Urban design and the changing economy
Its hard to get away from news about the economy, especially in the building industries. Unemployment rate at 11% for construction workers, several major Atlanta design firms instituting layoffs, the Architectural Billings Index at an all time low. These changes are expected to last into 2010 and to not directly follow the traditional V-shaped … Read more
Notes on “A Better Way to Zone”.
For thesis, I’ve picked up Donald Elliott’s ‘A Better Way to Zone’. This has served as a useful counterpart to many of the overly saccharine articles I find praising form based codes. Elliot’s point is that many types of zoning codes (and there is a huge variety out there) are broken in very similar ways. … Read more
Aging infrastructure in first ring suburbs.
Infrastructure is kind of a hot topic right now. The American Society of Civil Engineers released its 2009 Report Card for Infrastructure, giving the nation a cumulative grade of “D”. Obama has been pushing for infrastructure improvements as a way to improve the economy while any mayor with a half baked, “shovel ready” project salivates … Read more
