An Amazon warehouse by Jaimi Wilson licensed under Creative Commons.

Philadelphia warehouse boom. Introducing the “groundscaper.” AI traffic models are only as good as input data.

Philadelphia warehouse boom: All over the Philadelphia region, 55 million square feet of warehousing space is springing up to serve the infrastructure demands of popular online shopping services. But as construction and truck traffic increases, neighbors are worried about their impacts. One of the newer projects is in the Bellweather District on former oil refinery land just outside the city, but others are springing up on the outskirts to serve demand from Washington, DC, to New Haven, Connecticut. (This article may be behind a paywall). (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Enter the “groundscraper:” As opposed to a skyscraper, which is a tall vertical building, a groundscraper is a long, low-rise building spread out over a large piece of land. Typically, buildings over 1 million square feet can be considered a groundscraper. Proponents argue they are more energy efficient and have less visual impact, but architects and designers struggle with internal circulation. (Ankitha Gattupalli | ArchDaily)

AI traffic models are only as good as input data: With machine learning able to process so much data and information, traffic models can absorb more information for transportation planning applications. However, the collected data can be limited by a lack of access and standardization. While data used to be from government sources, now it can be collected from any number of places making sorting and organizing the data by machine that much more useful. (Jon Lawson | Traffic Technology International)

Denmark’s 30-year mortgage solution: One of the current issues with the housing market is the number of homeowners staying in their homes because they can’t get a similar very low-interest rate for a new purchase compared to the loan they have at the moment. Officials in Denmark have figured out this problem by allowing homeowners to trade up for higher rates while earning profits in return for the exchange using “covered bonds.” (James Rodriguez | Business Insider)

The fate of humans tied to roadkill: Ben Goldfarb, author of Crossings, discusses why the epidemic of roadkill and the construction of roads everywhere is tied to how we’re treating the planet and how that comes back to impact overall human health. For example, while humans are sometimes hit by car drivers, the impact of noise and air pollution also has a great impact on animals and humans alike. (Ben Goldfarb | Slate)

Quote of the Week

“My insurance just went up 48% this year. So it’s $8,600 a year just for homeowners insurance. And I’m middle income. I can’t imagine, if you extrapolate that for lower-income Americans, how in the world is that sustainable?”

Toni Moss, founder of mortgage and real estate advisory firm AmeriCatalyst in Marketplace discusses rising insurance rates’ impacts on the housing market and existing residents.

This week on the Talking Headways podcast, we’re joined by Erin Clark, Chief Real Estate Investment Officer of the Denver Housing Authority. We chat about the redevelopment of Sun Valley, a public housing project built in the 1950s that is being reinvigorated by new investments in public housing, parks, and community.