President Obama has promised to give cities a new image, one as the engines that drive the economy and whose issues are intertwined with those of the suburbs. This article looks at some of the big ideas shaping the new city.
"[Peter] Zellner coordinates the Southern California Institute for Future Initiatives (SCIFI) program at the Southern California Institute of Architecture. The research-based graduate program is co-sponsoring (with The Architect's Newspaper) an open ideas competition titled 'A New Infrastructure: Innovative Transit Solutions for Los Angeles.' SCIFI's mission is to train graduate students not just in design, but in policy and planning-the very tools needed to rebuild and reframe the city from an economic, social, and environmental perspective.
Looking at the infrastructure of Los Angeles, a car city if there ever was one, means understanding that highway-driven sprawl is no longer feasible. The metropolis, having filled the L.A. basin to the point of overflow, has begun to turn back in on itself. The subprime mortgage bust reminds us that cities just can't support ever-more-attenuated subdivisions and strip malls. New Urbanist literature recognizes the need to redevelop urban cores, replacing them with walkable streets and transit hubs. And while the practice is laudable, it makes use of an urban language drawn from a cultural imagination of Main Street as seen in film and television-a unified, comfortable vision that is hard to argue against. 'Based on the neotraditionalism that it is peddling and the fact that it works best on green-field sites, the paradigm New Urbanism promotes is actually, ironically, anti-city,' maintains Santa Monica–based architect and urban planner Roger Sherman."
FULL STORY: Urban Renewal
San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.
Florida Considers Legalizing ADUs
Current state law allows — but doesn’t require — cities to permit accessory dwelling units in single-family residential neighborhoods.
HUD Announces Plan to Build Housing on Public Lands
The agency will identify federally owned parcels appropriate for housing development and streamline the regulatory process to lease or transfer land to housing authorities and nonprofit developers.
Nightlife and the 15-Minute City
Plans for compact, walkable cities often don’t address nighttime concerns like transportation and lighting, which can make neighborhoods more vibrant and safe around the clock.
Mississippi Aims to Abolish Income Tax — and Replace it With Gas Tax
The new gas tax would fund MDOT and the Strategic Multi-Modal Investments Fund.
Louisville Launches ‘Anti-Displacement Tool’
After a years-long, tenant-led effort, Louisville will use a new tool to analyze whether a proposed housing development can meet a neighborhood’s housing needs and income levels. If it doesn’t, the city won’t subsidize it.
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