Posts tagged Public Spaces
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New Partners: The Yards and public-private partnerships
I’m at the New Partners for Smart Growth conference, a major annual conference on Smart Growth. I’ll be liveblogging the conference today. The first panel I’m attending is about the development called The Yards in Near Southeast and how partnerships between GSA and Forest City are revitalizing this area. Katherine Aguilar Perez, VP of Forest City: “Smart… Keep reading…
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“Structure of voids” and chain restaurants in Ballston
Last weekend, we visited a friend who recently bought a condo in Ballston. Zachary Schrag highlights the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor as the region’s biggest success from Metro’s original construction, creating a new transit-oriented Smart Growth development around the subway, and it’s true: there were people and shops and other signs of life everywhere,… Keep reading…
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Cannon almost stopped the Lincoln Memorial
A fascinating story in the Washington Post Magazine explains how Illinois Congressman and Speaker of the House Joe Cannon (who has a House office building named in his honor) fought the establishment of the Lincoln Memorial on what was then a swamp along the banks of the Potomac, preferring a smaller memorial near Union Station; years later, he admitted he was glad he had lost that fight. Keep reading…
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The Yards waterfront park squeezes bikes to the edge
NCPC has preliminary plans online for a new watefront park at The Yards, a new development next to the Navy Yard in Southeast. The park has many very nice features including a large terraced lawn, a landscaped garden, and a cool-looking pedestrian bridge (though one NCPC staff recommends be made to look more open, light and inviting). But the designers seem to have forgotten about bikers,… Keep reading…
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DC Council hearing on “Performance Parking” plan
JDLand has a summary of the hearing around Tommy Wells’ plan to use market-pricing techniques to discourage parking around the new baseball stadium. From JD’s summary, the hearing didn’t turn out to be that interesting, with most speakers in favor of the plan and little new ground covered. Keep reading…
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From spaghetti maze to grande allée
The area around the Kennedy Center is surely one of DC’s greatest failures of urban planning. Earlier this decade the Kennedy Center attempted to fix the situation with a new plaza, until its funding was blocked in 2005. But the idea is still a great one. Today, DC Metrocentric found a concept study by architects Ehrenkrantz Eckstut and Kuhn, which takes the idea even… Keep reading…
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Monday morning links
San Francisco is considering a bill to reform parking requirements, removing the requirements forcing developers to build parking in certain types of housing developments, “unbundling” parking so condo purchasers can choose whether to pay for a parking space or not, and allowing mechanical or valet parking to save space if the building wants it. Keep reading…
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Chiang Mai
I was surprised by Chiang Mai. It’s an old city, dating back to 1296, and consists of an “old city” surrounded by a moat and a wall, with newer areas outside. Therefore, I expected the old city to have pretty, old buildings and dramatic public squares. But that’s not the way it is. Keep reading…
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What will Saudi Arabia’s new cities look like?
Saudi Arabia is spending its oil riches to build cities for the country’s exploding population, trying to become an economic power. Richard Florida sees them as “monuments to materialism.” This one reminds me of California’s Foster City, an exurb built completely on landfill. A network of lagoons gives many houses waterfront access, but it’s… Keep reading…
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Seattle condo advertises its Walk Score
Walkability is a selling point for downtown condos, like this building which put up a banner advertising its perfect 100 Walk Score. Keep reading…