If you’re interested in the cultural and financial ramifications of the housing bust, this Q&A with Robert Shiller (of Case-Shiller) is absolutely worth a watch. He notes that we could be in a long Japan-like slump and that we could…
Category: Urban Form
Taking a look at the growing number of Americans living solo — by choice
I have posted before about the research of Eric Klinenberg into the growing number of households of one — adults who are living along largely by choice and who are tend to be more social in many respects than their partnered peers.
Tonight, Ray Suarez had an excellent segment/interview with Klinenberg: ‘Going Solo’: What’s the Appeal of Living Alone?
“The New Suburban Poverty”: will it change the way we define the American dream?
More on a theme that I’ve written about before. I don’t agree with every single word in this piece, but I highly recommend The New Suburban Poverty in the NYT, written by Lisa McGirr, professor of history at Harvard and…
Public transit use increasing as Americans have been driving less
I’ve written before about the decline in vehicle miles traveled by Americans since the recession of 2007 to 2009. Even amidst the recovery, total miles driven has continued to fall or stagnate, which distinguishes this recovery from every other since…
Aesthetic interventions: Gardening in potholes
NYT: We should expect more from writing about architecture
As with any field, architecture has developed its own complex jargon. Professional architects necessarily use plenty of complex words and phrases that are not in the active vocabulary of the public at large, and the work of academics who study…
The Atlantic Cities: The Bottletree turns Birmingham — of all places — into “an indie rock destination”
In a great post recently for the Creative Coast, Savannah Stopover founder and CEO Kayne Lanahan wrote about the ingredients necessary for a great music scene. I’m planning to circle back around to some of her points sometime soon, but…
AJC: mounting opposition in DeKalb for 1% transportation tax
This July, voters across the state will be voting for regional 1% sales taxes (much like SPLOST and ESPLOST) for transportation infrastructure — roads, transit, etc. You’re going to be hearing a lot more about that. The battle in the…
A few more thoughts on the evolution of Price Street
I have to say that I’m weary of writing about Price Street.
I’ve been writing for years about the dangers of having that two-lane, one-way, underutilized road slicing through two miles of historic neighborhoods, and I’m thrilled that we finally have an arrangement that will be of benefit to residents throughout the neighborhoods to the east and west.
Online shopping playing an important role in Americans driving less?
I’ve been following the trend of Americans driving less. Click here for a post from just a month ago. Normally, if there is a decline in driving in a recession, there’s a fairly quick rebound once the economy starts to…
Savannah moves ahead with Price Street redesign: one car lane, one bicycle lane, on-street parking
[Update: A friend has told me that the workers lining Price St. said that the changes aren’t official until new signage is up. But now we have drivers who don’t know how to read the road markings. With no cars…
NYT: Single people are more social
From the NYT’s One’s a Crowd by Eric Klinenberg, author of Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone: The decision to live alone is common in diverse cultures whenever it is economically feasible. Although Americans pride…
Backus redevelopment plan features unnamed “grocery anchor”
Click here to read my Tuesday City Talk column about the General Development Plan for the former Backus Cadillac property on Victory Drive at the Truman Parkway.
National trend toward increased diversity in cities echoed here in Savannah
Back in November, I wrote about the interesting trend in Savannah toward greater diversity in almost every neighborhood over the last couple of decades. Predominantly black neighborhoods saw more white residents in 2010 than in 1990, and predominantly white neighborhoods…