The Urban Theory Thread

quincunx · PostFeb 02, 2015#3262015-02-02T16:23+00:00

AP - Once ubiquitous, parking garages fall to the wrecking ball

In Des Moines, the city plans to tear down two downtown parking ramps that were built more than 40 years ago. One covers two blocks along busy Grand Avenue and stretches over a street, filling a void that once was home to a movie theater, roller rink and hotel. It will be replaced by a smaller building with two floors of shops and parking above.

http://news.yahoo.com/once-ubiquitous-p ... 58677.html

PostFeb 02, 2015#3272015-02-02T17:01+00:00

Q&A: Developer Monte Anderson shares his ideas for southern Dallas

We need owner-occupied entrepreneurs instead of real estate developers. I want other entrepreneurs to be owners. I have my anchors, the Belmont and some other things, but otherwise I’m interested in owner/entrepreneurs; they don’t just rent from me. It’s “gentle-fication”: The real key is that in the early days, the creative business owners would own their building so it doesn’t get gentrified so brutally. We did that in Bishop Arts. How did Bishop Arts grow? How did Jefferson maintain itself all these years? One little business at a time. It has good streetscapes. Jefferson is one of the best streets in Dallas as far as form. It moves people and traffic pretty well. -

http://oakcliff.advocatemag.com/2015/01 ... rn-dallas/

moorlander · PostFeb 03, 2015#3282015-02-03T13:06+00:00

London mayor approves Europes first bike superhighway

http://inhabitat.com/london-mayor-appro ... erhighway/

quincunx · PostFeb 07, 2015#3292015-02-07T01:13+00:00

Have we learned much in the last 25 years? Or just refused to change our ways?

PostFeb 09, 2015#3302015-02-09T16:27+00:00

Lessons from KC

KC Star - Despite large Power & Light District crowds, taxpayers are still on the hook

“I don’t think there will be a point at any time in the foreseeable future, probably the next 20 years, where it actually pays for itself,” acknowledged City Manager Troy Schulte.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/governme ... 30081.html

JuanHamez · PostFeb 15, 2015#3312015-02-15T15:45+00:00

Nice long discussion on what is going on in Detroit recently:

http://recode.net/2015/02/09/whats-driv ... t-detroit/

Detroit, especially downtown Detroit, is rebounding — and fast. For two centuries, the city’s motto has been “We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes.”

Today, it might actually live up to the ideal. Near-death experiences like the 2008 automotive crisis (GM and Chrysler went bankrupt and were bailed out, while Ford took a big loan and restructured) and municipal bankruptcy (completed in an efficient year and a half this past December) have effectively wiped the slate for what’s next.

Like elsewhere across America, Detroit fits into the modern narrative of young go-getters with new ideas migrating back to urban centers. Unlike other regions such as San Francisco, the usual barriers to growth and reconstruction are much lower.

Billions of dollars are pouring into real estate, renovation and startups — notably, technology startups. But for Detroit’s resurgence to be sustainable, today’s up-and-comers need to turn good ideas into an actual industry. For the first time in decades, that is not such a crazy long shot.

Recode has also been doing a series on "Innovation Centers" of the US recently, and has profiled Los Angeles, Vegas, Boston, and Detroit recently.

http://recode.net/innovation-nation/

quincunx · PostFeb 17, 2015#3322015-02-17T17:02+00:00

The Atlantic - The Miracle of Minneapolis

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc ... is/384975/

Ebsy · PostFeb 17, 2015#3332015-02-17T18:21+00:00

Gotta love the raging ball of the anti-socialism rage in the comments section.

Presbyterian · PostFeb 22, 2015#3342015-02-22T01:15+00:00

The Economist on why Gentrification is good for the poor...
http://www.economist.com/news/united-st ... hehipsters

wabash · PostFeb 24, 2015#3352015-02-24T20:23+00:00

From the New York Times: The Upshot

More New Jobs Are in City Centers, While Employment Growth Shrinks in the Suburbs

shimmy · PostMar 05, 2015#3362015-03-05T22:41+00:00

From The Week: Fool for the City: How we're overhyping America's urban comeback

http://theweek.us2.list-manage1.com/tra ... 552274b9d3

roger wyoming II · PostMar 06, 2015#3372015-03-06T00:48+00:00

^ That article has some good points and a nice reminder that you have to look at cities on a case by case basis. But I think the uptick in jobs growth that the City Observatory study detected from '07-'11 has only intensified in most cases since then.... what was happening earlier in such places as San Francisco and New York increasingly has spread to places such as Minneapolis and Pittsburgh. Unfortunately we won't get that census data for awhile.

onecity · PostMar 12, 2015#3382015-03-12T19:25+00:00

http://www.citylab.com/work/2015/03/why ... ne/387562/

Reinventor cities occupy Quadrant C, in the top right corner. These are the cities that have successfully shifted from industrial to post-industrial economies. Some of these metros, the report points out, are still in the midst of the reinvention process. Manchester, for example, has created many jobs in new industries, but they are not yet plentiful enough to offset declines in manufacturing sectors, which is why the city is still shown in red.

I'm curious where STL would land on this 2x2.

sirshankalot · PostMar 31, 2015#3392015-03-31T13:14+00:00

Great article on Rahm's re-election prospects, the daunting challenges facing Chicago, and the socio-economic divide there:

http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine ... r-20150327

quincunx · PostApr 15, 2015#3402015-04-15T16:24+00:00

Citylab - How Washington State Convinced Big Companies to Dramatically Reduce Drive-Alone Commutes

The idea was we ought to be indifferent as to how we provide capacity. We shouldn't care whether that's more roadway capacity or reducing demand for that capacity

http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2015/0 ... =SFTwitter

PostApr 20, 2015#3412015-04-20T16:31+00:00

WaPo - Why does the U.S. use public revenue to support private home ownership?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/mon ... ownership/

PostApr 20, 2015#3422015-04-20T20:25+00:00

The Atlantic - Where the White People Live

Some of their further research has already generated interesting results. They looked into how federal housing dollars are spent in areas of poverty and areas of affluence in the Twin Cities, and found something surprising: The government spends just as many housing dollars in areas of poverty as it does in areas of affluence.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/arc ... ve/390153/

PostApr 29, 2015#3432015-04-29T17:02+00:00

Strong Towns is doing a bunch of podcasts from CNU23 in Dallas. Good stuff!

http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/

framer · PostApr 30, 2015#3442015-04-30T04:35+00:00

Not sure where to post this, so here ya go. University City is relaxing off-street parking requirements for apartment buildings and some commercial businesses. It's an "effort to spur mixed-use and multi-family building re-occupancy and development".

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt ... 17aeb.html

dbInSouthCity · PostApr 30, 2015#3452015-04-30T15:13+00:00

^ its good i guess but the biggest issue is a bank wont give a loan for a residential building if it doesn't meet their own parking requirements...Cortex is having that issue

moorlander · PostApr 30, 2015#3462015-04-30T16:12+00:00

dbInSouthCity wrote:^ its good i guess but the biggest issue is a bank wont give a loan for a residential building if it doesn't meet their own parking requirements...Cortex is having that issue

Good point. I wouldn't think that would be an issue for a University owned property as those properties are a different ballgame. WashU could certainly finance themselves or use "creative" financing to get around those hurdles.

hebeters2 · PostMay 01, 2015#3472015-05-01T22:26+00:00

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the ... egregated/

roger wyoming II · PostMay 02, 2015#3482015-05-02T14:57+00:00

^ that's a good article.

DogtownBnR · PostMay 21, 2015#3492015-05-21T12:43+00:00

It seems like Detroit has many more major players/corporations committing to their Downtown, unlike St. Louis. Maybe that can be Dave Peacock's next job, once he gets the stadium deal done. Detroit seems to be gaining steam.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/national/w ... d41b3.html

pat · PostMay 21, 2015#3502015-05-21T13:51+00:00

^It seems like a lot of the love Detroit is getting is because the demise of it was so publicized and bad. A lot of these companies can come in and look like saviors to Detroit (which in a way they are). Their cause is noble and gets people to rally around it. That's good thing.

I don't think companies in St. Louis share that kind of emotion about our downtown. Its not looked at as saving St. Louis to move downtown.

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