San Jose is a particularly dire example of a worrisome urban spiral: Lower occupancy of office buildings
➡️lower tax revenue
➡️less spending on fighting homelessness and public transit
➡️even lower occupancy of office buildings.

An urban geographer has been studying how #cities are at risk of becoming what he calls "Donut City 2.0" - and warns that there are no easy fixes, especially after Federal pandemic relief funds dry up.

https://theconversation.com/san-jose-and-the-reemergence-of-the-donut-city-209319 #urbanplaning #Siliconvalley

While I’m on the topic of ranting about #transportation and the hell we choose to live with: why is it ever remotely acceptable to run a train, especially the last train, *ten minutes early???*

I get that no one wants a late train but a ten-ahead train is effectively a late or canceled train as I will now be waiting for the next one or calling a car

#trains #publictransit #urbanplaning

The City of #Sydney has recently put out a new "Access Strategy" with some interesting ideas for the future of the city. I always find these #urbanplaning ideas interesting, even if many of them never come to be - it is exciting when they do.
A summary in one sentence: the Lord Mayor never met a #tram she didn't want.
The picture is an artist's impression of what Park Street could be in a few years time.

https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/vision-setting/your-feedback-updated-access-strategy-action-plan

#introduction
30 something dude, taking back a bit of internet anonymity. Working full time while finishing undergrad at night. Leaving my current career for grad school in 2024. Very interested in #geography / #urbanplaning / #zoning / #circulareconomy / #suculents / #houseplants / #hiking / #myth / #religions

Hoping to find friends in the more tech oriented side of the internet 🤷

Young people today are already driving less, but breaking the country’s car-dependency will require unprecedented investment in infrastructure and public transit.

#carfree #transportation #urbanplaning

https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/young-people-driving-safety-cost-climate-change-public-transportation/

Never underestimate trees.
We need trees.
Put anything under a tree: A bench, table tennis, a café - and people will flock in.

#trees
#urbanplaning
#treesforstreets

I don't know if any public transport network outside China has grown as much as the one of Barcelona.
The two maps show the increase within 25 years.
Back then the Tram didn't exist, half of the metro stations didn't exist yet.
#publictransport #mobility #urbanplaning

New overnight train cars coming to a long-haul #Amtrak route near you. Less obvious to note is how much many rural communities depend on these routes - so even Republican electeds see/know the value of the routes.

https://media.amtrak.com/2023/01/amtrak-starts-the-process-for-new-overnight-trains/

#rail #urbanism #trains #cities #cityplanning #urbanplaning #ruralplanning #transit #transportation

@Bellingen
#UrbanPlaning @PublicTransit #Walking #Biking

It is as simple as this. Share with a city planer and/or politician you know. We don’t need more research we need action, budgets and political will! #mobility #urbanplaning #transport #urban #cities #climate #cars #cycling

When I went to school (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth) schools were strictly zoned, and most kids rode their bikes or walked to school - with the exception of those who were coming in by bus from rural areas.

Even when I changed schools to pursue an elective for my senior years, I rarely caught the bus, because at the stage I was still able to walk over the big hill in to and from school, whatever the weather.

Car trips to school were exclusively reserved for days when you had unavoidable appointments during school time.

I now live in a regional town with many public and private schools - and as a result, we plan our days to avoid what we call “the arsenic hours.” As in, “I’d rather take arsenic than be driving amongst the school drop off or pick up rush” - it’s so much worse than the morning or afternoon commute peaks.

I can see why parents don’t want to let their children cycle in such traffic. But it’s a policy failure Catch-22.

Public transport, proper cycle paths away from cars and actually going to the places people need, a change to urban planning would help..

#cycling #CyclePaths #PublicTransport #UrbanPlaning

"Such a #city depends on a responsive, legitimate government, and on devices that are open and transparent, freely auditable and secured through widespread scrutiny of their inner workings. It is a city and a technology and a government oriented around its people, designed to treat people “as an end in themselves and not as a means to something else”."

The case for #cities that aren't dystopian #surveillance states
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2020/jan/17/the-case-for-cities-where-youre-the-sensor-not-the-thing-being-sensed

#urbanisation #urbanism #urban #urbanplaning