I first wrote about Manhattan's proposed congestion charge back in 2018. Naturally, some people supported it and some people opposed it. Four years later, it was reported that the charge was still being considered for the area of the island south of 60th Street, and that it could generate an additional $1 billion in revenue for the city's transportation authority. But then in June of this year, right before the charge was set to come into effect on June 30, 2024, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said "nah, let's pause this indefinitely." And at that point, it felt mostly dead.
Nope: A revised tolling plan has just been announced -- the charge has been reduced from $15 to $9 -- and Hochul is now trying to jam it through before Trump takes office in January. Trump opposes the charge and has branded it the "most regressive tax known to womankind", so there's a real deadline here. This could get interesting. Do you think it will actually happen, some 6 years later? (In reality, the timeline is far longer. Congestion pricing also looked promising during the Bloomberg era, but then similarly died. And I'm sure there were even earlier proposals.)
I first wrote about Manhattan's proposed congestion charge back in 2018. Naturally, some people supported it and some people opposed it. Four years later, it was reported that the charge was still being considered for the area of the island south of 60th Street, and that it could generate an additional $1 billion in revenue for the city's transportation authority. But then in June of this year, right before the charge was set to come into effect on June 30, 2024, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said "nah, let's pause this indefinitely." And at that point, it felt mostly dead.
Nope: A revised tolling plan has just been announced -- the charge has been reduced from $15 to $9 -- and Hochul is now trying to jam it through before Trump takes office in January. Trump opposes the charge and has branded it the "most regressive tax known to womankind", so there's a real deadline here. This could get interesting. Do you think it will actually happen, some 6 years later? (In reality, the timeline is far longer. Congestion pricing also looked promising during the Bloomberg era, but then similarly died. And I'm sure there were even earlier proposals.)
Let's continue with our theme of city blocks and talk about another city with a noteworthy street grid: Barcelona. Up until the middle of the 19th century, Barcelona was a tiny medieval city hemmed in by 6 km of walls and totalling just over 2 square kilometers. If you look at a map of the city today, it's pretty easy to see where this was:
Street networks tend to be pretty sticky. Meaning, they tend not to change very much, or at all, over time. We have spoken about this before, over the years.
A good example of this is Broadway in Manhattan. Broadway is a world-famous street. And it's perhaps no coincidence that it's also the only street that runs the full length of Manhattan and breaks across the city's regular street grid.
The exact reasons for this are somewhat nuanced. And for a more fulsome backstory, I recommend you watch Daniel Steiner's recent video on the topic (embedded above).
It is alleged that Broadway started out as the Wickquasgeck trail. Meaning it pre-dates the arrival of Europeans to the island. But regardless, we know that it came before New York's famed Commissioners' Plan of 1811, which is the plan that gave the city its grid.
So it would appear that, sometimes, even the most rational of plans can be no match for something even stronger: a street that already exists.
Let's continue with our theme of city blocks and talk about another city with a noteworthy street grid: Barcelona. Up until the middle of the 19th century, Barcelona was a tiny medieval city hemmed in by 6 km of walls and totalling just over 2 square kilometers. If you look at a map of the city today, it's pretty easy to see where this was:
Street networks tend to be pretty sticky. Meaning, they tend not to change very much, or at all, over time. We have spoken about this before, over the years.
A good example of this is Broadway in Manhattan. Broadway is a world-famous street. And it's perhaps no coincidence that it's also the only street that runs the full length of Manhattan and breaks across the city's regular street grid.
The exact reasons for this are somewhat nuanced. And for a more fulsome backstory, I recommend you watch Daniel Steiner's recent video on the topic (embedded above).
It is alleged that Broadway started out as the Wickquasgeck trail. Meaning it pre-dates the arrival of Europeans to the island. But regardless, we know that it came before New York's famed Commissioners' Plan of 1811, which is the plan that gave the city its grid.
So it would appear that, sometimes, even the most rational of plans can be no match for something even stronger: a street that already exists.
This was of course done for military purposes. Barcelona's medieval walls helped the city resist siege after siege. But the result was also overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and a generally low life expectancy. So after much debate, it was eventually decided that the walls would need to come down and that the city would need to expand outward.
This then raised the question: how should it be done?
Enter a civil engineer named Ildefons Cerdà. Created in 1860, the Cerdá Plan for Barcelona was a continuous grid of blocks intended to guide the future growth of the city, similar to what the Commissioners' Plan did for Manhattan. The blocks measured exactly 113.3 by 113.3 meters and each was to have a central open space of at least 800 square meters.
In his original plan, the streets were to be 35 meters wide. But supposedly these were narrowed to no more than 20 to 30 meters due to criticism from the public. Wide streets and more lanes were, I guess, not seen as a benefit in the second half of the 19th century. Either this, or landowners simply wanted bigger buildings.
The Cerdá Plan got approved in 1860 and, today, the city looks like this:
One particularly unique feature of this plan was that the blocks all had/have chamfered corners. This improved visibility at the intersections, as well as created opportunities for public spaces and other uses. For better or for worse, today, you'll find parking for cars and scooters, bike share stations, ramps leading to underground garages, patios, and more.
The heights of the buildings on each block were also intended to be capped at a consistent height. But even with relatively few tall buildings, the Cerdà Plan led to one of the densest cities in Europe. Today, it is also viewed as a highly livable and desirable city. Hence why the city announced a total ban on short-term rentals. Too popular.
Now for a comparison. Last week we spoke about Salt Lake City's large city blocks (here and here). And so for fun, here's what these blocks would look like on top of Barcelona:
The most obvious takeaway is that Salt Lake City has larger city blocks than Barcelona, and that's one reason why, objectively, Barcelona is more walkable and urban than SLC. But I think you could also view this graphic as a tremendous opportunity.
Barcelona is in the midst of rethinking its urban fabric around something called "superblocks." The idea here is to cluster blocks together and then concentrate transit and vehicular traffic along its edges, creating a more pedestrian-focused center. For example, in its largest form, a superblock might be a 3 x 3 grid, creating a grouping of 9 city blocks.
But it doesn't necessarily need to be a 3 x 3 grid. Other permutations are possible and the city plans to eventually introduce over 500 of them.
The first superblock was implemented in 2017 and, not surprisingly, it improved air quality, increased quietness, and led to a significant decrease in car usage (-92%). Interestingly enough, it only led to a moderate increase in car traffic on surrounding streets (+3%). Traffic can be a funny thing.
Creating superblocks out of smaller blocks is naturally easier than the opposite. You have an existing grid to work with. But there's no reason that the opposite can't also be done. And I think that's one way to look at Salt Lake City's street grid. It already has its superblocks. Now it's just a question of creating all of its smaller blocks.
This was of course done for military purposes. Barcelona's medieval walls helped the city resist siege after siege. But the result was also overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and a generally low life expectancy. So after much debate, it was eventually decided that the walls would need to come down and that the city would need to expand outward.
This then raised the question: how should it be done?
Enter a civil engineer named Ildefons Cerdà. Created in 1860, the Cerdá Plan for Barcelona was a continuous grid of blocks intended to guide the future growth of the city, similar to what the Commissioners' Plan did for Manhattan. The blocks measured exactly 113.3 by 113.3 meters and each was to have a central open space of at least 800 square meters.
In his original plan, the streets were to be 35 meters wide. But supposedly these were narrowed to no more than 20 to 30 meters due to criticism from the public. Wide streets and more lanes were, I guess, not seen as a benefit in the second half of the 19th century. Either this, or landowners simply wanted bigger buildings.
The Cerdá Plan got approved in 1860 and, today, the city looks like this:
One particularly unique feature of this plan was that the blocks all had/have chamfered corners. This improved visibility at the intersections, as well as created opportunities for public spaces and other uses. For better or for worse, today, you'll find parking for cars and scooters, bike share stations, ramps leading to underground garages, patios, and more.
The heights of the buildings on each block were also intended to be capped at a consistent height. But even with relatively few tall buildings, the Cerdà Plan led to one of the densest cities in Europe. Today, it is also viewed as a highly livable and desirable city. Hence why the city announced a total ban on short-term rentals. Too popular.
Now for a comparison. Last week we spoke about Salt Lake City's large city blocks (here and here). And so for fun, here's what these blocks would look like on top of Barcelona:
The most obvious takeaway is that Salt Lake City has larger city blocks than Barcelona, and that's one reason why, objectively, Barcelona is more walkable and urban than SLC. But I think you could also view this graphic as a tremendous opportunity.
Barcelona is in the midst of rethinking its urban fabric around something called "superblocks." The idea here is to cluster blocks together and then concentrate transit and vehicular traffic along its edges, creating a more pedestrian-focused center. For example, in its largest form, a superblock might be a 3 x 3 grid, creating a grouping of 9 city blocks.
But it doesn't necessarily need to be a 3 x 3 grid. Other permutations are possible and the city plans to eventually introduce over 500 of them.
The first superblock was implemented in 2017 and, not surprisingly, it improved air quality, increased quietness, and led to a significant decrease in car usage (-92%). Interestingly enough, it only led to a moderate increase in car traffic on surrounding streets (+3%). Traffic can be a funny thing.
Creating superblocks out of smaller blocks is naturally easier than the opposite. You have an existing grid to work with. But there's no reason that the opposite can't also be done. And I think that's one way to look at Salt Lake City's street grid. It already has its superblocks. Now it's just a question of creating all of its smaller blocks.
