|
|
Two River Cities & Two Governors
Albany
|
Portland
|
 |
 |
|
Look closely at the views from space of the two cities above. What is similar and where do they differ?
As can be seen by the size of the "super highway" loops, the scale is about the same. The central part of each city is to the left of the river - although the rivers are flowing in opposite directions. By the size of the highway interchange and entrance infrastructure, it would appear that the one on the left is larger. Actually it is less than one fifth of the population of the other. The highway only conveys an illusion of economic power. The reality is much different.
The image on the left is Albany on the Hudson River, capital of the Empire State of New York with a population of less than 100,000. The other image is Portland on the Willamette River, largest city in Oregon with a population of over 500,000.
Look at the urban structures in the two cities. Portland shows high-rises throughout the image. Albany's high-rise buildings seem limited to the area within the 'V' created by the riverside highway and city entrance highway stub. At the end of that stub are the high-rises lining former Governor Rockefeller's Empire State Plaza.
|
|
|
Below are historical views of the two cities. By 1850 Albany had surpassed 50,000 in population. Its high point would be 134,000 in 1950, after which the population would steadily decline in each census until it fell below 100,000 in the year 2000. In 1890 Portland's population was about the same as Albany's in 1850, almost 50,000 people. Unlike Albany, it increased steadily in all but one of the following censuses until it surpassed half a million in 2000.
Albany - 1852
|
Portland - 1890
|
 |
 |
Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza
|
 |
 |
|
This Plaza, together with the waterfront and plaza entrance super highways, were crucial factors in the death of any hope for Albany as a liveable city. Ironically, in a city that had seen a steady increase in population to 1950, the construction of the plaza and super highways (envisioned by Rockefeller as the saviers of Albany) actually were associated with the greatest decline in the city's population - a decline of some 30,000 people between 1960 and 1980.
The Hudson River, one of the city's greatest potential assets, is now generally cut off from the rest of the city by the massive highway. The plaza on top of a great podium is set above and segregated from the life of the surrounding city - much of whose history was obliterated in the highway's and podium's construction. State workers drive in their automobiles via the super highways from the surrounding suburban cities and towns, enter the parking garage beneath the plaza and never have to set foot in what is left of the city.
This massive state government edifice could have been located in the surrounding countryside for all the good it is doing for the City of Albany. The knowledge gained through human history of what makes for lively plazas and urban spaces was ignored in the design of this monument to megalomania.
Vacant lots and buildings litter the city. (Try Google Earth and zoom in within a mile of the Plaza to see where buildings have been removed leaving vacant lots.) Even State Street, the City of Albany's most historic and architecturally important streetscape, is losing its historical gems. Magnificent structures from the city's past are endangered throughout the city. Despite all the wealth potentially associated with being the capital of the Empire State, the city continues to decline.
|
Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park
|
 |
 |
|
In the early 1970s, Portland's central city was beginning to decay. The creation of suburban shopping malls in neighboring cities was drawing away money and people from downtown. However, the creation of a downtown transit mall, a new waterfront park, Pioneer Courthouse Square, the construction of the Portland-Gresham light rail line and the opening of Pioneer Place Mall successfully drew or retained businesses and lured customers. The downtown, which had been a virtual ghost town after 6pm, was becoming a vibrant all-hours shopping, dining, and business venue.
Starting at almost the same time as Rockefeller (1968), Oregon Governor Tom McCall initiated a task force to study the feasibility of replacing Harbor Drive along the Willamette River with a park. Removal of Harbor Drive began in 1974, and work progressed until the dedication of the park in 1978. The park gained instant popularity, and in 1984, it was renamed Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The city's river asset was now part of the urban environment. A city more than five times the population of Albany survives quite nicely without thrusting a super highway along its riverfront and into its urban heart. The legacy's cost is a fraction of Rockefeller Plaza's 1.7 billion, but the value to the city's present and future is incalculable. The park could even be more successful if additional nodes of activity were created along the water's edge.
|
Some Portland Views
|
 |
 |
|
