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CNU Salons
Cities, Suburbs and Commute Length
Submitted by MLewyn on Thu, 05/08/2014 - 5:20pmI recently discovered a fun tool: the Census Bureau's Census Explorer, which is full of maps about all kinds of things. In particular, I spent some time exploring commute length.
One reason why NYC is so expensive
Submitted by MLewyn on Wed, 05/07/2014 - 6:00pmBetween 2000 and 2010, the number of renter-occupied housing units in New York increased by only 1.8 percent, while the number of households increased by 2.9 percent. I would imagine that if you add that to the increased demand arising from the post-recession difficulty of financing a home, you should have expected zooming rents, which is of course exactly what New York has.
DeBlasio's Unimpressive Housing Plan: No Substitute For The Free Market
Submitted by MLewyn on Tue, 05/06/2014 - 9:22amNew York's new mayor, Bill DeBlasio, has just proposed to spend $8 billion in taxpayers' money to create 80,000 new housing units. 80,000 is certainly better than nothing.
On the other hand, New York has 3 million occupied housing units today, so even if the DeBlasio plan works, the city's housing supply will increase by a grand total of 2.7 percent over the next decade- barely enough to keep up with population.
The Infrastructure Argument Against Infill
Submitted by MLewyn on Fri, 05/02/2014 - 5:29pmOne common (if vague) argument against upzoning and infill development is that infrastructure in place X (wherever the proposed development is) will somehow be overwhelmed by more important. When I see this argument I want to ask:
1. What infastructure are you talking about?
2. How is it currently inadequate in place X?
3. If you don't want more people to live and work in place X where do you want them to live and work instead?
Are Wider Streets More Congested?
Submitted by MLewyn on Thu, 05/01/2014 - 9:32amIn a recent Planetizen blog post, Brett Toderian had an interesting insight: "When vehicles are moving, they take up much more space. The faster they move, the more separation distance and space between vehicles is needed." This makes intuitive sense to me: when I am driving on a 20 mph street, I am willing to drive only a few feet behind other cars, while when driving 60 mph I don't feel comfortable getting so close to the car in front of me.
Yes, Upzone The Nice Areas Too
Submitted by MLewyn on Wed, 04/30/2014 - 9:38pmAn interesting and provocative blog post by Chicago planner Pete Saunders argued that urbanites should not be pressing too hard for upzoning well-off urban neighborhoods because "maybe they ought to consider more of the city to live in.
Extremist New Urbanism
Submitted by Sam Newberg - J... on Wed, 04/23/2014 - 9:19pmA pitched battle has emerged in Minneapolis between two groups, one advocating for the preservation of a large single-family home and the other favoring its demolition to allow for a 45-unit infill project by the Lander Group. The preservationist have accused those in favor of demolition of "extremist new urbanism." A slightly more level-headed reporting abo
Two Cheers For Negative Thinking
Submitted by MLewyn on Thu, 04/17/2014 - 10:41amI recently read an article suggesting that Cleveland's problems were in part due to "negative thinking"- some fuzzy "vibe of negativity" that discourages people from moving to Cleveland. I am skeptical of this claim for two reasons.
Salon Interviews CNU Board Member John Massengale
Submitted by John Norquist on Sun, 04/13/2014 - 9:12pmSalon praises Massengale and Victor Dover's “Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns.” The link is http://www.salon.com/2014/04/13/how_cars_conquered_the_american_city_and_how_we_can_win_it_back/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialflow
Freeway Down! Seoul Removing 16th Freeway
Submitted by Alex McKeag on Mon, 04/07/2014 - 8:32pmSeoul, South Korea is leading the charge in urban freeway removal, having torn out 15 freeways in the past 12 years. This year, the city will add a sixteenth by removing the Ahyeon Overpass, a 1 km (.6 mile) long roadway constructed in 1968 - the city's first. Today, the overpass is old and ugly, eating up about $25 million annually in maintenance alone.