Finally, the dilapidated University Village mall has a date with destiny. The last tenants have vacated the premises, and protective barriers now encircle the moribund shopping complex, which will soon be demolished to make way for phase one of the
$1.1 billion Village at USC. Located on a 14-acre block bounded by Jefferson Boulevard, McClintock Avenue, 30th and Hoover Streets, initial plans call for a five-building, low-rise complex that would house 2,470 students and offer approximately 140,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space.
Designed by an architectural team that includes Elkus Manfredi, Melendrez Design Partners, and Harley Ellis Devereaux, the Village will closely adhere to the USC campus' current aesthetics. Renderings portray a cluster of Neo-Gothic structures, clad in the school's ubiquitous red brick. Buildings surround a landscaped central plaza, flanked by retail establishments and active transportation amenities (read: bike racks galore). A series of pedestrian paseos will bisect the project site, facilitating easier connections to both the USC campus and the greater University Park neighborhood.
A full build out of the Village--which would include two additional city blocks--calls for roughly 2 million square feet of student housing, academic facilities and pedestrian oriented retail. The development has stoked gentrification fears in University Park, where activists feel that an infusion of wealthier individuals will force working class residents out of the neighborhood. USC has reluctantly attempted to mollify the situation,
providing $20 million in affordable housing subsidies through an agreement brokered by City Hall.
I wonder what USC will do about bike parking. It's an issue at the Student Center on campus. There are hundreds of bikes parked in front of the Student Center and it's a mess. Hopefully they have an easy parking area for bikes at the new UV.
ReplyDeleteThe project will definitely incorporate plenty of cycling amenities, although I'm not sure of the exact quantity. I noticed all of the bikes literally overflowing while walking through the campus yesterday. USC should take some pointers from UC Davis on how to better incorporate cycling infrastructure.
DeleteI've noticed over the past few weeks that at least they've started replacing the wheelbender bike racks with ones that have a solid metal post to lock the frame of the bike onto. They introduced a few of those new racks last year, but in the past few weeks I've started noticing them all over campus. I've been keeping my bike in my office, since it was once stolen from one of the old racks (only a cable held the bike to the rack, and the thieves clipped it). Hopefully the new racks also include greater numbers in addition to greater security.
DeleteBuilding LA, have you worked on the project? Can you provide some more info about the cycling amenities or other interesting info? Would love to know. Graduated from USC last year.
Delete@Nick: This is from Melendrez's description of the project:
Delete"All building frontages are treated as 'fronts' and transit-supportive amenities are introduced, such as a bike station, bike racks, a new bike lane along Jefferson that connects to the adjacent light rail Expo Station, and enhanced bus stops."
Kind of light on the details. I wonder if "bike station," means "bike share."
What USC really needs is a bike sharing system (like Google Bikes) since the City of LA is incapable of implementing one.
ReplyDeleteBike sharing is ideal solution for a place like USC because it will have all-day two-way bike demands between campus and student housing area. USC-branded and administered bike sharing system can be up and running with minimal capital investment and will address the root cause of the bike parking problem on campus. Adding more bike parking facility won't fix the chaos... it just invites more bikes on campus.
I can just imagine hundreds of students riding their bikes through that corridor off Hoover/Jefferson into the main quad of the new UV and making a huge mess. I can imagine there will be those DPS guards at the entrances yelling no bikes! It will be a hot mess.
ReplyDeleteNot sure a bike share system would work. At least I wouldn't be interested cause I wouldn't want to have to rent a bike everyday. Students are impatient. They aren't going to want to enter in their card info and rent a bike everyday even though it may take a few mins. Are there any campuses with bike share programs? I'm curious to know in general.
And we all know USC is very supportive of alternative modes of transportation. Cough cough.
DeleteThats not how bike share works. Members get a key/card and it takes 3 seconds to checkout a bike.
DeleteTheres 30+ campuses with bikeshare systems, most use bcycle as their provider.
If there is a USC bike share system, you would just swipe your USC ID card (for example) to get one... no entering anything to access it. Sounds like you have never actually used a bike share system before ;)
DeleteAnd as James mentioned, there are lots of campus based bike share system. USC is pretty far behind the curve on this one... as usual.
Bicycle problems. You kids have no clue. When I went there, your mode of transportation was an ambulance. On your way to school, get shot, get put in an ambulance and transported to campus emergency.
ReplyDeleteHah. Luckily, the equation has changed quite a bit since then.
DeleteChanges like this are coming to a lot of colleges all over the nation. Seeing building being knocked down and under construction is very common place. Things have to change over time.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.digdigdemolition.com.au/demolition.html