r/Urbanism

This area has been growing very rapidly. People moving in and out. What problems have you seen because of this growth? Traffic, crowds etc… Should we be worried?

I’m not getting why a city like Santa Ana, CA is so broke ($20 million deficit like many CA cities). They have the density, they have the downtown, they have the mixed use community, they have transit. What gives?

I understand prop 13 is a factor, but putting that aside for now.

Gemini is saying it’s dense but not valuably dense, but that isn’t consistent with my understanding of strong town principals. They should be rolling in property taxes and a strong downtown.

Has anyone explored the capabilities and limitations of trying to run cargo trains in between pedestrian headways in an urban environment? They'd need spurs to pull out of the way of pedestrian trains for load/unload, but it could reduce the need for vehicle freight corridors in many areas...

What kind of capacity could it handle (compared with containerized semi tractors)? What am I missing about feasibility?

(Inspired by Delahanty's latest on the neighborhood disruption from the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway)

Seems like every country in the western world is having the exact same problem. I don’t know why but I’m in Canada and every municipality has its own rules to build.

With this what are solutions to build more homes. I’ve heard of pre-fab, and 3D printed homes but again with each city having its own rules it makes it difficult to scale. It seems like the solution isn’t technology it’s just us.

My understanding is the US has the same problem. What’s the solution for this? Is there any meaningful progress being made to address housing costs being so high?

It seems like everything else has gotten cheaper except for the big items.

The nickname of my city, Antwerp ( Belgium ) is: de Koekestad. Wich means : the city of cookies. It was because of the many cookie factories in the past.

PS Dont forget to tell also the real name of your city !

An upvote is appreciated!

Just curious if all substack links are banned or if they could go into an approval queue.

I'm a fan of Diane Lind's and just wanted to share something she posted.

TIF uses the increase in property taxes generated by improvements within an area to pay down the debt acquired to fund them. This allows municipalities to divert future property tax revenue increases from a defined area or district toward an economic development project or public improvement project in the community (such as city halls, parks, libraries etc).

The first TIF was used in California in 1952. By 2004, all U.S. states excepting Arizona had authorized the use of TIF. Some cities have used TIFs to put parking underground, reduce visual clutter and encourage walking. With metros today facing issues like blight and vacancy, why don't we see this form of subsidy more often? It seems like a useful tool for cities to increase economic activity, improve public infrastructure, and attract residents. All for a moderate risk. Are developers just skeptical of these loans?

Are people skeptical of the drone deployment or it's just a matter of time and policy?

Imagine being the ruler of some city in Ancient Rome and explaining to all your subjects that instead of walking they’ll need to buy a horse, fuel the horse, keep the horse healthy, and deal with all the literal shit your horse and other horses create, along with the health effects caused by that shit, and saying it’s in the name of freedom. I think you’d be crucified.

You’re not free when you have to buy something just to get around

https://www.reddit.com/r/geography/comments/1t8vjg2/i_came_to_understand_why_south_korea_does_not/

summation:

'South Korea manages high population density through "compressed indoor living," utilizing high-rise residential complexes and advanced delivery services to keep activities indoors. This creates a "small population outside" effect with quiet streets, contrasting with traditional high-density nations like England, where lifestyle demands cause constant, visible crowding in public spaces.'

There were many complaints that the original was too verbose, so I tried summarizing it.

Additionally, while there is a culture in Europe where people gather offline at meeting places like plaza to chat, the near disappearance of such a culture in South Korea seems to have played a role. It appears that in South Korea, the notion that one must spend money when going out has now taken hold.

From the places I’ve lived, Fayetteville Arkansas has the best 4 seasons for me so far, but bad urbanism. Is there a city with good urban amenities and has a good summer and winter?

Was it just row houses and then farmland right next to it? Or did the density of buildings decrease so that there were more empty lots between buildings?