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CNU Salons
Suburbia Not Always Cheaper
Submitted by MLewyn on Fri, 04/04/2014 - 9:28amA story from a coworker of mine: Mr. X (the coworker) and his family move from Queens to Long Island to take advantage of the allegedly better public schools. As a result, they are able to save money by pulling their children out of Catholic school. Were they better off? Apparently not. Mr. X explains that what they saved in tuition was more than balanced over time by the cost of having to have a car for every adult, and later for every teenager.
Auto-Oriented Transit in Israel
Submitted by MLewyn on Wed, 04/02/2014 - 11:30pmTonight I saw lawyer Kevin Dwarka speak on smart growth in Israel, focusing on the weaknesses of Israel's railway system. Although Israel's major cities have rail service, that nation's major rail stations are a classic example of auto-oriented transit: stations surrounded by huge parkiing lots instead of housing and shopping.
The Irrefutability of Harriet Tregoning
Submitted by Tim Halbur on Tue, 03/11/2014 - 12:39pmLast month, Washington, DC Planning Director Harriet Tregoning announced that she'd be leaving her position after 6 years to become the director of HUD's Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, the position vacated by Shelley Poticha last year. This is great news for those of us engaged in reforming HUD policies, like outdated limits on retail/office in mixed-use developments.
The "Cheap Cars" Myth
Submitted by MLewyn on Thu, 03/06/2014 - 2:47pmOne sprawl lobby argument I have occasionally is heard: "So what if people have to drive to reach jobs in sprawling areas? Used cars are so cheap that even poor people can afford them!"
Chicago’s Bus Makeover
Submitted by Gary Scott on Thu, 03/06/2014 - 1:00am
Author Chiara Montecchi is a Master’s student in the School of Public Service at DePaul University, in Chicago, Illinois. She is currently employed as a Fundraiser in DePaul’s Office of Advancement.
Always Room For More
Submitted by MLewyn on Mon, 03/03/2014 - 1:38pmOne common argument against infill: "but there isn't room for any more people!" (or, alternatively, "we can't have more people without turning into a skyscraper monoculture!"
Manhattan is far from a skyscraper monoculture- even in midtown there are lots of 2-6 story buildings of all types. And yet our housing density is 70,000 people per square mile- more than four times that of San Francisco, more than seven times that of Washington.
In other words, at Manhattan densities San Francisco could accommodate more than 3 million people.
Religion and urbanism
Submitted by MLewyn on Mon, 02/24/2014 - 12:51pm(Cross-posted, with some additions, from my personal blog).
Presidential heroes of urbanism
Submitted by MLewyn on Mon, 02/17/2014 - 10:18pmSince the weekend that just ended was Presidents' weekend, I thought now would be a good time to acknowledge some especially pro-urban Presidents. I don't plan to focus on their actual policies (a complicated topic, and one not very relevant to most pre-New Deal presidencies) but on their post-White House personal lives. The majority of Presidents have retired to resorts, estate-home suburbia, or (in the 18th and 19th century) country plantations.
However, I would like to honor a few exceptions to this rule:
Dingbats and "Scarchitecture"
Submitted by Tim Halbur on Wed, 02/12/2014 - 4:29pmThe Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design is in the throes of Kickstarting a book they're calling Dingbat 2.0. For those who don't know, the dingbat is a housing type that proliferated in the Western U.S. in the 50s and 60s, driven primarily by increased parking requirements. As you can see at right, the dingbat basically paves over the front lawn, thrusting the house or apartments up on stilts and creating a parking garage at ground level.
Steps vs. The Elderly
Submitted by MLewyn on Wed, 02/12/2014 - 12:44amI am currently reading White Flight/Black Flight by Rachael Woldoff of West Virginia University. The book discusses a neighborhood at the edge of a northern city (Philadelphia, I suspect) which was overwhelmingly Jewish as late as 1990, and became black in the 1990s. One area of interest to new urbanists is its discussion of white "stayers" - elderly people who are not at all displeased with integration. What drives them out is not crime or social disorder, but steps.