Washington, DC Bus System--An Example of Transportation Injustice- December 27, 2005 The Washington Post has an excellent article on the woes of the city's Metrobus system. Unlike the city's subway system which is relatively efficient, clean, and reliable, the bus system is exactly the opposite.Buses are difficult to run efficiently due to the fact that they generally don't have a dedicated right-of-way, making them susceptible to traffic congestion patterns. They are also usually used by the most economically marginalized people in US urban areas due to the general lack of...http://newurbanist.blogspot.com/2005/12/washington-dc-bus-system-example-of.html Housing Affordability Plummets in US- December 22, 2005 The Wall Street Journal Reports today on the latest National Association of Realtors' Affordability Index which indicates that, nationwide, housing affordability is at its lowest level since 1991.While homeownership is at record levels, the article points out that people are likely spending a higher percentage of their income on housing and living further afield from metropolitan employment and cultural centers.As evidence of this trend, check out the article in today's New York Times...http://newurbanist.blogspot.com/2005/12/housing-affordability-plummets-in-us.html California's Central Valley Makes Developers Pay for Pollution- December 17, 2005 An article in today's New York Times discusses the recent decision by Fresno County to require commercial and residential developers to pay fees for air pollution generated by new development.According to the article, the fees may be minimized through compliance with new regulations that promote design which reduces air pollution.This is an interesting "indirect" approach at dealing with the Valley's poor air quality and the type of growth that facilitates it. The main sources of air pollution.http://newurbanist.blogspot.com/2005/12/californias-central-valley-makes.html EU Ministerial on Sustainable Communities is Underway- December 9, 2005 I haven't had a chance to digest all of the information coming out of the European Union's Ministerial Informal Meeting on Sustainable Communities that took place in Bristol this week, but it should be interesting to monitor. Issues of governance when it comes to developing urban policy are extremely important, but often overlooked. In the case of European cities, bringing an international level of governance into the mix is undoubtedly going to have significant impacts on metropolitan...http://newurbanist.blogspot.com/2005/12/eu-ministerial-on-sustainable.html Seaside, FL - Weight of Success Proving Heavy- December 9, 2005 The New York Times has an article on the challenges facing Seaside--the Andres Duany-designed Florida Panhandle resort community that presaged the success of the New Urbanist movement in the United States.One of the challenges is ecological. Hurricane Dennis subsumed portions of the beach and damaged the dunes separating the housing from the Gulf's waters. As the article rightly asserts, the planning framework employed by developer Robert Davis and Duany--which limited private housing on the..http://newurbanist.blogspot.com/2005/12/seaside-fl-weight-of-success-proving.html New Urbanist Land Grab Begins in Mississippi- December 8, 2005 It seems as if the land grab is in full swing on Mississippi's hurricane-devastated Gulf Coast as the "Mississippi Renewal" project is starting to survey land and implement the plans concocted by a group of New Urbanists last October.In response to a post I made criticizing the process as being elite-driven and lacking significant public input, John Massengale, an architect and town planner involved in the project, suggested otherwise, indicating that public meetings were undertaken and that...http://newurbanist.blogspot.com/2005/12/new-urbanist-land-grab-begins-in.html Sprawl Comes to India- December 4, 2005 If you can handle Amy Waldman's simplistic neo-colonialist characterization of India's "stubborn natives'" irrational rejection of "progress," then her article in today's New York Times on the Golden Quadrilateral Highway, which circumscribes the Indian sub-continent, is worth a read.Waldman's tone is especially condescending, but her descriptions of the way in which the massive, controlled-access highway project is changing life in India's cities and villages are worth noting. Much like the...http://newurbanist.blogspot.com/2005/12/sprawl-comes-to-india.html The Internet Has Finally Proven Its Worth- December 2, 2005 A few months ago I posted about Google's Ride Finder which allows users to find real-time information about the location of taxis in selected American cities. Based on the google map interface and using global positioning technology, Ride Finder gives you both location and telephone numbers for cabbies.Numerous folks have hacked google maps to display other customized geographical information. Today, the weblog Chicagoist reports the introduction of the website, Drinktown. Drinktown uses...http://newurbanist.blogspot.com/2005/12/internet-has-finally-proven-its-worth.html Transportation and Emission Reductions- December 2, 2005 With the first major post-Kyoto global conference on climate change underway this week in Montreal, there are interesting proposals emerging from various NGOs concerned with the connections between urban form and energy use.The Victoria Transportation Institute has issued a nice, concise paper (in .pdf format) laying out what it calls "win-win" strategies for utilizing transportation policy reform for reducing emissions. Among the proposals it advocates are charging adequate fees for roads and.http://newurbanist.blogspot.com/2005/12/transportation-and-emission-reductions.html Australian Labor Party Battles Sprawl- December 1, 2005 A couple of interesting articles from the Queensland Courier-Mail point to proposals to quell sprawl in Australian metro areas. The first discusses a policy paper to be released by the opposition Labor leader Kim Beazley that advocates increasing urban core redevelopment at the expense of the "McMansions" that dot may suburban areas. The policy paper appears to have not yet been posted on the opposition website, making it difficult to assess the proposal.In Queensland, Labor Primer Peter...http://newurbanist.blogspot.com/2005/12/australian-labor-party-battles-sprawl.html |