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10-25-2007 By JIM AUSTIN Cooperstown Crier The six students are looking at the growth pressures the community is facing in the areas of housing, commerce, tourism, parking, sewer and water, community character and aesthetics. The group was here for a week in early September and plans to return in December to present their final work. Professor Philip Bess said during the visit that Cooperstown has been cited as an example of good American town design for many years. Now, Cooperstown and many other traditional American towns find themselves coming under increasing pressures to grow in the only manner that law and contemporary culture allow - the segregated land-use pattern of development or urban sprawl that flourished following World War II. Trustees Jeff Katz, Paul Kuhn and Lynne Mebust attended the mid-term critique of the students' progress by their professor and other architects and educators. Katz said it was an interesting process to watch. The students, he said, have become very familiar with the lay of the land and presented a new way of looking at many of the institutions of Cooperstown. "There are parts of it that don't jibe with the reality of Cooperstown 2007, but their view forward is interesting," he said. Kuhn said the experience was great. The students had refined a number of their ideas and started to suggest some priorities for the village to consider. They also made some projections about what the village may be like in 10 years and 50 years from now. "Even if the village only uses a portion of their ideas, it will be beneficial. They are very forward looking individuals," he said. Kuhn said change is inevitable and people must decide how to deal with it. If they take a passive approach and sit back, the village will be changed for them by someone else or they can begin now to think about how they would like change to occur in the village. Mebust said she was excited by the vision of the project, but questions some of their premises. "A lot of what they are proposing is exciting, but I wonder how much is immediately practical," she said. Mebust is interested in affordable housing so that people who work in the village can also live in it, but there is the question of how do you build affordable housing and keep it affordable. "I think it is a great exercise for the community and I would like to see it spur some more long-term planning," she said. All three trustees said they look forward to seeing the students' completed work, which will be presented to the community in December. In the meantime, the public is invited to visit a blogsite set up by the students to review their progress and post comments. Students plan to update material on the site as their work progresses throughout the remainder of the semester. The site will allow an ongoing discussion to proceed during the semester. According to the students, points of view may conflict, making the process of dialogue and feedback vital to reaching a shared vision. The blogsite is http://www.ndcooperstown.typepad.com/. |
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