"The multi-level apartment building is located in Philadelphia's Fishtown neighbourhood, a transitioning area that has been attracting creative types and urban professionals."*
This is a beautiful building, but I cannot help but translate the term "transitioning area" into gentrification.
For brothers Pierre and Granville Pullis, photographing the sprawling system was intrepid, precise work—not unlike the construction itself - by Jessica Leigh Hester March 6, 2020
"...The...images are technically proficient, but also artistic & tenderly humane. Many of the photographs were bound into books...as reference documents, or as evidence... (it was, after all, an era when construction was staggeringly dangerous and injuries were commonplace).
They were also impeccably timed snapshots of urban life & work. [They] captured signs & businesses & moments of striking symmetry, such as people frozen in mid-stride as they wandered between buildings. “What makes these full of personality [in a way] that other photographs of this type usually [aren’t] is that you can tell [they] ...waited for just the right moment to click the shutter,” says Shapiro..."
Just saw someone recommending cycling/urbanism accounts to follow and every one was a white (presumably abled) dude, with the exception of a podcast that has a white woman.
I know we're somewhat limited in recommendations by who joined Mastodon & participates here, but try to recommend more diverse follows. The most famous accts are not necessarily the ones doing the work. I've seen some scrape & re-brand the work of white women & BIPOC without credit.
It's one thing for an individual to be able to live car-free. It's another thing for an entire municipality to exist without cars. There are actually four necessary conditions:
• Car-free existence within the municipality
• Residents can function car-free outside the municipality
• Critical mass of car-free individuals
• Car-free community structure
Spoiler: the New York Times's #urbanism "experts" get them confused.
If you're tempted to cut public flowers, the best place to do it is in a curbcut where thorny roses were planted too close and narrowed an already-too-narrow sidewalk.
Those thorns can give wheelchair users a flat tire, which will make this sidewalk that is only barely wide enough for one wheelchair user an even bigger pain in the ass. #UCAccessNow#Ableism#Urbanism#gardening
Trains: have to turn a profit
Buses: have to turn a profit
Roads: being maintained by tax payer money, don’t have to make a profit (we barely have any toll roads at all in NL).
What Can We Learn From the Ruins of Gary, Indiana?
Exploring deindustrialization by Matthew Christopher May 3, 2024
"...To understand the root of Gary’s problems, we have to understand why it was built in the first place. Gary was founded in 1906 by United States Steel on approximately 10,000 acres of swampland it had covertly purchased. Unlike other American cities that had a more organic evolution, Gary’s sole purpose was to manufacture steel at Gary Works. ...Gary was a metropolis born of the ruthless pragmatism of railway lines and shipping routes—not quality of life...
...In 1973, a recession in the global steel market led to drastic decreases in steel prices and mill closures across the country. The effects were severe and long-lasting, and steel towns were among the hardest hit...
...It’s a warning, a monument to loss....It’s really a shame to see everything that you grew up with gone.”
A huge congratulations to @philipthalis on his well-deserved award.
Philip is undeniably both one of Australia's most respected architects and a tireless advocate for good urban design.
More importantly, he's not afraid to speak up publicly against bad state government planning decisions, as he did with Barangaroo, even when there's a personal cost.
Forget the old woman who lived in a shoe: A Michigander in her mid-thirties made a home in a Family Fare supermarket sign for nearly a year, local outlet MLive reported. The unnamed woman lived rent-free and went unnoticed by shoppers and workers until a construction crew working on repairs to the building’s roof stumbled upon her humble abode two weeks ago, Midland Police Officer Brennon Warren told the outlet. “She essentially made it home,” Warren said, describing how officers discovered a cozy apartment complete with desk, houseplant, computer printer, coffeemaker, and a cubbyhole of food. It’s unclear why and how the woman chose to build her nest there; police said she’s employed and turned down housing assistance when offered. When she was discovered, some of the store workers said they recognized her from around the property and that she occasionally seemed to vanish into thin air. They now have a new name for the legendary eave-dweller: “The Roof Ninja.” Authorities and Family Fare are working to help her find a new home.
So despite climate change, Australia's federal government has just committed an extra $3.25 billion into building a toll road and a 20-lane freeway widening.
"Pouring an extra $3.25 billion worth of federal funds into Melbourne’s North East Link is a good use of taxpayer money, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has insisted, despite the project’s cost doubling just a few months ago.
...
"The North East Link – which includes 6½ kilometres of tunnels – will stretch from Bulleen to Greensborough. It will widen the Eastern Freeway by up to 20 lanes.
"Allan revealed in December that the 10-kilometre toll road had more than doubled in cost since it was first announced.
"The toll road was initially budgeted at $10 billion and reassessed in 2019 at $15 billion. But the government revealed last year that the updated cost estimate was $26 billion."
North America is wierd when it comes to transportation. It’s important to remember when reading things about #urbanism and #mobility that American baselines about how things work are not the same as yours.
Filing this one away for the next time I hear someone say “you could never fit LRT on this street!” (side note: #Brussels has a brilliant tram system). #transit#urbanism#cities
How To Start Strengthening Your Town With Incremental Development
Will Gardner May 6, 2024
"...And incremental doesn’t have to mean slow. Incremental growth is potentially the fastest way to grow housing stock, revitalize downtown areas and fill town coffers. Large greenfield projects, despite their promise of hundreds or thousands of housing units, take years of work to come to fruition — usually with large political fights along the way. These are large, often long-shot bets that may not come through... Conversely, small infill projects can be initiated in a matter of weeks and months. As these projects happen, they attract further attention and resources to the town and create momentum for growth..."
Small infill includes accessory dwelling units, too - so called "granny flats" and remodeled garages or outbuildings. These could easily create a lot of new affordable housing.
@nerd4cities Nebula is great, but my subscription is coming to an end soon and I would love to see you start posting to PeerTube. Even if it’s a delayed option, I am generally happy to wait.
Please consider making https://urbanists.video your home for videos on the Fediverse. My dollar or two a month via Patreon is just a drop in the bucket, but I’m confident I’m not the only person who prioritize support for those who repost to PeerTube
My student (8 years old) is thinking of “bad ideas that sound good” (we’re working on ideas for that and “good ideas that sound bad” (controlled burns for forest fires).
After watching the latest, excellent @notjustbikes video about the introduction of even more 30 km/h streets in Amsterdam, this one by Chris Cox from Brisbane, feels like it could be an addendum.
The Brisbane Times reporter Felicity Caldwell is a legend.
So the RTA's own modelling showed the Rozelle Interchange would be a traffic disaster—but generating more toll road trips for Transurban was more important.
"The [NSW Roads and Traffic Authority] finalised the first business case for the WestConnex tunnel project in June 2013, with the help of road designers from around the world.
"[Paul Forward, a former CEO of the RTA] said the initial concept did not include the Rozelle Interchange.
...
"In 2014, an expert review group was formed to assess these plans.
"Mr Forward said it was at this point that TfNSW bureaucrats began to question the connectivity provided by the design.
"The RTA's former director of traffic Chris Ford told the inquiry that 15 alternative designs were modelled.
"Mr Ford said the modelling found that another motorway leading to the Anzac Bridge would cause congestion.
"'The issues that we see today were very clearly established in the modelling in 2014,' he said.
"In November 2015, after Mr Forward and Mr Ford were dismissed, TfNSW updated the WestConnex business case to include the tunnel to the Anzac Bridge, despite the congestion concerns raised by the modelling.
"In 2016, Transport for NSW updated the business case a second time ... creating a tunnel linking the Iron Cove Bridge to the Anzac Bridge."
...
"In 2018, the NSW government sold its 51 per cent stake in the Sydney Motorway Corporation, the body responsible for operating WestConnex, to Transurban for $9 billion.
"Mr Forward said the final design would generate a larger number of toll trips than previous options."