Notices by Otis White (otiswhite@urbanists.social)

“Because I have a car, I’m not thinking about riding the bus”: In the failure of two #transit referendums in suburban Atlanta, we see the Achilles heel of #urbanism. It’s not good at explaining the value of denser, mixed-use, transit-oriented, walkable communities to people with no experience with these things. Until the conversation expands from the convinced to the curious but skeptical, progress will be slow. https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/transit-expansion-appears-to-fail-in-cobb-gwinnett/K7SHTEZXGZFN7P3S6XCU65SCHM/

The owners of Cleveland’s #NFL team have worked themselves into a corner, threatening to bolt to a suburb if the city doesn’t cave into their financial demands. Recently they ratcheted things up by releasing sketches of what the suburban stadium could look like. Just one thing: This tiny suburb can’t afford to pay half the cost of an extravagant domed stadium. So, are any other gov’ts foolish enough to underwrite these billionaires’ dreams? https://www.cleveland.com/news/2024/08/cleveland-browns-release-brook-park-domed-stadium-renderings-but-say-theyre-still-undecided-between-cleveland-and-brook-park.html

Not every pro sports stadium is bad for cities. In 2000 S.F. showed how to build a #MLB stadium that was lovely to look at, attracted new development and was served by #transit, not highways. Chicago might … emphasis, might … have a similar opportunity on its near South Side. One of its MLB teams wants a new stadium that can attract development and be an architectural statement. And its site, too, is served by transit. Three L lines meet at a station a block away. https://www.wbez.org/stories/heres-what-a-new-white-sox-ballpark-in-the-south-loop-could-look-like/24473727-7f32-4789-b035-19ab4343d6c9

One problem with change is it often involves a leap of faith. That is, it sounds good in theory, but how do we know if it works in reality? That’s why it’s important to have places to visit and data to review to see how a big idea … say, abolishing #parking minimums … works. Turns out, there are two very different cities that now let developers decide how much parking to build. And the results from Mpls and Buffalo are in. https://nextstl.com/2024/01/eliminating-parking-minimums-works-ask-minneapolis-and-buffalo/