February 2010
23 posts
1 tag
Growing the Oglethorpe plan in Downtown Savannah →
I’m glad that city officials in Savannah realize how great their historic core is.
2 tags
88% of Americans Are Open to High Speed Rail →
Rail is good politics. And there’s this bit, too:
More than four in five (83 percent) Americans agree public transit and high-speed rail infrastructure should receive a larger share of federal funding than they do now.
3 tags
Baltimore Developer to Stack Walmart on Top of...
The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Kann Partners, a development firm is planning a $65 million housing and retail development anchored by Walmart and Lowe’s, which they plan on stacking. This is interesting for a few reasons:
From the article:It will be the first to open in this area since [Walmart] executives launched a campaign to retool stores with new graphics and merchandise as...
1 tag
2 tags
New Study Released Highlights Good Parking Policy →
I linked to Streetsblog because they have a good synopsis for those who don’t want to read the whole report (linked in the article). Here’s a key quote:
“There was a 35-year parking coma during which the federal government, cities, and environmentalists forgot why parking was important,” said John Kaehny, who co-authored the report with Matthew Rufo and UPenn professor...
2 tags
Utah Passes Bill Letting Cyclists Yield at Stop... →
From this article, it sounds like all of the opposition have never cycled to work in their lives. Bikes can coast through without endangering anyone.
2 tags
Pittsburgh Hopes for Privately Funded Transit... →
Pittsburgh officials hope to get private developers to create a transit link between downtown Pittsburgh and Oakland, a second large commercial zone in the area. In return, the developers will get rights to build along the route. Nobody has stepped up yet, but it will be interesting to see how this goes.
This directly relates to my post yesterday about why transit isn’t profitable now....
2 tags
How Slums Can Save the Planet →
Stewart Brand writes about the importance of cities and densities in the developing world. He goes on to stress the importance of density in rich nations, as well. There are lots of great quotes and points made, but this is my favorite bit:
Alleyways in squatter cities, for example, are a dense interplay of retail and services—one-chair barbershops and three-seat bars interspersed with the...
1 tag
1 tag
Why Transit Used to Be Profitable and Isn’t Now →
First, there must be attractions at both end so the fixed costs in tracks and cars can make money both ways. Early streetcar lines often has amusement parks at the terminus to promote two-way travel. The Las Vegas monorail is a decent modern version of this – there’s something at every stop. Transit lines that end in the suburbs at a big parking lot will be underutilized by definition.
By Peter...
3 tags
Parking Lots Downtown = Bombs →
It’s a blunt comparison, but not without merit.
1 tag
Shopping Malls Are Going Extinct →
While the mall may not be dead yet, it’s lost the ability to reproduce—a sure sign of its extinction.
No new regional, enclosed malls have been built since 2006 and none are in the works. Lifestyle centers, on the other hand, are still a viable concept. The article also makes a great point about banks: things don’t get built if banks won’t finance them.
9 tags
2 tags
2 tags
Housing In America: The Next Decade →
There’s nothing but good news in this report by the Urban Land Institute. Well, it’s good news if you believe that cities are the way of the future. The report paints a bleak picture for suburbia and current homeowners, but it says this about Generation Y (Millenials, Echo Boomers):
They say they want to live in urban areas; a 2008 survey by RCLCO found that 77% of Echo Boomers...
The Smart Politics of High Speed Rail in the US →
According to an E&E analysis, the passenger rail lines that received stimulus cash go through more than 40 percent of all congressional districts, including those represented by a number of powerful lawmakers that will play a key role in finding the tens of billions of additional dollars thought to be needed to complete the work.
Neighborhood Pride: Ten Ideas To Boost Block... →
All nice ideas, from GOOD magazine. My favorite:
Rip out the sod and start a small front yard farm to produce food for your household and some of your favorite neighbors.
Via downtowncreator
1 tag
1 tag
1 tag
“In Flatland, which occupies the middle of the country, it’s easy to build...”
– Paul Krugman, as quoted in a great piece at The Urbanophile.
2 tags
1 tag
Home Sizes Continue to Shrink →
Average single-family home sizes declined from 2,520 square feet in 2008 to 2,480 square feet in 2009, breaking nearly 30 years of uninterrupted growth.
It’s sad that it took a massive recession to reverse this trend, but I hope it permanently reshapes our thinking about what we need in a house.
2 tags
Biking and Walking Make Up 9.6% of Trips →
But only receive 1.2% of federal funding.