otiswhite

otiswhite, 24 days ago to random

When Covid hit in 2020 and people flooded out of big cities, many saw the decline of dense urban areas as likely if not inevitable. And now, four years later? Big cities and their most urban neighborhoods are on a comeback … but maybe not because those who left are returning. So who IS moving to cities today? Immigrants make up a big share of newcomers. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/new-census-data-hints-at-an-urban-population-revival-assisted-by-immigration/

otiswhite, 24 days ago to transit

“Getting to Green”: If you believe #transit is important for cities and people should use it, here’s a way to lend a hand. Help people learn to navigate bus routes and enjoy the ride. Your project could start with a video about reading bus maps, paying on board and good rider etiquette. But once the basics are covered, tell people what they can experience along the way. In Philly, that means highlighting buses that take you to … great city parks. https://billypenn.com/2024/04/25/philly-parks-map-getting-to-green/

otiswhite, 1 month ago to random

D.C. has walked away from plans to build a bike lane along Connecticut Ave. Reason? It was “suboptimal,” one official said … whatever that means. Opposition was intense and predictable, with claims that a bike lane would increase congestion, eliminate parking, hurt businesses. Well, these things are knowable. So study existing bike lanes in D.C. Did they reduce overall mobility and hurt businesses? If some did, why and how? THOSE would be the “suboptimal” lanes. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/04/12/connecticut-avenue-bike-lane-abandoned/

otiswhite, 1 month ago to random

Chicago without Chicagoans: It takes a talented artist to make us stop and admire beauty in the ordinary. A Chicago photographer captures humble neighborhood businesses … convenience stores, bars, motels and restaurants … in the middle of the night, when no one is around. The results are striking. https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/december-2022/the-night-hawk/

otiswhite, 1 month ago to random

In the 1970s cities began allowing right turns on red as a way of saving energy. The notion was, you didn’t want drivers wasting gas waiting for the light to change. 50 years later, this notion … and its premise, that cars are the center of urban transportation … are in conflict with another goal: Let’s make it safer to walk in cities … and ITS premise, that cars are only one form of transportation and must share with others. Safely. https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/s-f-right-turn-red-ban-19381814.php #walkable

otiswhite, 1 month ago to random

If you were transported to a big-city downtown in the 1940s, you might not like it. Way too tacky. So many ads on buildings. Such clutter. But restore those neon signs and display them in a warehouse in 2024, and you might find them endearing. A collection of signs from long-ago St Louis businesses and a lot more urban memorabilia will be auctioned soon … alas, not in St Louis but in Las Vegas. https://nextstl.com/2024/03/large-collection-of-st-louis-neon-signs-and-memorabilia-to-be-sold-at-auction/

otiswhite, 1 month ago to random

“Light-touch #density”: In many suburban communities, you don’t need big changes to zoning regulations to increase #housing, add newcomers, build livelier neighborhoods and lower taxes. So, how CAN you do all this? Allow duplexes everywhere in the city and then … just wait. Could it really be that simple? Well, let’s visit Palisades Park NJ and see. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/25/opinion/new-jersey-housing-crisis.html

otiswhite, 1 month ago to random

NIMBYism 2.0: The growing need for #affordablehousing has put #NIMBYs on their heels. But they’re not giving up; they’re just changing the subject. In a Denver suburb, you see a new tactic: Demand apartment developers build parks or other open spaces. Parks are, of course, desirable, but should apartment owners and their tenants bear the entire cost? The aim, of course, isn’t more parks, it’s less housing. https://denverite.com/2024/03/21/lakewood-save-belmar-park-developers-green-open-space-petition/

otiswhite, 2 months ago to random

Spain has built high-speed rail from one end of the country to the other and done so at bargain prices. CA has found it impossible to build a single line from L.A. to S.F. Now, leaders of CA’s effort say it will take $100 billion to complete, which is so ridiculous that they say the state should decide if it wants to just abandon the effort. A third option: Figure out how Spain built its# HSR network and change state laws and practices so CA can do something similar. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/ca-high-speed-rail-100-billion-18979091.php

otiswhite, 2 months ago to random

Time to think about … fire escapes: What will be the next obstacle #housing advocates will face? Building codes that forbid multistory apartments served by a single stairwell. What is this about? Housing affordability vs firefighters’ concern about what will happen if they’re entering a building as people are fleeing it. You can see how this is playing out in Denver. https://denverite.com/2024/03/15/single-stair-buildings-denver-developers-fire-safety/ #publicsafety

otiswhite, 2 months ago to random

City folks rarely pay attention to #rural communities, even in their own state, but they ought to. They may be horrified by what’s happening with crops and livestock and how these things affect their diets. But there’s another reason for concern: the economic impact on small towns. Mega-factory farms don’t borrow from local banks, buy seed from small-town suppliers or purchase tractors from local dealerships. And it’s killing small-town economies. https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24079424/factory-farming-facts-meat-usda-agriculture-census #econdev

otiswhite, 2 months ago to random

A win-win … kinda: Some people in cities really don’t want to live there. And there’s a solution: Today you can live somewhere else and still work at your city job. This frees up scarce urban housing and allows you to live in a cheaper place with a big-city salary. (Good for that place!) Hey, welcome to happy world of hybrid work. Just one thing: Every once in a while you have to go to the office. And, man, is that a killer commute. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/04/business/zip-code-shift-home-work.html

otiswhite, 2 months ago to random

In retrospect, nearly everyone would agree that Savannah GA made a mistake in the late 1960s by building an ugly civic center on the site of one of its beloved squares, disrupting James Oglethorpe’s street grid for which the city is famous. Now, should the city tear down the complex and restore the square and grid? Tear down most of it and keep only its valuable theater? Or something else? These are debates that stir the blood in places like Savannah. https://www.ajc.com/politics/future-redevelopment-of-aging-savannah-civic-center-will-soon-be-decided/NV3HLOZQ3FCING6LDX7D4RY2ZM/

otiswhite, 2 months ago to random

Every ill we associate today with #downtowns … empty office spaces, companies downsizing, landlords grasping for solutions … is duplicated in the giant office parks of the #suburbs. Except their prospects may be even more grim, since they aren’t served as well by transit or have downtown’s history and charm. So what are these Edge Cities, like the ones in Atlanta, doing? They are following the playbook of downtowns and looking for residential development. https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/the-future-of-suburban-office-campuses-build-more-than-just-offices/BYIPBQWSSFB3NOD6DORSFN5OEE/ #CRE

otiswhite, 2 months ago to random

It’s the kind of change you’d think residents of an old neighborhood would embrace. Convert ugly buildings into a development including new police and fire stations, a public library and apartments, many of them affordable. But residents of U St in D.C. are up in arms because they fear change. It’s important that local officials listen respectfully and respond appropriately. But reason says to build the project and show the fearful they are wrong. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/02/20/bowser-u-street-housing-plan/

otiswhite, 3 months ago to random

3 BR, $129 K: A recurring feature in a Pittsburgh news site makes you wonder: Why don’t older suburbs tout what they have in abundance? Like walkable neighborhoods, filled with charming (and cheap) houses that would be great for DIY owners. And if there’s anything remotely hip about the place, toss that in. Can’t picture it? Let’s look at some “affordable-ish” housing in Pittsburgh. https://www.pghcitypaper.com/columns/affordable-ish-housing-in-pittsburgh-cheap-old-houses-edition-25356172

otiswhite, 3 months ago to random

Could Larry David really be arrested for handing a friend a bottle of water outside a polling place on a hot Georgia day? Why, yes, he could. So could you. https://atlantaciviccircle.org/2024/02/14/explainer-yes-the-georgia-election-law-featured-in-curb-your-enthusiasm-is-real/

otiswhite, 3 months ago to random

“I am not the matriarch of D.C. I’m the matriarch of Ben’s Chili Bowl”: How an unassuming restaurant and its equally unassuming 90-year-old co-founder came to be so closely identified with a major American city. Hint: She was aided by her kindness and comfort with many types of people. https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2024/02/15/virginia-ali-bens-chili-bowl-life/

otiswhite, 3 months ago to transit

Why do people fall for fantasies like “hyperloop” #transportation? Because reality is boring. Science fiction isn’t. We have good ways of moving people quickly at low cost across metro areas or between them. They involve trains and buses with dedicated lanes. We need to make them faster, cheaper, better, but … rats, that’s boring. Hey, how about those hyperloops! https://www.minnpost.com/cityscape/2024/02/the-so-called-hyperloop-is-like-vaporware-the-twin-cities-should-not-fall-for-it/ #transit

otiswhite, 3 months ago to random

More than a century ago a writer named Henry George advocated for what he called a “land value tax” as a way of raising revenue and promoting development. Today, some … including Detroit Mayor Duggan … are dusting off George’s big idea. A gov’t finance expert warns against it and offers some alternatives. Here’s one: a “blighted-property surtax.” Another: a “vacant-property surtax.” https://www.governing.com/finance/a-19th-century-property-tax-idea-is-back-can-it-revive-a-blighted-city

otiswhite, 3 months ago to random

There is a city in CA where rents are ... actually falling. It’s Sacramento. How did this miracle of #affordablehousing happen? The city pursued a “more of everything” strategy. Yes, let’s have more subsidized apartments, but also more middle-class and luxury housing. Local officials streamlined approvals, lowered development fees, encouraged density and eliminated parking minimums. Result: A boom in residential construction and, as predicted, lower rents. https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/sacramento-california-affordable-housing-18663865.php

otiswhite, 3 months ago to random

#Zoning is a 20th century invention that had a kind of logic … separating residential neighborhoods from unpleasant land uses … but created many negative consequences. As cities look at alternatives to zoning, we still have a problem: If we allowed mixed land uses, what about bars or corner stores that cause disturbances? For that we need nuisance laws. But, as we see in Philly, we need those laws to be enforced. https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-nuisance-business-law-councilmembers-jones-jr-bass/

otiswhite, 3 months ago to random

“We’ve had bike lanes stopped by CEQA. It’s crazy”: A state legislator wants to exempt downtown S.F. from CA’s environmental review requirements for the next 10 years, speeding up construction there and making it cheaper. And this may be the start of a national effort to take environmental challenges out of the hands of #NIMBYs, who use them against anything they don’t like. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/16/us/san-francisco-ceqa-environment-bill.html #downtowns

otiswhite, 3 months ago to random

Why has the arrival of migrants caused such problems in big cities? After all, until the 1920s, immigration was mostly unfettered; NYC accommodated large numbers of newcomers daily. Other cities, like Chicago, saw huge internal migration. So why such difficulty now? It’s another result of our #affordablehousing crisis, caused by a half-century of bad housing policies. Add to it our neglect of #homelessness, which makes shelters (where they exist) full. https://www.vox.com/24063986/cities-migrant-crisis-border-overwhelmed-shelters

otiswhite, 3 months ago to random

We need #retail in cities because shops give life to streets and neighborhoods. But in the age of Amazon, how does a small retailer make an urban store work? Increasingly by using it as a place for experience and introduction and connecting with customers through wholesale and e-commerce. Sales pitch: Try our chai tea. If you like it, you’ll see it on restaurant menus and you can buy it online. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/business/retail-entrepreneurship-new-york.html #CRE