“New Economics of Downtowns.” Modern Downtowns are experiencing a metamorphosis from commercial centers to 24-hour mixed-use urban cores where people reside, work and play." Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public policy
Martin Luther King vs. Corporate America. 
 Integration vs. Disintegration. Will Camden Sell Out to Campbell's Soup? Can Corzines Office Be Bought?      

By Michael McAteer 

The  Campbell's Soup Project, is a component of the larger "Gateway Neighborhood" Planned Redevelopment *(Who in the world ever heard of a 110 acre Class A business park as part of a "neighborhood" plan? ) (Official City Plan, .pdf )  (Like most things the Plan looks good on paper,) but the Campbell's project as proposed has little chance of being a catalyst for area neighborhoods, as indicated by the only developed area in Camden, the Waterfront. Walt Whitman's House sits on the middle of Mickle Blvd., the main thoroughfare to the redeveloped waterfront. There is no neighborhood better positioned to receive the ancillary benefits of redevelopment. Whitman's House is exactly three blocks from the RAND Transportation Center and three blocks from the main attractions on the waterfront. Yet Whitman's neighborhood has continued to reach an unconscionable level of decay and blight, the nearby development having no effect whatsoever on residential area's at all. Here is the proof.  

The fight for the Sears Building overshadows the fact that Campbell Soup's project is a terribly designed suburban-style component of the Gateway Neighborhood Redevelopment, which ignores transportation assets. The PATCO Hi-Speedline and River LINE skirt the edge.
    The only way Campbell's development will have any effect on residential areas and small businesses in Camden, is to mix in and build residencies and small business shops within the new Campbell's complex simultaneously. If one thinks that office buildings, residences and shops cannot be mixed together successfully, then one has probably never been to downtown Philadelphia, Manhattan, Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, Washington D.C, San Fran.... The Camden Planning Board should take a look at Martin Luther Kings play book for integration, rather than Campbell's  book for segregation. Segregation of downtown Camden district's functions not only destroys urban form, but segregates people into "types." The "types" of people Campbell's wants is non-city resident commuters who will work in the complex Mon.-Fri, 9-5. 

So as Martin Luther King Jr. and an army of civil rights workers led the social transition from obvious forms of segregation, so too do modern urban designers, architects and city planning boards lead the transition from less obvious forms of segregation.

The Campbells Complex, hailed as the new "Gateway" to the city,  will be a lifeless "dead zone" from 5:00 PM until 9:00 AM the next day, completely dead on the weekends and holidays!  (Is that a welcoming first impression "Gateway" or " neighborhood?") The new Campbell Soup complex will have no effect beyond the edges of its own composition. It is a design and project turned totally inward, away from the city and its transportation assets. All and everything in the design is for Campbell's corporate functions, suburban employees and shareholder's. Camden has an urban form, not a suburban form. The urban form cannot reach its full potential when single use zoning triumphs over mixed use zoning. It boils down to a question of integration or dis-integration for the city.  ( See a real city neighborhood "Gateway", active 24/ 7, including holidays and weekends)

The outlying parking lots (hopefully near a new PATCO station) could service the complex by a people mover or jitney. On a nice day, it would be a pleasant five-minute walk from the parking lots if one were to choose. This would give employees and others the option of walking to work, rather than driving. Every car eliminated as a family expense saves, on average, $685 per month and reduces traffic congestion and environmental stress. A new PATCO station would serve the UMDNJ area also, uniting two vital downtown areas in seamless, pedestrian friendly, contiguous development.

 Environmental Building News rigorous research shows that the biggest factor in a building's environmental footprint usually isn't the building itself, but its location and how much driving users to do reach it. Campbell's Soup's new development LEED certification for "green-ness" is more than cancelled out by the fact of its intentional disconnect from nearby commuter train stations. ( Rethinking Green: Blockbuster Report in Environmental Building News Measures Impact of "Driving to Green Buildings" )

The City of Camden should value urban design and lead the way in showing what can be achieved and work together with Campbell Soup and the Office of Smart Growth to "ensure that these assets are used to promote urban renaissance as well as fulfilling their own operational requirements." Camden has suffered from poor quality development in the past. We need a new culture in City Hall, which values design and recognizes that any district in the city is part of the public realm, and effects the senses of anyone utilizing or passing through a district. The design should be an inviting one that provides a pleasant stroll for any person or family living or visiting the city, available and lively seven days per week into the night. Campbell's base's and defends its design purely on economic considerations, without any regard for users other than clients and employees. What goes on in those buildings is Campbell Soups business. But the landscaping, building exteriors, their placement and positioning seriously effect the realm owned by the public. If nothing else, the buildings should be pulled up to face the sidewalk, with pedestrian friendly facades and parking hidden out of sight.

The city of Camden is eager for the new complex, not for its aesthetic or quality of life benefits for its citizens, since there are none in this cold single use office setting, but strictly for the cash Campbell's has offered the city and local charities. This a groveling, beggarly attitude,  shows no pride and a less than flattering image for the city. The Campbell Soup project was presented to the city under threat and fait accompli - after all chances were past for criticism or design testing to a compliant planning board that failed to apply diligent and effective scrutiny, under a demanding deadline for approval set by Campbell Soup. The city planning board could regain a semblance of dignity by showing some backbone in the face of this corporate giant by making approval of the project conditional on an adjustment to the site plan that allows for the possibility of a mixed use community in the future. 

Whatever design results, the city will be stuck with it for 50 - 60 years, a great danger of single use design if the situation at Campbells should change. Any design should be adaptable, and take into account "social variability and the reality that the boundaries of situations, opportunities and problems change over time, viewpoints are flexible and people grow. Cultural, stylistic, ecological, sociological, psychological and built environment influenced behaviors  are just a few concerns addressed by design." Mixed use zoning takes this into account while still accommodating the needs of companies like Campbell Soup. 

At the moment, for a variety of reasons, very few areas of the city are in a position to be regenerated now. Every square inch that is developed represents a rare opportunity, and should be maximized with a high density variety of amenities that will attract people from inside and outside of the city to enjoy and utilize. 

Since the Campbell's Soup complex will be the first new multi-building development in the city, and not in a "star" setting like the waterfront but an area analogous to other parts of Camden, and consume so much land, it is imperative that it's design either sets or relates to the organizing architectural principle that will guide and connect subsequent developments throughout the city, a principle yet to be articulated. 

If Campbell's Soup sticks to its plan, there could be a national consumer backlash amongst progressive minded individuals  against Campbell's Soup ( As indicated in a recent Sunday New York Times Editorial: NY TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 17: "We would urge Campbell's to think again before risking its reputation for good citizenship... ") Campbell's Soup stock may take a hit. 
( Campbell's Soup's "gun to the head of the city approach"  is already being discussed in the media hub of Los Angeles. ) It also boils down to whether the Camden Planning Board, City Council and Gov. Corzines office, can be bought by Campbell's meager $1.4 million annual ( in lieu of taxes ) offering in exchange for shredding the urban form, or if Corzine, his appointee's and the City of Camden can show some integrity, and insist on retaining both Campbell's and the integrity of Camden's priceless urban form.  

For the city to be great again, it must learn to avoid expedient development, that is, that any development is good development. The city has lived to regret this philosophy too many times. Corzine and Camden can retain their integrity, and shape up Campbell's Soup's plan, by asking that the Office of Smart Growth (OSG)  review the plan as it should have. The public has no idea if the plan conforms to the NJ State Smart Code until OSG does a review. The OSG has some great ideas for the Campbell Soup area plans, and is eager to comment through an official review. However, the OSG cannot do a review unless it is asked to by a government agency at the state, county or local level. So far, Corzine refuses to allow any agency to ask the OSG to review the plans, Camden County has not asked for a review and neither has the city. All these entities refuse to seek review, and one can only assume the reason is, on the face of it, at a glance, anyone can see the plan would fail to be approved in its current form by OSG, nor does it conform to the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan legislation. The OSG is not antagonistic to the plan, but stands by willing to help improve it for the sake of the city, the region and Campbell Soup. 

Just Above: DPZ's Riverside development in the Buckhead area of Atlanta is surrounded by suburban office parks and uses diverse building types to blend office, residential, and retail uses on the same streets, at densities (72 units per acre) many times greater than those of adjacent developments (72 units per acre for residential). A set aside of only 10 out of the 110 acres in the Camden / Campbell Soup complex would provide 720 residential units.)  Image courtesy of DPZ.

The common law offers ample precedent for imposing procedural requirements  on private
parties under certain circumstances. Historically, private parties performing “public
functions” could not derogate from the public interest. The public function that
Campbell’s Soup is implicitly performing by incorporating into it's private complex and assuming control of
70 public acres is the  Redevelopment of the City of Camden
under the states Redevelopment laws, and the compliance and advancement of laws
relating to Smart Growth policy, under the neighborhoods designation as an urban center
in need of redevelopment. The issue is whether the design of it’s office campus
is appropriate to the requirements of the Smart Growth and Redevelopment laws or
needs modification, and whether Campbell’s received any direct or ancillary funding
set aside for these policies, and whether Campbells, as Master Redeveloper for the
area is carrying out it’s legal duties to act in the public interest as an implied
designated policy agent in this area.  Public funds, under agreement between the
State of New Jersey and Campbell’s have been set aside for this purpose. The state
has so far insinuated itself into a position of interdependence with a private actor,
(Campbell Soup) that it must be recognized as a joint participant in the challenged
activity. Camden’s trend of viewing public policy through an economic lens rather
than a public interest lens has proven increasingly deleterious over time. The profit
motive ( PILOT payments, charity payments) is simply incompatible with the public
interest and policy goals of Smart Growth and Redevelopment. A question and doctrinal
test arises as to whether state and local funds were appropriated properly in the
public interest, and Campbell’s role as policy agent."

Also, while mindful of Campbell's importance, Corzine should respectfully have the city and Campbell's sit down for a presentation of alternative approaches by the Office of Smart Growth. The Congress for the New Urbanism could be consulted also. ( CNU.org) Campbell's has a chance to create a  bit of architecturally  stunning urban design that when associated with its brand can only enhance it, and enhance the national reputation of the city, or stay the course with its anti-urban, cold shoulder to the city and lack of creativity.

To quote and paraphrase Edmund N. Bacon, "great city design expresses the concept, lines of progression from one place to another, interwoven into a total city fabric. To this, have added points of conjunction, nodes connecting one section of the city to the next, of flowering and enrichment and places of repose. These are important too, and they also call upon the highest expression of architecture, but they can only be understood only in relation to the movement to arrive there and the anticipation of the movement away.

Together these two elements, the architecture of movement and the architecture of repose, make up the city as a work of art, and this is the peoples art. The product of city - design can be experienced by anyone, without qualification, on an equal basis. It could be a great democratic statement of the life we share in common. 

The test of our achievement is whether we are able to break away from our fragmented approach to this problem and begin to see the city as a whole, dealing with it as a complete organism. Thus we must not only plan but, as suggested in the words of Lewis Mumford, we must design in such a way that the finest of our accumulated experience in city-building is brought to every neighborhood in every part of the city." To quote NAACP Interim president Dennis Courtland Hayes: "Some compromises are just too costly."
Send your protests or comments to:

Corzine's Contradiction:

Campbell's Soup  $100 Million Single Use Office Campus Plan Available Online (you will need to disable your Pop-Up Blocker temporarily)
Enlarge Vision plan a little. White "X," W/NW corner of map, is where PATCO High Speed Commuter rail from NJ to Philadelphia submerges from elevated train to subway. Just north of that spot you will find The Riverline, a brand new commuter line that runs from Trenton to Camden's waterfront attractions. This sweet spot marked "X" is less than a 5 minute walk from Campbell's proposed new world HQ campus, yet there are no plans to utilize this intersection of commuter rail. A station stop here would put a mixed use NU development in line with 5 minute walk principle. The ride from here to Center City Philadelphia is a ten minute ride on ultra-modern, clean and efficient train, far superior to any train or subway in Philadelphia. The parking lots on the plan should be put outside the complex, and housing plans in outlying neighborhoods should be built where parking is designated. This would give Campbell's employees and other users of the complex the option of walking to work, rather than drive or commute. Every car eliminated as a family expense saves on average $685.00 per month in ownership, operating and maintenance costs. Every car trip not taken reduces stress of traffic congestion and stress on the environment. The outlying parking lots (hopefully near a new PATCO station) could service the complex by a people mover or Jitney. On a nice day, it would be a pleasant 5 minute walk from the parking lots if one were to choose. A PATCO station near "X" would serve UMDNJ area also, uniting two vital downtown areas in seamless, contiguous development, and could eliminate another thousand motor vehicle trips per day in the region.

Campbell's Soup            
Type: Public
On the web: http://www.campbellsoup.com       
Employees: 24,000
Controls 70% of worlds processed soups business. 

Soup means M'm! M'm! Money! for the Campbell Soup Company. The company is the world's biggest soup maker; its almost 70% share in the US is led by Campbell's chicken noodle, tomato, and cream of mushroom soups. The company also makes meal kits, Franco-American sauces and canned pasta, Godiva chocolates, Pace picante sauce, Pepperidge Farm baked goods (yes, the goldfish crackers you sneak at midnight), and V8 beverages. Its Australian division produces snack foods and its popular "down-under" Arnott's biscuit brand.

Key numbers for fiscal year ending July, 2006: Officers:
Chairman: Harvey Golub
President, CEO, and Director: Douglas R. Conant
SVP and CFO: Robert A. Schiffner      Sales: $7,343.0M One year growth: (2.7%) Net income: $766.0M
Income growth: 8.3% Competitors:
General Mills
Heinz
Kraft Foods

The Smart Growth Locator provides eligibility information for State loan and subsidy programs. This information can be used to determine whether an address is eligible for a number of State programs. Real Estate development in Smart Growth area entitled to subsidies. To use this tool, type in an address with the city or zip code.

FOR EXAMPLE, TYPE INTO LOCATOR:

1 Campbell Place
Camden, NJ
08103-1799
locator              (Address is Campbell's Soups World Headquarters, A Fortune 500 Company)

The map will display the address you entered and the results will indicate whether it is in a smart growth area. For more information about Smart Growth, contact the Office of Smart Growth. 

New Urbanism Clustered, Mixed-Use, Multi-Modal Neighborhood Design  

"...if you fail to design the public realm with deliberate artistry, and by so doing degrade and dishonor the public  realm...""

National Association of Attorneys General talk about the 150th anniversary of Dred Scott decision and its impact. Move time slider to 1 hour, 25 minutes. Next 3 minutes of speech covers zoning, suburbs and segregation. C-Span 

Unlike Camden, codes written by teams of New Urbanists, like the new one prepared for Miami is form-based. It invites the mixing of residences, stores, schools, and other amenities in compact, traditional neighborhoods. It guides the form and placement of buildings so they contribute to the life of the street and create humane public spaces.

.New Rutgers Report: Civic Engagement in Camden, New Jersey: A Baseline04/15/2008 Portrait, The Camden Regional Equity Demonstration Project  

        Gov. Corzine on Revitalization of Camden   
  Names to Consider.    

An extensive repository of data on the City of Camden is available at http://www.camconnect.org, a local Camden-based data warehouse. The website includes information on health, housing, education, public safety, and municipal finances. Many public documents have been archived for easy access as well. Chicago to be a high-rise city where the proximity of so many highly skilled professionals makes markets more efficient, supports the cosmopolitan culture that attracts investment and leads to more service jobs for non-professionals

7/7/07 Smart Growth: Imagine no morning rush hour, being able to walk to dinner from your home or go shopping, all while being able to cut down on pollution and traffic congestion. From Alaska to South Jersey, the buzz of this form of Smart Growth is increasing at an astounding pace. Brookings Institution: Disillusionment with auto-dependent suburbs is on the rise.  DRPA: sprawling parking lots  have become an obsolete use of land, counterintuitive to smart growth. Janine Bauer, a transportation project attorney in Philadelphia, said transit-oriented development is the wave of the future. “This is development that improves the community by cutting down traffic congestion, pollution and stress on residents,” Bauer said. “These are the kind of communities that people want live in. You don’t want to have a stressful commute everyday, especially if you can get on a reliable transit line like PATCO. Then, with the new TODs, you can dine or shop after work without every getting into a car. These communities are a no-brainer."

Living Car Free    From the CNU '06 Convention,  Developer Yaromir Steiner (Audio) Re: Coopers Crossing, Camden, NJ

Why Join CNU?

Charter of the New Urbanism    Learn About New Urbanism

Prince (Charles) "The hastening pace of urbanization means..."

It's Official: Camden, New Jersey: highest poverty rate in the U.S. -U.S. Census Bureau

Cleaning NJ's Political House: ...lurking behind all of these reasons may be Mr. Christie, the biggest and baddest cop of all in NJ

  "When Empty, Return to Camden, New Jersey" a novella by Michael McAteer

,,, If there's one thing the next Camden COO could use, it's an inspiring civic vision. In an age when American cities are competing for jobs and residents, a modern mayor or COO can't be just a social worker. If the next leader expects people to stick around, he's going to have to conjure a dream of a better, more amenity-rich future. He'll need a plan that, in the words of Chicago's Daniel Burnham, has the "magic to stir men's blood."  (paraphrasing)  Inga Saffron Inquirer Architecture Critic

Witness History and Inspiration from Mario Savio Video on You Tube"... we... don't mean to have any process upon us, don't mean to be made into any product, don't mean to end up being bought by... anyone! 

The Convenient Remedy for an Inconvenient Truth
The following letter from John Norquist, President and CEO of CNU, appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Thursday, May 17, 2007.We would use less energy living closer together

June 16, 2007, From Sprawl Hell, Los Angeles CA., L.A. Times

6/09/07 According to Marie York, chair of the American Planning Association's New Urbanism Design Division, living in a neighborhood designed with the pedestrian in mind could save a family enough in transportation costs to cover the mortgage. "In a two-income household," she says, "if one person can get by without having a car for transit, that's an average savings of $680 a month, which in turn can translate into the possibility of homeownership. So it's a huge economic benefit.

6/09/07 Location_Efficient_Mortgages: In effect, allows urban dwellers who depend less on automobile use to purchase a more expensive home. Petition Rep. Andrews, Senators Lautenberg and Menendez for Camden to be added to this short list of eligible cities. Few cities in America can boast Camden's location and transportation assets. With one transfer, PATCO has connections to AMTRAK
and Philadelphia International Airport thru Center City Philadelphia, less than ten minutes away.

6/11/07 Campbell's Soup's Drive To, Out-of Scale New Business Park Brings Sprawl Into the Heart of the City. 
From You Tube: "Sprawling from Grace, Driven to Madness"

6/11/07 Driving is taking its toll in the Chicago region

How walkable is your neighborhood?

6/04/07 The Importance of considering Social Stratification in Camden, New Jersey Renewal Plans - Michael McAteer

6/03/07 Unconventionality of Old Philadelphiia - Influence on New Urbanism

James Howard Kunstler official website
Author of "The Long Emergency,"The City in Mind," "Home From Nowhere," "The Geography of Nowhere" and producer of the award winning documentary, "The End of Suburbia"
"...if you fail to design the public realm with deliberate artistry, and by so doing degrade and dishonor the public realm..."

6/01/07 CNU Proudly Announces the 2007 Winners of the Charter Awards: Coopers Crossing Camden, NJ     ( An NU example of what Campbell's Soup project could be.)
Coopers Crossing by Torti Gallas and Partners and Urban Design Associates

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design    CBS News Article on New Urbanism's Kentlands

5/24/07 NJ Gov. Corzine Set To Destroy Riverfront State Prison In Camden

!!! 5/30/07 Camden Announces Destruction of 2nd Downtown Prison, Camden County Jail, Just Days After Announcing Tear Down of Riverfront State Pen Makes Downtown Camden Wide Open, Prime Real Estate for Development

Updated 04/15/2008 04:56:10 PM   Photos of PATCO neighborhoods, including CNU tour sites:  Rittenhouse Square, Haddonfield, Collingswood    On the CNU Tour Program:  Yorkship Square      A Better Mickle Blvd.
    City Real Estate Transactions         Camden After the Fall  by Rutgers Prof. Howard Gillette         

From the Grave Walt Whitman Challenges  New Urbanists

TOD South Jersey: The purpose of this work is to create station plans that allow DRPA and PATCO to evaluate station development interest relative to their primary business of transit.                                                                    Corzines Katrina? -Michael McAteer   

 Only 8.4 % of registered Camden City voters vote in city council elections. ( aprox 3,000, the population of 5 converted lofts.) An influx of only 3,000 educated urban visionaries could change the political, social and philosophical direction of this city. Camden is generally acknowledged as the most politically and socially dysfunctional city in America. It also, arguably, has the nations greatest location and transportation assets, especially in TOD potential.

Charter of the New Urbanism                  Links To Top New Urbanism Sites Worldwide

Town and Urban Elegance:  The Congress for the New Urbanism / image bank 
                                                                                          

Theater can change people's lives. Just ask Joseph M. Paprzycki. He Hopes to Change Camden Through Art

Walt Whitman lived, wrote the final edition of "Leaves of Grass," died and is buried in Camden, NJ.

   PATCO HI-SPEED RAIL LINE PHOTOS, NEIGHBORHOODS, STATIONS   

Rutgers, The Ford Foundation Present: A Web site driven by a data base of more than 400 aerial and sidewalk-level images. 
       
Prince Charles Foundation for the Built Environment  On January 27, 2007 England's Royal's Prince Charles and wife, the duchess of Cornwall, visited  Philadelphia.    

           No urban reform could have a greater effect, if successful, than attacking the culture of single parenthood.

 The normalities of sprawling strip malls may become a thing of the past outside of Richmond, Virginia as Smart-Growth Groups seek to change the way their communities are planned and developed.

Regeneration: Community groups with a sophisticated culture of urban economics and design should be invited into the process. A good example of this type of community group is the Design Advocacy Group in Philadelphia.
  
" I am a college graduate and I couldn't find work for almost a year. Someone from the unemployment office advised me to use another address other than Camden and that's when I finally received calls. "  LaVERNE MITCHELL Camden, quoted in Courier-Post, Dec. 31, 2006  A Leadership Crisis: Who will inherit Camden?   

   Jewish Camden Partnership    Hopeworks.org  Camden Community History     Camden Business Resource Map    

Camden Renewal Business Tax Credits    The latest in Camden New Jersey Development Projects

  12/03/06 "when church and state are separate, the effects are happy, and they do not at all interfere with each other: but where they have been confounded together..,  -Michael McAteer