January 2012
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Between the Lines: Parking in Los Angeles →
The LA Times gives Donald Shoup and his ideas some much-needed press. Key takeaway: LA wasn’t built around the car, it was built around the parking lot.
December 2011
8 posts
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Urbanizing the Suburban Street →
From the always-good The Atlantic Cities, a story about Montgomery County, MD turning suburban arterial streets into “complete” streets that cater to pedestrians and bicycles as well.
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Buffalo, Then and Now →
A great look at how a series of misguided decisions and policies can totally destroy an urban fabric. I’m not surprised that the vibrant areas today most closely resemble their 1902 counterparts. And the most desolate areas are the ones with the modern office blocks and seas of parking.
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Pervious Pavement and Street Width in Portland
I was visiting some friends in Portland when I happened upon some unique paving. Instead of the street consisting of one solid slab of asphalt, the asphalt was limited to the narrow travel lane. The parking lanes were paved with brick-colored pavers. After I returned home, I did some research and found that this was a City of Portland, OR pilot project to test a couple of pervious paving...
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“For a concert hall, Los Angeles requires, at a minimum, 50 times more parking...”
– Donald Shoup, The High Cost of Free Parking
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The Texture of Streets
In a recent post over at New World Economics, Nathan Lewis posted a series of photos of great urban streets (see one below) and asked: “Does the place you live/work/shop look as good as this? Why not?” He’s making the obvious point that most people don’t interact with spaces like this on a daily basis, at least not in the United States. There are many reasons for this; Lewis looks at the economics...
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For luxury cars, a parking space with a view →
The New York Times did this piece on the world’s most expensive parking spaces, located up a car elevator adjacent to the owner’s condo. These units, on 11th Ave. in New York, go for $7 million, and the real estate dedicated to the car is valued at $800,000. The real estate agent notes that the parking spaces aren’t the primary selling point, but they do help differentiate the...
November 2011
1 post
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September 2011
3 posts
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July 2011
2 posts
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Can cafeteria culture work in a city? →
Twitter is moving from Silicon Valley to San Francisco. They offer their employees free lunches at their cafeteria. Will this inhibit the propagation of street life nearby?
June 2011
2 posts
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April 2011
8 posts
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secret republic: The Real Reason Why Bicycles Are... →
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“It is difficult to design a place that will not attract people. What is...”
– William H. Whyte
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WatchThis is the Citizen Kane of urban time-lapse videos.
March 2011
16 posts
Since building a new metro line, Vancouver has... →
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“The measure of any great civilization is in its cities, and the measure of a...”
– John Ruskin
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“Any town that doesn’t have sidewalks doesn’t love its children.”
– Margaret Mead
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“In the process he has confirmed his status as one of America’s best-known...”
– New York Times Magazine article on Greg O’Connell
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WatchMad Men selling high speed rail.
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WatchBeautiful time-lapse video of Sydney. If urban time-lapses are your thing, check out an earlier post of Vancouver.
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The Colourful Buses of Seoul →
Color-coding buses is a great idea. Who cares if all the buses in a city match? That they’re from the same system is typically a given.
February 2011
3 posts
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Perugia, Italy evicts autos in favor of... →
Wonderful article about how Perugia replaced cars with escalators and a people mover. The result was a better city.
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January 2011
2 posts
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May 2010
1 post
What Legacy Will the Shanghai World Expo Have on... →
Squaring a Circle: The Story of Circleville, Ohio →
March 2010
15 posts
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Like to Text? Take Transit. →
I’m all for creative arguments to get people to swap cars for transit.
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