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The following is an archive of my Tweets from April 2013 to November 2022. Thank you to Tim Hutton for the Twitter Archive Parser and for his technical support via this thread. The parser is very helpful for getting the correct links and full resolution images, as well as creating this HTML format.
We’re working with municipalities to comply with the recent MBTA Communities multifamily legislation, including understanding the impact and rezoning. Reach out if you’re interested having a quick discussion about how we can help! https://www.stantec.com/en/ideas/spotlight/market/mbta-communities
Love this pedestrian passage between mid rise and townhomes. Denver LoDo
Add two-way protected bike lanes on walnut street to connect union sq and the community path extension
Growth in net new households is strong, but housing production is struggling to keep up. The lack of housing supply is driving up prices, so people are more cost-burdened. Regulations need to give multifamily a chance, and subsidies are needed for households with lowest incomes. https://twitter.com/Harvard_JCHS/status/1570808985607098368
Interesting. From my experience, red means red in NL, if you run it you’ll be in trouble with oncoming traffic, whereas in Boston red is the new yellow. I’d support the change to be more efficient!
With students coming back in to the city I thought I'd post my reading list for this fall
📓 The City in History by Lewis Mumford
📘 Fixer-Upper by Jenny Schuetz
📗 Arbitrary Lines by M. Nolan Gray
📙 Soft City by David Sim
📕 In Defense of Housing by David Madden & Peter Marcuse
1940 Post-agriculture: housing subdivisions on farms
1990 Post-industrial: housing near urban centers in factories
2010 Post-retail: housing on dying malls
2020 Post-office: housing in prime downtown locations
https://www.planetizen.com/news/2022/08/118448-dc-could-lead-downtown-office-conversion-trend
Great graphic from Washington Post showing how working-age Americans moved 2020-2021 https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/08/19/remote-work-hybrid-employment-revolution/
Remote work's impact on urban planning is fascinating and evolving. I've been keeping some notes here - https://nels.city/wfhcities.html
Discussion of elevated priorities when remote work is possible: social fabric, universities/college towns, safety, supermarket not actually be a requirement with delivery services; avoid pollution, natural disasters, sea level rise; see @NomadList, http://movemap.io
Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work? Author wants to get away from $1M homes and find a walkable place with amenities (restaurants, bars, schools, airport, supermarket) and a good climate https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32465372
What if we stopped zoning by use, but instead directly regulated nuisances like noise, emissions, vibrations, light pollution, vehicle trip generation w smart tech? Anything goes as long as negative externalities do not exceed the agreed performance levels https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/miami-beach-noise-detecting-cameras-24-acoustics/627736/
I'm impressed by @CHADesignStudio's preapproved housing types, incl The Bachman, a handsome 6-plex. This is a step forward in greenlighting missing middle and multifamily housing development that I expect will catch on https://www.mychatthouse.com/house-plans/
Tired: solarpunk
Inspired: solar bebop
- Thankfully, this type of development is historically very popular (Back Bay Boston, Mission District SF, Brooklyn NY, Columbia Heights DC), and MA is a leader in the country in terms of pushing municipalities to allow this type of housing via MBTA Communities legislation
- and associated negative externalities of greenhouse gas emissions, other pollution, noise, and space use. In order to truly create a walkable environment that has sufficient population density to support those amenities, we need about 4-story buildings on average -
I'm surprised when I see climate-focused discussions still hung up on whether higher density housing is sustainable or not. Housing within walking distance of destinations (schools, parks, grocery stores, employment, restaurants, etc) decreases motor vehicle miles travelled -
Bonus content: my Net Zero Waterfall graphic that shows a menu of interventions across buildings, mobility, energy, and utilities
I wrote about Net Zero Communities - five factors for policymakers, planners, and designers that are essential for making the great transition http://pbynd.co/8hz3e
#somervillema
Reed & Barton Mills in Taunton, MA, potential future adaptive reuse for housing. Lovely architecture and nice flowing water.
Historic 8-unit multifamily housing on Caruso Park in Sunset Heights, El Paso https://goo.gl/maps/P5smQ1iu8QdJWdsA8
ATL townhomes with front stoops and rear parking and service https://goo.gl/maps/mtjfi4e2XC1JUfNG8
ATL multifamily, complete with individual entrances for ground floor units, a bus stop, and retail (not shown)
https://goo.gl/maps/w46SbkJeqCYu1GQy6
I'm impressed by this publication's approach to infill development, micro-developers, and small-scale rental housing https://www.dag.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/small-scale-rental-housing_publication.pdf https://twitter.com/DAG__activism/status/1534456379062239232
Boston looking fresh after the rain ☘️
View from Prospect Hill Somerville
Boston region's pipeline for lab space is almost double the existing lab space (49M sf pipeline vs. 27M sf existing) https://www.nmrk.com/insights/thought-leadership/2021-year-end-life-science-overview-market-clusters
TIL Denmark requires all multifamily units to have a balcony. That’s a good regulation and contributes to their lovely housing stock https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leading-voices-in-real-estate/id1193591199?i=1000561521859
Polar sun path chart program, still great http://solardat.uoregon.edu/PolarSunChartProgram.html
"If we build the right infrastructure, right away, the future will be awesome! ... There can be no 'not in my backyard' with solar and wind energy. Consider that fossil fuels are pervasive and pollute everyone’s back yards—in the air, water, and soil." ~@GriffithSaul 🌎
We visited Hilde and Earle at their Cape Cod Ark, a 1970s "living machine" sustainability experiment by the New Alchemists that integrates housing, greenhouse, aquaculture, and other closed-loop systems. It is still operating beautifully. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQKFL-9PJ1A
41.7234251, -70.2371584 … marsh on cape cod
5 stars, highly recommended, engaging and informative read, and @GriffithSaul shares my love of sankey diagrams @rewiringamerica #electrifyeverything https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56702078-electrify
And the reverse commute, looking north
Union Square ➡️ North Station tunnel on a rainy day, looking south #GLX I had a smooth first ride
My thought is that cities will still have draw, and that this shift will help save rural areas from becoming ghost towns
this is a thread now. last night was very blue
#NetZero at the district scale:
1⃣ @GHGProtocol for Cities (2021)
2⃣ @USGBC LEED Zero (2020)
3⃣ @ICLEI Community Protocol (2019)
celebrating walkable neighborhoods #SuperBowl
2022 urban design trend: biophilic mixed use
This report is full of pragmatic and incremental steps for expanding the use of technology in urban management https://twitter.com/cornell_tech/status/1392465943184478213
I took a 24 hour time lapse of the snow on Propsect Hill #somervillema
https://www.connectedpapers.com is neat @ConnectedPapers
Last night on Prospect Hill in Somerville
where do you want to live when your kids aren't in school
RT @CCIdotCity: We wrap up #UrbanOctober with "Barefoot Planning" - a new paper by @nelszzp and Sam Sternin - proposing an adaptive mechani…
Attainable is another good word
You can listen to me and Memo from the @HarvardChanSPH talk about healthy cities and resilience to extreme heat in this podcast series related to the upcoming #COP26Glasgow https://www.stantec.com/uk/ideas/the-scope-episode-1-heat-resilient-cities
this square is a real challenge. no doubt that Somerville will do something creative and great with it
just look at that urban low-VMT life. playing around with @replica
If there is one thing I'd ask for: individual entrances and stoops for ground-level units to add activity and personality to the street, i.e. Image C in their written submission, Back Bay, or Cambridge Crossing (linked) https://goo.gl/maps/z1vy6cywuxcYqaur8
Oslo’s Barcode District and opera house are examples of great contemporary urban design
I'm seeing a lot of publications on the Zoom Boom, Zoom Towns, workplace flexibility, future of work, and the ilk, so I'm collecting resources in a sort of meta-analysis that I'll keep up-to-date periodically https://nels.city/wfhcities.html
100-Millisecond City
Communities on the receiving end of the "Zoom Boom" -- young, highly educated, affluent knowledge workers moving out of urban core areas -- have been suburban, semirural, and rural areas within a few hours drive of major cities https://www.cbre.us/research-and-reports/COVID-19-Impact-on-Resident-Migration-Patterns
Smart cities and heat resilience!
🪙 Triple-bottom-line lifecycle costing for sustainable infrastructure
🛰️ Extreme heat event analysis with NASA's ECOSTRESS
📍 Location data for adaptive capacity assessment
⚖️ Equitable investment distribution https://twitter.com/Stantec/status/1404816681847988226
blocklattice 🤔
I started a public list of urbanists, let me know who is missing https://twitter.com/i/lists/1402209073559486466
I'll be keeping an eye on the City Data Standard - Mobility (CDS-M) being developed in NL as a common API between mobility providers (shared cars, e-scooters, bikes), users, and public authorities for traffic mgmt https://openresearch.amsterdam/en/overview/70020
I'm really enjoying the @CCIdotCity podcast series. The hosts are well-informed, the guests are fantastic, and the conversations are long and in-depth. https://www.chartercitiesinstitute.org/post/charter-cities-podcast-episode-3-alain-bertaud
"By 2050... Global energy demand is around 8% smaller than today, but it serves an economy more than twice as big and a population with 2b more people. Almost 90% of electricity generation comes from renewable sources, with wind and solar PV together accounting for almost 70%." https://twitter.com/fbirol/status/1394518343516889096
No parking requirement for neighborhood grocery stores! Larger as-of-right stores! NYC's FRESH is a cool program and is being expanding to additional districts https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/about/press-releases/pr-20210519.page
Late spring in Amsterdam
I think @googlephotos is making fun of me
these apartments spanning a road in Mercatorbuurt are part of a wider Dutch style that includes the Poortgebow, Amsterdams Lyceum, and Rijksmuseum
shared courtyard garden in Amsterdam, near Central Station
Trees are cool. via Greening Sydney Strategy (pdf) @cityofsydney https://meetings.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/documents/s50798/Attachment%20A%20-%20Draft%20Greening%20Sydney%20Strategy.pdf
Use the peacetime military industrial complex to deploy renewable energy technology. Solar is a kind of modern roof tile. It will literally make us safer. Should be part of any Green New Deal.
the coolest #NFT is a Certified Emission Reduction @UNFCCC buy them here https://offset.climateneutralnow.org/AllProjects
Reversing Car Dependency via @ITF_Forum https://www.itf-oecd.org/reversing-car-dependency
🏨 Review land-use regulations that hinder compact development patterns
⚖️ Integrate planning of transport & land use
🚲 Ensure quality alternatives to private cars
🚫 Abolishing minimum parking requirements
Comfort Town, Kiev, Dniprovskyi district
https://comforttown.com.ua/
https://www.google.com/maps/@50.435287,30.6204893,3a,75y,274.31h,97.67t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMAqWfHAL_npQa40TLl_DcMZ1H747xs0yhQZsBV!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMAqWfHAL_npQa40TLl_DcMZ1H747xs0yhQZsBV%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya153.16243-ro-0-fo100!7i8000!8i4000
Beautiful evening by Rembrandt Park, Amsterdam
Coronavirus rules update in NL for March 3-15.
Curfew, work from home, limited number of household visitors, primary school open, cafes & gyms closed.
I appreciate @Rijksoverheid's approachable graphic design.
#alleensamen #coronavirus #avondklok https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/publicaties/2021/02/23/beeldsamenvatting-coronamaatregelen-3-maart
The @USDOT Valuation of Travel Time (VTTS) is a metric used to evaluate and justify public spending on highway widening to increase speed as a benefit for the users.
Let's turn it on its head to justify compact mixed-use neighborhoods where activities are simply closer together.
Looks like 2021 is going to be another especially good year for appreciating urban design as we wait for buildings to reopen
Ice breaking the canal this morning
Dutch blocks are sometimes very long. And you know what? I'm ok with the honesty and efficiency. Plus, some human-scale features subtly break up total monotony.
📍 https://goo.gl/maps/oVWeNCwNqXbqAAHaA
Snowy sunday evening in Amsterdam #codeoranje
Party walls are great. Jan Vrijmanstraat and Nico Jessekade, Amsterdam
YES! "Biden has instructed the US government to pause and review all oil and gas drilling on federal land, eliminate fossil fuel subsidies and transform the government’s vast fleet of cars and trucks into electric vehicles." https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/27/joe-biden-climate-change-executive-orders
The Sphere Standards establish indicators for water supply, sanitation, shelter, etc in humanitarian situations. As such, it is a sort of “minimum viable product” specification for human settlements. In 2020, they released a 2nd guide for urban settings.
https://spherestandards.org/resources/unpacked-guide-urban-settings-2020/
Sunday lope around the Zuid-Kennemerland National Park near the town of Driehuis. The dune forest ecosystem is lovely in winter.
RT @Stantec: How can lessons learned from #COVID19 help improve #urban social equity and wellness? @nelszzp shares global urban planning op…
For the person in your life who already knows everything about bike infrastructure and advocacy, I recommend "Bike City Amsterdam: How Amsterdam became the cycling Capital of the World" (2019). Smart urbanism, not smart cities! I made some notes here -
https://nels.city/bikecityams.html
I like this because it broadly describes these modes without getting into the motorized-or-not dimension, but I worry that it is urban planning jargon that the public might not immediately understand 🤔
What plain language term best encompasses transportation by bike, walking, scooter, skateboard, and other modes (including electric-assisted) that are generally slower than 25 km/h (15 mph)?
You can get the same rush biking on Boston's Cambridge St by MGH
Weekend trip to the end of time playground
📍 https://goo.gl/maps/rZehYnc1gWjvcx8x9
My street is a James Turrell
The absence of street light poles really helps fit travel lanes, two tram tracks, parking lanes, bike lanes, sidewalks, and bldg frontage uses within this very tight right-of-way (+/- 60', 18m). Plus, catenary lights are pretty.
📍 https://goo.gl/maps/BfSFmtAkhK4uDuMd7
The right width of a two-way rural road for local access. My length for scale (6’). Great for walking, biking, farm vehicles, and yielding car traffic.
📍 https://goo.gl/maps/9m6CupiYi32czpvK9
Something a little bit different for #mturban this time, instead of walking around a district we walk around a sculpture park, Verbeke Foundation, Belgium. It is one of my favorite places and has a lot of large scale and ecology-themed artworks. https://youtu.be/viEydWaEnGc
Kortenaerplein, Amsterdam #mturban walkthrough. This unsung square in Amsterdam West caught our eye with its human-scale features, interesting site design, and mix of historic and contemporary architecture tucked away off the main street. https://youtu.be/UjGDRwp1gBI
Hygiëaplein is part of Berlage's master plan for South Amsterdam. The plaza and buildings were mostly constructed the 1920s in the Amsterdam School style #mturban https://youtu.be/mwNOJibnnQM
Walkthrough Laan van Spartaan, Amsterdam. Planned by Dijk&co from 2008-2018, this district is centered on a sports complex. This is part of the #mturban series of trips to check out realized urban design projects. https://youtu.be/1QrcgPcNXho
In case you missed it, the recording is now up https://www.stantec.com/en/ideas/topic/cities/webinar-recording-global-panel-on-covid-19-responses-in-vulnerable-urban-contexts
Walking through Borneo-Sporenburg, Amsterdam during the pandemic, planned by West 8 in 1993. It is a landmark project for the high-density low-rise housing typology. Follow along #mturban https://youtu.be/JT27PiJIYQI
Walkthrough of Java-eiland in Amsterdam, master planned by Sjoerd Soeters in 1991. Inspired by Jan Gehl, we're taking trips to significant urban design projects and observing the outcome. Follow along #mturban https://youtu.be/Gy9cZKAjcIg
This Thursday, October 29, join Sam Sternin and me for a #worldcitiesday discussion about the #SARSCoV2 pandemic in vulnerable urban contexts across the world with panelists @danrivera01843, @GautamBhan80, @AllanDevworks, and Dr. Godwin Mindra
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4180201781677771276
The Landscape of Innovation by Bill Gates' @Breakthrough has 55 "technical quests" - a fantastic to-do list of technology needs for avoiding catastrophic climate change while maintaining high living standards https://www.breakthroughenergy.org/landscape/
I appreciate that the World Wildlife Fund is pro-city https://twitter.com/WWFCities/status/1310188411479875585
The tipping point of population density and proximity holds this all together as a walkable and bikeable environment, which is very hard to achieve when providing space for vehicle storage, even in multi-storey garages.
It occurred to me that a commonality between my house, grocery store, doctor's office, and barber shop (to name a few typical services) is that they all have at least 3 floors housing above them and zero off-street parking.
Talking costs: "Consider what it’s taking to achieve this 8% reduction. More than 600,000 people have died, and tens of millions are out of work. This April, car traffic was half what it was in April 2019. For months, air traffic virtually came to a halt." https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/Climate-and-COVID-19
How far would you walk to your primary occupation, i.e. job, higher education? Beyond this one way distance you'd choose another way to get there.
How far would you walk to access basic services, i.e. grocery story, restaurant, park, transit stop, library? (One way. Beyond this distance you'd chose another way to get there.)
The City of Amsterdam has tons of public maps, incl niche (squirrel bridges locations) and quirky (How Big is Amsterdam?)... shown below over the Boston area https://maps.amsterdam.nl/hoegroot/?LANG=en
And Memphis, around the concept of Community Anchors https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/2020/07/21/memphis-plans-long-term-growth-around-community-anchors
Melbourne is also getting into it https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/policy-and-strategy/planning-for-melbourne/plan-melbourne/20-minute-neighbourhoods
I'm obsessed with @Anne_Hidalgo's "Quarter Hour Paris" approach, so I translated the banner graphic captions. To have a mayor with a strong urban design platform running a city that already has 50% of trips made by walking is very exciting.
Vice article featuring @DavidDixonUrban and @Stantec's Urban Places working in Buffalo https://twitter.com/motherboard/status/1263482186344402945
Based on my long bike ride through the city this morning, it appears that Amsterdam is really seizing the moment to catch up on road and sidewalk maintenance
It is wonderful that GHG emissions should drop 8% this year with #covid19. But, knowing the deep implications of the changes, it is alarming that emissions need to keep dropping by 8% year over year until 2030 to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/30/climate/global-emissions-decline.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
McKinnell, 1969 “This isn’t a building where the pattern is frozen... The process of democratic government is the meaning of City Hall. It should never be finished.” Are the dramatic bays actually ports for expansion into the plaza, the bldg only phase 1 of a dynamic future? RIP https://twitter.com/BostonGlobe/status/1244040623696592898
Here is a Google Earth timelapse dating back to 1984, looks like the city was centered on the point and filled in towards the mainland year over year https://earthengine.google.com/timelapse#v=9.61859,-13.63252,10,latLng&t=0.5&ps=50&bt=19840101&et=20181231&startDwell=0&endDwell=0
Conakry's urban form looks unreal - detail and wide shot from Google Earth (North ↘)
By coincidence I passed by Lomanstraat in Amsterdam last weekend and had to stop to snap a photo, it is striking! https://www.google.com/maps?q=loc:52.3506917,4.8576361
I took a photo of that street last weekend! The trees are striking
A couple good podcasts related to #COVID19:
- @sfiscience Transmission series, #complexsystems insights, outbreak modeling https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rigorous-uncertainty-science-during-covid-19-david/id1482984603?i=1000470701635
- @WorldResources How the US can #BuildBackBetter after Covid-19 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-the-us-can-buildbackbetter-after-covid-19/id1191488406?i=1000471553767
I'm upset by @medium's paywall for readers (bait and switch!) and regret dismantling my own wordpress, although it was time. I want to move my blog and am considering @pubpub. I have relatively few articles, and I also never want to move again. Thoughts? Recommendations? @metasj
Density without amenity is crowding. In light of #COVIDー19, we need to consider walkway level of service. Graphic via http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_webdoc_6-d.pdf page 19
climate renaissance
I like this little contemporary courtyard 52.367696, 4.869189 also this city can be obsessed with pitched roofs
Two sides of the same building, human scale features on the inside and taut facing the highway. The Slotermeer area has quite a few contemporary housing developments worth taking a look at.
Cities committed to net carbon neutrality by 2050 (or sooner)
NYC
LA
London
Paris
Washington DC
SF
Seattle
Sydney
Boston
Stockholm
Barcelona
Copenhagen
Austin
Melbourne
Helsinki
Manchester
Oslo
Nottingham
Adelaide
Bristol
Heidelberg
+ more, via @ECIU_UK https://eciu.net/netzerotracker
We're moving to Amsterdam tomorrow, sun setting on our Den Haag chapter!
He shared the high level goals of Amsterdam's digital agenda, for a free, inclusive, and creative smart city. Smart cities are the new normal, impacting building, public space, healthcare, government, and democracy.
The walkable places market appears to be maturing, i.e. the willingness to pay vs supply is hitting an equilibrium. The issue now is innovating to create more marketable walkable housing to keep up with demand at a reasonable price point...
https://www.redfin.com/blog/walkable-neighborhoods-home-prices-rising-slower/
too small and numerous to fail
Space might be cheap somewhere but time is still very expensive, which is why it makes sense to built compactly everywhere even in exurban areas.
90% of people living in urban areas breath air that doesn't meet the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines value for particulate matter (2016) #sdg11 https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg11
The cost-benefit analysis includes 13 parameters for both external and internal costs. While external costs are covered in the RT'ed headline, the internal costs (to the traveler per km) are €0.88 driving, €0.15 biking, €0.50 walking. High price of walking = longer travel time
(Translated) Water barriers along the coast are kept to strength according to the principle 'soft where possible, hard where necessary'.
(Image) Double use of space: A parking garage under the boulevard has been realized in the multifunctional flood defense in Katwijk.
Long-range comprehensive planning is tough. To see a good example, I recommending running the Netherlands' first National Environmental Vision (NOVI) website through Google Translate - https://ontwerpnovi.nl/ https://twitter.com/NOVI_BZK/status/1177169826873249793
A new colleague forwarded me this paper. The authors take a rigorous look at the costs and benefits of different travel modes. The results aren't necessarily surprising but the data are useful for shaping decisions around future investment. https://twitter.com/CyclingEmbassy/status/1122876376976064513
Resilience begins with acknowledging risk. That can be hard.
Walkability and density stats in Toronto scientific paper from 2014: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3891889/
Note that areas can have raw residential density without walkable destinations & vice versa. It's important to balance land uses!
Troy NY - miles of compact neighborhoods along the Hudson River #4kpsqmi
Bowling Green OH - looks like the university, downtown, and the regional airport are all theoretically in biking range #4kpsqmi
New Orleans LA - biking here is fantastic #4kpsqmi
Eureka CA - Bikeable seaside Californian city #4kpsqmi
Lewiston - Auburn ME - Legacy industrial space, dense housing, and the Bates College campus outline a bikeshed that encompasses a range of uses #4kpsqmi
Fargo ND & Moorhead MN - compact neighborhoods surround downtown commercial districts, an opportunity for residential infill #4kpsqmi
Salinas CA - look at the strong delineation between bikeable density and agriculture, which demonstrates a commitment to limiting urban sprawl #4kpsqmi
While truly walkable density (64k people per square mile #64kpsqmi) is rare in the US, bikeable density is more common. I'll be sharing census blocks with 4k people per square mile #4kpsqmi where in theory most daily needs could be supported within a 10 minute ride (2 miles).
Census blocks with more than 64k inhabitants per square mile
Denny Triangle Seattle - tasty green roofs on contemporary urbanism to round out this list #64kpsqmi
Capitol Hill Seattle - some very characterful buildings #64kpsqmi
Southside Berkeley - some nice looking yellow buildings in there #64kpsqmi
Oak Tree Oakland #64kpsqmi
Tenderloin SF #64kpsqmi
Mission District SF - walkability, tetris style #64kpsqmi
Panorama City LA - I was thinking of not including this because the block is not especially mixed use, but the building type is rather unique #64kpsqmi
West Wood LA - walkability on the hillside #64kpsqmi
West Lake LA #64kpsqmi
Downtown Madison - the country's most walkable isthmus? #64kpsqmi
Gold Coast Chicago - there are several other example blocks up and down Chicago's lakefront #64kpsqmi
College Town Ithaca - nice to see them coming in strong with a nice mix of uses #64kpsqmi
North End Boston - if you look above the pizza shops there is a lot of housing #64kpsqmi
Williamsburg NYC #64ksqmi
Upper West Side NYC - this city has the most #64kpsqmi blocks so it was hard to pick an example
Brickell Miami - pools, high rises, and sea level rise #64kpsqmi
Center City, Philadelphia - a twofer #64ksqmi
Columbia Heights DC - nice mix of uses #64kpsqmi
In search of walkable density, I looked at US Census blocks with more than 64,000 inhabitants per square mile, a rough benchmark for population density that can support most daily needs within a 10 min walk - see some results #64kpsqmi
Jane Jacobs and the Lane Takers #urbanistbandnames
Multifamily
Trip Generation
Our future is climate-powered https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1194389911639642115
Because American roads are typically less comfortable to ride on for cyclists. Without protected lanes, you're mixed in with cars, and so dressing to go >15 mph is rational.
The street to my house closes at 11pm. In the off chance I'm driving home after that, I have to park in a dirt lot at the edge of the neighborhood and walk 200 yards/meters. It is annoying, but also very quiet at night.
Stopping fossil fuel subsidies would be a good start!
Tech reducing walking, aka monetization of walking:
42% of e-scooter riders report that they would have walked or biked if an e-scooter was not available
15% reduction in walking and biking among @WhimappFI users in Helsinki
I think the Greenhouse Effect suffers from a naming problem. i.e. Ozone Hole sounds much scarier at face value. If GHG had a more terrifying brand, maybe climate change conversations wouldn't be as easily derailed by discussions about solar irradiance etc.
AB 68 establishes the right to build three units on any residential lot. Really important and impressive action for California. Hopefully other states follow suit! https://twitter.com/NancySkinnerCA/status/1182050208290504705
I was surprised by @GerBaron on the WEF Cities of Tomorrow podcast. His hot take: free public Wi-Fi is fundamentally a bad idea bc its an "inside" technology that drains your battery. He advocates free 3G, 4G, 5G as a better solution for public places.
Thinking about contextually-appropriate approaches to healthy cities in advance of my #walk21 talk next week
Higher income=⬆️non-communicable disease (heart disease, diabetes, cancer)
Lower income=⬆️communicable disease (diarrhea, respiratory infection)
https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/
Land use Electronic music genre
🤝
Industrial
House
Garage
Club
Lounge
Oosterwold is fascinating -- like a real world game of Carcassonne. Individual plot owners are required to collaborate on establishing new roads (incl naming!) I also like the user friendly dev handbook. Link in Dutch... https://handboek.maakoosterwold.nl/onderdeel/kavelweg/
I ran past two pieces of public art in my new neighborhood this morning. James Turrell - Celestial Vault and a big sphere of rubble that looks like an Andrew Goldsworthy piece but need to confirm.
This is a very interesting application of computer vision. @orbital_insight compared before-and-after satellite images to identify destroyed structures after Hurricane Dorian. https://twitter.com/orbital_insight/status/1174261890459082757
I'm excited about a couple upcoming events in early October in NL, the SDI Amsterdam Sessions and Walk21 Rotterdam (where I'll be presenting) https://www.sdinederland.nl/amsterdamsessions/ https://www.walk21rotterdam.nl/
Beautiful and busy night on the #zandmotor
To start with, we're staying in the shadow of the Sand Motor, a very large scale ecological experiment for coastal resilience. https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/11/25/564098130/protecting-the-netherlands-vulnerable-coasts-with-a-sand-motor?t=1568627027932
I've relocated to the Netherlands for a while as my SO, the inspirational @elinebakr, took a job in The Hague. Expect to see more tweets about ecological infrastructure and street design details. I'll still be working with @Stantec!
"Why not get office buildings to install water fountains in facades as a community amenity?" IMO any non-residential would be good. Related, @CityOfBoston has been doing a good job getting private waterfront development to provide public restrooms http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2019/07/why-not-get-office-buildings-to-install.html
These "super-buildings" in downtown Lewiston, Maine are an interesting urban take on the New England connected farmhouse tradition
Hey @marty_walsh thank you for the Museum of Science bridge protected bike lane with the resurfacing. We appreciate it! https://twitter.com/nelszzp/status/1060954650646663168
I've got some ideas about healthy cities in this article alongside @HarvardChanSPH's @p_macnaughton https://twitter.com/Stantec/status/1154860204133167104
Witte de Withstraat, Rotterdam. Great example of pushing cafe seating all the way to the curb.
I've got some notes in here about air quality, urban design, and healthy cities https://twitter.com/Stantec/status/1136433792661512192
I'm presenting about the future of urban design for healthy cities at @BARIboston. I'll share work we've been doing at @Stantec's Urban Places including @WaterStTampa and @OneCharlestown, co-author is @BlakeJackson81. Come check it out! https://twitter.com/BARIboston/status/1105513962030989312
OK so this isn't news but I'm blown away that in Japan zoning is national and there are only 12 land use types and each one has a cute drawing http://www.mlit.go.jp/common/001050453.pdf
What if land ownership was treated like a domain name, where it goes back to public if not renewed?
If you want to take a bus to the top of #SomervilleMA, go to Broadway @ Bartlett St
I found some examples from the UK, too
It seems physically more comfortable having the glass block road noise, but psychologically less comfortable not being able to see the bus coming. What do you think? @JeffSpeckAICP @RJDeNisco @ryan_martinson @DavidDixonUrban
Working on design guidelines for BRT stations, I noticed that most Japanese stations are "opposite" from USA. The station is right at the curb, and the benches face towards the sidewalk instead of the street.
Developers exploiting zoning's "mechanical void loophole" is rather shocking
https://citylimits.org/2019/01/29/time-to-avoid-some-voids-city-planning-thinks-so/
Check out the Circularity Gap report by @circleeconomy. It is interesting how material footprint is categorized by societal needs rather than industry. We have to use fewer things more efficiently for a longer time and then ♻ - https://www.circularity-gap.world/
RCP 2.6 or bust
FastCo picked up this trend, too. A transition to shared risk contracts between insurers & care providers could lead to a lot more of this type of community buildings--basically moving the industry towards a culture of health rather than service provision https://www.fastcompany.com/90291860/this-healthcare-giant-invests-millions-in-affordable-housing-to-keep-people-healthy
Another example, using Medicaid to create housing supply and save money in the process http://www.getahome.org/housing-is-healthcare
Now @KPShare has a $100M fund #housingforhealth. @comunilifeinc funds 1,896 units with Medicaid in NY. If healthcare $ spent on affordable housing has 300% ROI, imagine what other upstream community health infrastructure projects are possible... https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/what-montefiores-300-roi-social-determinants-investments-means-future-other-hospitals
I'm excited to see interest in investing in healthier environments to address the upstream causes of health outcomes!
I'm an urban planner thinking about how we might deliver healthier places, and am intrigued by how health care spending can reach out into the community to create better health outcomes.
Lovely graphic, great research. One critique - I think that "physical environment" only accounting for 7% underestimates the importance of place. For example, physical activity and distance to healthcare resources are influenced by location.
The science is in: participants at local planning and zoning meetings are more likely to be older, male, homeowners, and in opposition to new housing construction than the general public (by @BUonCities)
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/who-participates-in-local-government-evidence-from-meeting-minutes/C6505940E607B6392C4A8F53A9363DB1
I spent some time in Phnom Penh over the holidays. The "shophouses" are a neat way of mixing uses--and the gov't is building new ones based on the historic type. The stores have very narrow frontages and the dwellings above are accessed by shared stairwells.
Just think of it like skiing or some other winter sport, its not a big deal. Plus, cities are getting better about plowing bike lanes
🚲
🌊🏘️
https://www.zillow.com/research/ocean-at-the-door-21931/
I sometimes get asked where my name came from. In honor of #VeteransDay, here is my grandfather, Nels Nelson, a Navy Seabee working on Kodiak Island, Alaska in 1947.
In 2015 I tweeted @marty_walsh that the Museum of Science bridge "bike lane" is dangerous for people bicycling. Today, a man died there. Waiting until a fatality is not an acceptable policy for building infrastructure (see Sullivan Sq, Mass Ave, Porter Sq, Inman Sq) - CC @CambMA https://twitter.com/nelszzp/status/590953267149938688
I've got a #smartmobility segment in this article. I touch upon the important decisions cities have to make in order to create the best future for communities. https://twitter.com/UNDP/status/1057664768507559941
“We either invest now, or else we pay a much bigger price later. And we’ll pay that price in more than dollars. We’ll pay it in jobs lost, small businesses that never recover, homes destroyed, and families displaced.” Well said @marty_walsh
Coastal erosion control in Matunuck, RI 📍
https://www.google.com/maps/place/41%C2%B022'20.7%22N+71%C2%B033'48.9%22W/@41.372425,-71.5657827,718m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m14!1m7!3m6!1s0x89e5bf94676752b1:0x86f98b5c3e079a7b!2sMatunuck,+South+Kingstown,+RI+02879!3b1!8m2!3d41.3784352!4d-71.5458919!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d41.3724248!4d-71.5635936
Those aren't 🅿️ spaces, just placeholders for future high density neighborhoods
Walking: the ultimate luxury good
Phoenix AZ got a Platinum rating in @usgbc's new #LEEDCities rating system!?
It is literally one of the worst cities in the world for per person energy consumption and one of the deadliest cities in the US for pedestrians.
https://www.usgbc.org/articles/phoenix-recognized-sustainability-and-resiliency-goals
Alphabet and now Amazon are taking steps to address affordability in cities by bringing down construction costs. #yimby https://twitter.com/plantprefab/status/1044579048255418369
I just took my first escooter ride in Denver. It was convenient and exhilarating. I also felt like a menace to personal and public safety.
📷 @ChelseaGov_MA this morning #ChelseaMA
After reading this I want to replace every mention of 'parking' with 'vehicle storage' and reclaim the work parking to mean adding trees and open space. https://twitter.com/LisaBJaco/status/1034889311915786240
RT @Stantec: Our @nelszzp examines how the WELL Community Standard helps designers plan healthier neighborhoods and communities. @WELLCerti…
Now that's a diagram
(national spatial structure map of the Netherlands)
Wow, even with shared ride services, TNCs (uber, lyft) drive 2.6 miles per 1 mile of avoided personal driving, or a 160% increase in overall driving! http://www.schallerconsult.com/rideservices/automobility.htm
The trend towards urban design for health continues https://twitter.com/citiesforpeople/status/1015898719810711552
Cool! On the topic of new news I also like http://news.trust.org/ for their coverage choices.
Strategies for Responding to Gentrification via @Harvard_JCHS
📍local preference for new inclusionary unit tenants
🏘️acquire & preserve existing affordable housing
🔑promote ownership in gentrifying neighborhoods
🏪fight to keep local businesses open
http://housingperspectives.blogspot.com/2018/06/strategies-for-responding-to.html
The impact of China's new policy is that recycling collection has gone from $0 to more than $60 and could get to $200. With prices like that, I imagine there is a business opportunity to start processing locally. #Sustainability http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/06/04/new-china-policies-spark-disarray-region-recycling-industry/d9QH2JUtnVqRKaAL8kMkiL/story.html
Transportation is #1 energy user in U.S. https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/home
Outstanding primer on incremental housing, formerly known as "site and service development" #SDG11 #NewUrbanAgenda
https://youtu.be/DuQrOLxUfTI
Another "self build" project in NL on the heels of @DeCeuvel, @CHV_Rotterdam, @NDSM_werf, Scheepstimmermanstraat, Homeruskwartier, &c. Great precedent for medium-term placeholders or long-term infill. I can think of a few spots in Greater Boston that could use something similar! https://twitter.com/hofvancartesius/status/983756736233340928
What's up with the middle age man in lycra on a road bike illustration on the poster? We want inclusive bike infrastructure. I'd much rather see someone who is new to cycling without the fancy gear.
While urban health has been raised within the public health community, further urban interventions to control infectious diseases could still be integrated into existing resilience programs, starting with the identification of cost-effective evidence-based solutions and measures. https://twitter.com/BUSPH/status/996103444414042112
Check your facts, @BBC @emmanueligunza. The incinerator will not generate electricity as expected. It is not decreasing emissions. It will create an unacceptable health risk for the neighborhood it was built within.
http://www.bbc.com/news/av/business-43086997/energy-from-rubbish-to-power-addis-ababa
(continued) issues:
- An outside review of the power production concluded that the claimed power generation is inconsistent with the makeup of the waste input
- The supplier's baseline report (2013) did not include an assessment of future health concerns in the neighborhood
There are several problems with this project.
- It is not operational, so the claims about energy and materials recovery are speculative
- It is in the center of the city surrounded by neighborhoods, which is not a responsible place for an incinerator
What I learned from @AxiomZenTeam last night at MIT
- Blockchain products can't be altered after release, giving users security to invest
- Like the 90's internet, today's DLT is too slow to support everyone's wild dreams
- CryptoMMO is the next step in gaming once DLT catches up
Tour of a 430+ unit mixed-use project under construction
I got a few notes penciled in on the great #DavisSquare intersection redesign at last night's #Somervillebydesign open house:
-Bulbout on the corner of Highland and College
-Keep/expand crosswalk across from the T on College
-Bike boxes at arriving lanes
-More street trees
Gordon Gill, wow. He opens with "I want this to be a discussion" and then leaves the audience speechless #urbandesign #sustainability #sdg11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVljbJdYGIc
United Nations (1969) - Growth of the World's Urban and Rural Population, 1920-2000
Here are the publications I follow for original urban news in no particular order, what's missing?
@FastCoDesign (Cities)
@BloombergView
@NextCityOrg
@CityLab
@GuardianCities
@Cities_Today
@CityObs
Just came across the Luanda master plan. It is a beautifully produced document 🗺️ belated congrats to the project team @isabelaangola #PDGML http://www.planoluanda.com/
An interesting take on the implications of sea level rise from the persepctive of actuaries @CASact https://ar.casact.org/the-slr-factor-as-sea-levels-rise-the-flood-risk-equation-changes/
http://www.resilientma.org/ is now live for the public! Kudos to @massgov @MassEEA for providing science-based decision-support tools for climate change adaptation. Check out the interactive map 👇 #resilience
🔗http://www.white-spots.net/
*internet map
📖 #GlobalHappinessPolicyReport2018
Sweden uses 15 indicators in their "New measures of wellbeing", incl GDP per capita, but also air quality, interpersonal trust, and life satisfaction.
🔗 http://www.government.se/articles/2017/08/new-measures-of-wellbeing/
Finally got my @NickHardeman framed. Great looking pen plot!
The @bsaaia asked designers to reimagine a dry dock in Boston.
I suggest permanently mooring decommissioned & renovated cruise ships, like the @ssrotterdam, to quickly add a few hundred mixed-income units and contribute to @marty_walsh's housing goals
🔗https://www.architects.org/architectureboston/articles/now-docking
The good and the bad: two articles this week paint a single picture of rideshare simultaneously reducing parking demand while also congesting streets.
(1) http://fortune.com/2018/02/24/yes-uber-really-is-killing-the-parking-business/
(2) https://apnews.com/e47ebfaa1b184130984e2f3501bd125d/Studies-are-increasingly-clear:-Uber,-Lyft-congest-cities
Somethings happening in Reno. Tesla, Google, and now Blockchain LLC buying/building in an industrial park
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/blockchain-company-buys-67000-acres-at-northern-nevada-industrial-park
This interactive piece for public spaces by @Moment_Factory is cool. It uses a LIDAR sensor to track players, which is typically for tracking moving objects on self-driving cars.
From the associated report "Poorly planned cities, urban sprawl and associated infrastructure that create social, environmental and health challenges"
World Economic Forum maps "failure of urban planning" as a global threat alongside "terrorist attacks" and "natural disasters" - now there is a call to action
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/time-new-social-contract-inequality-work-sharan-burrow/?utm_content=buffer02dda&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
I’d like to redraw with the necessary parking and lanes. Would really drive the point home.
We @stantecurban are looking for an Urban Planning Intern for this summer. Application deadline is March 16. https://stantec.jobs/boston-ma/urban-planning-intern/806F083F49EB4BA6807489F2207A20F2/job/
The future road is flat and therefore flexible for different uses at different times https://twitter.com/citiesforpeople/status/951894263633272833
Great summary of the civic tech hackathon I co-organized in SF last year, thanks @WorldLearning
https://medium.com/@WorldLearning/alumni-ties-spotlight-immersive-technologies-and-environmentalism-meet-in-san-francisco-92192dd83cb9
Somerville MA is doing a Good Job
city constellation
https://geoservice.dlr.de/web/maps/eoc:guf:4326
Same sunrise from somerville
New England freshwater wetland typical cross section sketch
The folks at @AL_Research released some open-access research papers recently, this one caught my eye. https://twitter.com/AL_Research/status/942818494634188800
Can the Internet effectively create climate-powered metabolic exchanges before driving the world to self-immolation? #NetNeutrality
@SomervilleYIMBY who is on the YIMBY slate?
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/calgary-and-edmonton/in-calgary-an-innovative-housing-program-tackles-affordabilitycrisis/article37109995/
Whatever formula made this work, copy paste it to Boston
Big smart city project south of Boston @UnionPointMA
Not very smart, however, to build up to 43,900 new parking spaces
Interesting looking diagrams -- how to interpret?
"What is today most legal and most explicitly protected by the formal apparatus of law is what may be the most dangerous." @bratton
"Fossil fuel subsidies are large, amounting to 6.5% of global GDP in 2015." @IMFNews http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X16304867
The tendency to relate new things to past experience by creating hybrid concepts like horseless carriage, mobile phone, and smart city, rather than thinking about these things on their own terms.
#abx @bostonbikeunion takeover
Nice paint job @ideo #CambMA ✨
Experience modes by @gensler_design
👨💻Task
😋Social
🎑Discovery/exploration
✨Entertainment/diversion
🏋️♀️Aspiration
https://www.gensler.com/research-insight/research/experience-index
Has any city calculated Lifetime Value (LTV) of a customer/ user/ resident? I imagine it could support more aggressive acquisition expenses.
Do you want to know how to do what I do I? I'm presenting at @HCD2017 at the @RCPLondon about what urban design can do for health
Demographics are destiny—implications of change:
⬇dwelling size
⬆$12 trillion urban reinvestment thru 2030 to meet demand
@StantecUrban https://twitter.com/overflow_data/status/917906993020657665
I like my coffee like I like my health care, Third Wave
#healthycitydesign wellness via place-based & proactive care
http://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/Publications/Era-Three-for-Medicine-Health-Care.aspx
#healthycitydesign Thoughtful keynote by @pencheon1 about how health care as community anchor institution need to move beyond health repair
Neal's Yard is very photogenic. Tiny pocket park, perfectly surrounded with active uses.
#CamdenIs is a great prompt for engagement. I'm totally stealing this for my next public-facing project.
Funny non-existent curb street, Percy St London
I'm all for hammocks in the D1.2 parcel park
RT @JeffSpeckAICP: Team selfie:
Heading home from a great week designing a new River District in #Elkhart, #Indiana
Me and @StantecUrban ht…
Optimistic right-of-way mode share updates in coming decades with #AutonomousVehicles, diagram by @RegionalPlan http://library.rpa.org/pdf/RPA-New-Mobility-Autonomous-Vehicles-and-the-Region.pdf
early morning flight off to design this river district for the next 4 days ☕️
We watched Terra (2015). Beautifully shot enviro flick that covers familiar ground. Norilsk RU scene stood out to me 👇
🔊@Peterswandering
Municipalities that figure out what my generation wants in a community will be more competitive in attracting newly forming households.
RT @exchangealumni: Shoutout to 4 amazing #ExchangeAlumni who hosted "Citizenar: Augmented Reality for Livable Cities” this past weekend in…
Reminds me of Kauffman's evolution network model
"Solid" is too ordered, "gaseous" is chaotic. "Liquid" phase is best w/ idea capture + ∆
The ideation is strong @ar_citizen hackathon! #tech_tenderloin #civicinnovation #exchangealumni #alumnities #krocsf @WorldLearning
Happy to be on the @ar_citizen panel discussing augmented reality, public engagement, and urban sustainability
The San Francisco City Performance Scorecards are incredible, and should be an inspirations for other municipalities http://sfgov.org/scorecards/
Things are pretty abstract down at @NSF_OPP's McMurdo Station
Pretty cool to see
(1) Google engaged with @sfgov
(2) Google eats its own dog food, publishing with @googledocs https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b6OT8u01smq0ZV_mtvF1juj9RZT-36rYKtglLcwl3jU/edit?pref=2&pli=1
Not a city — the city
No matter how many times icebergs are in the news, I have a hard time understanding the scale. Maybe a good candidate for a vr experience. https://twitter.com/imagine_2020/status/913035749053927424
Dominica the morning after Maria https://www.facebook.com/SupportRooseveltSkerrit/photos/a.1000988646709656.1073741863.301127620029099/1000989840042870/?type=3&theater
I dig the lane capacity as bar chart graphic approach @lyft http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/18/technology/future/lyft-streets-autonomous-vehicles/index.html
"Do everything by hand, even when using the computer." - Hayao Miyazaki
Thunderstorm passing over Boston as seen from Prospect Hill, Somerville ⛅️
"Human scale means human love" How to Look at a City (1964) with Professor Eugene Raskin https://archive.org/details/howtolookatacity
Doing their thing - @BjarkeIngels @BIGstertweets for @ResilientBay http://www.resilientbayarea.org/big-one-sherwood
A glimpse into the future of Florida's new normal with sea level rise https://twitter.com/mikeseidel/status/906992960713232396
St Martin: 74,852 pop * 95% uninhabitable / 3 people per household = 23,703 units needed #Irma #IrmaHurricane #resilience
The @Stantec team working on rapid deployment of protected bike lanes in Calgary is doing incredible design and quantifying change
We're in the business of deploying shared autonomous vehicles for communities
Hit us up @StantecUrban
http://www.stantec.com/blog/2017/shared-autonomous-vehicle-mobility-revolution.html
Big turnout for a weekend community resilience workshop in Chalker Beach, CT with GZA GeoEnvironmental & @StantecUrban
New today, parking-separated bike lane on Washington St, Somerville. A nice surprise to come home to on a Friday! 🚲
Movement 👈
Mobility
Circulation
Transportation
Traffic
Paris, where performance requirements exist harmoniously with the pleasure of habitation
Cities used to be fortified against external threats. Cities now need to be contained so as to not be a threat to the countryside.
The James Turrell installation at MassMoCA is good. I especially liked Hind Sight (Dark Space), 1984. The very edge of perception!
Ambient emergency
Seattle's newest public space at the Amazon bubbles
If Greater Boston had no building density restrictions, the cost of housing would eventually be...
new person: what do u do?
me: i'm an urban designer
np: what does that mean?
me: [explains]
np: so you play simcity all day
me: yeah
Tasty isochrone maps from @Mapbox @chieflybrit
https://www.mapbox.com/bites/00156/#8.32/42.4434/-71.2484
👇60-min drive from Union Square, Somerville cc @us2unionsquare
Brilliant takedown of @lyft shuttle "If no one owns cars, but everyone rides around in cars, the outcome is the same" https://twitter.com/ofsevit/status/888120571556356100
I wrote an article about placemaking and mobility http://www.stantec.com/blog/2017/boston-placemaking-mobility-streets.html#.WXKpe6cpCEf
Pedestrian sky bridges over AV-only expressways? No
Broadway as a pedestrian park? OK maybe https://twitter.com/designboom/status/887026623018663936
"The project of expanding democracy... as the project of expanding capital ownership." excellent piece by @sbenthall https://digifesto.com/2017/07/06/capital-democracy-and-oligarchy/
The @thecreativeindp is spot on, they keep introducing me to new great artists.
This ML paper: IMO it verifies that areas receiving reinvestment are improved, but doesn't predict future investment
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/07/05/1619003114.full
Everyone in my office gets spammy robocalls to cell # from local area codes. I was 😱 when traveling & robocalls origins changed, too...
I enjoyed spending 3 days in KCMO, a beautiful industrious city. Shout outs @QuayCoffee @BreweryEmperial @theshipkc
"Let water in" & "live with water" narrative doesn't tell whole story & confuses the truth that most NL is armored. Needed for life at -5m!
For cities applying NL model: 1st need to built strong sea defenses, & only then selectively "let the water in" https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/15/world/europe/climate-change-rotterdam.html?_r=0
Tech & city experience (1 million users): 2008 📱iPhone/maps. 2011 🏚 AirBnB. 2012 🚕 Uber, 🚶♀️ Fitbit. What else counts? AmazonFresh? Tinder?
State of the Nation's Housing @Harvard_JCHS
📈income inequality
📈economic segregation
📈cost burden
📉supply
📉mobility
http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/research/state_nations_housing
Healthy city metrics from @APA_Planning include
🏃active transportation
🤾recreation
🌱 food
🏠 housing
⚖️ equity
https://www.planning.org/media/document/9127204/
Row of very cool "self build" houses in North Amsterdam, like a new Sporenburg. I hope to learn more about the project's inception.
At the Mondrian retrospective in the @gemeentemuseum and getting inspired to draw! His studies of chrysanthemums are incredible
☀️🌳🍻🗯 a rather ideal habitat for humans in Maastricht
Except for arterials, Amsterdam is pretty much curbless, and it is really nice
Now is an exciting time for cities, with mayors taking a stand for climate and immigration #ParisAgreement #SanctuaryCities
#TauntonTomorrow residents collaboratively mapping ideas at the Community Vsioning Forum for the citywide master plan
It's great to see a discussion of zoning and segregation
Accidental Richard Serra in Northpoint, Cambridge
My brother is good at frisbee 💫 https://twitter.com/madisonradicals/status/868663516105986049
Finally visiting the eco-machine in Sharon, VT! Thank you John Todd
Continuing to set the standard. @nacto @GlobalStreets https://globaldesigningcities.org/publication/global-street-design-guide/
When dealing with Uber, get community benefits in writing! https://nyti.ms/2qIYlnA
“In order to really complete our mission to make cities more livable, we’ve really got to go international.” -@remix http://www.govtech.com/Remix-Raises-10M-Sequoia-Leads-Series-A-Round.html?flipboard=yes
Playful urban maps of 16th-century Persia http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/the-maps-of-matrakci-nasuh-16th-century-polymath/
Dorm lifestyle without the school https://theringer.com/communal-living-tech-nook-welive-common-7175783ac5c4
The @knightfdn + @PokemonGoApp (@NianticLabs) team up to use AR for the future of cities! #urbanAR #citizenAR https://www.fastcodesign.com/90124013/pokemon-gos-next-big-move
School buses are a form of public transit and should be integrated with the rest of society. I.e. run routes during the day.
Anyone know whats happening along this river? Seen out the window on a flight between Indy and Detroit.
😯 @TheAirDnA insight into extent of @Airbnb's footprint, & an interesting article on the gig economy http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/15/is-the-gig-economy-working
#BOS 🛫 #Indy
Looking forward to
🎸 @VirginiaAveFolk
🌀 @MadisonRadicals vs @IndyAlleyCats
🎒 @PUP_indy
🌻 @IndyUrbanAcres
🌎 I got LEED AP ND and ENV SP accredited this month 🌍 Sustainable cities, go! 🌍 @USGBC @ISIenvision
Great show! ✨ @daeva101 🔥 in @thetranspecos
Welfare
More alley cafe seating in SF
Deliveries by night, cafe seating by day. Very efficient use of alley space in San Francisco's downtown #urbandesign
I'm staying in a townhouse on top of a parking garage in the Embarcadero, a funky and unusual development typology!
📱 democracy:
Data-driven decisions
Open govt data
Responsible data use
Citizen engagement
Incentives?
http://www.nature.com/news/five-hacks-for-digital-democracy-1.21849 by @bethnoveck
To urbanists supporting more downtown curbside parking:
Oslo is eliminating ALL on-street parking for 🚲+🚶♀️ space
https://vimeo.com/212846367
Useful resource for planning
@AuntBertha maps access to social services, incl emergency pantries, temporary shelters, skills & training https://twitter.com/AuntBertha/status/846379375486472192
Compelling drone footage and interview from forced evictions in Shanghai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXDqk-3eAlM&sns=tw via @youtube
Designing cities from the perspectives of user experience ➡️ #UrbanUX #UrbanExperience
I learned the difference between procedure and planning from this article about creating a video game's opponent AI http://alumni.media.mit.edu/~jorkin/gdc2006_orkin_jeff_fear.pdf
Low wages are a problem, so are high construction costs and impediments to meeting market demand for residential development #YIMBY https://twitter.com/sensanders/status/851568223992414208
What if rent is 40% higher in walkable neighborhoods?
Anthropic Rock https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NIs_mcSTJ2U
I can't tell if @newsuburbanism is a parody account trolling urbanists...
Policy ➡️ Planning ➡️ Design ➡️ Engineering ➡️ Two guys with a tape measure & spraypaint ➡️ New bulbout / curb extension 🚸
An ottoman / bike lane protection for Cambridge Street #urbanAR #AugmentedReality @IKEAUSA
Wow @rarohla did his homework - presidential election maps by voting precinct https://decisiondeskhq.com/data-dives/creating-a-national-precinct-map/
Every #wetland in Massachusetts
Data: @MassGIS
Pedestrian-only bar at @WalkBoston tonight. Thanks for hosting!
The #AugmentedReality crowd. Updates coming soon on my new project citizenAR!
Where will #AutonomousVehicles create change along the transect?
Cores & new centers densify while suburbia balloons outwards
#urbandesign
razing malls + raising cities https://twitter.com/bruce_katz/status/844162246561488896
Standing room only at the @SomervilleCity zoning amendment meeting for Union Square @us2unionsquare
Two of my favorite things, cities and games, and now a conference in Rotterdam! https://twitter.com/gamesforcities/status/824232861326864386
Ari, did you factor in average vehicle occupancy with MassDOT's traffic volumes? That could tip the scales a bit
All in all, notable for rail
Map % commutes on commuter rail vs highways during morning peak by @ofsevit cc @MBTA_CR http://amateurplanner.blogspot.com/2017/03/how-many-people-use-commuter-rail-more.html
Fascinating map: the most popular language being learned in @duolingo per country
Running is an underappreciated form of transportation for short commutes
At 7 mph, it approaches average speed of some urban bus routes
Modeling on pooled+shared autonomous vehicles: Rare to have >2 passengers so purpose-built 2-person AVs would increase economic efficiency.
Nothing wrong w faltering downtowns that a hundred more housing units wouldn't solve esp w demand from boomerang gen & downsizing seniors
0.1 parking ratio and debundled cost, not bad
post-human capacity for work? More like post-work capacity for humans, amiright? https://twitter.com/erikbryn/status/832679101542588416
Reminds me of how transportation is also failure bc things should just be where you want them to be
"GDP is artificial and values failure ( = more work)" https://twitter.com/ron_rovers/status/831998418033704960
I also want turnbased strategy games that have simultaneous resolution, like Diplomacy or rock-paper-scissors. Guessing is fun
The @NACTO Global Street Design Guide looks really useful https://www.amazon.com/dp/1610917014/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_Es9Nyb795D1CN
is it Omsk?
Planning a #TOD? Only build an average of 35% of what the @ITEhq guidelines recommend #urbanplanning #transportation https://smartgrowthamerica.org/resources/empty-spaces-real-parking-needs-five-tods/
Housing is where jobs go to sleep at night
#paintschainer + 3D model 😲
http://paintschainer.preferred.tech/
North Cambridge model by @CambMA
✏️ Practicing #urbandesign with a @BatesCollege job shadow at @StantecUrban @Stantec
beautiful drawing! I'd love to see a similar series of satellite photos of successful phased development.
I just bought the http://nels.city domain 🤣
A robot making pancakes at the media center tonight
This is why flexposts aren't the best solution, especially with snow plows in the mix. Demand permanently protected bike lanes! https://twitter.com/RachelSlade1/status/819930628560916481
#VisionZero design principles in 8min by @BicycleDutch & @bostonbikeunion's @PeterFurth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aNtsWvNYKE
We're looking for an urban designer, msg me if you are interested or know someone 🌇 @StantecUrban @Stantec https://jobs-stantec.icims.com/jobs/26689/job?mobile=false&width=688&height=500&bga=true&needsRedirect=false&jan1offset=-300&jun1offset=-240
Machine learning and the city, maybe...
Auto land use determination from satellite pics
Sentiment & cultural analysis
Predictive real estate
RT @JaanaRemes: 11m Craigslist rentals scraped to get a clearer picture of city housing crunch, ICYMI http://bit.ly/2fOEMnU @gboeing http…
I represented @StantecUrban at the @100ResCities agenda setting workshop in Addis Ababa
📷 with @hoarec's Dr. Araya, @jmdenney & @MWHGlobal
Mini design guidelines:
Ensure access to sun, open space, mass transit & active transportation. 0' setback, parking at rear or under bldgs.
Best guess for #2017 city trends: inclusionary, predictive, shared, autonomous, circular, healthy, incremental
Goodbye the ATL and all your sprawling mayhem 🚀
on the other hand, petrol will only stay underground if energy is so cheap that it is uneconomic to extract.
when does it hatch
Excellent article on Rotterdam's urbanism, including a quote from yours truly about the city's creative energy https://www.fastcoexist.com/3060998/change-generation/experimental-city-how-rotterdam-became-the-world-leader-in-sustainable-urb
[new post] how storytelling might help explain the threats of #climatechange @Stantec @StantecUrban http://www.stantec.com/blog/2016/inspiring-local-climate-change-action.html
"Virtual parking" replacing need for new garages. Subsidizing rideshare will set behavior pattern 4 shared AV future
https://www.uber.com/info/nj-summit-parking-pilot/ https://twitter.com/SharedUseCntr/status/786205596777385984
At #zofnass_conference, Mayor @dawnzimmernj describes how @rebuildbydesign is progressing in @CityofHoboken
https://youtu.be/-JJGpmDdTT4
"Venture capital investment in urban technology firms has gone from $200k/year in 2008 to $1.8B"
Hudson Yards = $14B
http://news.mit.edu/2016/real-estate-innovation-lab-1103
Successful interactive online community input map http://depts.washington.edu/myplaces/
What #urbandesign #fullstack might look like
We use @Esri ArcGIS, @autodesk AutoCAD, @SketchUp, @Adobe AI & INDD to go from data to design
Citizens, urban designers, and health care systems are coalescing around the healthy city agenda for quality of life and sustainability https://twitter.com/Stantec/status/780897418048974848
I like how @Rit_Aggarwala discusses good (interaction) versus bad (traffic) friction in cities https://medium.com/sidewalk-talk/the-first-principles-of-urbanism-part-i-18105c03cdcf#.mq467gx08
🚘 0 :🚶 1
and the best part about automobiles is you don't need to keep horses...
SF curbless mews
In the past week, I've had 2 ppl from the hard sciences ask me how 2 get into #urbanplanning bc they want to work w a social/environ impact
Yo urbanists and city-dwellers, check out the draft #NewUrbanAgenda for shared vision & call 2 action
https://www.habitat3.org/bitcache/97ced11dcecef85d41f74043195e5472836f6291?vid=588897&disposition=inline&op=view
#NUA #Habitat3
Thx @WorldLearning for inviting me to lead an urbanism lab at #AlumniTIES seminar on climate change & digital tools https://twitter.com/peterswandering/status/774717154276945920
"California is on pace to push its emissions back down to 1990 levels by 2020 — and the economy has thrived." http://www.vox.com/2016/8/29/12650488/california-climate-law-sb-32
Some drone-projector-interface testers at Stanford
.@StateDept @WorldLearning #alumnities is kicking off in Santa Clara. Top idea so far so is early education about permanence on this planet
.@SketchUp really took over as the program for arch massing, check this rezoning application http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/applicants/env-review/pfizer/eas.pdf
$Ford now sees itself as not just a carmaker but a “mobility company.” http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/business/ford-promises-fleets-of-driverless-cars-within-five-years.html?_r=1
In the @autodesk BUILD space, what I imagine the future of creative manufacture spaces looks like
https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2016/08/16/the-almost-finished-f59-from-%ca%bcs-hertogenbosch-to-oss/ I like the designations of cycletracks with "F" for fast... waiting for Boston-Providence F1 🚲
congrats on a successful event. Make it permanent!
That upside down peace sign tree symbol from the #OpeningCeremony ✌🌲
#Burundi wins the fashion parade (so far) #OpeningCeremony
Alewife Reservation, Cambridge
Leigh, how do you use them?
i.e. what if LA ran out of water? Immense #'s of refugees & other cities are also overwhelmed. Interesting times.
NACTO has the best diagrams
also at risk of being car-oriented 1950's-mentality planning
I love @ODAArchitecture's Rheingold Brewery project, very cool courtyards and hybrid spaces http://www.oda-architecture.com/projects/rheingold-brewery
https://conditionaldesign.org/ check these guys, "conditional design" collaborative process ✍
Civic websites:
Iterative design
Audience = everyone
6th grade reading level
Accessible (pa11y)
No hero image
@lflockwood #BostonCivicMedia
Check out http://small-world.kr/ a data collection/viz project by @wonyoungso mapping connections between creators
Political leadership is not what events you show up to (drive-by leadership?) elected officials need be listen meaningfully, also @IISCBlog
we're doing our best to turn this dirty backwater into a global city 😜
I've heard of west coast, east coast, gulf coast, third coast - but just found out about SPACE COAST
looks like a 5-lane 1-way to me. Parking lanes are also lanes.
Being a pedestrian in Boston is a constant and macabre game of "ground is lava"
This is the first time I've noticed a company owning their glassdoor reputation. Seems like a good move. https://twitter.com/HKSArchitects/status/735560727704965120
Human scale "Street of the future" spread in Rotterdam's Resilience Strategy @100ResCities http://www.100resilientcities.org/page/-/100rc/ResilienceBoek_Deel1_defdef_ENG_04.pdf
Funky stuff at @IndustryLab
Central Park : NYC ::
Charles River : Boston & Cambridge
⛵
it would be interesting to temporarily close lanes throughout the city to test if there are serious impacts... 🤔
"The private garage is the urban version of the rural farm" extra room for tools, open on weekends @cityateyelevel
An interesting thing about plinths (ground floor uses) from NL by @cityateyelevel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOdtT0-dvHE
I 💖 raw stones in public spaces. Scale & features for bouldering in cities! Pic #Boston
Good shared street example at Kendall Square's North Plaza
One of my favorite things about the @IABR is their bold use of typography
You think the Redskins' parking lot takes cues from Black Rock City to "create an intimate tailgating experience"?
Toronto did a good set of performance standards for mid-rise buildings back in 2010 http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=7238036318061410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD
The follow-through on Vancouver's Olympic Village is rather remarkable
I love the "Concept House Village" idea; the Boston area needs one! @CHV_Rotterdam
Rendering from @DuzanDoepel
Return of the metabolists!
"Pop-up village in south-east London to house homeless families"
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/mar/18/pop-up-village-in-south-east-london-to-house-homeless-families
This is what residential shared streets should look like, courtesy of Malmo, Sweden and streetview
I can't shake the feeling that SoCal really dislikes humans
Not exactly news, but always nice to see the mainstream media picking up on walkability
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-theory/wp/2016/02/29/the-car-century-was-a-mistake-its-time-to-move-on/?postshare=3191456843518319&tid=ss_tw
Boston - also consider cascading and exchanging surplus energy/exergy between users @cyclifier @AMS_institute https://twitter.com/BostonRedevelop/status/697522465027846144
The wellness-focused urban design we've been working on is getting some great press @StantecUrban @JeffSpeckAICP https://twitter.com/USGBC/status/699886135141601281
lots of winter bikers in Boston area these days. It's also 50 degrees... #fairweatherfans
"The Fat City That Declared War On Obesity" - @JeffSpeckAICP and healthy, walkable cities in HuffPo http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oklahoma-obesity_us_562002e1e4b050c6c4a4eb75
"Urban effect" by #Soleri:
Living things r miniature & complex & bonded
+ cities r hyperorganisms
∴ cities thrive when compact & dense
How we live together defines civility. Hence, sustainable cities are not an end to themselves but a means to transforming ourselves #soleri
Happy New Year from Yangon!
#myanmar #woonerf #sharedstreet
I love the promise behind LaMem, but I think it needs some tweaking http://memorability.csail.mit.edu/demo.html #machinelearning
The Circular Economy is getting some investment! https://twitter.com/bruce_katz/status/670690419991314433
.@moreaulee on office design:
New relevant questions
More space for thinking
More chaos
Fewer presumed answers
#ABX2015
.@rcklr #autodesk: Innovation needs a place to make a mess without lawyers upstairs. Class A office is incompatible w soldering. #ABX2015
.@rcklr: All #autodesk successful locations have repurposed character. Adaptation creates innovation. Constraints help design. #ABX2015
Kairos Shen: Boston's Innovation District has too few streets, like a body w arteries but no capillaries, lacks fingertip touch. #ABX2015
RT @wescraiglow: Twenty is plenty. Thin is in. Tight is right. #UrbanPlanning
Rem Koolhaas talks about land art and distribution centers https://youtu.be/shVxB6wRHo0?t=19m9s
"to assess persistence, we need to also consider resistance as the complimentary attribute of resilience." (S. Carpenter 2001)
Sketchbook
Working on my concept for a piece of interactive street furniture
RT @JeffSpeckAICP: RICK BERNHARDT'S MINI ZONING CODE:
- 0' setbacks
- Parking on-street and behind buildings.
From @hborys
#CLEZoningSympo…
These are my favorite five symbols from the Sustainable Development Goals https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300
RT @stevemouzon: If you're not designing a city where people naturally get 10,000 steps/day, you're designing a physically sick city.
#cben…
Good morning, Boston!
Cambridge Bicycle Plan drops 209 pages of knowledge & infographics, incl. Grand Junction Path http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Transportation/bikesincambridge/bicyclenetworkplan
Baghdad's 762 BC nucleus looks like Black Rock City
http://socks-studio.com/2015/10/06/the-round-city-of-baghdad/
US cities are over-dimensioned for a single type of user (drivers) and inhospitable for the rest. Scaling down spaces is a huge challenge.
RT @StantecUrban: 1st certified #urban #wellness district: both plan & bldg design support users' health http://bit.ly/1GgXOaq @WELLcertif…
RT @elpriceisright: "I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy it. This makes it hard to plan…
Cider pressing in VT!
Getting our plan critiqued at the ULI UrbanPlan training @StantecUrban
They built a wind turbine from scratch in rural Ethiopia. Difficulty 10. “Wind Empowerment Jijiga 2015” on @Vimeo https://vimeo.com/124215414
Streets aren't meant for cars, they cause congestion & threaten the horse manure removal economy! Cars kill jobs @Jeff_Jacoby @BostonGlobe
I thought that crowdsourcing pedestrian routes from quantified-self devices would be useful, & @Mapbox just did it! https://twitter.com/lxbarth/status/633708692223979520
A city is really just a collection of buildings unless it is walkable.
.@JoeCurtatone & @MayorDavidMaher it could have been your city. Most streets are accidents waiting to happen. Easy fixes are possible!
.@marty_walsh Bike infra must be proactive; cant wait till someone dies (Sullivan Sq & Mass Ave) Big actions not words NOW @bostonbikeunion
Hey, Not Enough Sleep, good to see you, I'd like to introduce you to my friend Too Much Coffee. I'm sure you'll get along.
RT @ProPublica: How and where the US generates electricity: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/power-plants/
Double use of tram tracks as bus lane, something for Tampa! @StantecUrban @JeffSpeckAICP
Cars 1 - Buses 2 on Portland's 5th Ave. Peñalosa's dream
#californiadrought—what does rethinking sprawling cities w forward-looking models (not rebldging conventional cities in desert) mean to you
RT @MITdusp: This new software from @MIT's @sutdsg can analyze cities as spatial networks: http://goo.gl/ljJbnV
Roads are already fossil fuel (asphalt), so upgrading to structured recycled plastics may be smart @KWS_Infra
Urban designers on ice in Tampa. @StantecUrban
Competitive cities in action - Blue is declining population, red increasing.
RT @NASAGoddardPix: The world’s first, full-color HD videos of Earth, filmed from the International Space Station released by @UrtheCast
ht…
Amersfoort stepping up its green building game -- wood and solar PV covered in vegetation http://www.oneplanet.org/business-garden/
Looking for a muralist in Union Square for wall feature $2,000 #somerville
https://thesomervillenewsweekly.wordpress.com/2015/05/27/union-square-station-associates-us2-seeks-local-artists-for-headquarters-wall-feature/
Separated Bike Lane Planning and Design Guide! @USDOTFHWA http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/publications/separated_bikelane_pdg/page00.cfm
RT @karbrandt: Congrats @nelszzp on the @CambridgeCRA's Forward Fund! Excited to see the Social Umbrella in Cambridge soon! http://t.co/lZm…
Taking back the streets of #Somerville #porchfest
Keeping up with the Joneses @bostonbikeunion http://www.citylab.com/commute/2015/05/san-francisco-wants-to-lower-bike-injuries-by-raising-bike-lanes/392492/
warehousehouses
teamwork on a design project feels like :
(a) a LAN party
(b) making a sand mandala
(c) piloting an enormous robot together
A guy on a trike biked past playing the Star Wars theme song on his trumpet and said quietly "Lightsaber-built arts and crafts." #somerville
in NL, min wage goes up with age, so both of scenarios in the infographic could work out
When are people going to have the same access to civic space as cars? Pic in front of Museum of Science #askMJW
Amazing data visualization from @sfiscience on polarization of congress http://www.santafe.edu/news/item/polarization-congress-stymies-innovation/
Every #car advertisement ever "Introducing our new PM2.5-generating, asthma-inducing entropy machine"
.@IABR–2016–THE NEXT ECONOMY– advocates for an urban economy that is guided by a social agenda and motored by meaningful employment.
Dang, this @MishkaHenner guy is @davidmaisel1-level-good. The town/oil field image is great
I recognize that style! Congrats to @DoepelStrijkers who gave me my 1st opportunity in design http://thedutchwindwheel.com/en/index
My "I wish I'd thought of that" list has a new entry
https://vimeo.com/123938127
#AugmentedReality #turntable
"Add some PR panels to the roof"
"You mean PV panels?"
"Yeah"
#publicrelations #photovoltaic #energy #sustainability #UrbanPlanning
"Towards the Amsterdam Circular Economy" is worth checking out @AmsterdamNL #urbanism #resilience #circulareconomy
Looking for a #CambridgeMA property owner to host a @CambridgeCRA's Forward Fund public amenity - "Social Umbrella"
.@City_Works and @crwdbldng are two similar (dutch) approaches to cooperative city making. A new #collaborative #urbanism?
All hands on desk! Charrette for Union Square timelapse: http://youtu.be/jmpR71q5WvU #planunionsquare #Somerville
RT @wetlnd: Friday's Bring Your Own Beamer party will now be at @DowneastCider Check out the event page https://www.facebook.com/events/340201669503597 http://t.co…
Urban form and function deeply impacts our lived experiences—I want to create places that enable productivity, happiness, and health for all
Calling street signage "Environmental Graphic Design" is pretty hip; calling it "Urban UX" would be even hipper. http://www.nelsonelson.com/urban-user-experience/
Physical and virtual #UX designers say "good design gets out of the way"
What does that would mean for #urbandesign & #architecture?
Under the Longfellow #Boston #bostonsnow
http://www.superglue.it seems neat, another great joint from my heros at http://worm.org, institute for avantgarde recreation
#planunionsquare #somerville
RT @karbrandt: Instead of complaining abt #MBTA, we should talk abt why the gas tax didn't increase in Nov + the privatization of public tr…
Even w/ best case renewables-- climate change, freshwater shortages & ocean acidification. #climateadaptation anyone? http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/renewables/what-it-would-really-take-to-reverse-climate-change
"Cities 3.0, where the city is a hub of innovation, entrepreneurship and technology. It's paperless, wireless and cashless" @KJ_MayorJohnson
way to brave the elements! Even in the winter, biking is #stillbetterthandriving
I dig the Belle Isle Pedestrian Bridge in Richmond, VA. It is suspended footbridge running under a highway.
Congrats to my amazing friend Katrin Puetz, (B)ENERGY mobile biogas solutions founder, for her Fast Co.Exist writeup http://www.fastcoexist.com/3039906/these-hilarious-inflated-backpacks-are-actually-delivering-cheap-local-energy-to-the-rural-p?partner
For all ecologists, system analysts, and graphic designers—#MarkLombardi knew how to draw a network graph
parking sequence
Cities are people, stones, and rules.
@Joanclos, 2012
#urbandesign #urbanplanning
Urban Ecology isn't just birds in cities—it's Industrial Ecology concepts applied across all intra-urban metabolic connections #urbanecology
11111011111 #binary #NYE2015 #palindrome
A leader with refreshing ideas -- "We should learn the art of coexistence in a civil manner with our differences."
- President Raul Castro.
Highway blocking protests are an interesting development #ShutItDown - New York, Boston, Miami, Chicago, Oakland, DC
The high-density low-rise urbanism of a typical East #CambridgeMa residential street on a late autumn's evening
Strawberries growing under a @Heliospectra lamp in the @medialab
Spooky sharrows, a biker's worst nightmare @TheCecilGroup @bostonbikeunion Happy Halloween
Expert-only "#bike lane" in #Boston — We need #BikewaysForEveryone now! @bostonbikeunion http://bostoncyclistsunion.org/bikeways-for-everybody/
Space frame structure made by 3-D weaving of rod members, Inventor Kenneth D. Snelson, US Patent 6739937 B2
#CambridgeMA #parkingday @bostonbikeunion @TheCecilGroup @bikesnotbombs @parkingday http://youtu.be/YLx_OJZc4RQ
Material Flow Analysis Diagrams blog is back after a long hiatus: Nitrogen flows in the Day-Nhue River Basin, Vietnam http://mfadiagrams.blogspot.com/
It's interesting to consider the dichotomy that can exist between what we desire and what we manifest -Michael Kerbow
RT @damienchivialle: Building #UFU : the Urban Farm Unit from Brussels on video http://youtu.be/k8c7M8Z-lBE
What a difference a little paint will make! #cyclelane #contraflow #roaddiet #montreal #cycling @bostonbikeunion
How many bits would a #bitcoin coin, if a bitcoin could coin bit? As many bits as a bitcoin would, if a bitcoin could coin bit.
#TheInternetsOwnBoy is a good, meaningful documentary #AaronSwartz watch free/CC @ http://archive.org #activism https://archive.org/details/TheInternetsOwnBoyTheStoryOfAaronSwartz
Commuter #cycling up 32% since last year in #Boston over Longfellow Brdg! http://ow.ly/yqZUU @bikeboston @bostonbikeunion @marty_walsh
Everything @we_are_CUP touches is gold, including this Power Trip graphic http://welcometocup.org/Projects/UrbanInvestigations/PowerTrip
Thinking about civic engagement in #urbanism that increases P and B, decreases C @antheaws
http://www.antheawatsonstrong.com/writing/2014/6/8/the-three-levers-of-civic-engagement
Is it love? Love as currency in City Rising https://vimeo.com/96565633 by Brian Kuan Wood @e_flux with a little Constant Nieuwenhuys
Heat map of currently flowering trees in #CambridgeMA from @CambridgeDPW http://www.cambridgema.gov/theworks/ourservices/urbanforestry/treeinventory/MayFloweringTrees.aspx
Greater Boston is where pedestrians are least likely to be killed by drivers according to @SmartGrowthUSA 2014 report http://ow.ly/x6aC8
#cycle track going down in #CambridgeMA #KendallSq Ames St. this morning
"Rotterdam Metabolists" is now a thing, rightly codified by @iabr #urbanmetabolism http://iabr.nl/en/event14/rotterdamse-metabolisten
Sunny trip to the only commercial farm in Boston's city limits @allandalefarm
#Yardshare is really happening @mycitygardens "Matching gardeners to people with access to space" http://www.mycitygardens.com/
Housing developers in Africa's burgeoning satellite cities must self-provide water, sewers, and power - how to maintain affordability? #HADC
High speed access for East Africa: idea for a submarine communications cable flowing up the Nile River all the way to Uganda #HADC
Riverwalk I designed @TheCecilGroup in @BostonGlobe: http://b.globe.com/1gFm4Ey. Full design http://ow.ly/uPfXI to be funded $5m by State
I love this project in Rotterdam and am happy to see it finally come to fruition http://dirt.asla.org/2014/03/13/detours-obligatory-rotterdams-water-square/
#Ethiopia dear friend Katrin's #biogas backpack http://www.be-nrg.com interview with eNews Channel Africa http://fw.to/GdxyItj
Yours truly in the #bowlofdeath mini-velodrome
Urban metabolism argot updates #anthrome #petrovore #humachine #citification #metrometabolic & #urbaformative here http://youtu.be/2YjqKi5ai9c?t=1h22m28s
Asymmetrical #neckdown at one-way connection thru Boston's Greenway #bosnow good place to improve pedestrian comfort
Small #sneckdown at Hampshire and Elm in Cambridge, MA is a good candidate for curb extensions
We did it! Addis Ababa landfill gas capture and utilization project receives UNFCCC registration http://goo.gl/OSBWMQ
Multinatural Histories ecological art exhibit at the Harvard Museum of Natural History http://goo.gl/6giOfk
When a citizen has an experience, good or bad, a city will say that the experience is its own, and will share his pleasure or pain. Plato
UNDP profiles my project "From Dump to Dollars: Landfill Gas Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)" http://goo.gl/bnHKs
