Here's a chapter in a book (you can read a lot of it for free) by the same authors of the NYC parking minimum study, but this time on the practical effects of the Bloomberg rezonings. Here's an excerpt from the conclusion: This study helps to shed light on the land use consequences of this tension … [Read more...]
From the comments: “Architects always ask, with a haggard look in their eyes…”
In response to yesterday's post about landmark districts, one commenter said that it wasn't a good example of landmarking gone awry, since the project was approved, apparently without controversy. Of course, he's right – even the Landmarks Preservation Commission isn't going to turn down an … [Read more...]
A question for the blogosphere: How much affordable housing is enough?
Reading about a new ultra-luxury Far West Side rental project going up where over 40% of the apartments are going to have controlled rents ("affordable housing"), I'd like to pose a question to supporters of affordable housing mandates in the planning blogosphere (which includes pretty much the … [Read more...]
Historical landmark districts in two pictures
Ralph Lauren had to get permission from the NYC Landmarks Commission a few years ago to tear down this:...in order to build this: … [Read more...]
Old Urbanist on the failure of Boston’s newest park
Old Urbanist is one of my favorite urbanist blogs (and not just because of the name), and Charlie's got a post up about Boston that I think has a good market urbanist lesson in it. He describes how the formerly elevated Central Artery, buried by the Big Dig, was replaced with a park, with nobody … [Read more...]
Links: A private cable car line for Hamburg, a private downtown for Quincy, Mass., and no adaptive reuse for Brooklyn
1. Hamburg's newly-revitalized port could get a completely privately-funded cable car line, if the city allows it.2. Quincy, Mass., a few T stops away from downtown Boston, is getting a new downtown from a private developer, replete with infrastructure and dense development. It's unique, … [Read more...]
What favelas can teach us about America
Anthony Ling, an excellent Brazilian blogger who also happens to be an avowed market urbanism, gives us an interesting look at the politics and economics of low-income housing in Brazil:In Brazil there is a vast regulation defining what are the minimum requirements to have a building approved by … [Read more...]
Aaaand the bike lobby finally descends into self-parody…
Since I've spent the last couple of days pounding the O'Toole/Kotkin/Cox trifecta pretty hard, I figured it was time for a left-wing target: bike lanes. To be honest, I've always been a little annoyed with the bike wing of the urbanist lobby, but it was this article in Streetsblog, "How Ad Dollars … [Read more...]