Future Home.

In just a few months I'll be here! The alacrity is building...

Dubai: A City Planner's Nightmare.

Planning is a process. New York City did not spring up over night. In fact, parts of the city began as a putrid quagmire that few thought ever would turn into a livable conditions--much less one of the world's premier cities. But that's what good city planning is about: creating a plan so that the world will transform from where it is to where it ought to be.

Dubai, however, is an example of a city that has taken the planning process and thrown it out the window. To hell with conventions, we'll dazzle 'em with big architecture and no one will ever notice the abysmal transportation system... Well, now that the Burj Dubai (renamed the Burj Khalifa) towers over the UAE like a might trophy for all to see, people are beginning to notice Dubai--and what a disaster it is.

Your polite, epaulette-wearing cabdriver screeches down a 12-lane highway and -- with the tower in plain sight -- he goes miles past it, leading you to wonder whether he's lost his way or is ripping you off. Only when he finally reaches an interchange and then doubles back to the tower do you realize what's going on: Dubai wins no medals for urban planning.

A tour of this once-booming Persian Gulf city-state, which has shifted into low development gear from hyper-drive, reveals a disturbing disconnect between its architectural spectacle and its short-sighted development practices. Dubai's ultra-modern transit line, which opened last year, is a significant exception. Yet the emirate and its leaders appear obsessed with architectural superlatives at the expense of the fundamentals -- or even the fine-grained art -- of making livable cities.

Take the palm-shaped, artificial island (above) that adds to Dubai's short supply of lucrative coastal real estate and forms one of the emirate's iconic images. The island is a miraculous engineering achievement, formed by dredged sand and constructed with the aid of a global positioning system. Yet the only way to get a pleasing overview of its thin, frond-like strips of sand is to look at a map or charter a helicopter

At ground level, the fronds are packed with high-priced villas while the stemlike road leading to them is lined with monolithic rows of hulking apartment buildings. These look as though they were designed by architectural refugees from East Germany who added a few Islamic touches.

Multiply this gap between image and reality a hundredfold and you have the Dubai that was taking shape before the global recession of 2008 and the emirate's debt crisis. It is a city of isolated enclaves, lacking convenient connections to one another, and brutal linear strips, exemplified by the eyesore high-rises along the emirate's main drag, a superwide highway called Sheikh Zayed Road.

...

It is not as though Dubai doesn't know how to make good cities. Its old downtown, located along the creek that bespeaks the emirate's fishing village and trading post origins, is a charmer, with arcaded old marketplaces, or souks, and picturesque wooden water taxis ferrying Dubaians back and forth across the creek.

Here are age-old lessons of walkable streets, mixed uses and the use of aged buildings that form still-relevant models for planning cities. The trouble is that these models have been trampled upon in the rush to create the ugly, Houston-style, car-oriented city of office parks and commercial strips that stretches for mile after mile along Sheikh Zayed Road. The patches of the urban quilt desperately need to be stitched together.

Dubai has fascinated me for years, but I have never had the yearning desire to see it for myself. Perhaps it's because a gay atheist won't fit well in a country where Islam is the official religion and homosexuality is punishable with prison time. That might have something to do with it. But even more so, I've wondered for a few years now--is it sustainable? As Dubai has soared up in the past decade, can it take a turn like a bell curve and crumble at the same speed it went up?

America's Healthiest Cities.

"Healthy". That's generally the one-word definition of my dream city. Not necessarily as in fit or active, but overall healthy--culturally active, economically vibrant, bustling city-folk, high-quality of life, etc. That's why I'm obsessed with Minneapolis (and recently Seattle), since they both seem to be consummate examples of the kind of city I want to live in.

Well, Outside Magazine seems to agree with me. They've put together their annual list of the "Best Healthy Towns in 2009", and my favorite cities all seemed to make the list: Charlotte, Seattle, Minneapolis and even Cincinnati! (Don't mock me. I love it there.)

First, we started with the 100 most populated cities in America, using public data to rank them on factors like cost of living, unemployment, nightlife, commute time and access to green space. Then we took the 28 candidates with the highest overall averages and put them through a second round of number crunching, comparing things like the percentage of the population with college degrees, income level in relation to home prices, and weather. The wild card? Our own multisport factor, which rated each of our finalists on a scale of 1 to 5 for quality and proximity to biking, running, paddling, hiking, and skiing. After adding it all up, we had our top ten.

10. Charlotte, North Carolina
9. Cincinnati, Ohio
8. Minneapolis, Minnesota
7. Portland, Oregon
6. Albuquerque, New Mexico
5. Boston, Massachusetts
4. Austin, Texas
3. Atlanta, Georgia
2. Seattle, Washington
1. Colorado Springs, Colorado

An Unexpected Gem.

So I'm writing from the fine city of Charlotte, North Carolina, and I'm having an absolutely fantastic time.

But I gotta admit something.

Something that I thought I'd never say.

It really has nothing to do with Charlotte.

But I have to say it.

I went to Detroit, Michigian for the first time a few days ago. And you know what?

..Here it goes...

I actually liked it.

It was a fantastic trip. Yes, there were homeless people laying out half-naked in the streets. Yes, some vandal was walking around breaking glasses and screaming obscenities. Yes, I was accosted by no less than five people begging me to buy them lunch. It fits all the stereotypes, and the depression of the city is nearly palpable...but it wasn't nearly as awful as I thought it would be. In fact, I rather enjoyed it. I think its geographic location is striking, and its mirror city across the river is so candid and unique as well. I loved the physical layout of the city, and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the suburbs outside of the downtown area. (Birmingham was awesome!)

I spent some time in GM's Renaissance Center. I'm utterly perplexed by its conception and execution. It's strange that all the right elements exist to create a full, thriving city center...yet, it just does not succeed. In fact, its blatant failure stands as a beacon of pessimism for the city to continually behold.

The architecture is innovative and awe-inspiring, the location along the river is stunning, there is a central area full of room for cute shops, there is an enormous car show room...and yet it just does not come together. Truthfully it is heart-breaking. Here is one of the iconic structures of a great American city...and it lays on the brink of ruin.

Regardless, I certainly have a new opinion of both Michigan and Detroit. Yes, things are bad there. If they can pull themselves out of their insane dedication to the automobile industry than perhaps there is still hope for the city. The elements are there for a booming city--it just needs some kind of spark for it to boom once more.

A New City Love Affair.

I'll be going here in August. Can't wait!

The Coolest Photo.

You guys know I love winter. And what better than an eerie photo of downtown Minneapolis in the middle of winter?



*Loves it*

Madison, Wisconsin.

I found this incredible photo of Madison on Wikipedia. I seriously think Madison, Wisconsin is one of the most unique cities in the United States. Wedged between two enormous lakes, Madison is a densly populated yet very-small city that seems to balance an eclectic amount of culture within a conservative farming state (even if they went for Obama!). The people there are so diverse, and the University is one of the highest performers in the amount of research in this country. (UW-Madison is my second pick for grad school). State Street is a long pedestrian-only street packed with restaurants, shops and bars. It's so strange to me that a metro area with around half-a-million people can still function so well and be so peculiar!


Madison was designed by the legendary Urban Planner John Nolen. The man seemed to be everywhere in his life, and I can't think of a single planning class I have taken where his name has not come up.


Anyway, enjoy the photo.

Welcome, Columbus Commons.

Take a guess what this is...



The final phase of Columbus Commons, the plan that replaces the currently dead City Center! Downtown Columbus has all the news you need. The following image is of the first phase, scheduled to be finished in 2010 and cost between $15 -$20 million.

Shocking: New York Ain't Cheap!

Manhattan is in trouble. Research from the Center for an Urban Future has revealed that New York City is simply to effing expensive.

For much of its history, New York City has thrived as a place that both sustained a large middle class and elevated countless people from poorer backgrounds into the ranks of the middle class. The city was never cheap and parts of Manhattan always remained out of reach, but working people of modest means—from forklift operators and bus drivers to paralegals and museum guides—could enjoy realistic hopes of home ownership and a measure of economic security as they raised their families across the other four boroughs. At the same time, New York long has been the city for strivers—not just the kind associated with the highest echelons of Wall Street, but
new immigrants, individuals with little education but big dreams, and aspiring professionals in fields from journalism and law to art and advertising.

In recent years, however, major changes have greatly diminished the city’s ability to both retain and create a sizable middle class. Even as the inflow of new arrivals to New York has surged to levels not seen since the 1920s, the cost of living has spiraled beyond the reach of many middle class individuals and, particularly, families. Increasingly, only those at the upper end of the middle class, who are affluent enough to afford not only the sharply higher housing prices in every corner of the city but also the steep costs of child care and privateschools, can afford to stay—and even among this group, many feel stretched to the limits of their resources. Equally disturbing, even in good times, the city’s economy seems less and less capable of producing jobs that pay enough to support a middle class lifestyle in New York’s high-cost environment.

The current economic crisis, which has arrested and even somewhat reversed the skyrocketing price of housing, might offer short-term opportunities to some in the market for homes. But the mortgage meltdown and its aftermath will not change the underlying dynamic: over the past three decades, a wide gap has opened between the means of most New Yorkers and the costs of living in the city. We have seen this dynamic play out even during the last 15 years, as the local economy thrived and crime rates plummeted.

Despite these advances, large numbers of middle class New Yorkers have been leaving the city for other locales, while many more of those who have stayed seem permanently stuck among the ranks of the working poor, with little apparent hope of upward mobility.

This is a serious challenge for New York in both good times and bad. A recent survey found the city to be the worst urban area in the nation for the average citizen to build wealth. For the first time in its storied history, the Big Apple is in jeopardy of permanently losing its status as the great American city of aspiration.

New York Daily News summarized the report with these findings:

• A New Yorker would have to make $123,322 a year to have the same standard of living as someone making $50,000 in Houston.
• In Manhattan, a $60,000 salary is equivalent to someone making $26,092 in Atlanta.
• You knew it was expensive to live in Manhattan, but Queens? The report tagged Queens the fifth most expensive urban area in the country.
• The average monthly rent in New York is $2,801, 53% higher than San Francisco, the second most expensive city in the country.

• New Yorkers paid about $34 a month for phone service in 2006. In San Francisco, similar service cost $17 a month.
• Home heating costs have jumped 125% in the past five years and are up 243% since 1998.
• Full-time day care costs can run up to $25,000 a year for one child, depending on the neighborhood, or about as much as some college tuitions.
• Meanwhile, wages in the city have remained mostly flat in all boroughs but Manhattan — even during the boom years from 2003 to 2007.

I have never desired to live in New York, which is strange considering how much I love enormous cities. NYC is just too much for me though. I'm quite satisfied with the Mini-apple over the big apple :-P.

New York Lights.

Here's an interesting article and video talking about the dimming skyline of New York. As the city goes more green, the skyline only grows more black.

Gone are the days when cheap electricity, primitive lighting technology and landlords’ desire to showcase their skyscrapers kept floor after floor of the city’s highest towers glowing into the night. Now, rising energy costs, conservationism, stricter building codes and sophisticated lighting systems have conspired to slowly, often imperceptibly, transform Manhattan’s venerable nightscape into one with a gentler glow.

Instead of tower after tower shining at all hours — the World Trade Center stayed aglow long after its occupants went home — the skyline is becoming a patchwork of sparsely sparkling buildings decorated with ornamentally lighted tops.

“The tall tower with the illuminated floors on all night long is probably a thing of the past,” said Randy Sabedra, the owner of RS Lighting Design, who is helping to create a new map of the city’s most prominently lighted buildings. “You’re not relying on the glowing floors to have the building presence. It is relying on the crown of light.”

There are a lot of pretty shots of New York. For the video, scroll down and it's on the left side of the page. Good stuff.

Population is UP!

Ah, Minneapolis, always impressing me. A recent projection for America's smallest big city puts a downtown population at 34,140. Not too shabby, considering Columbus' downtown population is around 2,000.



Something else to consider is the relatively small size of Minneapolis: 58.4 square miles. That is incredibly tiny, considering Columbus is 212.6, New York is 468.9, Houston is 601.7 and New Orleans is 350.2 square miles.

Although the Twin Cities Metropolitan is home to over 3 million people, only about 380,000 people live within Minneapolis' small city limits. It's just interesting to note that almost 10% of those people live within the booming downtown area, while only about .0027% of Columbus' population live downtown. (2,000/740,000). However, with Minnesota's harsh winters, and Minneapolis' fine sky-way system, it's no surprise so many people take to living downtown. They can pretty much go for weeks without ever having to step foot outside.

Two Things I Love.

Biking. And Philadelphia. (Heck, I gotta love it, 'tis the city of brotherly love!). Plus they booed Sarah Palin, so immediately we're like BFFs.

If you haven't visited, Philly is such a fantastic city, with the busyness of New York, the restaurant scene of Washington and yet the price tag of Baltimore. I spent a weekend there a year ago and it still remains one of my favorite vacations!

To top it off, they've got optimistic news amidst rising concerns: Planners are working on the egregious problems that have surfaced recently with the increase in bike traffic--bike parking.

Philadelphia's parking shortage is approaching critical proportions. You see people circling the streets of Center City in an anxious quest for an available space. It's unexpectedly hard to park at institutions such as La Salle University and the Art Museum's Perelman Building. But you really know things have reached a dire state when you have to go blocks to find a pole or parking meter that doesn't already have someone's bicycle hitched to it.

Yes, this time Philadelphia's parking crisis involves vehicles of the two-wheeled variety. While the drumbeat during the Street administration was for more parking garages in Center City, the cry now is for more and better bike racks everywhere. That's progress.

The problem starts when the bikers stop. There just aren't enough bike racks on Philadelphia's heavily used, narrow sidewalks for everyone. Desperate bikers will lock to anything that won't move, like Rittenhouse Square's elegant wrought-iron fence or the railing around SEPTA's 16th Street concourse entrance. The tangle of metal is not pretty.

The Nutter administration hopes to improve the situation somewhat in the next few months. It just ordered 1,500 racks and expects to begin installation in November. The new upside-down "U" racks will bring the sidewalk total to 2,600, distributed through the entire city. It's a far cry from the 10,000 the Bicycle Coalition says are needed.

Luckily this isn't a problem in Columbus, mainly because our downtown is a sea of parking lots. I've seen monthly parking permits for $30 (compare to daily prices of that on Manhattan), and most lots around $5 a day. I really can't imagine Columbus transforming into a biking city anytime in the near future: we have no bike lanes, plenty of parking and some of our densest areas are around 10 miles from downtown. In order to reverse this, it would take years and years of effort. Not that it's not worth it, it's just not foreseeable.

Where The Lonely Hearts Go!

Are you finally ready to settle down? Tired of flying solo? Looking to find a ring on that finger? Well, Yahoo has put out a study on cities with the singles, citing San Francisco to be the most single city in America, with 44.7% of the population unwed. If that's a bit too west for you, check out Detroit, which came in second with 44%. After that comes New York, Boston and New Orleans. If you're looking for the place to find a catch, well it looks like the big city is the best place to start fishing!

Also part of the study includes the gender gap in cities, siting El Paso, Memphis, New York and Baltimore as some of the best cities for single men, since on average these cities have 20% more women than men!

Minneapolis, as usual, found its way onto this list, but in a different way: it's the second most gender-balanced city in America. It's basically 49/51 for men and women.

The Battle.

Have you noticed the bizarre climate the Republicans have tried to create? It's the battle between the two types of Americans: the snooty, haughty, full-of-themselves, cosmopolitan heathens living in the vile city...versus the value-driven, family-lovin', country-living small town folk who do nothing but praise the Lord and sing patriotic tunes. From what gutter do they come up with this putrid drivel? I almost shit a brick when Rudy Guliani, the former mayor of New York City, stood at the Republican National Convention and called Barack Obama too "cosmopolitan".

Too Cosmopolitan? Coming from the former leader of the city that defines "cosmopolitan"?!

And then months ago to watch John McCain, a man who owns 7 houses and 13 cars, call Barack Obama, a man who grew up in a single-parent home, "elitist"? How can he even utter these words?

I'm so tired of the implications of the Republican party. By claiming that they are "value-voters", they are incinuating that anyone else who votes differently are non-value voters. By claiming "small-town principles", they are saying that anyone who lives in the city somehow lives void of principles. Talk about elitist! I consider anyone who proclaims themself to be full of virtue, value and principle to be the first one questioned as to the merits of these claims. Haven't you seen it before? If you make a declaration, then show the proof. And when it comes to small-towns, I'll tell you exaclty what they're like: small towns are like a beautiful rock you see from afar. When you first get a glimpse, you're immediately impressed and you want to see more. As you move closer and closer, the vision takes a grander focus and it just looks too charming to be true. But once you touch the rock and pick it up, the feeling isn't the same. An incredulous sense will come over you, and you'll turn the rock over, only to suddenly be horrified to see the grime, mud, mildew and bugs crawling all over the bottom. It's like the bed of a prostitute, so rancid you wouldn't sleep there if your life depended on it.

Don't tell me small-town values are admirable. Small towns are the largest source of crystal meth in the country. Small towns are where the greatest forms of ignorance can be found: from racism to sexism to homophobia, all it is is a stewing pot of intolerance, hatred and the perpetuation of bigotry. Small towns are where women are too afraid to speak up, gays are too terrified to come out and where minorities are wise enough to avoid at all costs.

That's not to say all small towns are somehow evil. In fact, there are plenty of small towns that are nothing of the picture I painted. But it's the dichotomy I'm trying to attack: value-voters in the small town versus filfthy sinners in the city. Instead of posing us against each other, we should all be working with each other.

So, John McCain, don't tell me that I should have small town values. Don't tell me that the only values in this country are found in the little towns in fields. For if that's true, our values are only found in proclaiming God on Sunday, and smoking crack on Saturday.

Music to My Ears!

Ethisphere just put out an article about the 20 most sustainable cities in the world by 2020. Of course these lists are kind of silly, but what I liked most about the article was the recent revelation from The United Nations: 2008 is the first year in history where more than 50% of people worldwide live in large Urban areas. Apparently city live is too good to escape from! :-)

It further goes on to say that suburban life is proving to be ineffective in terms of health, quality of life, and overall efficacy as areas for people to live.

“There’s a clear indication now that suburban living is associated with obesity and high rates of lung and heart disease,” says William Rees, professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning and founder of the ‘ecological footprint’ concept. “The nature of planning in North American cities, which tends to separate residential from commercial from shopping uses, virtually forces everyone to use a car.”

As citizens from London to Bombay to any other large, well-developed city will tell you, cars are not only unnecessary in downtown living; they’re a downright headache to use. On top of the gas money savings from stowing your vehicle, a lack of cars creates some health benefits. "People that live in downtown areas where they don’t use vehicles as much, but walk to work, walk to restaurants, walk to shopping and so forth, those people on average weigh less and have healthier cardiovascular systems than people living in the suburbs,” says Rees.

“Eco-densification, densifying urban development, getting out of sprawling situations is a remarkable improvement in public health and it has the additional advantage of further reducing automobile dependency, the higher densities result in much more economically viable public transit systems and clearer advantages.”

The article is rather lengthy and describes exactly what makes a city "sustainable" in the eyes of planners. Only New York and Chicago were mentioned as large American cities that are sustainable, though Portland, Oregon was mentioned as a great mid-sized city in terms of 'greenness' and stability.

Biking Through Columbus.

I wish I could blog from my bike, because I had a lot of thoughts about our fine city today! I went from campus to German Village (and everywhere in between), and to my best recollection this was what popped into my mind along the trail:

• First, there was this new bar opening next to the High Beck! I can't remember the name, but it was something like Bole'. It had the tag line "Ultra Lounge", which is something that usually perks my interest (pending it's casual, relaxed). Should be interesting! :-)
• The Grange Insurance building is coming along real nicely! They had this beautiful (yet incomplete) bridge from the parking lot to the building itself. It reminded me of the skyways in Minneapolis (or our own in the Nationwide Headquarters). Although I doubt it will be a part of the Columbus Skyline (too short, too far away from the square), it's still a nice addition to High Street. And anything that brings more people from the suburbs to the city makes me happy!
• Although still barely even started, the new courthouse downtown has its first pillars up!
• Note to self: Don't bike south on Third! Trying to fight with commuters coming onto/leaving the Highway is never a good idea!
• Whatever it is they're building across from The High Five (an old laundry mat was there) is looking pretty good! They still have a ton more to do, but I'm certainly curious what will end up being there.
• The new Student Union looks GREAT! Too bad it's still well over a year away...
• As a side note, it still irks me that as a student at The Ohio State University, I will never have been able to utilize a main library nor a student union.
  

I think those were all of my thoughts for the bike ride. If you have any info on Bole', the development at Fifth/High or any of the other things I mentioned...comment and let me know! :-)

Mayor Bloomberg...or Mayor Quixote?

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a good guy. He's done tons for the city of New York, such as reducing congestion, increasing public health accountability and working to turn NYC into more of a 'green' city. And now his latest NYC renovation is to start building windmills on top of Skyscrapers.

"More than 100 years ago, a new statue standing tall in New York Harbor gave our nation its greatest symbol of freedom," he told the audience in Las Vegas. "In this century, that freedom is being undermined by dependence on foreign oil. So I think it would be a thing of beauty if, when Lady Liberty looks out on the horizon, she not only welcomes new immigrants, but lights their way with a torch powered by an ocean wind farm."

Mr. Bloomberg, thought by some to be a potential presidential candidate, is pinning much of his political legacy on green initiatives. He tried, but failed, this spring to introduce a congestion fee on Manhattan drivers in a bid to reduce traffic and encourage more reliance on public transportation.

Undeterred by that setback, he recently introduced a $2.3-billion (U.S.) plan to cut emissions from city agencies by 30 per cent within the next 10 years - an effort he hopes will "embarrass" the federal government, and force it to make energy conservation a priority.

Now he has solicited responses from companies on how the city can derive more power from wind turbines, tidal currents, solar panels and geothermal energy.

Josh Magee, research director at Emerging Energy Research in Cambridge, Mass., said some of these proposals, like the offshore farms, are more viable than others, because of the city's coastal positioning and the prevailing wind currents. Although this power can be expensive, it would provide the city with a natural hedge against volatile price swings in the natural-gas market, on which New York relies heavily for its power needs.

The notion of affixing windmills on the top of skyscrapers, however, appears to be far-fetched, given the turbulence and wind shear they would face at this altitude.

"Quite simply put," said, Mr. Magee "the current wind turbine technology is not designed for installation at those heights."

He's a good guy. He's a good mayor. But this is a weird idea. Windmills on top of skyscrapers? I don't know if I'd be down with that.

More Bad News for Oil.

According to an extensive British Report, a serious oil crisis is headed our way, with oil costing around $200 a barrel by 2013.

The world will experience a serious oil supply crunch within five to ten years unless there is a collapse in oil demand. This is the conclusion of a new Chatham House report, The Coming Oil Supply Crunch, which predicts a resulting oil price spike that could exceed $200 a barrel.

Professor Paul Stevens, the report's author, explains the dynamics of current high prices in comparison with past oil shocks. The report argues that not enough money and expertise were invested in the 1990s to maintain excess capacity to produce crude oil if consumption continues along present trends. History shows us that whenever such excess capacity is run down, the oil price rises sharply.

All the more reason to sell your car and move to the city.

A Reason for the City.

According to The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, research has shown that those who live in older neighborhoods are far more likely to be thin. Older neighborhoods (mainly those of cities) were originally designed with walking and biking in mind, not driving (unlike the suburbs, which were designed for cars).

For every decade added to their neighborhood's age, women's risk of obesity decreased 8 percent and men's obesity risk fell 13 percent. Researchers found that people with old homes are slimmer because old neighborhoods are more walkable. "The data show that how and where we live can greatly affect our health," said Ken Smith, a professor of family and consumer studies at the University of Utah. His study examined height and weight data from driver's licenses of 453,927 residents in Utah and compared them with census data on median housing age.

This shouldn't be surprising, since many suburbs aren't even designed with sidewalks.

The Internet Yet Again Destroys Privacy!

"My neighbor did what?!" You'll be screaming something like that. Eventually.

A new site has been launched that allows you to check the criminal history of just about anyone--for free! Criminal Searches is in its Beta test run, but the interface is quite easy. You simply type in a name and a state, and if there is any dirt on them, it'll show right up.

Is that new boyfriend a pedophile? Is that friendly old man a thief? Is your priest a back alley drunk? Is your boss a wife beater? Hester Prynne, bring out that color in your A, you're gonna start looking like part of the crowd!

I really don't approve of this at all, but for the record, I searched three random people. One of them has a record.