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City Observatory
@CityObs
Original research and commentary what matters for city success. Also @cityobs@urbanists.social (Mastodon).
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a disproportionate number of these fatalities are happening on state-owned roads. And traffic violence disproportionately burdens the most vulnerable in our society: our youth trying to get to school safely, our seniors, Oregonians living with disabilities, low income (3/5)
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from Hwy 99 West in Corvallis and Hwy 20 out towards Albany, to Lombard St and Columbia Blvd in North Portland, the losses touch every corner of our state - urban, suburban, rural and small towns. As state legislators, we have a responsibility for these fatalities, because (2/5)
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Mary Mark. John Czarobski. Tyer David. These Oregonians along with 575 others lost their lives on the road in the last year. From Powell Blvd and 82nd Ave in SE Portland to Hwy 30 near Astoria and Hwy 101 down the coast, (1/5) youtu.be/wLDD_4wwOrI
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I think the government should not force me to have to buy a $45,000 vehicle to get where I need to go. My choice is to walk, ride a bike, or take transit and only spend ~ $1500 a year on mobility, that’s my budget.
The government is trying to force me to spend $10,000 a year
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Our governor seems to forget two things:
1. 9 out of 10 NJ commuters to Manhattan already take public transit
2. While declining to fully fund NJ Transit’s operating and capital budgets due to “lack of funds”, he is pursuing a $26 billion highway widening agenda.
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Today’s decision by @USDOT to allow New York’s congestion pricing plan to move forward is unfair and ill-advised.
I support congestion pricing conceptually, but it must be fair to all sides. Placing an unjustified financial burden on hardworking New Jersey commuters is wrong.
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Congestion pricing is fair to all sides, the people causing the congestion pay for it and the people who don’t cause it, don’t.
any questions or can we move on to the next lesson
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Today’s decision by @USDOT to allow New York’s congestion pricing plan to move forward is unfair and ill-advised.
I support congestion pricing conceptually, but it must be fair to all sides. Placing an unjustified financial burden on hardworking New Jersey commuters is wrong.
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Over half the road deaths in NYC are people on foot. NYC residents must endure constant noise, pollution and risk of injury and death from suburban motorists who have myriad transit options. Nothing could be more fair than charging the people causing congestion for congestion.
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Thank you, federal infrastructure bill.
I'm sure one of the cities in this corridor can get a few million in a reconnecting communities grant someday.
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Missouri's operating budget now includes a $2.8 billion plan to widen Interstate 70, instead of the originally proposed $860 million.
Here's what else the proposed budget does and doesn't include: news.stlpublicradio.org/government-pol
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. claims State DOTs are required to comply with ADA requirements on National Highway System routes. These pedestrian push buttons are an Idaho NHS route. Not only are they inaccessible, but our DOT forces you to push the button to get a walk signal.
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Engineer designs for speed.
You call out the engineer.
Engineer reeees, "Why are you always picking on meeeeee" 😭😡😭
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I hear often people wanting to leave the city because it's not green enough. Or because it's too noisy and dirty.
But the solution isn't leaving the city. The solution is getting rid of the cause of the problem: too much space is given to cars.
Look, it's possible!
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In 2020, big cities and small towns alike came alive with streets designed for people. Today, most of those streets have reverted back to only being designed for cars. This shows that places can change for the better, or worse.
Let’s work together to change them for the better.
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This is why the black white wage differential narrowed over the past few years after remaining stagnant for many years. Tightness washes away many ills in the labor market.
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The most egregious example of this is the channeling of billions through FHWA and out to the states to be dumped into ill-conceived, city-killing, climate-destroying highway expansion projects.
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a half empty apartment still houses more people than fully occupied houses.
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For a well-located piece of land in a thriving city, let's rank uses from most- to least- wasteful:
Vacant lot
Single family house with a few spare rooms
Single family house fully occupied
Apartment building with many vacant units
Apartment building fully leased
Vacant lot
Single family house with a few spare rooms
Single family house fully occupied
Apartment building with many vacant units
Apartment building fully leased2
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Begging the architecture/design community to realize that a home is not 'as green as it gets' if you have to drive to it.
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Congratulations to the LA city planning department for creating such a strong new financial incentive for condo conversions and up-market apartment building repositionings!
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is an absolute treasure. I’m thankful he started a movement.
I’m also frustrated that such effort is required. That’s because we’ve optimized our national, state, & local transportation for 🚗🚕🛻🚙🚛
Please , do more to reverse what’s been done in your name.
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Come take a ride with us on @CoachBalto's Alameda Elementary School Bike Bus in Portland, Oregon!
#BikeRollToSchoolDay
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Replying to
NYC loses $100 billion dollars in subsidies to encourage congestion.
Over the past 10 years NYC has given up $100 billion just to provide free parking to encourage more dirty suburban car driving.
$10/day/spot x 3 million free parking spots x 10 yrs
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I save tons of money living in a city where I don’t have to drive. My car is 15 years old w/low mileage. It’s essentially a taxi for hobbies & trips to New England. Also my time not wasted in a car driving for everything is priceless time you can’t ever get back.
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Truly don't understand how people can afford to live in a high-cost place like Phoenix or Dallas, where local government mandates force you to spend 25% of your income on your car.
cbcny.org/research/rent-
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Given the lackluster success of Portland’s IZ program, I’m really surprised that in 2022 City Council let the percentage of affordable units required go up by 25-33%.
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Here's a real estate brokerage bragging that Portland's affordability mandate for new apartments is driving up rents & landlord profits by shielding landlords from new competition
i.e. from new buildings cbredealflow.com/handler/modern
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The city should not be operating parking lots. Building charging hubs will just further entrench the car use, especially in walkable, transit-oriented Western Queens. The proposed Sunnyside location is literally under the 7 train, and most of the others are park-and-rides.
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The city will build out 13 new charging hubs for electric vehicles at public parking lots in the outer boroughs, the Department of Transportation announced on Monday.
amny.com/transit/city-b
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"It shouldn’t be difficult for a legislator to be able to at least say that young people’s futures matter more than this highway mega-project. But she couldn’t even even say that.”
was quoted in about #orleg
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If I were in city government I'd be thinking about every way possible to get residential development to move forward on sites like this. A single tower here would add more residents than we're likely to see in all office > residential conversions.
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Here's a real estate brokerage bragging that Portland's affordability mandate for new apartments is driving up rents & landlord profits by shielding landlords from new competition
i.e. from new buildings cbredealflow.com/handler/modern
read image description
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"For too long we’ve stood by and watched as historic parts of our beautiful city stood in the way of more and more parking spaces. Meanwhile, we have fewer than a dozen spots for every man, woman, and child in Houston. That is simply unacceptable."
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So, one, there is a complete misunderstanding of how markets work here, but there is also the necessary discussion of how to steer markets in ways that won't turn the planet into Venus and kill 30-40,000 Americans every year.
but alas, why waste my time on blue checks.
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All you need to know about safety hypocrisy: A map of pedestrians killed on ODOT roadways & an email soliciting research to "prove" the equity effects of fender-benders. ODOT spends next to nothing where people are killed & billions widening freeways with minor crashes
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Finally TxDOT gets serious about highway expansion in the Houston area. This pavement-starved region is going to get moving.
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A case study in absurdity and inequity: The 75% of Manhattanites who do not own cars are forced to walk on narrow, rat infested sidewalks blocked with literal mountains of trash so that motorists can store several tons of their personal property on the public street (for free).
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65% of dallas is zoned to ban housing growth
thats what causes gentrification
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Rising rents and gentrification in Dallas continues to make life more difficult for many. dallasobserver.com/news/dallas-af
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If IBR’s High Bridge is built the Public Market will feel like a dark cave, vegetables will be coated with tire dust, and street musicians will compete with a freeway roar.
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