Soho
Opinion: It's Time To Put People Ahead of Cars in SoHo
A proposal from SoHo Broadway Initiative aims to prioritize pedestrian and bike infrastructure and discourage car traffic to make the neighborhood safer and more comfortable for the people who live and work there.
YIMBYs Go Mainstream in New York
YIMBY, pro-development, politics are gaining support and attention in New York City at an opportune moment in the city's planning history.
NoHo and SoHo Rezoning Controversies, Amplified
One of the big questions of planning is up for debate with a proposed rezoning in the SoHo and NoHo neighborhoods of New York City: Can upzoning be an effective tool for affordability?
Advocating for Upzoning in Two of New York's Wealthiest Neighborhoods
The New York City Department of City Planning is expected, very soon, to release a rezoning proposal for the neighborhoods of SoHo and NoHo in New York City.
Op-Ed: SoHo and NoHo Need a Zoning Overhaul
Two SoHo residents argue that outdated zoning holds the Manhattan neighborhoods back, requiring special permits or variances for many current residential and commercial uses.
Manhattan Rezonings Pose Tough Challenges for Planners
The New York City Department of Planning kicked off a rezoning process for the Manhattan neighborhood of SoHo earlier this month. Planning and development challenges abound.
SoHo and NoHo Next for the New York City Rezoning Tour
Zoning changes in SoHo and NoHo are expected to allow more kinds of uses by-right in parts of the neighborhood previously restricted to manufacturing uses.
Artists' Housing, Beyond the SoHo Loft Model
New York has promised to create 1,500 affordable live/work spaces for artists. Architect Emma Fuller believes that careful consideration of building typologies could make it easier to reach this target.
NYC's SoHo Gets a 'Noxious' Use
SoHo, a Manhattan neighborhood full of luxury apartments and a median income of $111,000/year, must accept a new facility that includes a garage for sanitation trucks. Why, and how will it test the city's commitment to infrastructure design?
Small Clubs Make Creative Hubs: the Importance of Live Music Venues
Cities like London are losing their creative edge because the small music venues that foster it are being pushed out.
The Next Best Thing For Those Priced Out in NYC
Jim Rendon has some inventive suggestions for those priced out of the most beloved and exclusive neighborhoods in New York.
SoHo Residents Balk at BID
Is it justified to believe that a proposed SoHo business improvement district, widely embraced elsewhere in the city, would only attract more hordes of visitors and non-residents? Proponents say that residents are fear-mongering.
Art As Urban Change Agent
Elizabeth Currid-Halkett examins the viability of arts driven urban revitalization and finds that the strongest predictor of success is the nature of the art being produced and exhibited in the neighborhood.
Taking a Stroll With a Guide to Understanding Cities
In his critique of "Urban Code: 100 Lessons for Understanding the City," San Francisco Chronicle Columnist John King says how the book's formula for a city doesn't do justice to its authenticity.
NPR Reports On Freeway Conversion Movement
WCPN reporter interviews a commuter who is annoyed by a plan to make her commute longer - but it becomes clear that the suburbanite's faster commute is at the expense of an urban neighborhood.
de facto Shared Streets
Shared streets, the contemporary vernacular used to describe streets that have been intentionally redesigned to remove exclusive boundaries for pedestrians, bicyclists, cars, etc., work well within a special set of conditions. It is, in reality, just a new way of describing the original use of streets (see this previous post for more on that). The most promising candidates for shared streets are those where traffic volumes are not too heavy, the route is not a critical corridor for vehicular through-traffic, activities and attractions along the street are plentiful, short distance connectivity is viable, and a critical mass of pedestrians (perhaps enough to pack sidewalks at certain times) exists. A shared street may also be suitable in places where there is a desire to induce such conditions; however, care must be taken to understand the larger network effects of shifting or slowing down vehicular traffic. But in some instances, seemingly unrelated changes to traffic patterns or the effects of a coincidental collection of the above conditions sometimes go unnoticed until a street that may have been all about cars gradually shifts into something I refer to as a “de facto shared street”.
Buffing Up The Bronx
City planners are rezoning an area of the Bronx known for auto shops and storage units to try to create a new bustling neighborhood like SoHo.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA)
Ada County Highway District
Charles County Government
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland
