First of all, I should start out by saying that I've only ever been to Chicago once, and I really don't remember anything but the inside of my aunt's house. I remember asking them if there was good mass transit, and they said Metra is good, but the L, which is near them, is not something they'd … [Read more...]
Photos and renderings of buildings going up across New York
In honor of my new home (as of this February), New York City, here are some new towers going up in Midtown Manhattan! All photos from (where else?) the SkyscraperCity forums...click for source.The first is the International Gem Tower in the Diamond District (which looks to me like textured steel … [Read more...]
Montgomery County’s loss is Calgary’s gain: Rollin Stanley escapes from the coven to Canada
Not sure how this escaped me, but it seems that a few weeks ago, Rollin Stanley was announced as Calgary's new chief planner. Rollin Stanley, you'll recall, was the very vocal pro-urban growth planner in Maryland's Montgomery County, north of Washington, DC, who resigned after these four sentences … [Read more...]
Were NYU and Chelsea Market’s hotels just stalking horses?
An item from Crain's NY Business, behind a paywall (I think?): Sacrificial hotels Two hotel developments in Manhattan were effectively killed last week. The City Planning Commission cut a proposed 190-room property from New York University's expansion plan, and Community Board 4 rejected Chelsea … [Read more...]
A Request for Readers
1. I've been writing for Market Urbanism for about a year now and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Getting your comments and hearing from readers is so rewarding. To provide more of what you're interested in, I would really appreciate any comments about what topics or types of posts you would like to see … [Read more...]
2012 Market Urbanism Meetup
Readers,We are going to have a reader meetup on May 5. It will be a format similar to last year. Market Urbanism friend, Sandy Ikeda will be giving a tour of Brooklyn Heights as part of the Jane Jacobs Walk program that celebrate's the life and legacy of urbanist Jane Jacobs. Sandy's tour was so … [Read more...]
Transportation and Infrastructure Blues Links
1. For anyone who doesn't follow Stephen on Twitter at @MarketUrbanism, he's now a real estate reporter at International Business Times. Here he covers criticism of the National Association of Realtors' forecast that housing prices have bottomed out.2. In the debate over whether or not to ban … [Read more...]
“Really Narrow Streets” project in the planning stages in Maine
In Maine, a group of residents are hoping to start a new community based on the principles of urban design advocated by Nathan Lewis at New World Economics and J.H. Crawford at Carfree.com. The group, led by Tracy Gayton, is hoping to attract enough individual investors to buy 125 acres of land … [Read more...]