Taking the High Line

From Jambase.com:

Bowie's Highline Fest
The H&M High Line Festival is a new multi-discipline arts festival that will be curated each year by a different artist. The inaugural edition, curated by David Bowie, will run May 9 to 19, 2007.

The ten-day mash-up of music, film, comedy, visual art and performance will highlight all of David's favorite artists. The best of the best.

The inaugural 10-day festival will take place in venues near the High Line, the elevated rail structure soon to open as a public open space, running through the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea and Clinton/Hell's Kitchen. A portion of each ticket sale will go to benefit Friends of the High Line, the 501(c)3 organization currently working with the City of New York to transform the 1930's rail structure into a park, set to open in 2008.

Please Note: none of the events of the High Line Festival will take place on the High Line itself.
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Great ideas come from an active community that cares about (integrating) the historical aspects, while looking ahead to support it's future.

Walkability

I seem to always have ideas of what might work in an urban setting, in between places, or around. One of the recurring thoughts that complements these ideas is creating a place that people not only want to frequent, but a place where they feel like they can make (and do make) a contribution to it's overall existence. Whether it be a vegetable stand on the side of the road, a local coffee shop, public park, or music venue, these places must be able to connect with the "locals" more often than not, and create a meaningful amount of interaction between these people to improve their daily lives. It has been proven that people want to exercise (or just walk) more, why not design these places to be easily walkable.

But, the dilemma in creating these walkable places relates to creating that critical mass that attracts the retail necessary to sustain such walkability. Because, people are not going to walk for the sake of walking, they want to walk to accomplish a goal such as grocery shopping, a cup of coffee, or a haircut. These commercial places, referred to as "third places" by Ray Oldenburg in his book The Great Good Place must exist to create everyday interactions that make walkable places so valuable to the community.

Two-Headed Boy

by Jeff Mangum-Neutral Milk Hotel

Two headed boy
All floating in glass
The sun it has passed
Now it's blacker than black
I can hear as you tap on your jar
I am listening to hear where you are
I am listening to hear where you are

Two headed boy
Put on sunday shoes
And dance round the room to accordion keys
With the needle that sings in your heart
Catching signals that sound in the dark
Catching signals that sound in the dark
We will take off our clothes
And they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine

Two headed boy
With pulleys and weights
Creating a radio played just for two
In the parlor witha moon across her face
And through the music he sweetly displays
Silver speakers that sparkle all day
Made for his lover who's floating and choking with her hands across her face
And in the dark we will take off our clothes
And they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine

Two headed boy
There is no reason to grieve
The world that you need is wrapped in gold silver sleeves
Left beneath Christmas trees in the snow
And I will take you and leave you alone
Watching spirals of white softly flow
Over your eyelids and all you did
Will wait until the point when you let go