Context
Scope of Project
What is the Central Bench? The Bench is diverse mixed use community with industrial, residential, commercial, and institutional uses. Most of the central bench was established in the 1950s and 1960s. It is an area with small affordable house which allows a more diverse community to develop. With a large refugee community residing in the area, there are many opportunities and conflicts within the bench area. The area was first established by rail and then eventually industrial use made its way into the area. As Central Downtown Boise began to grown, infill of residential and commercial filled in the neighborhoods of the Central Bench creating a conflict between the unsightly industrial uses and the residential/commercial uses. The Central Bench is home to a lot of history and the need to restore and preserve the history is an important factor to the community.
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What is the Industry in the Central Bench? The main industrial use in the Central Bench community is gas. Most people in Boise refer to it as a tank farm and find it obtrusive to the neighboring land uses. With this being a highly conflicted area it will require a sensitive look into what development could happen and how we could ease the burden of the people of the Bench. We also need to look at the needs of the industrial community.
Industrial Central Bench
Boise Valley Railroad
Rose Hill
Familiar Sites in the Central Bench
Larger Context Boi
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Curtis
Our site is located in Boise, Idaho. The Central Bench is between the Airport and Downtown, and is sandwiched by two highways and a river. Found in the center of Boise it is a large and diverse area. In the heart of the Central Bench is located a large industrial area.
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Emerald
Where is the Central Bench?
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Boise Valley Railroad
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Intersection of Emerald and Orchard
Open Face Water Canal
Abandoned Railroad Spur
Industrial Tank Farms
Nicolette Maire Myron Benally Nolan Baker
Boise Central Bench Urban Analysis
Derek Lamb
LAEP 4100- Urban Theory Systems and Design
Albert Severe
Boise Historical Dimensions
2014 Added Structures 1994 Existing Structures Structures No Longer Standing Today
Boise 2014 Photo Boise 2014 Photo Boise finds its roots from the Gold Rush days of the 1800s. In 1834 Fort Boise, owned by the Hudson Bay Company, was established by British fur traders. In July 1863, Fort Boise and construction of additional buildings began soon afterward. The town grew quickly and the major reason for this growth other than the Gold Rush is the key location along the Oregon Trail. In 1890, Idaho became a state. Early 1900s Boise again enjoyed a period of rapid growth. With the growth of the city came the expansion of irrigation in the valley in 1902. Today Boise is the largest Metropolitan community in the state with over 616,561 residents that reside in the greater metropolitan area.
Boise 1971 Photo
Boise 2014 Photo
The 1971 photo compared to the 2014 photo shows a significant change during the 40 year period. There is a decrease of agricultural and open space being used for industrial/commercial and residential development. These cycles of changes have occurred around the tank farms over the years, The increase of industry and commercial buildings has influenced a more residential pattern around them.
Figure Ground Over the Years The Figure Ground Map shows changes during the 20 year period of 1994 to 2014, a pattern of residential development has occurred over these years. During these years, the Central Bench had some changes mostly on the west of the storage tanks. Here some residential housing has been built. Some groups of commercial buildings have been removed in the area as well.
Gas Pipeline from the Tank Farms The Gas Pipeline receives product from five refineries and the pipeline extends from Salt Lake city, UT to Spokane, WA. The delivery volumes on the system averaged approx 87,000 barrels per day, and the terminals have a total storage capacity of 1.3 million barrels.
Nicolette Maire Myron Benally Nolan Baker
Boise Central Bench Urban Analysis
Derek Lamb
LAEP 4100- Urban Theory Systems and Design
Albert Severe
Morphological Dimensions As one can see on this figure-ground the denser areas are mostly residential neighborhoods (See #1). There is a strict grid pattern that has been enforced. The grid pattern is the accepted Western Human Fabric, in order to maintain order to each city and establish an accepted scale in the neighborhood. The grid is intersected by the railroad tracks, a spur of which in the Boise Central Bench is largely unused (See #2). These tracks dissect the overall grid pattern and then feature larger than life gas storage tanks and other industrial buildings (See #3) These greatly disturb the neighborhood residential scale. It would be ideal to consider the wide empty spaces ideal locations for open spaces, because of their proximity to the residents and power to connect multiple neighborhoods. However this would require a change of ownership on the railroad land and possible land remediation practices. Larger buildings include the hospital with a wide array of buildings. The large blank side to the north and west corners is the highway, which is a major connector of the entire Boise area (See #4). The highway completely envelopes three sides of the Bench again bringing up issues of scale, because the highway is raised above the city and has a much higher speed than most roads.. With such a large and fast moving barrier connections into and out of the Bench need to be strengthened. Franklin Road which is also absorabing a large amount of traffic as a key connector for transit (See #5).
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Nicolette Maire Myron Benally Nolan Baker
Boise Central Bench Urban Analysis
Derek Lamb
LAEP 4100- Urban Theory Systems and Design
Albert Severe
Land Use The Central Bench has many different land uses packed into a condensed area. With industry using up a big chunk of land and the rest of the uses seemingly falling into place whereever they may fit around the tank farm and the other industrial zones.
Institutional
1. Boise International Market
4. Bishop Kelly High School
Offices
2. Budweiser
5. Sunwest Bank
Residential
3. Liberty Park
6. Lucianons Italian Restaurant
Opportunities
High Density Residential
--> Sections of rail line that have not been used in many years --> Several large vacant plots of land --> Hospital connection --> Properties in disrepair / blight --> Large tanks for other visual stimulation --> Commercial use on Orchard --> Canal on the south end of Central Bench
Parks
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Vacant Lots Industrial
Hospital
Commercial
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Constraints --> --> --> --> --> -->
Tank
Sidewalks that do not connect Lack of vegetation on streets Low density residential development Few parks that are usable by the residential development Ability to screen tank farm because of safety Canal on the south end of Central Bench
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The Central Bench has many constraints that the community has had to deal with, but some of those constraints could be look at as opportunities and with the communities backing the change it could be very successful.
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Proposed Solutions -->Use vacant lots to create community parks that could help
soften the change between residential and Industrial land uses --> Redevelop the rail line to create connection within the Central Bench and to the Green Belt --> Re-zone the areas around the industrial area to create a softer transition between industrial and residential uses. --> Use the buildings and communities in disrepair to create incubator businesses to help bring people to the bench. --> Because the streets do not have any vegetation we can use this as a opportunity to green the streets and make pedestrian circulation more enjoyable. -->Because the sidewalks do not connect in many places this is a great opportunity to create a great pedestrian walking area.
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Source: Esri, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, i-cubed, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, US
Nicolette Maire Myron Benally Nolan Baker
Boise Central Bench Urban Analysis
Derek Lamb
LAEP 4100- Urban Theory Systems and Design
Albert Severe
Socio-Cultural Dimensions
Housing
The Boise Central Bench consists of almost 50/50 of homeowners vs renters (1.). Renters can make it hard to build neighborhood if the turn over is so high people do not stay long enough to make connections in the community. As you can see in the chart on the right (2.) Most of the homes 1 in the Central Bench were built in the 1950s through the 1980s. The housing styles were func- Quick Facts: tional but small, which is ideal for retirees or small --> The Median Household income for families in 2009 was families just starting out. As you can see on the $47,038. Just over 14% of Boise's jobs are located in the Central Bench Educational Attainment Chart (3.) Almost 20% --> --> Central Bench workers represent about 17% of Boise's workof Central Bench residents have not obtained a force --> Central Bench jobs are projected to increase by 15% by High School education. This can be linked with a 2025 high influx of refugees, as well as a strong popula- --> Central Bench household are projected to increase by 6.8% between 2008 and 2025. tions of renters. 45%
55%
Renters
Homeowners
Boise City Comprehensive Plan
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http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Central-Bench-Boise-ID.html
http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Central-Bench-Boise-ID.html
Homes in the Central Bench
Nicolette Maire Myron Benally Nolan Baker
Boise Central Bench Urban Analysis
Derek Lamb
LAEP 4100- Urban Theory Systems and Design
Albert Severe
Landscape Structure
OPEN SPACE Legend Industry Focus Area
Public Open Space
Vacant / Undeveloped
OPPORTUNITIES There are many vacant lots that are found near the industrial area. If these vacant lots were to be used as public open space, more users would be invited to use sidewalks near the industry, along with providing opportunity for local business owners.
SYNTHESIS MAP Legend Barriers
Direction of Movement
Public Open Space
Vacant / Undeveloped
CONSTRAINTS
The industrial areas are is very unsightly, also these vacant lots are privately owned and could be sold to the city as public space or other types of development. The streets that surround the industry lack vegetation making them very exposed and uncomfortable to walk through. Some streets can be difficult to cross due to high traffic and are not safe for pedestrians.
The Central Bench area is very removed from the other areas of Boise. Some of these barriers causing this section of town to be removed, include the I-84 Interstate and the canal to the south (Dotted Red Line). The arrows are showing the direction of movement coming from outside the central bench area. This direction is implied by the relation of the downtown Boise area and The University of Boise, both located on the east side of the area. There is a lot of activity near Borah High school, along with a lot density in the downtown area. The industry is located right in the center with major connection points to the greenbelt that leads to downtown. Strengthening the greenbelt would encourage residents to enjoy the industrial area and travel more efficiently through the Central Bench and to the Central Bench.
STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS
Greenbelt Separation
Implied Greenbelt Continuation
Nicolette Maire Myron Benally Nolan Baker
Boise Central Bench Urban Analysis
Derek Lamb
LAEP 4100- Urban Theory Systems and Design
Albert Severe
POINTS OF CONFLICT
Functional Dimensions and Movement The current pedestrian circulation on the Central Bench is uninviting in some areas. This is due to some roads being too wide, and others too narrow. Some roads do not provide sidewalk for the public realm. This forces users to find alternate modes of transportation, travel unsafely, or the creation of desired pathways (cow paths).
Ada County Highways District: Roadways to Bikeways Plan
EXISTING PEDESTRIAN PATHWAYS Legend Existing Sidewalk Multi-use Path Parks
One of the City's biggest goals for the Central Bench is to have a more Ecofriendly city where transportation by foot is encouraged along with safe travel. This is evident in the Ada County Highways District: Roadways to Bikeways Plan. Many major streets do not provide street vegetation to help cool the area. As the temperature rises, the comfort of users decreases when walking on concrete surfaces. This creates an issue, especially when commuting near the industry.
High density traffic areas create conflict points within the Central Bench. These points of conflict are where many bicycle accidents occur, along with vehicular accidents. Street improvements are recommended for these areas to create better flow of traffic, not only vehicular, but also pedestrian and bicycle flow. Many of these conflict points surround or focus area of the industry. Improvements to these conflict points would create less congestion and would encourage more people to enjoy the spaces around the industry.
VEHICULAR TRAFFIC DENSITY Legend
Bicycle circulation in the Central Bench is very separated, because the existing circultaion does not fully connect. Many biking lanes and routes terminate at a deadend and are continued a block or two away. This creates confusion with users. The separation of bike routes encourages bicyclists to use alternative routes to reach their destination. Not all streets provide safe transportation for bicycles, which creates regular bicycles accidents that happen on the Central Bench. Linking current bike routes to the existing green belt would also encourage higher traffic on the greenbelt and less traffic on city streets. The greenbelt has many disconnection points that could be improved for higher use in the future. Some proper solutions to help avoid bicycle collisions, would be the implementation of clear and effective signage.
Low Use
Some Use
Medium Use
High Use
Rail Road
VALUABLE PEDESTRIAN ACCESS When visiting the site, our team search for edges of the industry that could encourage pedestrians to visit the industry area, which would strengthen the relationship between the industry and the public. The intersection at Phillippi and Emerald is a great area to encourage pedestrians to interact. This location already has a connection point to the green belt, along with nearby businesses and a vacant lot just near the oil tanks and railroad tracks.
SITE PHOTOS Ada County Highways District: Roadways to Bikeways Plan
BICYCLE CIRCULATION Legend Bike Lane Bike Route
Multi-use Path Parks
Phillippi and Emerald
Green Belt Access
Vacant Land Near Industry
Nicolette Maire Myron Benally Nolan Baker
Boise Central Bench Urban Analysis
Derek Lamb
LAEP 4100- Urban Theory Systems and Design
Albert Severe
Street & Building Interface Study Area:
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1. The Intersection of Emerald and Irvine Street shows the width of the streetscape to the nearby buildings that make the buildings smaller than they appear to the site. It could be a potential design for a bike lane. The building from street are setback far from street. 2. Irvine Street near the railroad tracks has the potential to be utilized for open space/recreation area. Thus, creating a better connection to a near bike trail.
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3&4. The bike trail on Emerald Street near the railroad tracks shows potential trail connection to a existing bike trail ahead. This has so much empty space near the rail road zone for open space for pedestrian usage. There is a harsh transition from commercial/industrial to residential zones in the Emerald Street vicinity.
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The Industrial zone is surrounded by commercial and residential zones in the central bench. The Area has a lot of open space that are being unused and its surroundings have a potential of making a pedestrian, commercial, and service connections.
Opportunities:
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The area located on Emerald Street near the railroads show potential trail and park connection to the exiting bike trail and parks in the area on Emerald Street. The existing rail road tracks could make a great connection to all the recreation and pedestrian zones by making it an open space to soften the transition into nearby areas.
--> Use the rail lines that are not being used as much. --> Soften the edge with vegetation between industrial and residential zones. --> Soften the edge for commercial and residential on Phillippi Street. --> Widen Morris Hill road for industrial trucks.
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Constraints: 5&6. Bethal Street lacks a pedestrian area where there are some interrupted walking paths. The edge of the streetscape between a residential/commercial area by using vegetation that still coincides with restrictions with the tank farm. The Streetscape blends in with the parking entry to some commercial buildings that does not split the commercial and industrial zones, so this would not be a pedestrian friendly area without improvements.
--> Streets are small on morris hill with limited sidewalk access. --> Limited access to putting vegetation near the industrial area for security reasons. --> lacks vegetation streetscapes.
Nicolette Maire Myron Benally Nolan Baker
Boise Central Bench Urban Analysis
Derek Lamb
LAEP 4100- Urban Theory Systems and Design
Albert Severe
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3 Images 2 and 4 illustrate the old rail-line. The underused rail-line intersects through the industrial tank farms and is in the ideal location to make a lateral connection through the industry. This connection is currently lacking. The existing greenbelt that opens up on Orchard street would connect perfectly into this rail-line. As it stands now there is no visual connection on Orchard to follow the greenbelt. The addition of signage and relocation of a connecting link to the greenbelt would greatly improve the experience of pedestrians and cyclists using the greenbelt, and in turn the motorists on Orchard. Image 3 shows the potential link into the rail-line for the greenbelt located near Orchard and Irving.
Visual Connections The visual connections throughout the Boise Central Bench area are crucial to making it a destination area. Currently there exists a large amount of industry in the area which tends to decrease the aesthetic qualities of the Bench area. The visual connection can be made through signage or through simplicity and uniformity in design styles and layout of the city blocks. The use of similar street trees is a great way to create that uniformity.
Images 5 and 8 show the current connections for the greenbelt. There is a definite lack of visual connection. If the user doesn't know that the trail is there it would be difficult to find it. Another aspect that could improve this connection is the improvement of the street-scape. Image 6 illustrates the current street-scape and the lack of green infrastructure ad street trees. If these streets where redesigned to be more pedestrian friendly they would have the potential to attract more business into the area and it would become a more vitalized area, much like downtown Boise.
From the site visit and from talking with residents it was found that one of the opportunities in the area is the tank farms. The tank farms are centrally located within the Bench and tend to isolate one end from the other. This becomes an issue with connectivity and creates an visual and physical barrier between the industry and the rest of the Bench area. There is a great opportunity to merge the industry with the surrounding businesses and residents. Based on the visual and perceptual analysis we have found a few key opportunities to improve the visual connectivity of the industrial core of Boise's Central Bench. Image 1 shows the area on Emerald and Phillippi street that is currently a vacant lot/unused. This lot has the potential to become a thriving industrial park space. The addition of green infrastructure in this area would soften the edge between industry and the residents. It also has the potential to be used as an education center to help educate the public as to the importance of the industry. This makes the industry less foreign and more approachable.
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Another great opportunity is the tank farms. These large tanks have the potential to become art installations or way finding signage. Image 7 shows a similar tank in Boston that is used in just that way. The tanks should be used to promote Boise's heritage and add a visual connection. Especially the tanks shown in image 1 could be used in conjunction with the potential green-space/education center. The use of the tanks as some sort of signage/art will also help to soften the edge and makes the industry more a part of the community and less of a mystery.
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All of these opportunity if implemented have the potential to change the perception of the Central Bench area. It could be seen as a unique destination district with a powerful combination of industry, retail, and residential. As opposed to the current perception of a barren industrial district.
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7 Nicolette Maire Myron Benally Nolan Baker
Boise Central Bench Urban Analysis
Derek Lamb
LAEP 4100- Urban Theory Systems and Design
Albert Severe