Fizzzzle Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 There's a goldilocks zone of regulation for housing. Rio de Janeiro is too little, most places in the US are too much. In Portland, in the late 70's they introduced an Urban Growth Boundary. This restricted any new housing built outside of the boundary, which was supposed to encourage building up instead of out. The problem is the council did not couple that with zoning deregulation, meaning you legally could not build up in most of the metro area you were allowed to build on at all (thanks to NIMBYs). This actually drove suburban sprawl even further past the metro area as developers started building on areas outside of the metro, which is a big reason why Vancouver/Camas across the river in Washington have about 200,000 people living there. Most new build "ups" have come from former industrial areas that have been demolished. The city only finally started lifting SFH restrictions last year, but only like a little bit. Like, now you don't have to have a driveway and you can have a quadriplex with certain restrictions. Point being most of the US is entirely over regulated when it comes to zoning and it just makes everything worse. And once a certain area is zoned a specific way, it's almost impossible to change, regardless of organic population growth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 Quote Urban noise is a common problem, and the vast majority of it is created by motor vehicles. Noise is far too often dismissed as a minor nuisance, rather than the legitimate health issue that it is. The book "Curbing Traffic" has a chapter about the health impacts of noise pollution. I explore the research in the book, and visit Delft, the city that is highlighted in the book as being a shining example of what can happen when noise pollution is taken seriously. This video explores the problem that farting cars, farting motorcycles, and farting mopeds create in our cities. Quote "Car horns should be just as loud on the inside of the car than the outside." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 Today: What it looked like until 2004: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remarkableriots Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 20 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said: Reno home prices in May were up 26.9% compared to last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzzzle Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 20 hours ago, Jason said: Today: What it looked like until 2004: Most of Europe is an interesting example. So, if I have it right, the basic idea behind modern transportation planning basically revolves around making driving as inconvenient as possible. It's no wonder why that doesn't fly in most of America. Governments in Europe tend to operate more unilaterally, so there's sort of a "just deal with it" approach, and after a few years, people just get used to it. Then that leads to more infrastructure spending, etc. After a while, everyone's happy. It's getting people over that hump of "we're intentionally making driving suck more" that's the big hurdle. In most cities, I think it's a surmountable problem. In LA... They would have to massively invest in things like rail infrastructure BEFORE making driving a pain in the ass. It's hard to imagine that ever happening democratically Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 9 minutes ago, Fizzzzle said: They would have to massively invest in things like rail infrastructure BEFORE making driving a pain in the ass. We have rail. We built it without plans for upzoning shit like this: And the reason I posted those before and after pictures is because Americans love to make excuses about "oh, we can't be like the Netherlands because their cities are old and have always been that way!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uaarkson Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 American cities will continue to get more and more unlivable as traffic worsens, and investment in alternate modes of transport/land uses will gain traction in response. Change is fucking slow here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 We finally found it, a legitimate example of virtue signaling. Quote On Monday, Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda proposed a less-than-revolutionary reform: Eliminate the words "single-family" from the city's land-use regulations. "Language matters. 'Single family' zoning may seem to some as merely a planning term, but we know historically it has been used to further exclusionary practices," said Mosqueda in a press release. "We are acting on what we know is right to undo the legacy of exclusion that exists within our planning documents—starting with how we talk about our neighborhoods." The councilmember's proposed legislation would replace some of the mentions of "single-family" zoning in Seattle's Comprehensive Plan, individual neighborhood plans, and other planning documents with the term "neighborhood residential" zoning. So, under Mosqueda's plan, the city's current Land Use Element would no longer call for "Single-Family zones" to "maintain the current low-height and low-bulk character of designated single-family areas." Instead, it would call for "neighborhood residential" zones to "maintain the current low-height and low-bulk character of designated neighborhood residential areas." Seattle Is Proposing to Get Rid of Single-Family Zoning In Name Only. Literally. REASON.COM More and more cities have taken preliminary steps toward allowing "missing middle" housing options in once exclusive single-family neighborhoods, but the devil is in the details. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzzzle Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzzzle Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 By the way Siena is one of the dopest cities I've ever been to, if you're ever going to Tuscany, I highly recommend it over Florence or Pisa. Though Florence is also pretty cool. And pretty much everyone speaks some English in Florence, so that's handy. The rest of Italy I get around by a mix of terrible Italian and broken Spanish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewhyteboar Posted July 1, 2021 Author Share Posted July 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Fizzzzle said: By the way Siena is one of the dopest cities I've ever been to, if you're ever going to Tuscany, I highly recommend it over Florence or Pisa. Though Florence is also pretty cool. And pretty much everyone speaks some English in Florence, so that's handy. The rest of Italy I get around by a mix of terrible Italian and broken Spanish. Siena is cool but not as cool as Florence! Pisa is whatever though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 3 minutes ago, thewhyteboar said: Siena is cool but not as cool as Florence! Pisa is whatever though. More like Pisa shit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 legalize more housing? No, it is the homeless who must be criminalized 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 4 hours ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said: legalize more housing? No, it is the homeless who must be criminalized Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kal-El814 Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 4 hours ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said: legalize more housing? No, it is the homeless who must be criminalized I cannot express how angry this makes me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 So I was driving home last night and this guy behind me in a Dodge ram was really riding my ass. Not sure if he was an asshole or drunk or both. It's a two lane street and there are stop signs. You could really hear him putting on the gas behind me. So we reach a stop sign that is before a curve in the road and this guy accelerates and passes me on the left but goes a bit too wide and has to slam on the brakes because as he was totally wiping off the side of the road. It was kinda funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uaarkson Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 Ugh. Imagine being a car person living in Bed Stuy. What the fuck is wrong with these people Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 On 7/2/2021 at 10:58 AM, Kal-El814 said: I cannot express how angry this makes me. What makes all this really maddening is that there is a proven, reliable way to end homelessness: give them all free apartments. This has been tested in various places (Canada, Sweden, etc), and it works. The cost of providing a small apartment ($800-$1500/mo) ends up being cheaper than the cost of medical issues and incarceration for the homeless. Plus, it gets them off the street and enables them to then improve their lives with a fixed address. The only reason this isn't enacted all over the world is because of spite. It's that simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Couple of big transit announcements in Canada the last week: and Calgary's Green Line LRT project gets final approval, creating up to 20K local jobs | Urbanized DAILYHIVE.COM The provincial and federal governments have confirmed their investments in the Green Line LRT, bringing a new CTrain section to Calgary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Forgot about the highish-speed new rail line between Quebec City and Toronto (described as "high frequency" rail route): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Battery buses are a fucking scam Jesus just throw some catenary up and run electric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 no one could have seen this coming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CayceG Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 On 7/9/2021 at 1:43 PM, b_m_b_m_b_m said: Battery buses are a fucking scam Jesus just throw some catenary up and run electric Cities at this point are all but allergic to capital expenditures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 10 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said: no one could have seen this coming The space outside the ticketed waiting area intentionally doesn't have seating because homeless people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 43 minutes ago, CayceG said: Cities at this point are all but allergic to capital expenditures. The beast is effectively starved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CayceG Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 pUbLiC pRiVaTe PaRtNeRsHiPs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remarkableriots Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 Pollution-eating car shown off at Goodwood Festival WWW.BBC.COM The car looks radically different but critics are not convinced it can really help the environment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 Cool, but...why not just mount that same type of filter on wind turbine blades, or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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