cycling infrastructure in the city. A series of guiding principles becomes clear; the necessity of physical modal separation, contextsensitive streetscape design, directness in the macro-network, and the arrangement of “soft streets”. The study uses the Nørrebrogade street transformation–the city’s most ambitious urban streetscape design to date–as a central case study. Methods of research include on-site analysis and data collection, reviewal of past literature, first-person interviews, and transportation policy research. Findings are supported by photographic evidence and diagrammatic illustration. Copenhagen Design: Blueprints in Bicycle Infrastructure extends the conversation of sustainable mobility in automobile-dependent cities around the world into the realm of tangible and achievable strategies for bicycle infrastructure. In June of 2013, I presented the findings of my research to the first
Kasey Klimes
International Bicycle Urbanism Symposium at the University of Washington in Seattle.
“Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia.” - H.G. Wells
Like impulses through a nervous system, the inhabitants of a city flow through nearly infinite paths as functions of a larger body. If their mobility is hindered, the health of the urban organism will deteriorate. This is the position we find our cities in today. Buried beneath highways, the social cohesion of our communities is suffering. Pollution is damaging our environment. Infrastructure and regional economies struggle to bear the burden of inefficient mobility. We’ve designed our cities this way for over half a century, but today we acknowledge our mistakes; the process of
rehabilitation has begun. Still, questions arise. What problems surface in the transition from automobile dominance? What design solutions can effectively engineer our cities towards sustainable mobility? Copenhagen provides the world’s premier template for bicycle-centric urban design. It is among the only cities that boasts more trips by bike than by all other modes of transport combined*. A series of design schemes were introduced to Copenhagen’s streets in order to reach this achievement. The following analysis identifies key design solutions
allowing not only the strong and daring to hit the roads, but also the elderly, pregnant women, and children. Everyone should be able to cycle. Though a series of cultural and political forces have also convened to influence the atmosphere of Copenhagen’s streets, this study will hinge predominantly on the built environment. Major themes covered will include separation and hierarchy, intersection solutions, auxiliary amenities, and a case study of the Nørrebrogade street transformation.
*55% of trips within the city of Copenhagen are by bicycle
Introduction
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COMMUNITY MASTERPLAN COPENHAGEN, DENMARK DA N I S H I N S T I T U T E F O R S T U DY A B R O A D Sydhavn is a largely abandonded post-industrial harborfront site south of central Copenhagen. In the first urban design course of my academic career, I was tasked with the creation of a community masterplan proposal for the site’s mixed-use redevelopment. According to my critics, the proposal achieves a balance between the preservation of existing elements of potential and the introduction of experimental urban design concepts that could create a dynamic and inviting environment.
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PHOTOGRAPHY
LANGELAND, DENMARK
T R O N D H E I M , N O R W AY
S A I N T LO U I S, U S A
BERLIN, GERMANY
See more at my online portfolio: www.topographies.io 12