Posts Tagged ‘Joe Minicozzi’
‘So all we have to do is…’ call bullshit
Chuck Marohn was in my town last week with his better-than-ever demonstration of the lies we tell ourselves about infrastructure finance. Chuck’s message and that of Joe Minicozzi prod us to get our arms around the math. And that’s a crucial message. But, jeez, our problem is way bigger. Thanks to the never-ending hangover from…
Read MoreFeared Dead, Math’s Back: Planning nerds vindicated
Planning for the future tends to be a humiliating exercise. Whatever’s headed our way is both inevitable and unpredictable. Yet because it brings with it the consequences of decisions we made or ducked in the past and now have to manage or endure in the present, we have to take a stab at decisions that…
Read MoreTalkin’ Right, Leanin’ Left: The ‘New Consurbanism’?
Here’s a quiz for you: What’s the “it” in these two quotes? And who’s talking? It “is a radical, government-led re-engineering of society, one that artificially inverted millennia of accumulated wisdom . .” It “offers conservatism a new venue, one where we can couple our desire for traditional culture and morals with a physical environment…
Read MoreThe Future of Municipal Planning 02: Learning from Success
As the planning profession roils in the confluence of the 21st century’s Great Recession, Peak Oil/Peak Auto Travel, Millennial [Re]urbanization, and the borderline religious fervor of sustainability, I have officially declared that ours is not the same planning profession John Nolen built. So, how can planning rebuild its brand?
Read MoreThe Future of Municipal Planning: Is John Nolen rolling over in his grave?
This is not the planning profession John Nolen built. A century later, our great recession has sparked a full re-evaluation of what a city’s urban planning department should be ‘doing’ for its citizens. As witnessed in Los Angeles and San Diego, the planning profession is being measured by its eternal conundrum between Forward Planning Departments…
Read MoreSeven Placemaking Wishes for 2013
With the dawning of 2013, the interwebs are awash in lists detailing exactly what to watch out for in the coming year and, in a way, this is one more of those. But not exactly. Though firmly rooted in placemaking trends that have gained notable traction over the past year, this list contains not so…
Read MoreInfrastructure Deficit Disorder: The doctor is in
This past week, Chuck Marohn and Justin Burslie of Strong Towns gave their Curbside Chat in the beloved San Diego neighborhood of Hillcrest. Chuck’s visit was possible through a fun collaboration between Walt Chambers of Great Streets San Diego, Ben Nicholls, Executive Director of the Hillcrest Business Association, and myself. Forty of San Diego’s most…
Read MoreWhy Generation Y is Causing the Great Migration of the 21st Century
Just after the close of World War II, the last Great Migration in the United States — the move from the city to the new suburbs — began to emerge, fueled by new roads, low congestion, and modest energy costs. It was a new beginning, a chance to shake off the past, and it came…
Read More“You’re terminated, hippie.” — Where does that leave local sustainability?
Federal government to sustainability efforts: You’re terminated. In a blockbuster-style showdown, the House Appropriations Committee started a furor this month as they proposed the elimination of HUD, USDOT and EPA sustainability programs in 2011-12, as well as suggesting the rescinding of dollars already awarded by the Sustainability and TIGER grant programs. As municipalities, counties and…
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