Clik here to view.
On-site vs off-site parking and a Swedish model for suburbs
It is often said that one of the great advantages of cars, notably over transit, is that it offers door-to-door travel. You don't need to walk 5 minutes to a bus stop or walk 5 minutes from the bus...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How modern zoning affects land value and incentivizes sprawl
As I already pointed out, in any economy (be it socialist, capitalist, feudal, etc...) that uses money, the price of goods sends signals to consumers and guide their consumption. In terms of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In defense of use separation
How's that for a clickbait title? No, it's not a late April First joke either.One of the first advice people will read from urbanists is a strong recommendation in favor of mixing uses. It always comes...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The perverse effects of on-street parking
I've been silent for quite a while, a result of my moving to a condo in downtown Montréal, but now it's finally (mostly) over, so back to our scheduled programming...So let's get back to one of my...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In defense of by-right zoning: the dangers of arbitrary planning
An argument I've sometimes heard when strict zoning is criticized is that it's not so bad, because developers can simply ask for a zoning change or variances, which is certainly true. This is hard to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Point of view matters: the scourge of modelitis
When I say "city", what image pops into your mind? How would you visualize a city?Are they images that look a bit like these?Montréal from Mont RoyalChicago's downtown in Google EarthTokyo from the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The idiocy of traffic studies
Traffic studies, or traffic impact assessments, are a big part of the job of a traffic engineer. They are an oft-forgotten part of how urban developments occur, but they should not be forgotten,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tackling congestion as an economic, not engineering, problem
In my previous post, I mentioned that congestion should be tackled as an economic problem rather than an engineering problem. I think this deserved to have its own post to explain what I meant by that,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Metropolitan areas: the new cities
Some time ago, I decided to do some calculation on the proportion of people in certain countries that live in large metropolitan areas. To be frank, I did it mainly to check out the claim that North...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Porches, front yards and the (North) American way of life
So last weekend was my favorite holiday: Halloween. The well-known celebration of Halloween originated in the United States, a combination of many different influences, and it has migrated to Québec by...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Commercial or residential density: which is most important?
When people speak of density with regards to urbanism, most of the time, it is residential density they talk about: how many people live in a city per square kilometer/mile or hectare/acre. However,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Shoupian approach to street parking: applicability and critique
For those who do not know, Donald Shoup is an American expert of parking policy. He is also the author of the very important "The high cost of free parking", the foremost criticism of American parking...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The golden cage trap
There is a revival of interest towards urban design in the West right now, that much is hard to deny. Much of it is the result of a lot of individual realization of the attractiveness of traditional...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Visualization of urban housing dynamics
So I've been talking a lot about my understanding of the dynamics of the housing market (though it's a bit of a misnomer... commercial uses also follow the same dynamics). However, I've been doing so...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Thought experiment: a politically feasible way to introduce a parking market
One of the most blatant subsidies to car use is undoubtedly the parking subsidy. Parking can be very expensive, with parking in garages, both underground and overground, often being more expensive than...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The case of one-way streets
Another common recommendation from urbanists in North America is the elimination of one-way streets, especially for main streets. The reasoning being that one-way streets reduce the access to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Police box: policing a walkable city
Much is often made in urbanist circles on how denser developments can foster a stronger community by bringing people closer together, but I'd like to make some observations on another crucial element...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Land supply, the onion layer theory of sprawl and the crucial need for...
One of the first articles I wrote for this blog illustrated the theory at the basis of my understanding of urban dynamics, that transport defined how a city grew and how it functioned. That the faster...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Observations on Chinese cities
OK, so for the last two weeks, I've been traveling around China, just for fun. As far as urbanism go, China is one of the biggest stories around. Like in every other country that developed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
City taxes as urban growth policies: choosing the taxes that get you the city...
Let's talk about taxes. Sure, nobody likes paying taxes, and the discussion about them tends to be about their amount, and not how that amount is raised. But that is a wasted opportunity, both as a...
View Article
