Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Development

Measuring the Shift Away From Car Ownership, City By City

By Angie Schmitt | Jul 31, 2013 | No Comments

A new analysis by Michael Andersen at Bike Portland helps illuminate how shifts in car ownership are playing out in different cities. Andersen reviewed Census data from 2005 and 2011. He found that households with less than one car per adult accounted for about 60 percent of Portland’s population growth. About one in four Portland households met […]

Supreme Court Weakens Local Governments’ Ability to Shape Development

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 28, 2013 | No Comments

It certainly won’t be the most talked about Supreme Court decision handed down this week, but “Koontz v. St Johns River Water Management District” [PDF] will have a long-term impact on the ability of local governments to shape new development. Tuesday, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a Florida water management district […]

New Astoria Mega-Developments: In the Floodplain, Far From the Train

By Stephen Miller | Jun 6, 2013 | 37 Comments

Development plans for a stretch of the Queens waterfront would add new retail and more than 4,300 new residences a mile and a half from the nearest subway station. So far, the only transportation plan for these new residents consists of more than 2,300 parking spaces and suggestions for expanded bus and ferry service. Unless the […]

How Better Traffic Models Can Lead to More Mixed-Use Development

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 4, 2013 | No Comments

Here’s another obscure but significant obstacle to building walkable places in America: the Institute of Transportation Engineers’ shoddy traffic generation models for mixed-use development. The model used by traffic engineers around the country to measure “trip generation” at new developments consistently overestimates the amount of motor vehicle traffic produced by mixed-use projects, according to the […]

Study: Walkable Infill Development a Goldmine for City Governments

By Angie Schmitt | May 8, 2013 | No Comments

A study out of Nashville by Smart Growth America provides more evidence that building walkable development in existing communities is best for a city’s bottom line. SGA recently examined three different developments in the Music City. One was a large-lot, traditional suburban-style development called Bradford Hills built on a greenfield site. Another was a “new urban”-style, mixed-use, walkable […]

How Many Parking Spots Will Developers Build at Transit-Rich EDC Site?

By Stephen Miller | May 6, 2013 | 9 Comments

Since being cleared for redevelopment in 1967, several city blocks at the base of the Williamsburg Bridge on the Lower East Side — known as the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area, or SPURA — have lain fallow. For decades, the largest undeveloped, city-owned land below 96th Street was used only for surface parking lots. After years of planning work, […]

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