Posts tagged with 'United States'
Known Unknowns and Predicting the Urban Future
Known Unknowns and Predicting the Urban Future
BeyondDC has an absolutely fantastic post up about what he expects the D.C. area to look like in 2040. On any given point, I think it’s hard to disagree (except maybe that they’ll close National Airport—businesses outside the Northeast would ...
Community Building is Worth the Cost
Community Building is Worth the Cost
The Post has a story today about how local governments are trying to decide whether in a time of budget crisis they ought to keep the kinds of small programs that build “quality of life.” When Fairfax County cuts a ...
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 ...
Ryan Avent Needs to Stop Being A Utilitarian
Ryan Avent Needs to Stop Being A Utilitarian
There’s an interesting argument going on between Yonah Freemark and Ryan Avent about road tolls. Freemark makes the usual argument, though with unusual eloquence, that implementing tolls is regressive and that the benefits of congestion pricing come at the expense ...
Don't Sell Subway Station Naming Rights
Don't Sell Subway Station Naming Rights
The news is a few days old, but I think it’s really fascinating that New York is considering selling partial naming rights to the Atlantic/Pacific station, the second busiest station in Brooklyn. The Times article on the sale gives some ...
Highlights from TheCityFix DC
Highlights from TheCityFix DC
A few highlights from our TheCityFix DC site-if you’re not reading it regularly, you’re missing out: LEED Neighborhood Development Wants You to Build More More More: Why doesn’t LEED-ND certify already existing neighborhoods? It’s one more example of green consumerism, ...
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 ...
Uncovering The Militarized City
Uncovering The Militarized City
I keep thinking about this story. It’s not a particularly important one: DDOT used the July 4th fireworks to test their Fast Forward program, which allows for very quick movement out of the city by leaving outbound green lights up ...
On Why I Need to Move into the City, or How Suburban Transit Failed Me
On Why I Need to Move into the City, or How Suburban Transit Failed Me
Americans are spending less time in roadway congestion on their commutes to work, according to the 2009 Urban Mobility Report published today by the Texas Transportation Institute. On average, “travelers spend one hour less stuck in traffic in 2007 than ...
Links Links Links
Links Links Links
Some things I’ve been reading but don’t have much to say about. I think they speak for themselves, but have quite a lot to say. A quote and a link for each:
NRDC's Smarter Cities and D.C.'s Coal Power
NRDC's Smarter Cities and D.C.'s Coal Power
If you haven’t seen it yet, let me be the first to recommend NRDC’s new Smarter Cities site. It’s quite good. I’ve been a big fan of their writers, particularly Kaid Benfield, for a while, and so I’m really happy ...
NRDC Wants to Know: How Smart is Your City?
NRDC Wants to Know: How Smart is Your City?
Who doesn’t love a little friendly competition? The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) this month launched Smarter Cities, a multimedia Web site and interactive mapping tool that shows how U.S. cities stack up against each other across several indicators of ...
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.
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