The Village of Oxford located in North Oakland County has experienced significant growth since its founding fathers settled there in the late 1800's. Located in North Oakland County and so rich in natural rock and mineral resources that many have labeled Oxford the "gravel capital" of the world. In fact, Oxford has an historical, you might even say, a prehistoric connection to its’ gentle rolling hills which are actually glacial deposits from millions of years ago. Today an obvious moniker has evolved from this merging of the past with the present. Quite literally, “Oxford Rocks!”
The gravel based industries of the past have since morphed from gravel... to Golf... to perhaps one might even say "Green". There is a definite timeline that connects the past to the present and at some point one would expect there to be a merging and/or maybe a collision. Imagine a small town with one traffic signal since the traffic signal was invented. Now imagine the spokes on a wheel of an ever expanding circle, the City of Detroit, and one will get the vision of how this collision takes place. Secondly, develop a highway system that allows commuters to get to work and back in a reasonable amount of time, that allows for a suburban lifestyle with such recreational opportunities as boating, hiking, biking, lakes, rivers, trials, open state land. What do you get? Towns like Lake Orion and Oxford where the motto is " Where living is a vacation.” and tag lines like "Celebrate Oxford and Oxford Rocks".
However, what do you get when you place a busy State Highway right through the center of town? One could say and you end up with the authentic version of what developers are trying to duplicate on their drawing boards when designing shopping/lifestyle centers like "Partridge Creek Mall" Or "The Villages of Rochester Hills"… a kind of Disney like version or McVillage. A perfectly crafted hollow shell, but never as satisfying as the real thing, like the historical Villages of Oxford or Clarkston.
For years the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has favored the automobile and truck with the priority being moving them "through" a community in the most efficient method possible. To date, this has defined how our road system and adjacent sidewalks have been created. When taking MDOT’S historical practices into account and applying them to Villages like Oxford, which has gone through significant growth both in residential and commercial development, you find yourself in a modern society, with a significant historical past, set on a major highway infrastructure system with only one traffic signal at the main intersection a second full time signal just recently added in 2010. Needless to say this north south artery allows thousands and thousands of automobiles to move through this historical district every day without much consideration for other modes of transportation like the pedestrian or bicyclist. Good master planning? Probably not, as one could ponder that our founding fathers did not imagine a 27 hole golf course would eventually cover a once thriving gravel operation, or that thousands of homes would built on these very same lands over the past decade.
The best way to describe the dilemma of the growing pains happening here are this... imagine you’re visiting one of the new off the drawing board Villages (Mc malls) with the beautify designed streetscapes and then divert the traffic off of your average M line M24, M15, M 119 and through the middle of this Disney like development. What do you see? What do you feel? What do you smell? Imagine the smell of the pumped out Abercrombie fragrance combining with the diesel truck emissions... It's a bad smell... let's not do this!
If you’re a business owner in the Village of Oxford... you either accept things for what they are... or you look for ways to make change. "Change" is never a comforting word for any well-established community... especially with roots that go back far into the 1800's. We all know by now that change is inevitable... we can either manage it... or die from stress trying to block it... but regardless... change is going to happen. Might as well do our best to shape it for the better.
The Downtown Development Authority in the Village of Oxford has been working on just this task. The Economic Development Committee started out on a quest to research the "Complete Streets" model in the summer of 2010. The Committee is led by Chairman Don Sherman, Board member Anna Taylor, Executive Director Madonna Vanfossen, and Village Manager Joe Young. The journey started with a visit to a "Complete Streets" roll-out meeting. Advocate Anna Taylor indicated “We wanted to look for ways to tackle this problem and I'd heard about Complete Streets and the positive effect it is having on communities. We wanted to be in early and get on board before this became a mandate". Taylor recognized that this trend was coming and realized that you can get in early... or have it imposed upon you later.
After the roll out meeting the committee began researching the best and brightest in the business. After extensive research and studies... they found the help they were looking for... right here in metro Detroit. During our research we discovered that there may be resources to collaborate with that are right on the forefront of this movement... perhaps even ahead of the current curve in many ways to those already established or living in the current world of MDOT established rules and culture. It was through a conversation with a non-related client of Sherman’s that led to an outreach to a then unknown resource of the Lawrence Technological University... Detroit Studios that these two unlikely partners came together. Sherman took the lead and extended an e mail to Dr. Joonsong Kim who heads up the "LTUDS" which eventually lead to the committee hitting the road to visit Dr. Kim and his Detroit Studio's located in New Center area (near former GM world HQ and the Fisher Building).
Sherman say's ... "We took a road trip and were introduced to Dr. Kim and the Detroit Studio's. We observed the work in progress and the busy design and modeling taking place throughout the space. It was when we began the conversation of what our vision was for the Complete Streets project that Dr. Kim almost stood up out of his chair and began to provide insight and support of our vision. Clearly he was a disciple of this model and understood exactly what our predicament was about. We knew that there was tremendous value in what Dr. Kim had at his disposal in the young, energetic and talented resources of the LTUDS student base. They were working on "what if" projects that were not necessarily real life... yes we need
in our community type of work. Connecting the Villages vision of "what we need “with the energy and talent of "what we aspire to do" formed a wonderful bond in the coming together of the two parties. Kind of like bringing together peanut butter and chocolate to create the peanut butter cup!
From there the DDA continued their research on Complete Streets which eventually lead to bringing in several planning and design firms to present and bid on a Complete Streets plan and design for the Village of Oxford. During this process several stake holders were brought into the center of the discussion to include representatives from MDOT, Oxford Village Council, Village of Oxford Planning and Design representatives, local political representatives from the State of Michigan and Oakland County. Ultimately the planning and design project was awarded to the firm of Birchler Arroyo Associates along with Grissom-Metz-Andriese Associates for the landscape design portion of the project. One of the caveats that the ER Committee requested was the willingness to include the Lawrence Tech Detroit Studios students in the process. Birchler Arroyo was more than willing to agree to this and will be engaging with LTUDS after the final presentation is made to the community. The idea is to provide the students with pieces of the puzzle that need visioning and idea's. For example, we have discussed how to utilize an undeveloped space commonly known as East Alley or Edison Alley. Dr. Kim walked this area with a group of students last fall and described it as a "Peaceful Oasis" prime for place making as an alternative for pedestrians and cyclists. Why expect and direct people to a sidewalk only inches away from 35-40 mile per hour cars, trucks, and gravel haulers... when you can create a more pleasant/peaceful experience that connects the south end of the Village to the north end pedestrian bridge and Polly Ann Trail system. Sherman indicates "This is the true meaning of Value added to the Complete Streets Project. Imagine a project one of these talented students has some touch on today being implemented in the future? That will look pretty good in their portfolio and perhaps a living legacy to their LTUDS experience."
The real story here is about the commonalities we have with each other here in the greater Metropolitan Detroit community at large. What do the City of Detroit, LTDUS, and the Village of Oxford have in common? Well... more than you might think when you consider the possibility that the gravel mined from the pits in North Oakland County may have laid the foundation for the roads and highways and foundations throughout the Detroit area. In years past city dwellers would seek to vacation in then what was considered "up north" Lake Orion and Oxford. Remember... Lake Orion was once accessible by train and loads of vacationers would jump off the train and head to boats that lead them to their rural rustic vacation locations.
Last but not least... right there in the heart of the city... carefully placed in the beautiful Campus Marcius stands two beautifully designed glass and steel sculptures. They are located at the North end of the plaza and are iconic modern works of art created by artist and teacher Herb Babcock. Herb is a long time resident of Oxford and teaches sculpting at the College of Creative Studies (CCS) in Midtown Detroit.
Enter... "Complete Streets".
