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CNU Salons
A Bold Vision for North Lake Shore Drive Reconstruction
Submitted by Caitlin Ghoshal on Fri, 07/26/2013 - 11:54amCNU Illinois and the Congress for the New Urbanism joined a coalition of 15 regional organizations to release a civic platform for the reconstruction of North Lake Shore Drive. The coalition calls for a bold vision to better meet the needs of everyone who uses the lakefront. The platform is based on seven principles and includes a host of recommendations for the Illinois Department of Transportation and Chicago Department of Transportation as they embark on a planning study for the reconstruction of North Lake Shore Drive from Grand to Hollywood avenues.
Suburban Poverty: A Reality Check
Submitted by MLewyn on Wed, 07/24/2013 - 10:49amI just used Amazon.com to look inside a new book on suburban poverty ("Confronting Suburban Poverty In America" by Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube).
I found the following admission: "[since 2000] poverty rates rose by equal degrees in cities and suburbs (roughly 3 percentage points) though the urban poverty rate remained almost twice as high as the suburban rate". (p. 35). So although the gap between cities and suburbs has narrowed slightly, cities are still more poverty-packed than suburbs.
Restoring the Relationship Between Health and Cities
Submitted by Erika Strauss on Tue, 07/23/2013 - 2:37pmThe built environment has a unique and distinct impact on the health of its inhabitants. Former CNU plenary speaker, Dr. Richard Jackson, recently published an article in the Journal of Public Health where he reviews the rocky history between the two.
HIGHWAYS TO BOULEVARDS BLOG: Austin's I-35 “Cut and Cap” Approach
Submitted by LeRoy Taylor on Mon, 07/22/2013 - 4:07pmThis post is a part of CNU’s Highways to Boulevards Blog series, which features interview summaries and insights from some of the best minds at the frontline of our Highways to Boulevards Initiative.
The End of the Suburbs by Leigh Gallagher
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 07/22/2013 - 1:13pmThe End of the Suburbs is a new book from Leigh Gallagher, assistant Managing Editor at Fortune Magazine, that bluntly assesses the future of suburbia. Gallagher says it's over; at least in the form it's taken for the last 50 years. She marshals demographic and consumer preference data in a driving narrative demonstrating that the large lot, separately-zoned and auto-centric suburb is doomed.
Even if Democrats Killed Detroit, Sprawl STILL Killed Detroit
Submitted by MLewyn on Mon, 07/22/2013 - 12:42pmOne result of Detroit's recent bankruptcy has been the usual finger-pointing about the cause of that city's probems. Commonly mentioned culprits include deindustrialization, absence of federal support, and the sprawl-induced decline of urban tax bases. Another common argument (especially among conservatives) is that if only Detroit wasn't governed by liberals, Democrats, etc. it wouldn't have become so overextended.
The Irony of Minimum Parking Requirements
Submitted by MLewyn on Sun, 07/21/2013 - 9:37amAs many people (including me) have written, minimum parking requirements encourage sprawl by requiring "islands of building surounded by seas of parking." Generally, municipalities trying to end or modify these rules have started with downtowns and worked their way outward.
Confusing Suburbs With Rural Areas
Submitted by MLewyn on Fri, 07/19/2013 - 9:08amA recent article discussed in the Atlantic blog suggests that suicide rates increase as density goes down, especially below 300 people per square kilometer (i.e. 777 people per square mile). The title of the article: "The Unsettling Link Between Sprawl and Suicide."
Obesity,Sprawl and Poverty, Part 2
Submitted by MLewyn on Thu, 07/18/2013 - 4:31pmLast week, I blogged about the relationship between sprawl and poverty, using metro Atlanta as an example. I showed that in Fulton and DeKalb Counties (the two most urban, transit-friendly counties in the region) the obesity rate was only slightly higher than the poverty rate, while in more suburban counties the obesity rate was MUCH higher than the poverty rate.
Health Impact Assessments and the Law
Submitted by MLewyn on Wed, 07/17/2013 - 11:53amIf you've gone to conferences addressing the relationship between public health and sprawl, you may have heard of something called a "health impact assessment." If you are a little fuzzy on how this works out in practice, you may want to read a new article coauthored by Prof. Pamela Ko and the Dean of Touro Law Center, Patricia Salkin. (In the interests of full disclosure, I note that since I teach at Touro, Dean Salkin is my boss).