David Peter Alan has worked for decades as an advocate for rail transportation. For two decades, he chaired the Lackawana Coalition, an independent, non-profit organization that advocates for better service for New Jersey Transit riders. (This is all in addition to his day job as an intellectual property lawyer.) David's expertise is widely recognized. He has served on multiple … [Read more...] about I’ve been working on the railroad.
Mobility
Women building collective muscle.
Libby Seifel's life is built around big causes. She has spent much of it professionally focused on affordable housing and much of it personally focused on women. Libby's interest in housing came about when she lived through gentrification in her own neighborhood in Boston. There she saw her own godmother pushed out of her apartment into distressed public housing, and that … [Read more...] about Women building collective muscle.
Urban economics.
Simply put, urban economics is the study of buildings and cities and why they develop the way they do. Urban economics help us to determine why certain places are so much more vital than others through the exploration of land-use, zoning, employment patterns, and the price of land. Over the last century cities have experienced massive change. With the arrival of the … [Read more...] about Urban economics.
Equity and parking requirements.
Zoning, which dictates minimum off-street parking requirements for new and old buildings alike, has led to over 30% of our cities being given over to parking lots. While these parking requirements make for better parking, they make everything else worse. There is no science to parking requirements. Every city adopts its own zoning rules and parking requirements. If you ask a … [Read more...] about Equity and parking requirements.
The high cost of free parking.
Various studies indicate that approximately 30 percent of city land in the United States is allocated to parking. The Department of Urban Planning has estimated that New York City alone has approximately three million on-street parking spaces. Interestingly, only 3 percent of them have meters. Let’s get this straight. While housing costs are rising, often because of the cost … [Read more...] about The high cost of free parking.