Main Street Express and the Plug-In Commons Our proposal is about creating a few minimal infrastructural and symbolic gestures that play on the daily rhythm of the commuter rail and create, at certain points of the day, a temporary civic environment. It involves four moves – clearing up civic space in front of the train station, adding a symbolic and pragmatic power source, providing a power-grid with plug-in opportunities and introducing a mobile system of shops which travels from town to town via the rail system. Civic quality is not generated by design or aesthetics, but through program and convenience – the need for commuters to access shops and services immediately before and after their daily commutes. Step 1: Make Space Most areas around Long Island rail stations are a mess of infrastructure, parking garages, and parking lots. Clear the space in front of the train stations and make a proper square/plaza/ common. It doesn’t have to be big, but it should be able to house a certain number of kiosks and stalls geared towards the town population and commuter size. Most importantly, the design should be minimal and not impede any possible modifications/
appropriations that may ensue. Step 2: Build a Tower of Power
The main infrastructural investment will be a monumental, sustainable power source. Because wind turbines are already monumental in nature, simply placing a wind turbine adjacent to the square will do, but it can also be a solar panel tower. The power source will be tall, so it can be seen throughout the town and will orient people to the centre. Its main purpose is to supply renewable electricity to vendors and kiosks by feeding into an energy grid of plug-in power sources embedded in the commons. Power is free and anyone can use it. Step 3: Provide Semi-Permanent Services A series of cheap semi-permanent kiosks will be the first pioneers of the site. The uses – a coffee stand, newsstand, shoeshine, flower stand – will be determined by what services can be sustained on a daily basis given commuter rates. This can change over time as commuter rates hopefully increase: larger more permanent institutions can be erected around the square – child daycare, doggy daycare, a grocery store, accountants, a walk-in clinic. Step 4: Provide Ambulatory Services through the Main Street Express Many stations have less than two thousand riders daily. They can’t support daily services, but could support specialised services once or twice a week. This is where the Main Street Express comes in. It is a train of specialised services contained in modified containers, which uses the Long Island rail network to move from town to town, dropping off and picking up retail services on certain days. The containers are hoisted into place on the square by cranes on the train. Such services could include manicure/pedicure, used bookstore, jeweller, fortune teller, farmers market. Main Street Express Network Several Main Street Express trains will travel Long Island, setting up and dismantling market spaces in the plug-in commons. They will operate on a set schedule, with larger towns hosting more frequent market days, and getting more container shops and kiosks than smaller towns.
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