Rebuilding Haiti

15 04 2010

After the destructive earthquake hit Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti, it became  quite clear that the planning of the homes and businesses in the city needed to change to prevent the same level of devastation the next time such an event occurred.  It should be of no surprise that a large number of people have put a great deal of time and energy into determining how best to move forward.  The video link below, presented by Andres Duany of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co. is an intriguing one because it doesn’t seem to just address a physical solution, but also, and possibly more importantly, a social one.  Duany presents a new durable model for a home that can be built both quickly and efficiently.  However, Duany doesn’t just focus on the layout of a house, but also a neighbourhood as a whole taking into account both a sense of community and a sense of privacy for those that live within it.  While I question the realism of such a proposal (Duany estimates that approximately 100 000 people within the city currently are without shelter), it is one that seems to cover a lot of bases.

Check out the video here:  Rebuilding Haiti

And while we’re on the subject of Haiti,  don’t forget to donate to the Red Cross of Canada or the Red Cross of America


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Highlight in Urban Planning: San Antonio’s Museum Reach

2 04 2010

Photo courtesy of Flickr user lannadelarosa

For those familiar with San Antonio, the most popular attraction (apart from the Alamo) is the famous River Walk.  The walk consists of a somewhat narrow pedestrian pathway that runs along the San Antonio through the center of the city.  While the walk is a great detour from the streets above, it has become overly crowded and a haven for chain tourist shops and restaurants.  To certain locals, the walk seemed like nothing more than a tourist trap.

However, the river walk was recently extended 1.3 miles northwards away from the center of the city towards the San Antonio Museum of Art and other cultural institutions.  The difference between the two stretches of the walk?  The new one (called the Museum Reach) feels a lot more like it made for the residents of the city.  The new walk provides wider paths, far more green space beside the pathway and a far less commercial atmosphere all the while still providing the same fun atmosphere of the original River Walk.  Along the walkway is a number of fantastic public art and water features making the walk more entertaining and culturally enriching.  While a city like San Antonio has a far way to go in the urban planning sense, the Museum Reach is a fantastic start.  For more information check out the Museum Reach page.


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San Francisco’s Next Museum?

25 03 2010

Very very short blog post this week, unfortunately.  Anyways, it’s not anything new that San Francisco is a city full of eccentric’s.  However, for such an eccentric city, the museum’s and attractions don’t necessarily highlight this side of San Francisco.  But according to a story Jaunted.com, the newest San Francisco museum may include such things as a tree that shoots flames and a magic show.  Hotelier Bob Pritkin is considering opening his mansion for tours (with an approximate cost of $49 per tour).  The whole concept sounds like stepping into some kind of weird Alice in Wonderland fantasy.  You can check out the story here.


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U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahood announces major shift towards a bike friendly future

20 03 2010

Ray Lahood, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, recently made an uplifting appaerence at the National Bike Summit.   There appeared to be a lot of good news and Ray Lahood was quite clear in his commitment to making urban environments more bike friendly:

Today, I want to announce a sea change. People across America who value bicycling should have a voice when it comes to transportation planning. This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized.

We are integrating the needs of bicyclists in federally-funded road projects. We are discouraging transportation investments that negatively affect cyclists and pedestrians. And we are encouraging investments that go beyond the minimum requirements and provide facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians of all ages and abilities.

Ray Lahood also made some key recommendations for future transportation projects including treating pedestrians and cyclists as equals in relation to vehicles and protect sidewalks and shared used paths the same way that roads are protected.

With the Obama Administration onboard as well, it seems that the future may actually look bright for cyclists in the future.  Check out Ray Lahood’s post on his appaerence at the national bike summit.


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The Failure of New Urbanism

10 03 2010

Cyburbia.org is an excellent forum for the urban planning community whether you are an urban planning professional or simply have a heavy interest in urban planning and design, like myself.  One of the hottest forum discussions has recently involved the the failure to apply the rules of New Urbanism (dense European-style neighbourhoods) to the suburban sprawl of the vast majority of the United States.   According to the forum discussion, the main issue surrounds the fact that these neighbourhoods seem to be created ad-hoc and are islands of new-urbanism within a pool of suburban style neighbourhoods on all sides.  It’s encouraging to hear that developers are attempting to create more workable and livable neighbourhoods, but are they going about it the right way?  This brings up a really interesting question for me:  how and where do you actually begin to apply new-urbanism style developments to suburban cities?

You can find the forum post here: The failure of New Urbanism


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Vancouver the greenest Olympics yet, but could Sochi 2014 be the dirtiest?

6 03 2010

Vancouver garnered a lot of attention for it’s commitment to energy efficiency during the recent 2010 winter Olympics.  Certainly, this commitment will help the city on a global scale and will help it grow it’s already incredibly green reputation.  Yet, according to this article on Fast Company, the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia may actually become the dirtiest Olympics yet.  According to the article, Sochi has already managed to contaminate it’s water, destroy wildlife habitats and cut down thousands of trees in preparation despite the Olympics still being four years away.  What is even more interesting (or shocking) is that Sochi was able to get the Olympics at all as it did not outline much of a sustainability plan.   Many of the recent Olympics have already gained a strong amount of negative attention, most notably Beijing in 2008, but  is it possible that Sochi 2014 could end up being the dirtiest?


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Downtown Highrise Condos: The Good and the Bad

23 02 2010

Here in downtown Toronto, you don’t have to walk far to find yet another construction site for a new ‘luxury’ highrise condominium project.   However, this isn’t just isolated to Toronto.  Around North America, Australia and even some parts of Europe, the construction of large scale condominium developments is in full force throughout the downtowns of many major urban centers.    This resurgence of living downtown has certainly had some positive effects on the urban fabric of these downtowns.  These residents help any number of businesses throughout the downtown and help to create a real center again in many of the major cities throughout the world.  The larger number of residents throughout the center of the city also provide it with increased safety and a larger retail presence.

Yet, all this comes with a price, especially when every little bit of space is now being replaced with yet another condo tower.  In Toronto, this is very much a reality.  The condo projects in the City Place development is a prime example.  City Place is a massive multi-building development on the west side of downtown Toronto.  In theory, the project seems like a good idea.  The project tries to create a neighbourhood atmosphere for it’s residents while providing those that live in City Place with easy access to the downtown and some spectacular views from their condos.  Yet, is a project like this too much?  Walking around City Place provides a different reality:  a neighbourhood full of giant similiar looking glass condo towers providing absolutely no sense of place and no sense of scale from street level.

But the faceless feel of some of the condos isn’t the only issue.  All these private ‘luxury’ condo developments are closing off many prime sites throughout Toronto that could be used for something more public.  Greenspace is an obvious choice, yet in the case of Toronto, the real need for the city are an increase in attractions that attract both locals and tourists alike.   Instead, these highrise condos provide another skyscraper that can really only be enjoyed by those that live there.

In the end, while there is absolutely nothing wrong with the development of many of these new downtown condominium projects, it is perhaps the sheer number that is most alarming.  While more and more condo towers get built, it creates a downtown that is less commercial and more residential and a downtown that is less public and more private.


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America’s Drunkest Cities

8 02 2010

Men’s Health has compiled a list ranking cities in the United States on their level on intoxication.  Interesting.  And while you’re first guess for the drunkest may be New Orleans or Las Vegas, the winner is actually Fresno, California.   Reno, Nevada and Billings, Montana round out the top 3.  The least intoxicated city in the States?  Boston, Massachussetts.   As soon as I read the list, I just had to know how it was possibly compiled.  According to U.S.A. today, the list “drew upon such data as death rates from alcoholic liver disease, booze-fueled car crashes, frequency of binge-drinking in the past month, number of DUI arrests, and severity of DUI penalties.”

Drunkest Cities:

  1. Fresno, California
  2. Reno, Nevada
  3. Billings, Montana
  4. Riverside, California
  5. Austin, Texas

Least Drunk Cities:

  1. Boston, Massachussetts
  2. Yonkers, New York
  3. Rochester, New York
  4. Salt Lake City, Utah
  5. Miami, Florida

While the list shouldn’t be taken too terribly seriously, it does provide some solid insight and some real surprises.  You can check out the full list over at U.S.A. Today.


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6th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey: 2010

2 02 2010

Demographia International recently posted their 6th annual housing affordability survey which compares the median household income to the median housing prices in various metropolitan areas throughout North America, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.  The survey splits the cities into three different categories (the numbers represent the ratio between the median housing price and the median household income):

  • Affordable (< 3.0)
  • Moderately Unaffordable (3.1 – 4.0)
  • Seriously Unaffordable (4.1 – 5.0)
  • Severely Unaffordable (> 5.0)

The most affordable cities were generally those that have high crime rates and a high degree of vacancies.  These include such places as Detroit (1.6), Indianapolis (2.2), and Cleveland (2.4).   However, some less devastated regions throughout United States and Canada still fit into the affordable category including Atlanta (2.1), Houston (2.9) and Dallas (2.7).

On the opposite side of the scale, Vancouver ranked as the most unaffordable metropolitan area at a whopping 9.3 ratio.  Sydney was second at a 9.1 and the Sunshine Coast down in Australia rounded out the top 3 at a 9.0.  Interestingly, while New York City and San Francisco may have the highest cost of living, their higher income levels somewhat make up for this giving them a ratio of 7.0.

A lot of this isn’t anything new, however it does provide an exceptional and entertaining reference for anyone looking to move sometime in the near future.  You can find the full pdf on the Demographia International site.


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Mumbai Streets Are Crowded so Pedestrians take to the Sky

26 01 2010

Photo courtesy of FastCompany.com

Fast Company has an interesting blog post on the recent development in Mumbai of elevated pedestrian walkways 20 feet above the streets to help alleviate some of the pedestrian traffic on the city streets.  Given that the city is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, something to help the pedestrian traffic problem is necessary.  However, as expected, retail shopkeepers on the streets below are not very happy with this recent project.  But the development continues despite the challenges.  Currently, one walkway has been completed with 49 more planned.  While not necessarily the most economical or scalable solution, this is certainly a great start for a city that continues to expand at an alarming rate.  You can read the entire blog post below:

Walking on Sunshine: Mumbai Clears Sidewalks by Making Pedestrians Airborne


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