Posts tagged Sprawl
-
Ed Glaeser: level the playing field
In a Boston Globe op-ed, Harvard economist Ed Glaeser is the latest to make the argument that our economic policies let suburbs pay less than their fair share while cities pay more. Via Ryan Avent. Keep reading…
-
Consensus and controversy in Rockville’s Pike
Last night I attended a community meeting in Rockville about “envisioning a great place” for Rockville Pike, specifically the segment from Twinbrook Parkway to Richard Montgomery Drive (just north of Wootton Parkway). This section is almost entirely filled with strip malls behind large parking lots—the cookie-cutter suburban retail that makes Rockville’s… Keep reading…
-
Density police not required
Urban, walkable, mixed-use areas are the future of America. They’re more environmentally friendly, better for healthy people and strong communities, shorter commutes make people happier, and the market wants more of it. Keep reading…
-
Juno’s neighborhood is the better one
In the (excellent) film Juno, the title character’s lower middle class family lives in an old neighborhood with small houses, while the rich potential adoptive parents (the Lorings) live in a shiny new suburb with huge houses on big lots. But as it turns out, Juno’s neighborhood is more expensive than the Lorings’! Yup, the areas of Vancouver where Juno’s… Keep reading…
-
Trapped in the “American Dream”
Salon’s advice columnist, Cary Tennis, has a letter from a reader who moved into a big suburban house and is suffering from isolation. “I hate the feeling of slowly falling asleep in suburbia and never waking up. And I hate the commute. And I hate not being able to walk anywhere. And the lack of character. And the McMansions. And the SUVs. I want out and I want out now.”… Keep reading…
-
Best sprawl photo ever
Both Streetsblog and Smart Growth America used this photo of San Antonio, from Kaptain Krispy Kreme on Flickr, on recent stories about the Bush administration seeking to raid the transit fund to pay for highways. It really is a terrific illustration of sprawl gone mad. Keep reading…
-
The favored quarter, illustrated
The Option of Urbanism talks about the “favored quarter”, the pattern in almost every city’s suburban development where most of the wealthy white people settled in certain parts of the region, leading to mall developers and employers wanting to locate there, leading to more highways there, making property values rise and more wealthy white people, malls, and jobs locating there. Keep reading…
-
Audio interview with Christopher Leinberger
Leinberger is the author of The Option of Urbanism: Investing In a New American Dream, which I’m currently reading. Leinberger explains how government policy has favored the creation of more sprawl (which he calls drivable sub-urbanism) over walkable urbanism. Rob Goodspeed has a good review of the book. In this podcast on Planetizen, Leinberger explains the key points… Keep reading…
-
Presidential candidates on transit, cycling and walking
Streetsblog’s LA correspondent Damien Newton researched the Presidential candidates’ positions on transportation. For the Democrats, both Obama’s and Clinton’s platforms hold a great deal of promise. Obama is the most pro-cycling candidate, extols the virtues of walking, and supported Chicago’s transit system while in the Illinois legislature,… Keep reading…
-
Soaring gas prices are slowing sprawl
With gas prices over $3 a gallon, drivers are changing their driving habits. Those who already live in car-dependent areas are locked in to driving and have few alternatives beyond carpooling and buying more fuel-efficient cars, but in the housing market, it’s clear people are choosing their communities with the new costs of driving in mind. Speculators out in the exurbs are… Keep reading…