The prospect of car-free cities, or at the very least car-free streets in dense downtowns has been a goal of livable street advocates for decades. Their reasons revolve around safety and social connectivity, citing the envelope of harm and loss of humanity created in places overrun with automobile traffic. Rarely do such advocates talk about getting… Continue reading Car-Free Cities Need to be a Goal of Climate Justice
Category: Right to the City
The Debut of Open Streets Detroit: PHOTO ESSAY
This Sunday saw the much anticipated Detroit debut of the popular city event series known as Open Streets. Taking a page from similar events like Portland’s Sunday Parkways or LA’s CicLAvia, Open Streets has pushed more metropolises return street use from automobiles back to human beings. The idea is hardly radical considering the ways in which urban… Continue reading The Debut of Open Streets Detroit: PHOTO ESSAY
Yes, We’re Still Going Broke Subsidizing Sprawl
Over the last couple years I’ve critiqued the ways urbanists have promoted unaffordable hi-rise condos as being somehow sustainable, how they’ve perverted notions of density and equity for PR purposes with the ultimate goal of making money in real estate. It’s true, making cities so unaffordable that workers can no longer live there is a mistake.… Continue reading Yes, We’re Still Going Broke Subsidizing Sprawl
In Defense of Detroit’s Slow Roll
Imagine the absurdity of somebody saying, “Detroit can’t handle 6,000 Tigers fans flooding downtown with their cars anymore, this has to be put to a stop!” You’d be laughed out of town. But say the same thing about people on bicycles and somehow many nod approval. That’s essentially the hack job Model D shat upon the… Continue reading In Defense of Detroit’s Slow Roll
Tokyo’s Olympic War On the Homeless
Last week the perpetually capital-minded CityLab jumped on the corporate sponsored greenwashing train to gush over the forthcoming Olympics in Tokyo. Such a damaged brand are the Olympics – with it’s massive wastes of subsidized funding, razing poor neighborhoods for athletic mega-infrastructure, and general disruption to normal street life – that it’s now necessary to hire numerous firms… Continue reading Tokyo’s Olympic War On the Homeless
The New Gentrifier Tactic: Copy Climate Change Deniers
It seems for every critique of today’s monied urban revival there’s another paid life-style columnist arguing why gentrification should be cherished, if they even admit gentrification exists at all. “Gentrification isn’t happening, but if it was happening, it would be a good thing.“ That was the crux of a Slate article last year that prompted many… Continue reading The New Gentrifier Tactic: Copy Climate Change Deniers
Public Space Is Fundamental to Democracy, No Wonder It’s Under Attack
A true public space is overtly political in that it is a democratized space. That is, there is no regular programming which dictates the goings on within such a space. Instead, the day to day happenings are largely decided by those who use the place. City government or other municipalities can manage or maintain public space,… Continue reading Public Space Is Fundamental to Democracy, No Wonder It’s Under Attack
Detroit’s Arson Crisis: ‘We Don’t Need No Water, Let the Motherfucker Burn’
In Flint, you can’t drink the water. In Detroit, you can’t turn on the water. Thousands of Detroiters have had their tap water cut by the city for late bills in what the United Nations considers a humanitarian crime. At the same time as water won’t flow from the tap, hundreds – if not thousands – of the city’s fire… Continue reading Detroit’s Arson Crisis: ‘We Don’t Need No Water, Let the Motherfucker Burn’
The Sound and Fury of Portland on November 29th 2014
It took over a year for Portland’s Citizen Review Commission to issue a ruling regarding the police action of November 29, 2014. In January of this year, the panel came to a 5-3 decision stating that orders issued by the Portland Police Bureau to hundreds of Black Lives Matter protesters were in fact unlawful. CRC’s investigation was the… Continue reading The Sound and Fury of Portland on November 29th 2014
The Radical Urban Agenda of Bernie Sanders
Urbanists are always complaining presidents and other federal officials don’t focus enough on urban issues. They’re right to. National politics is framed around the Heartland of America, not dense urban centers where most of us actually live. That could soon change. Bernie Sanders is currently waging an insurgent campaign for president inside the other corporate… Continue reading The Radical Urban Agenda of Bernie Sanders