Posts in the 'Urban Development' category
Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk Admits New Urbanism Needs to Focus More on Transportation
Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk Admits New Urbanism Needs to Focus More on Transportation
Another day, another set of notes from an interesting speech: this time Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, one of the founders of the New Urbanism, speaking on Retrofitting the Suburbs at the National Building Museum It was quite a good talk and I ...
What's Going on in D.C. Development Politics?
What's Going on in D.C. Development Politics?
Funny business abounded in D.C. development news yesterday. I’m not sure what to make of it, so if you have any sense, please help me out. First, the Washington Business Journal reported that Councilmembers Mary Cheh and Kwame Brown have ...
It's Business Time
It's Business Time
I wrote a couple of days ago about the need for smart growth advocates and urbanists to get smarter about playing the inside game. We’re winning the messaging but then losing behind closed doors, I argued. So I was particularly ...
What Does Family-Friendly Actually Mean?
What Does Family-Friendly Actually Mean?
One of the most pervasive critiques of urban life is that suburbia is the only good place to raise a family. It’s a powerful argument—parents will do anything for their children—and it’s a deeply rooted one. So it was very ...
LEED Neighborhood Development Wants You to Build More More More
LEED Neighborhood Development Wants You to Build More More More
For the real nerds among you, go read Kaid Benfield’s 3-part series about the changes in the LEED Neighborhood Development criteria from their pilot program here, here, and here. It’s deep in the weeds—how do you define buildable land for ...
Being Right Doesn't Get You That Far
Being Right Doesn't Get You That Far
What more can be said about I-270? David Alpert is calling it Gaithersbungle: the Montgomery County Planning Department has decided to spend $3.8 billion widening the highway to a truly massive 12 lanes. Then they’re spending $450 million on a ...
D.C., Count Your Blessings
D.C., Count Your Blessings
It’s very easy to forget just how lucky D.C. is with regards to its ability to create a sustainable, urbanist region. In fact, the region has a nearly ideal political structure to make real progress.
Symbols Matter: Fairfax City or Fairfax County
Symbols Matter: Fairfax City or Fairfax County
I wrote last week about Fairfax County’s renewed interest in becoming Fairfax City. But the Post gave it a lot of coverage over the weekend and I want to reiterate an important point. The Post had two big stories on ...
Urban Renewal By Any Other Name
Urban Renewal By Any Other Name
To start off your morning, one of those posts where the only response is “read the whole thing”: the NRDC’s Karl Benfield on the current vogue for shrinking cities. It’s even got Joni Mitchell lyrics to kick the post off. ...
CityCenter DC: Density Breeds Sustainability
CityCenter DC: Density Breeds Sustainability
A graphic rendering of the proposed “Central Plaza” of CityCenter DC. Illustration via CityCenter DC. There’s been a lot of big transportation news in the last two days. Between the Purple Line vote and Sec. Ray LaHood and Rep. Jim ...
REPORT: Sustainable Transport that Works: Lessons from Germany
REPORT: Sustainable Transport that Works: Lessons from Germany
Freiburg, Germany is one of the most livable and people-oriented cities in the world. Photo by Roby©. Transport and urban development policies in European cities are recognized as being more balanced than those of the rest of the world, resulting ...
Winners of the Livable Streets Contest
Winners of the Livable Streets Contest
Steve Price won the Livable Streets Contest for his vision of a “complete street” in Portsmouth, Virginia. Last week, GOOD announced the winners of its Livable Streets Contest. It was a simple assignment: “Take a photo of a street or ...
Lessons From San Sebastian
Lessons From San Sebastian
EMBARQ presents a slideshow about the concept of “Mobility Management (MM)” in San Sebastian, Spain. View the entire slideshow here. Mobility Management At the core of Mobility Management are “soft” measures like information and communication, organising services and coordinating activities ...
Cycle for Health: Recycling Bicycles to Save Lives in Rural Africa
Cycle for Health: Recycling Bicycles to Save Lives in Rural Africa
The Cycle for Health logo, via the Buckminster Fuller Challenge Web site. Yesterday, The City Fix wrote about the winners of the 2009 Buckminster Fuller Challenge, a design competition to “support the development and implementation of a strategy that has ...
Ode to Bicycling
Ode to Bicycling
Kyle Boelte published an article in The Christian Science Monitor entitled “The Soul (and Sense) of Biking to Work.” While he makes both a wonderful, practical, and emotional appeal to would-be commuter bikers – which I am all for – ...
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