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Urban rivers, lakes, and parks can also be the key to making cities more resilient to climate change. The 1,200 tons of sand near Greenwich Village along the Hudson river would have to do. But there's no public pool nearby, and no sanctioned river swim spots in the city. The sandy bluff on Gansevoort peninsula is part of the much larger Hudson River park and looks out over Little Island, a whimsical, highly instagrammable transformation of Pier 55. Seattle has torn down an elevated freeway downtown to make way for a waterfront park.
Persons: Mia Olis, Olis, they'll, Amanda Weinstein, Hudson, Karin Balow, Eliza Relman, Bill O'Leary, Trey Sherard, It's, vVJ9elwcss, Sherard, Charles, satchel, Paris, Anne Hidalgo, he's Organizations: Service, University of Akron, Hudson, Inwood, New, Battery, Park, DC, Navy, Nationals, Anacostia, Prince, AFP, Agency, Army Corps of Engineers, Yacht Locations: Chelsea, Hawaii, Greenwich Village, Harlem, New York, Rivers, Upper Manhattan, Manhattan, Jersey City, New York City, Hudson, Little, Manhattan's, Brooklyn, Domino, Queens, Governor's, . Cleveland , Ohio, Lake Erie, Cuyahoga, . Seattle, Potomac, Anacostia, Washington , DC, Prince George's County , Maryland, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Iraja, Black, Boston, Switzerland's, Zurich, Lake Zurich, Bern, who's, American
I’ll say straight off: It’s not architecture for the ages, but it’s an interesting, high-end model of an urban quad and a good example of how struggling downtowns are finding a glimmer of hope as satellite campuses. In design jargon, the term is “adaptive reuse,” which is the same story as turning empty office towers into apartment buildings. Universities like Hopkins are not the ultimate cure-all for what now ails downtowns across America, though, especially since they don’t pay property taxes like for-profit companies. Downtowns are still struggling. WeWork, which presently rents more office space than any other company in the United States, filed for bankruptcy this month.
Persons: David Rockwell, Hopkins, Paul Levy Organizations: Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, Rockwell Group, Philadelphia’s Center City District Locations: Pennsylvania, Washington, Texas, New York, America, United States, downtowns
Bill Ross moved from the mountains of Silicon Valley to a city half an hour north of San Antonio. Leaving Silicon Valley behindRoss was born in Philadelphia and was raised in northern New Jersey. He worked at large companies and startups in Silicon Valley, and he tried starting his own company. He got married, had kids, and raised them in a home 20 minutes from the heart of Silicon Valley in the Santa Clara Mountains. By comparison, a study by Joint Venture Silicon Valley released in October found Silicon Valley's median home price was $1.53 million in 2022.
Persons: Bill Ross, , Ross, Boerne, — Ross, he's, couldn't, didn't, Dallas, Austin, Realtor.com Organizations: Service, Oaks, Boerne Independent, . Census, Texans, Northeastern University, Texas Hill Country, Joint Venture Locations: Silicon, San Antonio, Texas, Silicon Valley, California, Boerne , Texas, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Boston, Santa Clara, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Galveston, Texas Hill, Boerne, San Francisco, Bay, Antonio
Construction of new apartment buildings is slowing as interest rates stay high. The Department of Transportation is opening up billions in loans for construction near mass transit. AdvertisementMultifamily housing construction boomed over the last couple years, and more apartments are coming on the market than at any time since the 1980s. But as interest rates have shot up, apartment construction is sharply slowing across the country. In fact, in order to qualify for the loans, developers need to show that their projects would boost ridership.
Persons: Biden, , Dan Schned, TOD, Schned, Brian Deese Organizations: Department of Transportation, Service, of Transportation, Transportation Infrastructure Finance, Innovation, Railroad Rehabilitation, Improvement, DOT's Build America Bureau Locations: downtowns
The conference comes at a pivotal moment for San Francisco, which has struggled to rebound from the pandemic closures that scrambled downtowns across the country. Local leaders hope the APEC conference will be just the catalyst that San Francisco needs to shake off its pandemic doldrums. At the very least, the past few weeks have shown that the city can clean up well. “This is a huge opportunity, and we’ve been planning this down to the gnat’s eyebrow,” said Aaron Peskin, the president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Mr. Peskin turned to history for hope that the APEC conference could reverse the city’s beleaguered image, one that many residents say has been unfairly overblown.
Persons: San, we’ve, , Aaron Peskin, Peskin Organizations: APEC, San Francisco, of Supervisors, Pacific Locations: San Francisco, Francisco, Panama, New York
The death of downtowns
  + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +7 min
NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . But the number of empty storefronts overwhelming downtowns isn't just a product of the post-pandemic world. When it comes to local downtowns, not all small businesses are created equally. A homebuilder executive breaks down the do's and don'ts that've helped her clients lower rates from 8% to 4.875%.
Persons: , that's, Tyler, Insider's Adam Rogers, it's, Adam, Justin Sullivan, It's, Lucas Jackson, Elon Musk, Joel Saget, Sheldon Cooper, Getty Images Elon, X, Daniel Rizea, Haley Rosen, Marie Donoghue, Rosalyn Durant, don'ts that've, Heidi Klum's, Jayne Withers, Zers, Dan DeFrancesco, Naga Siu, Hallam Bullock, Lisa Ryan Organizations: Service, New York Stock Exchange, Getty, Getty Images, Apple, Google, ESPN, NFL, NBA, Walmart, Workers, Fed, Pfizer, Samsung Locations: National, New York, AFP, New York City, San Diego, London
Some shop owners fear that reducing street parking will hurt their sales. But there's mounting evidence that street parking isn't necessarily good for business. The study notes that shop owners often oppose removing street parking around them because they're "afraid of deteriorated accessibility, declining pedestrian frequencies, and lower revenue." Previous studies have shown that bike lanes and more pedestrian-friendly, walkable, and car-light areas are better for business. Shopping districts are much like outdoor malls, which are most convenient and popular when they have both adequate garage parking and are accessible by mass transit.
Persons: , Tom Harris Organizations: Service, Protesters, RWTH Aachen University, New York City Department of Transportation, New, Times, Times Square Alliance Locations: America, , Connecticut, Germany, Aachen, New York City, Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York, downtowns
There are a slew of users and uses that compete for curb space. The solution, some advocates say, is removing free parking and charging for spots based on demand. Free parkingThe root of the chaos at the curb stems from free on-street parking, critics say. Cities “squander curbs for free parking for cars because drivers are the people who show up at public meetings,” Shoup said. Smart loading zonesEven if cities managed their on-street parking problems for private vehicles more effectively, bikers, delivery workers, outdoor dining and other uses would still crowd the curb.
Persons: , Chrissy Mancini Nichols, ” Nichols, Yorkers, Donald Shoup, ” Shoup, Mike Estey, ” Estey, Michelle Wu Organizations: New, New York CNN, Workers, Walker Consultants, city’s Department of Transportation, University of California, Drivers, New York City’s Department of Transportation, Seattle Department of Transportation, Boston Locations: New York, , New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles, America, San Francisco, Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles , Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Washington, New, Omaha , Nebraska, Minneapolis, Philadelphia
Median wage growth for the Midwest was just 0.4% from 2019 to 2022, compared to 5.7% in the Northeast. Declines in unionization and a lack of minimum wage raises have kept wage growth low. This is in contrast to the nation's 3.1% median wage growth during the same period. Workers in the Northeast saw a median wage growth increase of 5.7% during the three-year period, while the West rose 4.7%. Only half of Midwestern states experienced median wage growth since 2019, EPI found.
Persons: , EPI, Nina Mast, Mast Organizations: Service, Economic, Institute, Workers, American, Union, Midwest, Pacific Locations: Midwest, Northeast, Louis, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Illinois, South Dakota , Missouri , Ohio, Iowa, , Kansas, Nebraska, Black, American
MINNEAPOLIS—Downtown streets were so crowded in the 1960s that developers conjured up a maze of elevated walkways between buildings, providing winter-proof avenues for office workers who filled the central city Monday through Friday. Stores, fast-food spots, bakeries and barber shops lined the covered, temperature-controlled walkways, which linked new glass skyscrapers sprouting one after the next. Workers racing to cubicles in the morning kept to the right to avoid crashing into each other, recalled convenience store clerk Monica Bray .
Persons: Monica Bray Organizations: Workers Locations: MINNEAPOLIS
Architecture firms reported a sharp drop in business in September, indicating that the commercial real estate market could see even more pain in the next year. The index is a forward-looking indicator of demand for non-residential construction activity, both commercial and industrial buildings. Commercial real estate has been hit with a double whammy. Among real estate sectors, firms with a multi-family residential focus saw more of a decline. Multi-family construction boomed over the last few years, with a record number of units now flooding the market and putting pressure on rents.
Persons: Kermit Baker, bode, Peter Boockvar Organizations: AIA, Billings, Bleakley Financial Locations: billings
Last year, New York City opened Fifth Avenue as a pedestrian street on December weekends. During the 2022 holiday season, New York City Mayor Eric Adams turned an 11-block stretch of the iconic Fifth Avenue into an "open street" for three weekends in December. This is just the latest example highlighting New York City's efforts to pedestrianize busy corridors. At the same time, Open Streets saw the number of businesses on them grow by 10%, while non-pedestrianized streets saw a 20% decrease in the number of businesses. However, there are downsides to Open Streets in New York City.
Persons: , Eric Adams, Adams, That's, he's, Ting Liu, Tom Harris Organizations: New York City, Service, Mastercard, New, Office of Technology, Innovation, Bloomberg Associates, Times, Times Square Alliance, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Locations: New York, Midtown, New, , Astoria, Queens, New York City
Right now, California Forever is just a website with some ideology and a handful of hopeful sketches with a faintly socialist-utopian flair. AdvertisementAdvertisementCities of the future of the pastThe California Forever art illustrations show at a place that'll look startlingly familiar. Point is, the garden city remains a dream honored more in the breach — in pitches like the one for California Forever. Just about 60 miles southeast of the California Forever site is a residential development called Mountain House. It's what plans like California Forever look like when brick starts getting laid.
Persons: Daniel Burnham, Burnham, Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, Michael Moritz, Laurene Powell Jobs, Collison, Flannery, Peter Thiel, Goldman, Jan Sramek, Sramek, Ebenezer Howard, Howard, What's, Foreverville, That's, it's, Banks, John Nash's London, what's, It's, Walt Disney, Gabriel Metcalf, BH Bronson Johnson, Dan Parolek, Adam Rogers Organizations: Travis Air Force Base, New York Times, Flannery Associates, Industry, Truman, California, Western Railway, California Forever, St, BH Locations: Chicago, California, Solano County, Sacramento, Solano, Silicon, Los Angeles, England, Japan, New York, Philadelphia, Seaside , Florida, Pontevedra, Spain, Paris, Tempe, doesn't, Foreverville, Pirates, Caribbean, Toronto, Culdesac
How to Cool Down a City
  + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Pablo Robles | Josh Holder | Jeremy White | ) www.nytimes.com   time to read: +13 min
But unlike most cities, Singapore is spending enormous resources to try to cool itself down — and learning lessons that could help other cities. But unlike most cities, Singapore is spending enormous resources to try to cool itself down — and learning lessons that could help other cities. Building without cool paint Building coated with cool paint Building without cool paint Building coated with cool paint Satellite image by Planet LabsSimple design decisions can also have a big impact on a building’s temperature. Singapore has built out a more systematic solution, a network of green corridors that connect green spaces together and allow cool air to flow throughout the city. “A corridor can at least generate this kind of cool air circulation in a city.
Persons: , Brian Stone Jr, Khoo, Stone, it’s, , Nicholas Lin, Richard Hassell, Winston Chow, “ You’ve, Singapore Rebecca Toh, Chow, Tamara Iungman, Adele Tan Organizations: Georgia Institute of Technology, , The New York Times, Planet Labs, WOHA Architects, Cooling, Research, Phoenix, Climate Central, SINGAPORE Marina Bay Network, National Parks Board, Barcelona Institute, Global Health, Singapore’s, Redevelopment Authority, Urban Locations: Singapore, Phoenix, Mumbai, Singapore’s, Puat, , L.A, ” Singapore, Pickering, The New York Times Singapore, New York City, Jurong Lake, Cooling Singapore, Marina Bay, downtowns, Ariz, Maricopa County, shadeless, Marina, Paris, Bishan, MALAYSIA, SINGAPORE, Medellín, Colombia,
Racial and class segregation have also long shaped and limited access to public places. "The fundamental rule of public space is that what attracts people most is other people." So it's counterproductive to stop responsible drinkers from enjoying themselves in parks, at street fairs, and in other public places. There are an average of eight public toilets for every 100,000 people in the US, but access to facilities varies widely. By contrast, countries like the UK and Switzerland have many more public toilets per capita.
Persons: Sara Hoy, Hoy, she'd, I've, Erin Boyd, Culdesac, We're, , Severance, Vivek Murthy, millennials, Sen, Chris Murphy, Murphy, Tina Smith, Smith, Leslie Kern, Kern, Mitchell Reardon, Reardon, Eid, Kristen Ghodsee, who's, Ghodsee Organizations: Central Pennsylvania, Peace Corps, today's, Seneca Village, Dodger, Connecticut Democrat, Minnesota Democrat, Soho House, Social, Centers for Disease Control, East European Studies, University of Pennsylvania, National Association of Realtors Locations: Central, Moldova, Korea, Sweden, Phoenix, Arizona, New York, Seneca, Washington, Rock Creek, Los Angeles, Connecticut, America's, Wethersfield , Connecticut, Minnesota, Soho, America, Seattle, York City, Rochester , Minnesota, Europe, Germany, It's, Switzerland, Homebuyers, Houston, Austin
Downtown San Francisco’s office buildings have been quieted by some of the highest vacancy rates and slowest return-to-office trends in the country. Around nearly every corner, they’re seeking someone to lease 822 square feet of former coffee shop, or 5,446 square feet of empty bakery, or 12,632 square feet of what was once a Walgreens. Like much of the office space above it, the ground floor will probably have to be reimagined in San Francisco’s business district and other downtowns that have long taken for granted a captive audience of commuting consumers. Because who wants to return downtown when its most visible spaces have been darkened, boarded up and papered over? “And only one step above that are these sad stickers with happy smiling people on them.”
Persons: , Conrad Kickert Organizations: Downtown, Verizon, Walgreens, University, Buffalo Locations: Francisco’s
The mayor of New York City aims to turn old office buildings into 20,000 new apartments. The Manhattan-based architect John Cetra, who has worked on office conversions since the 1980s, calls it "the amenity war." His firm, CetraRuddy, recently announced it's leading the conversion of a 30-story office building, formerly home to Goldman Sachs, in Manhattan's financial district. Adams' goal is to create up to 20,000 new homes for 40,000 New Yorkers in converted office buildings over the next decade. AdvertisementAdvertisementNew York City has already had some success in converting office buildings to homes.
Persons: you'll, they've, everyone's, Steven Paynter, we've, John Cetra, it's, Goldman Sachs, Cetra, Eric Adams, Paynter, He's, who's, Adams, We've, Dan Garodnick, Mark Hogan, Hogan, Charles Bloszies, I've, that's, Bloszies, Garodnick, Arpit Gupta Organizations: Service, CetraRuddy, York, US Department of Housing, Urban Development, Yorkers, New York City's Department of City Planning, San Francisco, Supervisors, New York Stock Exchange, NYU Stern School of Business, Research Locations: New York City, Wall, Silicon, York, San Francisco, Manhattan, Toronto, Calgary , Alberta, York City, Francisco, New York
The rise of remote work, high interest rates, and climate regulations all pose problems for office buildings. A new study found that more than 2,000 US office buildings could be converted into up to 400,000 apartments. And new environmental regulations require that buildings meet certain energy efficiency standards that can require costly renovations. Turning office buildings into apartments isn't a new concept, and it's one that New York City has embraced in theory. Of course, office buildings require some retrofitting to be turned from sprawling workplaces to livable apartments.
Persons: Arpit Gupta, Candy Martinez, Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, Insider's Jordan Hart Organizations: Service, National Bureau of Economic Research, Los, New York City, jkaplan Locations: Wall, Silicon, Greater New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, New York
Per Axios, the Biden administration will take a hardline approach to remote work for federal workers. The White House chief of staff said federal workers should return to offices by September or October. The policy shift follows a pledge that Biden made during his March 2022 State of the Union speech. According to a new report by Axios, citing an email sent from Biden's chief of staff Jeff Zients to cabinet members, Zients said that federal workers would aim to return to in-person work between September and October. As it stands, Biden's administration is seeking to buck a trend upheld by the administrations of Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and his own, where federal offices have downsized over time and digitized more records.
Persons: Biden, Joe Biden's, Axios, Jeff Zients, Zients, , Michael Bloomberg, Barack Obama, Donald Trump Organizations: White House, Service, New, New York City Locations: Wall, Silicon, Washington, New York
The UK is experimenting with offering small businesses free rent to revitalize downtown districts. Several small towns in the UK have experimented with giving small businesses rent-free shop space over the last few years. Now it's vibrant, upbeat, colourful," Hope Dean, the owner of a plant shop that was one of the 10 businesses given free rent, told The Guardian. Some US cities have pursued similar downtown revitalization initiatives. Denver offered free rent and services valued at $20,000 to businesses willing to use empty space in the city's downtown, and San Francisco has offered free rent and grant money to pop-up businesses in its downtown.
Persons: Hope Dean, We're, Matt Soffair Organizations: Service, Legal, General Investment Management, Guardian, Times, Westminster City Council, Oxford, BBC, Denver Locations: Poole, Wall, Silicon, American, Westminster, London, San Francisco
The shift to remote work early in the pandemic allowed wealthy residents to ditch big cities in droves and set up shop in smaller cities and towns nearby. While the surging costs of housing and the new freedom of remote work helped trigger this mass migration, small cities have been laying the groundwork over the last decade to entice these big-city refugees. Then came the pandemic, and remote work suddenly made small cities a viable home for wealthy professionals. For the past two decades, cities have turned to an economic development strategy I've deemed "the city authentic." It spiked even more during the pandemic when change of addresses from New York City jumped a whopping 787%.
Persons: Tim Burton, , Richard Florida, millennials, DAVID BREWSTER, downtowns, weathers, It's, Alison Roman, Chrissy Teigen, it's, restaurateurs, John Greim, Instagramable cafés, David A, Banks Organizations: Urban, New York Times, Creative, The New York Times, Industrial Development Agency, IDA, Arts, Craft, Fulton, Star Tribune, Getty, Social, Business, New York City, Neighborhood Initiative, Globalization Studies, University, Albany SUNY, UUP Locations: America, Hudson, New York City, Austin , Texas, Charlotte, North Carolina, Denver , Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Louisville, Connecticut, Florida, Washington, Fulton, New York, Athens, Georgia, Tulsa , Oklahoma, Arts District, Saint Paul , Minnesota, , New York, Rensselaer, Troy, Rensselaer County, Newark , New Jersey, Dudley, Boston
But unlike many other US cities, much of DC's downtown office space is controlled by a single landlord: the federal government. There are three major issues when it comes to empty federal building space, Marroni said. Many congressional Republicans have also demanded that the Biden administration both restrict telework and get rid of unused office space. The White House Office of Management and Budget asked federal agencies in April to "substantially increase meaningful in-person work" by limiting telework. But there are concerns — including from employee unions — that restricting remote work could hurt the recruitment and retention of federal workers.
Persons: Muriel Bowser, hasn't, , David Marroni, Marroni, She's, Biden, Scott Perry, they've Organizations: Office, DC, Service, Republicans, Transportation, Infrastructure, GAO, Pennsylvania Republican, White, Office of Management, Department of Education, Department of Veterans Affairs, Post, Trump International Locations: Wall, Silicon, Washington, DC's, Pennsylvania
Parents with children under 5 are shunning big cities faster than everyone else. But the flight of young parents and a shrinking population might mean cities have to compete to keep you. A new report from the Economic Innovation Group, or EIG, found that families with young kids are shunning big cities. That created a nexus of families with young children just outside of cities, what the report calls a "donut effect." But for cities that are shedding young families but still hold allure, like New York, the reshaping might be more of a rethinking of their value proposition.
Persons: Connor O'Brien, weren't, O'Brien, would've, what's, Eliza Relman Organizations: Service, Economic Innovation Group, jkaplan Locations: Wall, Silicon, Florida, EIG, Carolinas, New York, Los Angeles
If you want to rile up a San Francisco native, mention the doom loop. But treating San Francisco as some sort of outlier, a sui generis example of urban decay, is wrong, too. After I washed out back there I washed up on the Embarcadero, a typical San Francisco story. Because here's my one crazy trick to fix San Francisco: homes. To revive the city, San Francisco needs to get back to its freak-flag-flying roots.
Persons: Nobody's, I've, It's, it's, who'd, Paul Chinn, nix, aren't, rafter, Tayfun, Francis Wood, fixable, Berkeley, Adam Rogers Organizations: Liberal, Homelessness, Bay Area, Pride, Black Panthers, Washington Monthly, San Francisco, Getty, SF, Supervisors, Crafts, Planners, Foods, Anadolu Agency, Walgreens, Nordstrom, Unit Locations: San Francisco, Bay, Francisco, California, Black, Los Angeles, Boston , New York, Washington, United States, Barcelona, Paris, St, Barbary, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Angeles, Houston, Helsinki, East, Treasure, Emeryville
How to save San Francisco
  + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +18 min
But treating San Francisco as some sort of outlier, a sui generis example of urban decay, is wrong, too. After I washed out back there I washed up on the Embarcadero, a typical San Francisco story. Because here's my one crazy trick to fix San Francisco: homes. Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty ImagesThis is just a matter of good old-fashioned supply and demand. To revive the city, San Francisco needs to get back to its freak-flag-flying roots.
Persons: Nobody's, I've, It's, it's, who'd, Paul Chinn, nix, aren't, rafter, Tayfun, Francis Wood, fixable, Berkeley, Adam Rogers Organizations: Liberal, Homelessness, Bay Area, Pride, Black Panthers, Washington Monthly, San Francisco, Getty, SF, Supervisors, Crafts, Planners, Foods, Anadolu Agency, Walgreens, Nordstrom, Unit Locations: San Francisco, Bay, Francisco, California, Black, Los Angeles, Boston , New York, Washington, United States, Barcelona, Paris, St, Barbary, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Angeles, Houston, Helsinki, East, Treasure, Emeryville
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