Tag: Neighborhood
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Connect
It’s winter again in Boston. Anyone who was there last year during February and March knows what that means. The ability to move about the city could come to a screeching halt in the blink of an eye. . The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA, or the “T”) completely shut down last winter after repeated large winter storms,…
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Transit in the Desert: What Drives Ridership in Sprawling Phoenix?
Neither on-the-ground observation nor a basic data-driven analysis of high-transit use neighborhoods conclusively identify the factors driving transit use in Phoenix. Sprawl is so dominant as a residential pattern, however, that planners must focus not only on building transit-friendly neighborhoods but also on providing alternative transportation options in the decidedly transit-“unfriendly” subdivisions that make up Arizona’s…
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Extensions & Expansions
As local lore has it, when a relative asked Charles Tufts what he would do with his land, and more specifically with “that bleak hill over in Medford,” Tufts replied, “I will put a light on it.” The Universalist Church founded Tufts University in the 1840s with a gift of 20 acres of land from Boston…
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Enabling Communities to Build Their Own Plazas
All over the country more and more cities are catching on to the idea that public space can be created quickly and cheaply; expensive master plans are becoming a thing of the past. Typically a community partner—a business improvement district or non-profit community organization—can apply through the municipality to transform an excessive roadway into…
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Mr. TOD
The Tale of Mr. TOD Once upon a time, Mr. Tod arrived in New York. And the rest was not yet history. The tale is still, obviously, unfolding. Will Mr. Tod be able to create mobile, accessible, and affordable neighborhoods? Or will Mr. Tod only support luxury? Mr. Tod, of course, is Mr. Transit-Oriented Development. He’s more and more popular these…
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The Other Brownsville
When I searched the New York Times website recently for “Brownsville” (the one in Brooklyn, not the one in Texas), the first few search results were as follows: 16-Year-Old Is Fatally Shot on His Way Home from a Party in Brownsville New York City’s Optimistic Tone Feels Out of Reach in Brownsville Brownsville, Brooklyn, Is…