DVRPC forecasts 11 percent population growth by 2040. / Image via PlanPhilly.
IN PHILLY… Great news as the Philadelphia metro region is expected to grow by 11 percent by 2040, including Philly gaining 7 percent, rising to 1.6 million, according to the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC). Of course, these long-term predictions are simply educated guesses, and it seems odd that the most growth would not be near transit. Check out the DVRPC’s cool interactive map (PlanPhilly) and (DVRPC).
Franklin Mint site redevelopment. / Image via Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance.
Lots of rezoning and master plans in the works — for the Lower Schuylkill and the Lower South and western Fairmount Park (PlanPhilly). Meanwhile, the new urbanist Delaware County town replacing the Franklin Mint site has been down-scaled from 3 million to 1 million sq ft, though will develop SEPTA’s Wawa commuter rail station and include a conference center and hotel (Delco News Network).
But not everything is great with development — the Inky architectural critic Inga Saffron writes about the “student slum” in Powelton Village (Philly.com), which is later accompanied by a map that proves she’s right (Policy Map). And Curbed Philly opens, featuring former City Paper columnist Liz Spikol as editor (Curbed Philly).
IN NEW YORK… tragic news as Kodak filed for bankruptcy. The city of Rochester too has suffered the same downward spiral, after “urban renewal” in the 1960’s gutted the city (Atlantic Cities).
Hollywood Theater from the 1920's. / Image via HuffPo and Kevin Shea Adams.
Old New York places are being closed and/or destroyed — the former Hollywood Theater (HuffPo), Bleecker Bob’s record store and newer music venue Southpaw
(NYT), Washington Height’s Coliseum Theater (Daily News). In Brooklyn, it’s J.J.’s Navy Yard (Vanishing New York) and possibly the port culture of Red Hook (NYT).
At least the Seaport Museum is resurrected by MCNY (NYT). In Brooklyn, its downtown skyscraper historic district was approved (NYT CityRoom) and take a tour of cool Floyd Bennett Field (Floyd Bennett Field).
Why is New York still going for two convention centers? It’s a no-win situation (Atlantic Cities and Next American City). Thinking smaller seems better — like in the Bronx, with No Longer Empty has a cool mission of site-specific art and community revitalization with the Andrew Freedman House (Urban Omnibus). Travel back to the Bronx in the 1980’s with En Foco, the borough’s Latino photo group (NYT Lens Blog). Could installing solar panels on school roofs hold the key to green jobs? (Scott Stringer)
NATIONWIDE… this smaller-faster-cheaper-better system of street makeovers is also called “tactical urbanism” (Miller-McCune), and a new term “Pop-Up Hoods” (Fast Company).
New report by the Alliance for Biking and Walking shows that spending on bike and pedestrian improvements yields huge dividends, but the country’s car culture is hard to change. More than 1/4 of all trips are less than 1 mile, but 2/3 of them are by car (Alliance for Biking and Walking). Turns out that Washington D.C. is the second-best city for both (TBD). On street-bike parking holds promise (StreetFilms).
Walkable downtowns, which pay more taxes than suburban strip malls (DC Streetsblog), can also be created by retrofitting old buildings (Atlantic Cities). Shouldn’t most cities just use street grids? (Great American Grid)
When you look at New York, the central spine of Broadway leaps out at you. But the other big spines are telling as well: They conform to subway lines. In New York, neighborhoods truly live and die by the subway. / Image via Fast Company.
But even with new urbanist ideals, can Las Vegas’ downtown be revived by Zappos’ CEO — with no background in urban planning? Why not let citizens participate? (Fortune Magazine) At least Vegas has affordable housing. (Atlantic Cities) But it and southern cities are heading towards huge droughts (Atlantic Cities). LA’s small farms, dating to the 1910’s, are fading (LA Times). Bad news for California high speed rail (NYT).
This is why the Northeast Corridor needs high-speed rail — to replace all the flights from New York City, the number one cause of flight delays in the country (NYT). Washington D.C.’s new streetcar system should push up home values (Washington Examiner), while there’s also a national competition to redesign the National Mall (UPenn Design).
Chinatowns, like those in D.C., are moving to the suburbs (ULI). Finally: so cool — Twitter maps of cities could help plan better transit routes! (Fast Company)
IN PARIS… the coolest story in years is of the urban collective UX that preserves untended sites — including repairing the Panthéon’s clock (Wired). The city is pushing some sort of transit along the riverbanks — perhaps an improved vogueo (water taxis)? (Association Grand Paris). Take a visit to the Little India neighborhood (T Magazine).
Two people per second move to a city. / Image via The Guardian.
INTERNATIONALLY, for all the talk of cities planning small, rapid urbanisation to megacities is presenting problems of basic infrastructure that seem almost insurmountable (The Guardian). Sony presents Futurescapes scenarios for sustainable living in 2025
(Futurescapes). And “green” buildings are catching on around the world (Inman News).
Sadly, with all the new technology that improves cities, could it cause the death of the flâneur? (Atlantic Cities) Finally, a fascinating look at American comics translated into Arabic in Egypt and underground comics in China at the awesome Tin Tin Travels blog (Atlantic Cities).
Urban Fabric 