FortWorthology
Kevin Buchanan // February 25, 2010
The mayor stated in no uncertain terms that Fort Worth is facing severe transportation challenges, that they stem from too many years of car-first planning, and that Fort Worth can no longer be designed and built in a car-centric fashion.
Commuter Rail, street cars, and other alternative modes of transportation also remain a priority for me and this City Council. Unfortunately, Fort Worth and other major metropolitan areas are finding out the hard way what a mistake it was to design and build cities around automobiles years ago. Friends, we cannot continue to focus solely on building more roads for more vehicles. That’s counter productive at best.
Business as usual is dead!
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Sunday, March 7, 2010
Interview With 'Sustainability Czar' Shelley Poticha
Builder
Jenny Sullivan // February 18, 2010
Poticha, who is director of HUD’s newly created Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, speaks on land use, transit patterns, economic recovery, and the government’s vision for a healthier built environment.
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Jenny Sullivan // February 18, 2010
Poticha, who is director of HUD’s newly created Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, speaks on land use, transit patterns, economic recovery, and the government’s vision for a healthier built environment.
MORE
U.S. driving decline is in reverse
USA Today
Larry Copeland // February 23, 2010
The historic drop in driving that began in 2007 and the dramatic decline in gridlock that accompanied it have ended, according to a report today by a firm that tracks congestion in the USA.
Using 12-month averages, the study found that driving increased by 0.3% in September, 0.2% in October, 0.3% in November and 0.2% in December over the same periods a year earlier, according to federal data.
Traffic congestion is still about two-thirds of 2007 peak levels but likely to get worse.
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Larry Copeland // February 23, 2010
The historic drop in driving that began in 2007 and the dramatic decline in gridlock that accompanied it have ended, according to a report today by a firm that tracks congestion in the USA.
Using 12-month averages, the study found that driving increased by 0.3% in September, 0.2% in October, 0.3% in November and 0.2% in December over the same periods a year earlier, according to federal data.
Traffic congestion is still about two-thirds of 2007 peak levels but likely to get worse.
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'Drive 'til You Qualify' Foreclosures on the Rise
American Public Media - Marketplace
February 25, 2010
There are many reasons why families face foreclosure, like loss of income or rising health care costs. But several new studies show there's another factor closely linked with foreclosure rates: gas prices. Andrea Bernstein reports.
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February 25, 2010
There are many reasons why families face foreclosure, like loss of income or rising health care costs. But several new studies show there's another factor closely linked with foreclosure rates: gas prices. Andrea Bernstein reports.
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American Cities Awaken From 35-Year Parking Policy Coma
Planetizen
Nate Berg // February 26, 2010
Planning policies that produce cheap, abundant parking are fundamentally at odds with efforts to promote transit, biking, and walking. A new report from ITDP shows how some cities have started to align parking policies with sustainable transport.
It's been more than 35 years since American cities including New York, Boston, and Portland acknowledged the connection between parking policy and traffic generation by setting limits on downtown parking. Since then, parking innovation has proceeded at a snail's pace.
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Nate Berg // February 26, 2010
Planning policies that produce cheap, abundant parking are fundamentally at odds with efforts to promote transit, biking, and walking. A new report from ITDP shows how some cities have started to align parking policies with sustainable transport.
It's been more than 35 years since American cities including New York, Boston, and Portland acknowledged the connection between parking policy and traffic generation by setting limits on downtown parking. Since then, parking innovation has proceeded at a snail's pace.
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The American poor spread to suburbia, but we’re not ready
NextAmericanCity
Yonah Freemark // February 25, 2010
Let’s face it: American public policy has yet to respond to or even grasp the profound change in settlement patterns that has been gradually making its mark on the nation’s landscape over the past few decades.
Cities from Detroit to Des Moines have been pushing the gentrification of their downtowns, with generally positive results, and the results are well documented.
But more consequential to a far larger group is the mass out-migration of impoverished people from center cities into the suburbs, often in the same metropolitan areas. According to a recent Brookings Institute Study, the process is accelerating. Between 2000 and 2008, the percent of poor people living in the suburbs increased by 25%, compared to by 5.6% in central cities and 15.4% for the nation as a whole. More of the poor now live in the suburbs than in central cities: 12.5 million versus 11 million.
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Yonah Freemark // February 25, 2010
Let’s face it: American public policy has yet to respond to or even grasp the profound change in settlement patterns that has been gradually making its mark on the nation’s landscape over the past few decades.
Cities from Detroit to Des Moines have been pushing the gentrification of their downtowns, with generally positive results, and the results are well documented.
But more consequential to a far larger group is the mass out-migration of impoverished people from center cities into the suburbs, often in the same metropolitan areas. According to a recent Brookings Institute Study, the process is accelerating. Between 2000 and 2008, the percent of poor people living in the suburbs increased by 25%, compared to by 5.6% in central cities and 15.4% for the nation as a whole. More of the poor now live in the suburbs than in central cities: 12.5 million versus 11 million.
MORE
Austin - East Riverside Corridor Master Plan
Austin Contrarian
February 25, 2010
City Council is scheduled to vote today on the East Riverside Corridor Master Plan. Let's hope Council ignores the Planning Commission.
The Plan envisions the redevelopment of East Riverside as a New Urbanist corridor, built around four major transit hubs. The hope, of course, is that the "transit" will someday be a light rail line connecting downtown and the airport. But East Riverside is a natural place for redevelopment of this kind, with or without rail. East Riverside is close to downtown. It is already fairly dense yet (paradoxically) has many low-density or undeveloped tracts suitable for redevelopment. There is proven market demand, as demonstrated by the redevelopment underway on the western end. While there are single family neighborhoods along the route, there are fewer than along, say, Burnett or Lamar. And, finally, the existing development consists largely of decaying strip malls; everyone (including area residents) would like to see a better use of the land.
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February 25, 2010
City Council is scheduled to vote today on the East Riverside Corridor Master Plan. Let's hope Council ignores the Planning Commission.
The Plan envisions the redevelopment of East Riverside as a New Urbanist corridor, built around four major transit hubs. The hope, of course, is that the "transit" will someday be a light rail line connecting downtown and the airport. But East Riverside is a natural place for redevelopment of this kind, with or without rail. East Riverside is close to downtown. It is already fairly dense yet (paradoxically) has many low-density or undeveloped tracts suitable for redevelopment. There is proven market demand, as demonstrated by the redevelopment underway on the western end. While there are single family neighborhoods along the route, there are fewer than along, say, Burnett or Lamar. And, finally, the existing development consists largely of decaying strip malls; everyone (including area residents) would like to see a better use of the land.
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