Sam Newberg / Oct 30 2009
For Release Friday, October 30, 2009
Citiwire.net
Halloween’s ghouls and goblins make for a spooky night in our cities and towns. But nothing fills me with more fright than missing the opportunity to build dense, attractive transit villages around our rail stations, thereby reducing sprawl and lowering our collective carbon footprint.
I’ve seen the upside opportunity in London, New York City, Chicago and elsewhere–housing, offices, shopping and leisure destinations all within a short walk of transit stations. The overriding equation is density, a notion that is frightening to many.
A number of leading urban experts, demographers and think-tanks are forecasting that more cities will develop like this in the future. The Urban Land Institute’s recent “The City in 2050″ is loaded with visions of high-tech, denser cities with improved transit systems and a reduced carbon footprint. Coupled with these visions are studies by the likes of the demographer Arthur C. Nelson, who predicts that demand for large-lot single-family housing will be negligible in the next 20 years, whereas the future of housing development lies in attached housing. Read More »
Sam Newberg / Aug 06 2009
For Release Friday, August 7, 2009
Citiwire.net
Criticism of Atlanta’s traffic congestion and sprawling consumption of land are well-deserved. Severe air pollution has threatened to choke the city. Right now a bitter debate is raging over whether and how the state will let the city and region pay for critically needed anti-congestion, pro-transit improvements.
But there’s another Atlanta with a radically different image, as I discovered recently exploring some areas close to center city.
A top example–Atlantic Station. I’d been hearing a lot about it in the real estate development and planning world, and knew the project was heralded as a great infill project with good transit. But I was short on the details. So on a recent trip to Atlanta, I decided to visit.
On a rainy day, without prior briefing, I approached Atlantic Station with open eyes. I took MARTA to the stop nearest Atlantic Station, but I still had to walk a considerable distance, including crossing I-75/85. OK–Clearly this crossing/interchange was upgraded for Atlantic Station, and the sidewalk was wide and had a sun shade along much of its length–a thoughtful gesture to pedestrians in Georgia summers. (Only on my return to MARTA did I realize there is frequent shuttle bus service between the development and the station. Still, MARTA is an excellent, if underbuilt, transit system.) Read More »