THINK.urban
Cities
Carless Urban Design
Along with the recent discussions on developments without parking spaces, it was news this week that Los Angeles has approved a plan for a district without any mandatory parking requirements (you can read the full Streetsblog.org report here). Other auto-related news has surfaced recently regarding the heart of the matter – not only the space … Continue reading
Post-disaster Transportation
Imagine your city in crisis. For some of us, that might not be far removed from a recent painful natural or man made disaster. For others, like us here in Portland, it could be the near future when, not if, the overdue earthquake hits. In New York City, millions of people are still without power … Continue reading
The Politics of Cities
An interesting OpEd in the October 9 issue of the NY Times, with the somewhat blunt and provocative title – “Republicans To Cities: Drop Dead” by Kevin Baker – showcases the focus of the campaign, particularly those on the right, towards suburban and rural issues, even with a specifically anti-urban bias. The long and short … Continue reading
Bicycle Commuter Stats Maps
A simple graduated symbol map from Governing.com shows the range of commuter rates for cities – with a roll-over for specific cities to show more detail. The map for Bike Commuters shows a comparison of commuters to total workers – so each is proportional. The high margin of error in the data (which in the notes … Continue reading
An Occupied Anniversary: Public Space One Year Later
September 20th recently brought the first year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street protests in Zucotti Park, New York City. This time last year brought the Occupy movement to Portland’s doorstep in the form of a massive march through downtown, numbering over 10,000 strong, and filling Pioneer Courthouse Square before ending at Chapman and Lownsdale … Continue reading
The Visitor's Perspective
There’s a lot of talk lately about parking, whether it’s new no-parking developments on SE Division St. as we mentioned recently, occupying parking spaces with the newly debuted “street seats”, or claims that the car is the “most dangerous invention in the world”. Whatever your personal opinion it is a fact that we have to … Continue reading
To Park or Not to Park
One of those age-old dilemmas of urban infill development is coming to bear on a particular area of Portland, which has always seemed immune to the inane “development must have parking” issues. Guess not, as there has been a multitude of backlash related to a series of projects along SE Division Street. Some of these … Continue reading
The Game of Urban Renewal
On Architizer, a post caught my attention – the The Game of Urban Renewal was developed by Toronto artist Flavio Trevisan created what I assume is an earnest social statement with this simple board game, “…which can go on infinitely with any number of players, simulates the fate of Toronto’s Regent Park neighborhood, an intense locus … Continue reading
A Hybrid Solution to Unpaved Streets?
Those whom get alerts from Portland’s Mayor Sam Adams received a strange email last week, with the following text: “Live on a gravel or dirt street? Portland’s new Out of the Mud (and Dust) initiative aims to help. Your feedback is wanted.” There are over 65 miles of gravel or unimproved roads in Portland, and … Continue reading
