It's a Crock(er)
Category: Commentary
Posted by: James on 12/20/2004 4:25:00 PM | Digg | Stumble It! | del.icio.us
Crocker Park, another faux town is born outside of Cleveland, Ohio
It's a mall. Another mall. It isn't even an old town center that has been revitalized and has mall-like characteristics. It's another mall themed as a town. And yes... it's another post about lifestyle centers. Sheesh, why don't we give it a rest already?!

Because the "lifestyle center" continues to spawn and spread across the country... and the more that open, the more alarmed the we are by the trend. The Plain Dealer features a critical look at the good and the bad of Crocker Park in the Cleveland suburb of Westlake. The article touches on many of the same issues that we have been stewing over in recent commentary posts.

Article: The Plain Dealer, Cleveland.com - Westlake's new center, half-done, feels hollow
Link: Crocker Park
Firm: Bialosky + Partners Architects
Via: Archinect
Reference: Reality bites (Land+Living)
Reference: Downtown Mauled - Part I (Land+Living)
Reference: Downtown Mauled - Part I (Land+Living)
Crocker Park does embrace New Urbansim a bit more than some of the other projects we have looked at like Victoria Gardens, and much more than the Grove, with the placement of office and residential units in the upper two storys of the buildings. In this respect, Crocker Grove would appear to us to be a more successful model.


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Posted by some guy on 1/4/2005 9:39:00 PM

the enormous "Streets of Southpoint" Mall is another great example of this awful idea - no place to live, but fake cobblestone "streets" to walk down as you spend all your money. to add insult to injury, the "architects" decided that they would make a half-assed attempt to make a section of the superstructure look like an old tobacco factory/warehouse, right down to the faux murals on the walls, carefully painted to look aged. i could hardly believe my NC-native friend when she said the whole place was a pine forest five years ago. it's brought to us by the same people who made the godawful "Providence Place" monstrosity in Providence, RI.

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Maybe Not That Bad
Posted by Aaron Donovan on 1/7/2005 3:11:00 PM

This is an interesting phenomenon that is not too familiar to me. What use is assigned to the second and third stories of those buildings? Hopefully it is for apartments, which would make for a great mixed-use, relatively more lively development. Even if it's not, I don't this land use pattern is all that terrible. It hides the parking and seems to be making an attempt to veer away from the strip-mall/big box thinking that has pervaded American development for decades. I take this as a sign that at least *some* people are starting to attempt to make more pedestrian-friendly environments. There is a long way to go before we start building real communities again, but at least it is a step in the right direction. -Aaron @ www.startsandfits.com
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Right direction, questionable approach
Posted by James on 1/7/2005 10:31:00 PM

This is a phenomenon that we have been watching for a while, and that we began to cover after our visit to Victoria Gardens. We are all for mixed-use and quality pedestrian spaces. In this instance, the upper floors are apartments and offices, which is nice to see.

Without rehashing all of the commentary posts we have made on the subject, the issue for us is partly about faux-historicism, but it is even more about private developments using the "look and feel" of traditionally public spaces (real town sidewalks, parks, squares), while denying the inherent freedom implied in such an environment.

For more on what we are thinking, check out the "reference" links above.
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Funny posters at Crocker Park
Posted by Cheng-Jih Chen on 1/9/2005 2:40:00 PM

There are a number of posters touting the imagined lifestyle at Crocker Park. Interestingly, as far as I can tell, the photos were taken somewhere on Lexington Avenue in New York City, perhaps somewhere in the 60s. The high-rises in that area are Photoshopped away, but the New York City street signs are blurred but still recognizeable.
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Investment Type
Posted by Aaron Donovan on 1/13/2005 1:56:00 PM

James, well, I admit to being peeved at faux-historicism as well. I remember visiting brand-spanking new "townhousese" in Oakton, Va., and thinking that the place gave me the heebie-jeebies. The problem is not the design, which we agree is better than strip malls and suburban subdivisions. The problem is the way that it is financed. Jane Jacobs has an excellent chapter on piecemeal investment versus cataclysmic investment. She criticizes environments created by cataclysmic investment on a number of levels. She was thinking of urban tower-in-the-park housing projects, but the principle applies to places like Crocker Park as well: Attempt to build a place all at once and it will be lacking in character. This seems to apply even to pedestrian-friendly streetscapes that mean well if are poorly executed. The best place for developers to invest in my view is urban infill projects. A new building on a vacant lot in an old town center is preferable by far to trying to create a whole new town center. Before the current era, cities and towns were never built at one time, and that is one reason they retain their appeal for so many people. The problem is that now, developers want to do huge projects. I guess my overall reaction to this is that of the huge projects I've seen, this one is among the least worst.
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Addendum
Posted by Aaron Donovan on 1/13/2005 1:59:00 PM

I forgot to mention that you have to give the developers high marks for effort (if not outcome). The post-modern "rowhouse" here at least attempt to look like multiple buildings of different styles. It may not work as well as it should, but at least it's better than the slab-block monolithic barracks that would have dominated when Modernism was ascendant.
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Former Westlake Resident
Posted by Tilei Timberlake on 3/18/2005 5:01:00 AM

What I find abhorent about what has become Crocker Park, is what residents were told this would be. It is truly another strip mall just rearranged buildings, not environmentally friendly, etc. It isn't doing the 'value added' benefits it was touted to do 4 years ago, before they cut down 75 acres of woodland to build this. As far as I know they have not been able to rent the office space and no one is talking about the apartments?

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Better than the rest
Posted by Tim Daniel on 6/9/2005 6:58:00 AM

Let's face it, without over intellectualizing it, if these projects are done well, or even o.k., they are certainly leaps and bounds better than the Seas of Asphalt/Strip Malls that have blighted our urban countryside since the 60's. So they are a little hokie at times, big deal. If anyone has any better idea that could actually stand up to a realistic business model I'm sure there is a bright career in planning for you.
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westlake resident
Posted by anon on 10/20/2005 8:14:00 PM

As a resident of Westlake, heres some insight. I dislike some of the people that it brings into our refined community. On the other hand, so long as nicer shops are renting space, that should stay at a minimum. Now, this development provides a European feel to relaxing, walking, sitting outside and drinking coffee, or havign a meal. These things are lost to a society pre-occupied with owning, and working, and too stressed to appreciate. Just walking around, relaxing with your friends, taking in a movie, in a safe community, thats what it is about. How is a mall enclosed where you walk aroudn in filtered air, passing through a "food court" better?
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