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Program Schedule
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Friday, April 28, 2006

Saturday, April 28, 2006

LAI would like to thank the George Washington Chapter for its sponsorship of this weekend experience!

Read More about the weekend

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Letter from the President

Jim Fawcett

As you know, we are rapidly approaching the spring Board of Governors meeting and Weekend Experience in Washington, DC., on April 28-30. You’ll be receiving more detailed information about the event but I wanted to note that our colleagues in the George Washington Chapter have really done a great job of planning our next Weekend Experience.

Our headquarters will be the Hotel Monaco in the Historic Penn Quarter of the city (www.monaco-dc.com). After considering other venues, the GW host committee recommended the Hotel Monaco as their favorite and our Executive Director, Terry Stevenson, was able to secure the location. The Hotel Monaco has an interesting history, formerly hosting Washington, DC’s general post office and after extensive renovation, now a new, boutique hotel. Our location is within walking distance of the National Mall and other notable Washington landmarks.

Lou Slade, George Washington Chapter President, and his committee have finalized our program that will include visits to the National Building Museum, the National Capital Planning Commission, Washington’s beautiful, restored Union Station and those are just the first afternoon’s events.

Union Station has an interesting history. Opened on October 27, 1907 and completed in 1908, it is considered to be one of the country’s finest examples of the Beaux-Arts style of architecture. Architect, Daniel Burnham designed the building to be monumental in every respect and to serve as a gateway for the capital city.

At the time it was built, the station covered more ground than any other building in the United States and was the largest train station in the world. The station sits on the edge of an area once known as "Swampoodle," an infamous shantytown located on the sewery remnants of Tiber Creek. The total area occupied by the station and the terminal zone was originally about 200 acres and included 75 miles of tracks. In fact, if put on its side, the Washington Monument could lie within the confines of the station's concourse. We’ll see that and much more.

If you haven’t attended one of Lambda Alpha’s semi-annual Weekend Experiences, this is a great opportunity to join us as we “get under the skin of the city” as well as enjoying cherry-blossom time. Your colleagues who do attend will undoubtedly bring home tales of visits to places in our nation’s capital that you’ve not previously heard about. As we say, the Weekend Experiences are unique because, through the connections of our prominent membership, we are able to provide a behind the scenes look at some of the most notable cities in the U.S. Canada and the UK. We hope you’ll join us and look forward to seeing you in Washington.

In the fall, our friends at the Ottawa Chapter, assisted by a few of its neighbors from the Simcoe Chapter are planning a similar Weekend Experience in the Canadian Capital.  We will have dates for you in the next few weeks so you can plan that visit. 

If you’ve never attended one of these Weekend Experiences, I urge you to think about joining us in Washington.  The George Washington Chapter has given us their commitment that this will be a real treat and a unique way to see the nation’s capital.  I do hope you’ll join us.

James A. Fawcett
International President
fawcett@usc.edu

Editor’s Column

Helen Sause

Why do Public Spaces Matter?

Many residents of central cities don't have access to private open space and must therefore locate their "front and back yards" in the public realm. Public spaces include the traditional open spaces people tend to think of first - parks we play in, the beaches we run on and the plazas where we drink our tea. Public space is perhaps best defined in the sense of the "life between buildings" (a phrase of Danish architect Jan Gehl).

It is these spaces that distinguishes cities from suburbs (and one might add the great cities from the mediocre ones.)

In the June 2000 edition of the SPUR * newsletter, Galen Crantz, Professor of Architecture at UC Berkeley, explored the politics of park design. She described five main eras: the pleasure Ground (1850 - 1900), in which large parks were located on the edge of a city, giving the illusion of nature without being wild'. The Reform Park (1900- 1930), which brought parks closer into the city fabric and creating recreation and socialization space for adults and youth; the Recreational Facility (1930- 1965 ala' Robert Moses) and the more recent Open Space System, in which parks are less scripted, more spontaneous and creative.

Galen Crantz's overriding point however, is that... "park history can be divided into periods, but no model has died out." In other words, each generation of city residents has its own ideas about what the good city is, but we don't erase what the other generations have done. The public spaces we enjoy today reflect this layering process as much as our buildings.

As valuable as these "outdoor" living rooms are, we are waging a constant battle against neglect of the public realm. The anti-tax movement, coupled with the growing inability of government to deliver services, has created a deep under funding of the entire public infrastructure. This fiscal crisis profoundly affects our public spaces and the lives of those who use them. Our ability to grapple with these "good government" policy decisions are written in our parks and how much or how little we value the spaces that make our cities unique.

Next month we will switch topics and plan to post stories of the maintenance of public places created by the public and private funds as they can be obtained.

* Drawn on research by San Francisco Planning and Urban Research (SPUR)

Helen Sause
International Editor
helensause@alamedanet.net

Chapter Corner

George Washington Chapter

A MESSAGE FROM
THE GEORGE WASHINGTON CHAPTER

Our chapter members sincerely hope you are planning to participate in the LAI Weekend Experience in Washington, D.C. Please DO NOT make those non-refundable air reservations or other arrangements before considering an extended stay in Washington -- a day or two before and/or after the Weekend Experience -- to take advantage of the extraordinary cultural exhibits and events always available in our Nation’s Capital.

Here are just two outstanding examples. The National Gallery of Art (NGA) is presenting a major international exhibition, titled “Cézanne in Provence.” The exhibition includes 118 paintings by Paul Cézanne and investigates the deep connection between this seminal artist and his native Provence. Also at the NGA is yet another international exhibition, titled “Dada.” This exhibition presents many of the most influential figures in the history of modernism, and features painting, sculpture, photography, film, collage and readymades that emerged in six cities: Zurich, Berlin, Hannover, Cologne, New York and Paris. Both of these exhibitions will be on display well beyond the dates of the LAI Weekend Experience.

To assist you in discovering all that will be going on while you are with us in Washington, we’ve provided electronic addresses for the city’s most prominent museums, galleries and performance venues. Most are located within walking distance of your LAI headquarters in Washington, the Hotel Monaco, and the others are a short taxi ride away. Please check out the following web sites and make plans to stay with us beyond the weekend.

Museums

Smithsonian Institution: www.si.edu
Provides access to all of the following:
African Art Museum
Air and Space Museum
American History Museum
American Indian Museum
Freer Gallery
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Natural History Museum
Postal Museum
Renwick Gallery
Sackler Gallery
(Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art are closed for major renovations)
National Gallery of Art: www.nga.gov
National Building Museum: www.nbm.org
Phillips Collection: www.phillipscollection.org
Corcoran Gallery of Art: www.corcoran.org
International Spy Museum: www.spymuseum.org

Performance Venues

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: www.kennedy-center.org
National Theatre: www.nationaltheatre.org
Shakespeare Theatre: www.shakespearedc.org
Warner Theatre: www.warnertheatre.com
Ford’s Theatre www.fordstheatre.org
Arena Stage: www.arenastage.com

Shopping and other Points of Interest

There are also places to shop (Downtown right in Penn Quarter around the Hotel Monaco, Georgetown, and Friendship Heights), to visit private art galleries (Penn Quarter, Georgetown, and Dupont Circle), to tour historic neighborhoods and Washington’s “Embassy Row,” or to visit two of the country’s best known and most successful new towns -- Reston, Virginia, and Columbia, Maryland.

Washington’s Street System

As you are probably aware, the stunning original “Plan of the City of Washington” was created in 1971 by the French-American engineer Pierre Charles L’Enfant. L’Enfant was commissioned for the project by none other than President George Washington. The city is divided into four quadrants: NW, SW, NE, and SE, with the U.S. Capitol at the center and with the dividing streets being North, South, and East Capitol Streets, as well as The Mall to the west of the Capitol.

The north-south streets are numbered streets, starting with First Streets on either side of North and South Capitol streets. As one goes further away from the center the numbers increase. The east-west streets use the alphabet (there is no J Street and no one has a definitive explanation for this, though there are several theories), starting with the A, B, C’s and then progressing through two syllable names and three syllable names in alphabetical order (such as Albemarle, Brandywine, Chesapeake, Davenport, etc.) Crossing this orthogonal grid are the diagonal avenues named after states (such as Pennsylvania Avenue.) There are a few other avenues, such as Constitution and Independence Avenues, running east-west, parallel to and just north and south of The Mall, respectively.

Street addresses are also based upon the distance from the dividing streets and The Mall. Thus, the address of 926 E Street, N.W., is situated between 9th and 10th Streets, N.W. Similarly, the address of 626 8th Street, N.W., is situated between F and G Streets (the 6th and 7th letters of the alphabet), N.W. Remember, however, that there is no J Street, so the address of 1045 8th Street, N.W., is situated between K and L Streets, N.W. With regard to the diagonal avenues named for states, most have addresses similar to east-west streets. Thus, 948 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., is between 9th and 10th Streets, N.W. Got all of that??

The Hotel Monaco and many of our destinations during the Weekend Experience are in the northwest quadrant.

Dining

Our local members will be glad to help you find places to dine. Right near the hotel you can stop and have a casual lunch or dinner of Spanish tapas at Jaleo (7th and E), middle eastern and Greek mezze at Zaytinya (9th and G), or the best mini-burgers around (as well as pizza and a short list of entrees) at Matchbox (on H at 8th). You can eat Nuevo Latino cuisine at Café Atlantico (which has an incredible pre-theater three-course dinner each evening until 6:30), modern Indian food at Rasika (D just east of 7th), authentic Mexican food at Andale (7th and D) or Rosa Mexicano (7th and F), fine Italian cuisine at Ristorante Tosca (F between 11th and 12th), seafood at Oceanaire (F between 12th and 13th) or McCormick & Schmick’s (9th and F), gulf coast cuisine at Acadiana (9th and NY Ave.), or French haute nouvelle cuisine at Le Paradou (Indiana Avenue just east of 7th).

There are also several fusion restaurants including TenPenh, a favorite, offering Asian-contemporary American fusion (Pennsylvania Avenue at 10th), IndeBleu, with French-Indian fusion cuisine (G between 7th and 8th), and Zengo, an Asian-Mexican fusion restaurant just up 7th Street from our Friday evening dining venue. There are also several contemporary American restaurants, including Oya (9th between G and H), which also serves sushi, Poste Brasserie right in the Hotel Monaco, Butterfield 9 (14th between F and G), and Chef Geoff’s (13th between E and F). You can also find Chinese, Thai, Burmese, Irish, and Japanese, restaurants and a few steakhouses. By the time you are here, a number of the restaurants mentioned above will have outdoor seating as will 701 Restaurant, drinx., Les Halles, Gordon Biersch, and Ella’s Wood Fired Pizza.

These are just some of the restaurants within an easy walk of the hotel. If you want more information on restaurants, good drinking holes, steakhouses, etc., call or email Jo-Ann Neuhaus at 202.482.7271 or www.PennQuarter@ncpc.gov.

Welcome to Washington

Members of the George Washington Chapter want your stay in the Nation’s Capital to be exciting, informative and memorable. Let us know if you need further guidance. Check out our web site at www.laigw.org. We look forward to seeing you late next month.

[click here] to download the above article in pdf format

Orange County Chapter:

This year The Chapter adopted a program to start and fund an education endowment foundation, with the goal of raising $100,000. Members believe this will be a visible way to promote the basic ideals of Lambda Alpha in the community at-large.

The March meeting will feature Leslie Appleton-Young, Vice President and Chief Economist for the California Association of Realtors. The largest state trade association in the country. Has the housing market decided to take a breather -- this will be the topic of the day.

The Orange County Chapter of Lambda Alpha is right on target with our plans for 2006. Chapter plans for 2006 include addressing the transportation, housing, economic environment, development needs of the County. The February meeting program was a panel of experts to discuss how the shortage of affordable housing affects the ability of business & public and private sector industries to recruit and retain professionals in the work force.

Members of the panel: G. Willis, of Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold LLP a land Use and Natural Resources practice group.
Joseph Vargas, Senior Managing Director, Cushman Wakefield.
Elliott Gordon, Senior Client Partner, Korn/Ferry International, executive recruiting firm.
Paula Burrier-Lund, Director, Orange County Housing & Community Services Department. Orange County is the second largest employer in the county.
Greg Zwetow, Human Resources Manager, The Home Depot.

In January the Chapter discussed the transportation needs of Orange County, including, the extension Proposition M to continue to improve the system, the focus on affordable housing in February also tapped into these same needs. Mr. Zwetow of Home Depot noted that instead of an 8 hour day, his employees are tacking another 2 hours on each end for a 12 hour day, due to the long commutes to more affordable housing areas in the Inland Empire.

The March meeting will have Leslie Appleton-Young, Vice President and Chief Economist for the California Association of Realtors to discuss the 2006 real estate outlook, and projections for Orange County.

Announcements

LEF Land Economics Foundation

LEF RFP Request for Proposal

New Members

Minnesota Chapter
Stuart I. Ackerberg, The Ackerberg Group
Clark E. Arneson, City of Bloomington, MN
Collin Barr, Ryan Companies US, Inc.
Colleen M. Carey, The Cornerstone Group
Kareen Ecklund, Felhaber, Larson, Fenlon & Vogt, P.A.
Mark E. Hamel, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Carol Kelleher, Hennepin County, Housing Development Division
James B. Lasher, LSA Design, Inc.
Charles T. Lutz, City of Minneapolis
Robert C. Lux, Alatus Partners LLC
Tom McGough, Jr., McGough Companies
Brad Schafer, Schafer Richardson
Teresa Sterns, Sterns &Associates, LLC

Orange County Chapter
Jeffrey S. Oslick, Terracon Consultants, Inc.
David M. Patton, Patton Development