Chris Hagerbaumer is the deputy director of the Oregon Environmental Council. She recently delivered the below testimony on “variable traffic-based tolls”, a form of road pricing. This is something we have talked a lot about here on the blog. Oregon is currently looking at implementing this on… Read More
Monthly archives of “July 2018”
Twin Palms turns 60
2018 marks the 60th anniversary of the Twin Palms neighborhood in Palm Springs, California, and Houzz has just published an excellent story describing the subdivision’s history and its importance for mid-century modern architecture. Designed by architect William Krisel and developed by Alexander Construction, the community was… Read More
Toward penthouse amenities and smaller units
The NY Times reported this week that, as the ultra luxury real estate market in New York City continues to cool, developers appear to be making two kinds of product adjustments: (1) they are converting the penthouses and rooftops of their buildings from premium residential… Read More
Urban metabolism
I spent this morning in the suburbs bouncing around to a few different meetings. I then came back downtown so that I could get some actual work done in the office. And then after that, I was around downtown getting a bunch of different things… Read More
The Hess triangle
A friend of mine recently shared this Twitter thread with me. It is by Chaz Hutton. I didn’t know who Chaz was before I read the thread. But I now know that he draws things, sometimes for the New Yorker. Chaz’s Twitter thread covers the… Read More
Firm Profile: APOLLO Architects & Associates
This afternoon my friend Gabriel, of Gabriel Fain Architects, sent me the work of APOLLO Architects & Associates. They are based in Japan and South Korea. Here is a preview of some of their “private houses”: There is a lot that I love about these homes. … Read More
The vertical city
We often talk about agglomeration economies in terms of their horizontal clustering within cities. But a new paper in the Journal of Urban Economics – summarized here by Richard Florida – has looked at the other dimension: the vertical clustering of economic activity within tall buildings. … Read More
How ecommerce is growing in rural China
This piece in the New Yorker about how e-commerce, and in particular JD.com, is transforming rural China is worth a read. In typical New Yorker fashion, it’s a good long-form read, but one that you can also listen to if that’s your thing. What’s immediately… Read More
The blue (real estate) bible
Back when I was in grad school studying real estate, we used to refer to the below book as the “blue bible.” It is a comprehensive look at real estate finance and investments, and also development. But perhaps more importantly, it is written in a way that… Read More
Toronto’s great streets
Last week the Ryerson City Building Institute published a terrific report on Toronto’s Great Streets. It profiles five streets in the city that have been “redesigned for greatness.” They are: Harbord Street (continuous bike lanes) Roncesvalles Avenue (placemaking and people) St. Clair Avenue West (dedicated streetcar… Read More