Tag: public policy

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Instead of relying on overly simple solutions, Chicago’s land bank will use big data to target vacant homes

Instead of relying on overly simple solutions, Chicago’s land bank will use big data to target vacant homes.

As Cincinnatians have seen with Hamilton County’s demolition program, funded through state foreclosure funds, it can be difficult to properly implement a program of that nature. Simply tearing down properties seems to be too heavy-handed, but more nuanced solutions can be more costly. In Chicago a slightly different approach is being taken. More from NextCity:

How can cities unload the properties they hold, and facilitate the transfer of empty properties held privately, to owners that can use them? In the age of Big Data, these decisions are becoming less complicated. Last month, fellows with the University of Chicago’s Data Science for Social Good began working with the Chicago area’s newly born Cook County Land Bank Authority. The aim is to create a tool that will make it easier to process data on foreclosures, real estate trends and the like to determine which properties are the best candidates for redevelopment. Think of it as a data-backed triage unit for vacant land.

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Can good design of our communities make us happier?

Can good design of our communities make us happier?.

There is enough literature available now to know that the way we shape and build our communities has a strong impact on our individual and collective happiness. Why some communities continue to ignore these core human principles is beyond me, but if we can build places based on the fundamental knowledge we already have, then we can build better places for human interaction and happiness. More from Better! Cities & Towns:

The way we design our communities plays a huge role in how we experience our lives. Neighborhoods built without sidewalks, for instance, mean that people walk less and therefore enjoy fewer spontaneous encounters, which is what instills a spirit of community to a place…You don’t have to be a therapist to realize that this creates lasting psychological effects. It thwarts the connections between people that encourage us to congregate, cooperate, and work for the common good. We retreat into ever more privatized existences.

Groupings of four to twelve households make an ideal community “where meaningful ‘neighborly’ relationships are fostered.” But even here, design shapes our destiny. Chapin explains that strong connections between neighbors develop most fully and organically when everyone shares some “common ground.” That can be a semi-public space, as in the pocket neighborhoods Chapin designs in the Seattle area.

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Better Streets are Better Public Places

Better Streets are Better Public Places

As many communities start to require a complete streets approach to roadway planning it is important for cities such as Cincinnati to remember the elements of good street planning or face the consequences of the STROAD. Kaid Benfield highlights the ingredients to creating a great pedestrian friendly street that serves as a place to visit instead of a way to pass through. Read more at the NRDC Switchboard:

But, when I say that a street is not just a “street,” I mean that it is not just a surface for motorized travel.  It is also the sidewalk, the curb, the trees and “street furniture” that line it; the facings of the shops, homes, and other buildings and uses along the way.  It is not just about transportation, but also about civic definition and social and commercial interaction.  It is a system, at a minimum, and should at least aspire to becoming a place, as Victor asserts.

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After 20 years of results, it turns out that transit skeptics in St. Louis were wildly wrong

After 20 years of results, it turns out that transit skeptics in St. Louis were wildly wrong.

Hamilton County residents voted on a half-cent sales tax in 2002 that would have transformed the region’s transportation options. Through that new funding, the region would have completely rebuilt and restructured its bus service, built five light rail lines, and several streetcar lines. Much skepticism, touted by opponents and not unlike what St. Louis voters experienced in their own public vote 20 years ago. The difference is that St. Louis voters approved their measure while Cincinnatians did not. It turns out that the opponents and skeptics in St. Louis were wrong…wildly wrong. More from the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

To say there were doubters that the fledgling MetroLink light-rail service would catch on with riders back in 1993 would be a monumental understatement…Costello also recalled how Washington “bean counters” assured locals that “there is no way that you will meet your ridership numbers.” By contrast, he said, MetroLink exceeded the projected 10-year levels within two years.

Nations recalled how a 1987 report predicted light-rail ridership in St. Louis would be about 3 million by 2000. That year, he said, people boarded trains more than 14 million times…MetroLink now logs more than 17 million boardings a year — many of them commuters and students. Regional leaders also credit light rail with spurring residential and commercial development near stations.

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Millennial cohort will have over-sized impact on retail, real estate

Millennial cohort will have oversized impact on retail, real estate

The Millennial Generation, also known as Echo Boomers or Generation Y, is roughly defined as people born between the early 1980s and early 2000s. As members of this generation start to make up a bigger portion of the workforce, and eventually become a bigger force in politics, a number of changes are bound to take place. In addition to preferring urban living in greater numbers than Baby Boomers and Generation X, Millennials also have different preferences when it comes to media, technology, shopping, transportation, and politics. More from Urban Land Magazine:

Over the last two to three years, echo boomers have been fueling the demand for rental housing in urbanized areas. Since 2009, there has been a steady increase in multifamily construction, climbing from 109,000 units in 2009 to 245,000 units in 2012, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The new multifamily rentals are not limited to coastal cities. For example, from January to September 2012, Houston’s multifamily housing development rate increased 70 percent over the same period in 2011.

Demand for rental units has increased most dramatically in tech centers such as San Francisco and the Silicon Valley area; Austin, Texas; Denver; Boston; and New York City. But even without the tech industry serving as a catalyst, the sheer size of the echo boom demographic has fueled demand for apartments—particularly those located in high-amenity cities and suburban agglomerations.