Category Archives: Urbanism

The Problem with Anchoring

Posted on 2013/04/04 by

A major idea due to Jarrett Walker, adopted with gusto by Vancouver’s Translink, is that transit should be anchored at both ends. That is, transit lines should have busy destinations at both ends, and should strive to reorient development such … Continue reading →

Posted in Development, New York, Transportation, Urban Design, Urban Transit, Urbanism, Vancouver | 35 Comments

Transit and Place

Posted on 2012/10/18 by

There is a large class of transit supporters who think that every right-of-way that can be used for transit should be preserved for this purpose, even if it is not very useful. A few overzealous railfans on the message boards … Continue reading →

Posted in Development, New York, Transportation, Urban Transit, Urbanism | 53 Comments

How Residential Blocks Act As Barriers

Posted on 2012/10/12 by

Two weeks ago, I found a board game store in Vancouver, and through it a variety of gaming events. The store is located about five blocks from my apartment, and I first saw it from a bus nearly two months … Continue reading →

Posted in Pedestrian Observations, Personal/Admin, Urban Design, Urbanism, Vancouver | 17 Comments

Capital-Centric Countries and Regions

Posted on 2012/09/11 by

Here is a table of various developed countries, as well as some regions of the US, based on how dominated they are by their largest respective cities. The table includes the percentage of the population in the top metro area, … Continue reading →

Posted in Urbanism | 13 Comments

Pedestrian Observations from Vancouver: Street Width and Building Height

Posted on 2012/07/26 by

I moved to Vancouver last weekend. The slow pace of posting will probably continue for another week, but I do have multiple posts in the pipeline. I am currently at a downtown hotel, commuting to Kitsilano to look at apartments … Continue reading →

Posted in Pedestrian Observations, Personal/Admin, Urban Design, Urbanism, Vancouver | 26 Comments

The Urban Geography of Park-and-Rides

Posted on 2012/06/29 by

The urban geography of transit cities and of car cities is relatively well-understood. In a transit city, there will be a strong CBD surrounded by residences with spiky secondary centers, all quite small geographically but dense, centered around train stations … Continue reading →

Posted in Cars, New York, Regional Rail, Transportation, Urbanism | 7 Comments

Core Connectors and In-Between Neighborhoods

Posted on 2012/06/27 by

In some American cities, new or proposed transit lines are either core connectors, i.e. city-center circulator streetcars built for development purposes, or far-flung commuter rail extensions with few urban stops. Both are present in Providence, with the South County extension … Continue reading →

Posted in Incompetence, Politics and Society, Providence, Transportation, Urban Transit, Urbanism | 34 Comments

Pedestrian Observations from New Haven

Posted on 2012/06/26 by

I don’t normally pedestrian-observe cities that I’ve been to so many times, and New Haven is the US city I’ve spent the most time in other than the two I’ve lived in. But my last visit, in which I looked … Continue reading →

Posted in Development, Pedestrian Observations, Urban Design, Urbanism | 25 Comments

Spreading Population Around

Posted on 2012/06/04 by

There was a series of hate marches and anti-immigrant riots in Israel last week, continuing intermittently to today; at heart was incitement against Sudanese and Eritrean refugees, who the government labels infiltrators and work migrants. Politicians from the center rightward … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, Politics and Society, Urbanism | 11 Comments

Destination Centralization

Posted on 2012/05/24 by

It’s by now a commonplace that jobs are more centralized than residences, in terms of CBD concentration. But what I think is worse-known is that destinations in general are incredibly centralized, both across and within metro areas. In other words, … Continue reading →

Posted in Development, High-Speed Rail, Transportation, Urbanism | 47 Comments