First of all, I should start out by saying that I've only ever been to Chicago once, and I really don't remember anything but the inside of my aunt's house. I remember asking them if there was good mass transit, and they said Metra is good, but the L, which is near them, is not something they'd … [Read more...]
Photos and renderings of buildings going up across New York
In honor of my new home (as of this February), New York City, here are some new towers going up in Midtown Manhattan! All photos from (where else?) the SkyscraperCity forums...click for source.The first is the International Gem Tower in the Diamond District (which looks to me like textured steel … [Read more...]
Montgomery County’s loss is Calgary’s gain: Rollin Stanley escapes from the coven to Canada
Not sure how this escaped me, but it seems that a few weeks ago, Rollin Stanley was announced as Calgary's new chief planner. Rollin Stanley, you'll recall, was the very vocal pro-urban growth planner in Maryland's Montgomery County, north of Washington, DC, who resigned after these four sentences … [Read more...]
Were NYU and Chelsea Market’s hotels just stalking horses?
An item from Crain's NY Business, behind a paywall (I think?): Sacrificial hotels Two hotel developments in Manhattan were effectively killed last week. The City Planning Commission cut a proposed 190-room property from New York University's expansion plan, and Community Board 4 rejected Chelsea … [Read more...]
New York’s Funny Definition Of ‘Moderate- and Middle-Income’ Housing
Pretty interesting article in the NYT today about the Gotham West development that recently broke ground on Manhattan‘s far west side. But I think the part about affordable housing could use some context: But the bulk of the project will be affordable units, 682 of them, or more than half the … [Read more...]
The North Korean Origins Of Renzo Piano’s Shard Tower
Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks London’s Shard skyscraper (shameless article-I-wrote-about-London-skyscrapers plug) looks like Pyongyang’s Ryugyong Hotel. Koryo Tours, the only tour group that offers westerners package to North Korea, plays up the similarities on its … [Read more...]
Italy’s Austerity Plan Spurs Transport Deregulation
There’s been a lot of handwringing by American lefties over the austerity plans that Germany is asking indebted eurozone governments like Italy and Greece to implement in exchange for bailouts, but many aspects of the plans – especially labor market deregulation – are long overdue no matter … [Read more...]
Cutting Costs On California HSR Doesn’t Have To Add Delays
Scrapping viaducts like this would make California HSR cheaper, faster to build, and easier to maintain, without a loss in quality The recent peer review report recommending that California delay construction on the first segment of its high-speed rail project has caused a bit of consternation in … [Read more...]