Yesterday, I spent the day touring New York City. I saw many interesting bits of urbanism, from the World Trade Center construction site (which, after years of delays, is finally being reconstructed) to the High Line (an old raised urban railroad that has now been turned into a spectacular park/public space). New York City is… Continue reading The Layers of NYC
Today, I spent a lot of time ambling around a recently built park in Boston. It is called the Rose Kennedy Greenway, and it is a nice public space. It is diverse, containing fountains, benches, flowers, lawns, long walkways and sculptures. The greenway is surrounded by densely populated areas, providing a green space for many… Continue reading Capping Freeways vs. Taking Them Out: Lessons from the Big Dig
Sometimes, when people discuss transit and transportation, they discuss the issues of transportation as if they were separate from land use policy and zoning. The truth is, these two things are linked very closely. For example, if you wanted to walk or bike to the store from your house, would you be more likely to… Continue reading Land Use AND Transportation: The Importance of Understanding the Connection
Today, I came across this great article from the site Next American City. The article basically discusses the problem with federal money being distributed to state governments: Indeed, the strength of state governments in making transportation decisions is one of the primary culprits for the highway-dependent state of the American landscape, in addition to the… Continue reading Power to the People: Take Power from the States and Give It to the CITIES!
For everyone reading this post not from Albuquerque, CNM is the local community college in the Albuquerque metro area. ABQ Ride is the local transportation agency in the city of Albuquerque. CNM and ABQ Ride do not have best relationship. Sure, there are a few ABQ Ride routes that access the CNM campuses. Sure, ABQ… Continue reading CNM and ABQ Ride: Working Together?
This past weekend, Tucson had its first cyclovia event. On Sunday, from 10 AM until 2 PM, four sections of different streets were closed off to automobile traffic, freeing the streets for non-motorized activities for miles. This page has more information, and this blog has a good write up of the event. The purpose of… Continue reading Cyclivia in Tucson: The Posibilities for the Future
Let’s face it: our infrastructure is broken. As population and road growth increases every year, less and less money is dedicated to essential infrastructure. As a country and people, what should we do? How can the government help? I have read many articles recently discussing the idea of a gas tax in order to pay… Continue reading A Gas Tax Solution: Not All Urban Areas Are Created Equal
All day, I read blogs and studies citing the importance of progressive planning policy. These articles discuss all the benefits of creating developments that are walkable and “New Urbanist” in nature. I do not disagree with any of these statements or opinions. In fact, I agree with the vast majority of them. These are not… Continue reading What Kind of Neighborhoods Do Americans Want?
The cities we have created today are relatively unsustainable. By unsustainable, I mean a place that can not easily survive for a long period of time. The primary reason behind this is zoning policy. There are two major issues with current zoning policy:1) Subsidizing Sprawl: We continue to pour money into developments that make our… Continue reading The Extreme Importance of Zoning Policy
Dan Majewski 