Des' City Links of the Week 2021-12-07
This week or so's planning, transport, and urban development links of interest
Hi everyone,
Here are a few interesting reads on cities, development, and transport that I’ve come across recently. Like the content? Please share!
Planning/Development
Interesting NFB documentary on Saskatoon’s unique approach to City-owned greenfield development:
https://www.onf.ca/film/saskatoon-la-mesure/ [FR]
The past, present, and future of urban development and mobility in Los Angeles:
https://www.woodsbagot.com/pages/renewing-the-dream/
Like California, Nova Scotia also caps property taxes to their levels at time of purchase, plus inflation, with wildly distortionary results:
https://mountainmath.ca/ns_cap_report.pdf
Let’s visit a townhouse development in the Dutch suburbs of Aachen DE:
https://architectenweb.nl/projecten/project.aspx?ID=43203 [NL, images]
On the origins of zoning and the challenges faced by efforts to deregulate: “Before 1929, Atlanta was divided into two residential zones: “R-1 white district” and “R-2 colored district.” After a U.S. Supreme Court ruling prohibited such explicit segregation, “R-1” became a “dwelling house” zone and “R-2” became an “apartment house” district.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-22/buckhead-fights-atlanta-s-multifamily-housing-push
Interesting and thorough history of suburban growth in Detroit:
http://detroiturbanism.blogspot.com/2021/05/7-historical-facts-about-detroits.html#more
Toronto’s chief planner talks about cutting red tape in the yellowbelt, by ending the ban on multi-residential housing in established neighbourhoods:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/11/22/coming-soon-to-a-street-near-you-why-torontos-chief-planner-wants-multi-unit-homes-in-single-family-neighbourhoods.html
Le Devoir visits Utrecht and sees the human-scaled city of the future:
https://www.ledevoir.com/monde/europe/650319/nous-avons-decide-de-revenir-a-une-ville-a-echelle-humaine [FR]
Mobility/Transport
Is the Netherlands the best country in the world for drivers?
Also, Not Just Bikes’ Jason Slaughter was recently on the War on Cars podcast:
https://thewaroncars.org/2021/11/30/not-just-bikes-with-jason-slaughter/ [podcast]
“If it doesn’t sound idealistic to say that I think that nobody should be seriously injured or killed at work… why then does it sound idealistic when I talk about what happens on the way to work? Why does it sound unrealistic to say ‘I genuinely think that nobody should be seriously injured or killed travelling to work?’”
https://robertweetman.wordpress.com/2021/11/20/rethinking-road-safety-part-1/
Let’s read about the time the police in Montpelier FR bought a fleet of full size Ford Crown Victorias that were so big they fit neither the city streets nor the police garage:
https://www.liberation.fr/societe/2003/11/12/voitures-starsky-et-hutch-pour-la-police-montpellieraine_451425/ [FR]
As Montreal explores an elevated extension of the new REM along René-Lévesque, La Presse looks at elevated transit in Copenhagen, Paris, and the Hague:
https://www.lapresse.ca/contexte/2021-11-21/la-presse-au-danemark/les-hauts-et-les-bas-des-structures-aeriennes.php [FR]
What the new suburban rail line in east Melbourne can tell us about the conditions for successful transit in general:
https://www.danielbowen.com/2021/12/05/things-srl-needs-to-succeed/
“What we need most is a reexamination of how carmakers, traffic engineers, and community members—as well as the traveling public—together bear responsibility for saving some of the thousands of lives lost annually on American roadways.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/deadly-myth-human-error-causes-most-car-crashes/620808/
As transit recovers from Covid, what should the strategy be with respect to the fares versus service tradeoff?