Ed Glaeser « City Block

The power of skyscrapers

Chicago skyline CC image from 1′UP on flickr

Several friends have pointed me to this Atlantic piece by Ed Glaeser on the power of skyscrapers and density in shaping the city, and the role cities play in our economy. Some snippets:

On the micromanagement of zoning codes:

New York slowed its construction of skyscrapers after 1933, and its

Continue reading The power of skyscrapers

I Like Bike | Observer 16 hours ago
Get on it, NYC.
‘Ode to Bike Sharing’ - NYTimes.com 17 hours ago
graphing parking « accessible parking wonkery 2013/05/22
Some rather frightening infographics on how much space we require for parking through our zoning codes.
The business of bike sharing - The Washington Post 2013/05/20
I'm not sure why people focus on commuting via Bikeshare. The major benefit to bikeshare is one-way trips, adding another layer to the other transit modes.
San Francisco upzone: Vulcan logic. 2013/05/20
Star Trek and NIMBYism.
PATH/Fail: The Story of the World’s Most Expensive Train Station | Observer 2013/05/16
Infrastructure investment goes off the rails.
Check Out the View From the Top of the Washington Monument: DCist 2013/05/15
helmet cams for ironworkers...
Development above the new Fairfax Metro stations: Should preparation begin now? 2013/05/14
Air rights - not a bad idea. However, the depiction here just seems like another suburban pod, isolated from the rest of the land next to the toll road ROW.
Chupacabra Becomes Latest Taco Trucks to Open Restaurant - Young & Hungry 2013/05/13
A nice list of DC-area food trucks that have translated the concept into a brick-and-mortar restaurant. The truck allows for proof of concept, and lower barriers to entry than otherwise required to start a storefront business from scratch.
Red Transit Lanes on Church Have Made Muni Faster and More Reliable | Streetsblog San Francisco 2013/05/13
Lessons for any city planning a streetcar line...

By Web Design Company

What’s wrong with ‘Metro Brown?’ (3)
- Payton: Whoops, clipboard error. Here’s the life post-stainless...
- Payton: Not to mention that stainless steel (a) requires polishing as...
- City Block: puts Metro’s recent discussions about moving away from...
Development costs and housing affordability (2)
- charlie: Must be an impressive fee if the market costs is 600K and the...
- Tony Daniels: Good argument. Some things stand out though. First –...
Norman Foster’s aerotropolis (5)
- Alex Block: For more on those photos from Boston dealing with their...
Capacity on the Northeast Corridor (2)
- Alex Block: So, FRA is trying to reassure everyone that this is OK:...
- Alon Levy: The FRA rule changes are mostly about cant deficiency and are...
Towards a DC S-Bahn, part 2 (3)
- City Block: are needed to allow for a combination of increased intercity...
Metro’s ‘station of the future’ – why mess with what works? (1)
- Michael: “Metro Brown” works well with the red tiles and...

RT @CarterRubin: In America, we let you build parking, and if there's room left over, you can build some housing, retail and offices. http:… - 16 hours ago
@IMGoph @JDLand @summersgill indeed. But trans. fluid makes for interesting photos: farm4.staticflickr.com/3050/253412713… - 18 hours ago
@beyonddc @MarkLeeDC Is it _the_ reason? Probably not. But it's most certainly a big part of the story. - 18 hours ago
@kristoncapps @MarketUrbanism well, the DC one actually has a roof! But the Denver structure does look interesting. - 19 hours ago
@kristoncapps @MarketUrbanism Aside from the parking, large cost for DC is in rebuilding yard and platforms and air rights while trains stay - 19 hours ago
@kristoncapps @MarketUrbanism There's a huge difference in the scope for transit, as well. Right now, Denver has few trains at all. - 19 hours ago
RT @YuriArtibise: Development costs and #housing #affordability bit.ly/12WdjkU via @alex_block #vancouver #yvrre - 1 day ago
Watch out, @sharrowsDC: public.sn2.livefilestore.com/y2poK64oP7cmA-… - 1 day ago
@timcraigpost that steel plate has been there a lot longer than two weeks, as well. - 1 day ago
@sharrowsDC exactly. a bad case of status quo bias. - 1 day ago

City Block

The power of skyscrapers

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