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CNU 23DALLAS/FORT WORTH 4/29-5/2/2015»»» 
Planning
How much does diversity matter?
Submitted by MLewyn on Sun, 07/13/2014 - 4:39pmThis weekend, I visited Kansas City, Mo. to look for apartments (since I am moving there in August to teach at the University of Missouri at Kansas City Law School). I focused my search on the Brookside and Country Club Plaza neighborhoods, two areas within a 45-minute walk of the law school.
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Good density and not-so-good density
Submitted by MLewyn on Sun, 06/22/2014 - 11:05amAfter seeing another blog post about how density is bad because Los Angeles is dense, it occurred to me to suggest that just as there is good and bad cholesterol, there is good and not-so-good density.
From a new urbanist perspective, good density is density that contributes to walkability: density ... read more »
Photo Blog: New Faubourg Lafitte in New Orleans
Submitted by Clara Steyer on Fri, 06/20/2014 - 5:25pmIn 2012, Urban Design Associates (UDA) was awarded a Charter Award for their project The New Faubourg Lafitte in New Orleans. The project is a redevelopment and rehabilititaiton of a 27-acre superblock public housing that had been badly damaged by hurricane Katrina. CNU praised the collaboration wit... read more »
If You Don't Want An Apartment, Don't Have One
Submitted by MLewyn on Fri, 05/09/2014 - 2:23pmOne of my favorite political slogans (more because of its catchiness than because of its wisdom)* is "If You Don't Want An Abortion, Don't Have One."
It occurs to me that this slogan would be quite appropriately adapted to an urbanist context. In response to NIMBY attacks on compact deve... read more »
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... read more »
Vision Zero in America's Most Walkable City
Submitted by jmassengale on Sat, 01/25/2014 - 10:14pmSTREETS FOR PEOPLE ARE THE WAY TO CUT FATALITIES TO ZERO—BUT NYPD COMMISSIONER BRATTON DOESN'T AGREE
Originally posted on the Street Design Blog
STREETS FOR PEOPLE ARE THE WAY TO CUT FATALITIES TO ZERO—BUT NYPD COMMISSIONER BRATTON DOESN'T AGREE
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Mini-Book Review: Regional Planning can be Pro-Sprawl Too
Submitted by MLewyn on Fri, 01/17/2014 - 2:28pmI have written about how local comprehensive plans sometimes favor sprawl over urbanism. But a recent book by planning scholar Carlton Basmajian, Atlanta Unbound, shows that regional planning can suffer from similar defects.
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Is Los Angeles Too Big?
Submitted by Tim Halbur on Mon, 11/11/2013 - 3:34pmThat's the question Colin Marshall, host of the Notebook on Cities & Culture Podcast, lobbed my way in a live recording this weekend at the New Urbanism Film Festival. At the risk of getting too simplistic, I think the answer is yes.
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The Problem With The "Induced Demand" Theory of New Housing
Submitted by MLewyn on Mon, 10/28/2013 - 8:17pmI was arguing with an acquaintance about New York's sky-high rents, and he made an interesting argument: he suggested that new luxury housing actually makes prices higher, by making the city more desirable to the wealthy and thus encouraging them to bid up housing prices. In other words, the l... read more »