Toronto Tomorrow
July 14, 2019 1:26 AM Subscribe
A Big Master Plan for Google's Growing Smart City - "Google sibling company Sidewalk Labs has revealed its master plan for the controversial Quayside waterfront development—and it's a lot bigger."[1,2]
Here is Sidewalk Labs's big plan for Toronto - "The $1.3 billion development is being billed as 'the most innovative district in the entire world.'"
Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs unveils its high-tech 'city-within-a-city' plan for Toronto - "Ten new buildings of mixed-use development consisting primarily of thousands of new residential units, as well as retail and office spaces, all made from mass timber."[3,4]
Google's Sidewalk Labs plans massive expansion to waterfront vision
also btw...
A new approach for inclusive growth - "Toronto's eastern waterfront presents an extraordinary opportunity to shape the city's future and provide a global model for inclusive urban growth. Sidewalk Labs is honoured to present the Master Innovation and Development Plan (MIDP) for the Sidewalk Toronto project as a comprehensive proposal for how to realize that potential."[RFP; MIDP; IDEA]Sidewalk Labs finally publishes its smart city master plan - "The company has released its long-awaited MIDP for Quayside and the broader Eastern Waterfront."
Here is Sidewalk Labs's big plan for Toronto - "The $1.3 billion development is being billed as 'the most innovative district in the entire world.'"
Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs unveils its high-tech 'city-within-a-city' plan for Toronto - "Ten new buildings of mixed-use development consisting primarily of thousands of new residential units, as well as retail and office spaces, all made from mass timber."[3,4]
Google's Sidewalk Labs plans massive expansion to waterfront vision
Google's futuristic development on the eastern waterfront, Quayside, is only the first step in an expansive and ambitious plan to build new neighbourhoods — and new transit — throughout the entire Port Lands, the Star has learned.Alphabet's plans to track people in its 'smart city' ring alarm bells - "Sidewalk Labs proposes a new and largely untested solution to handling collected data — an urban data trust, which would provide independent stewardship of data and approve how it is collected and used."[5,6]
In return for its investment in this vision, Sidewalk Labs wants a share of the property taxes, development fees and increased value of city land that would normally go to city coffers.
also btw...
- Why Big Brother Doesn't Bother Most Chinese - "One Chinese city has recently launched a smartphone map that displays the location and identity of anyone within 500 meters who's landed on a government creditworthiness blacklist. It's chilling, dystopian — and likely to be quite popular."
- 300 Californian Cities Secretly Have Access to Palantir - "300 cities had access to Palantir through company contracts with Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, which is run by the DHS. The NCRIC gives info to police depts in 14 counties home to almost 8 million people. This is huge."[7,8]
- Tom Steyer, We Welcome You With Folded Arms - "My liberal billionaire dream is to establish large universities in all of the low-population red states: WY, AK, SD, ND, MT, ID. Allow dense cities to grow around them and in short order you'll suddenly have a reliable +12 Democratic U.S. senators."[9]
- Getting the Golden State Building Again - "Google's billion-dollar bet on new housing in California could signal the emergence of a pro-growth coalition."
- How Microsoft is Tackling Homelessness in Seattle - "Seattle's economy has boomed thanks to corporate giants such as Amazon, Boeing and Microsoft. At the same time, housing prices have soared, and the homeless population has exploded. Now a revolutionary solution may be coming from the unlikeliest of sources: Microsoft."
- Seattle renters score big as landlords dangle freebies to fill empty apartments - "As new apartments open across the city in record numbers, vacancy rates have grown, rents have stopped rising and landlords are offering an increasing number of freebies to get tenants in the door."
- Ikea wants to build homes in Britain that cost what the buyer can pay - "Worthing, a town in southern England, is considering a plan to work with developer BoKlok, a joint venture of Ikea and Swedish construction company Skanska."
- A New Approach on Housing Affordability - "Some Democratic presidential candidates are emphasizing the need to build more housing. That could make a big difference."
- Elizabeth Warren's Housing Plan for America - "My affordable housing plan would: Reduce rental costs by 10% over the next 10 years; Create 1.5 million new jobs; Build millions of new housing units."
- Progressive Boomers Are Making It Impossible For Cities To Fix The Housing Crisis - "Residents of wealthy neighborhoods are taking extreme measures to block much-needed housing and transportation projects."
- Making a house an investment is social poison - "There is no inherent reason why a house should appreciate in price. Unlike, say, a share of Apple stock, a house has no prospect of increasing in productivity to provide more shelter services. On the contrary, all it does is slowly fall apart, requiring progressively more maintenance and updating over time. And almost certainly it will eventually have to be torn down and rebuilt. In many countries, like Japan, homes are a declining asset — something like a car that many do purchase, but with no expectation they will be able to sold for a profit down the road."[10]
- SF supes kill Breed's proposal to streamline affordable housing - "Mayor London Breed assailed the Board of Supervisors Thursday for quashing her proposed charter amendment, which would have streamlined the process for building affordable housing. The supervisors, however, were uneasy about how her proposal would limit residents' abilities to fight projects."[11,12]
- New York's Latest Tenant Revolt Is Centuries in the Making - "The things that eased past affordable-housing shortages aren't really happening this time around."[13,14]
- How Unpredictable Is Your Subway Commute? We'll Show You - "New York demonstrates why even the densest, richest American cities have trouble providing good public transit."[15]
- Carmageddon: it's killing urban life. We must reclaim our cities before it's too late - "What is the best way of wrecking a city? Pour cars into it. Heavy traffic, 50 years of research shows, breaks up communities, disrupts social life and crushes local cultures. Noise drowns out conversation and drives people indoors. Pollution makes streets inhospitable. Cars take up the space that might have been used for children to play, adults to meet, and local projects to grow."
- Freeway Revolts! - "This neat paper argues that highway construction didn't just make suburban living possible; it made central-city living less desirable. That seems obvious now, but we mostly talk about highway construction as pulling people out of cities, not pushing them away."
- Cities Start to Question an American Ideal: A House With a Yard on Every Lot - "Townhomes, duplexes and apartments are effectively banned in many neighborhoods. Now some communities regret it."[16,17]
- Oregon Is Adopting the Most Important Housing Reform in America - "The apartment has been banned in far too many places, deepening racial divides and driving up rents. Oregon is set to be the first state to fix that—and it won't be the last." [18,19]
- What's Wrong With Modern Buildings? Everything, Starting With How They're Made - "Embedded in the sleek lines and elegant cantilevers of modern buildings sprouting up in city centers is a huge amount of pollution."
The development would be BoKlok's first in the United Kingdom since a previous project fell flat during the global financial crisis. The group, whose name is Swedish for "live smart," has built more than 11,000 homes throughout Sweden, Finland and Norway.
By building homes in a factory and assembling them quickly, the project could demonstrate one way to ease acute housing shortages that help drive up prices until they're out of reach for average earners. An innovative sales model that charges people based on what they can afford could spark further change in the market.
From the top Citylab link:
Sidewalk Labs has said from the start that it hoped to redevelop the entire waterfront, but its original agreement with officials was limited to the small Quayside lot. In February, however, leaked documents obtained by the Toronto Star showed that Sidewalk Labs was devising plans to develop about 350 acres surrounding that parcel, and that it would seek profit through property taxes and development fees that would normally be directed to city coffers.
That's hugely concerning, for a start. Google is going to start levying its own property taxes? - Or "just" ask for abatements?
posted by carter at 3:37 AM on July 14, 2019 [4 favorites]
Sidewalk Labs has said from the start that it hoped to redevelop the entire waterfront, but its original agreement with officials was limited to the small Quayside lot. In February, however, leaked documents obtained by the Toronto Star showed that Sidewalk Labs was devising plans to develop about 350 acres surrounding that parcel, and that it would seek profit through property taxes and development fees that would normally be directed to city coffers.
That's hugely concerning, for a start. Google is going to start levying its own property taxes? - Or "just" ask for abatements?
posted by carter at 3:37 AM on July 14, 2019 [4 favorites]
Reading a bit more, Google are planning to develop the waterfront as a some kind of hub, and then basically depending on property speculators to develop the surround district of 350 acres, and then rake off the property taxes from these spec builds. What could go wrong "Do No Evil," etc.
posted by carter at 5:06 AM on July 14, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by carter at 5:06 AM on July 14, 2019 [3 favorites]
I'm hearing from a friend who's just finished a contract with them that infrastructure is the next big thing for the tech giants.
See this
Google said it would contribute $1bn over the next decade to the construction of new housing close to its offices in Silicon Valley, marking the biggest attempt yet by a leading technology company to alleviate the region’s acute housing shortage and traffic congestion.
posted by Mrs Potato at 5:34 AM on July 14, 2019 [3 favorites]
See this
Google said it would contribute $1bn over the next decade to the construction of new housing close to its offices in Silicon Valley, marking the biggest attempt yet by a leading technology company to alleviate the region’s acute housing shortage and traffic congestion.
posted by Mrs Potato at 5:34 AM on July 14, 2019 [3 favorites]
I agree, I would maybe say "applying wide-scale IoT platforms to extract and leverage value in built environments blah blah" to be more specific, but yes, they are maybe after building some demographically-typical tech worker ghettos.
From that point of view, Toronto could just be their prototype/test bed to gather data to build out at wider scales elsewhere.
posted by carter at 5:51 AM on July 14, 2019 [2 favorites]
From that point of view, Toronto could just be their prototype/test bed to gather data to build out at wider scales elsewhere.
posted by carter at 5:51 AM on July 14, 2019 [2 favorites]
In other words, Toronto could be a "permanent beta" for Google's idea of what a "smart city" should be.
posted by carter at 5:52 AM on July 14, 2019
posted by carter at 5:52 AM on July 14, 2019
There is an enormous amount of pushback on this from "Toronto" so much that if there wasn't a contract I doubt there would be political will to create one. We need to destroy this corporate colonization of public spaces; crush it deader than dead.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:58 AM on July 14, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:58 AM on July 14, 2019 [18 favorites]
Carter:
In other words, Toronto could be a "permanent beta" for Google's idea of what a "smart city" should be
That doesn't seem to be demonstrably worse from what we've done so far unless I'm missing something. Most construction projects are built to the lowest common denominator of profitability and no thought to the long-term consequences. At least this is being transparent about what it hopes to achieve.
seanmpuckett :What happens afterwards to the city? A continued lack of green development or another commercial real estate developer raises funds and proceeds to build zero affordable housing? I get the kickback on the data trust as it is not a proven concept but their incentives align with what they say on the tin (at least as deeply as I've read.) I want better cities and while this has problems so does where we currently stand. What do you think is better suited to going there?
We need to destroy this corporate colonization of public spaces; crush it deader than dead.
posted by 27kjmm at 6:17 AM on July 14, 2019
As per the links above, they're not really being transparent about it at all. The nicely-designed publicity documents for this project, created after 'community consultation' etc., are all inclusion and sunshine. The claims about property speculation are from internal Google documents, dug up by the Toronto Star.
The fact that this is not 'demonstrably worse' than anything else is a pretty low bar to be aiming for.
posted by carter at 6:41 AM on July 14, 2019 [5 favorites]
The fact that this is not 'demonstrably worse' than anything else is a pretty low bar to be aiming for.
posted by carter at 6:41 AM on July 14, 2019 [5 favorites]
This Article?
That sounds like an update powerpoint from the middle of the process and what they released today addresses that. If you're referring to something else, please link me. I would hope that the expect the property to get more valuable after spending billions of dollars. I don't see anything that seems immoral given the idea that this should be a sustainable way to invest in infrastructure.
Yeah, to be clear I don't think they aiming for that bar, I think they've cleared it easily. Compare it to the most recent announcements about "innovation districts" in Miami. [1] There was no discourse or revision as we've seen through this project. So while imperfect, better.
It's more comprehensive, transparent, and has concrete measures on how it expects to reach its economic goals.
If this doesn't work, where do think progress will come from or how would you make it better?
posted by 27kjmm at 7:41 AM on July 14, 2019
That sounds like an update powerpoint from the middle of the process and what they released today addresses that. If you're referring to something else, please link me. I would hope that the expect the property to get more valuable after spending billions of dollars. I don't see anything that seems immoral given the idea that this should be a sustainable way to invest in infrastructure.
Yeah, to be clear I don't think they aiming for that bar, I think they've cleared it easily. Compare it to the most recent announcements about "innovation districts" in Miami. [1] There was no discourse or revision as we've seen through this project. So while imperfect, better.
It's more comprehensive, transparent, and has concrete measures on how it expects to reach its economic goals.
If this doesn't work, where do think progress will come from or how would you make it better?
posted by 27kjmm at 7:41 AM on July 14, 2019
The city, led by democratically elected officials can and should make these decisions on infrastructure building - funded by taxes on corporations like Google. Google is not paying its share of taxes, then using those profits to “invest” in Toronto so they can then skim off property tax revenue. This is a private-public partnership, but no one in Google seems to be using the term. 3P’s (which this is a variation of) have gone horribly in Ontario - smaller hospitals for more money is just one example. “Starving the Beast” is not a new concept, just one that Google hopes Torontonians aren’t going to mention.
posted by saucysault at 8:04 AM on July 14, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by saucysault at 8:04 AM on July 14, 2019 [5 favorites]
So, what happens to the neighborhood when Google cancels it?
posted by schmod at 8:07 AM on July 14, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by schmod at 8:07 AM on July 14, 2019 [10 favorites]
Toronto is so stupid. Come on guys, agree to whatever, let the multinational invest billions, and ONLY THEN change the rules of the game, or just expropriate as required. What are they going to do? Move the sensors, the infrastructure, the buildings? Take your cue from what governments do to mining companies - you can't move mines either.
posted by Mirax at 8:11 AM on July 14, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Mirax at 8:11 AM on July 14, 2019 [2 favorites]
@saucysault
Agreed. Sidewalk shouldn't put a shovel into the ground until it has gone through the process which it is navigating right now in response to the RFP that the city originated. However, this isn't a $1 lease for 99 years for a sportsball team.
As a 3P, I don't think it is wrong in principle for Sidewalk to be able to make the investment and make some revenue from it. I don't know Toronto but I'd prefer someone else on the hook for the multibillion-dollar infrastructure bond that they would have to raise to match this investment and deploy their resources elsewhere. I am not in favor of reducing Google's tax burden, only allowing Sidewalk Labs to recoup its costs from building out the infrastructure from the developers who later build on top of those literal pipes. I have not seen any indications that a Google Tax Break is part of the discussion at this stage.
This is a project of immense scale with some issues but I honestly think most people haven't even cracked open the PDF. (I've been reading this all morning, and I'm not even close to done) Skepticism around controls and timelines are warranted but the project hasn't even gotten finalized. It seems like people want it to fail regardless of the underlying merits.
This doesn't even touch the public data stuff which I understand why people would be skeeved out about.
posted by 27kjmm at 8:32 AM on July 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
Agreed. Sidewalk shouldn't put a shovel into the ground until it has gone through the process which it is navigating right now in response to the RFP that the city originated. However, this isn't a $1 lease for 99 years for a sportsball team.
As a 3P, I don't think it is wrong in principle for Sidewalk to be able to make the investment and make some revenue from it. I don't know Toronto but I'd prefer someone else on the hook for the multibillion-dollar infrastructure bond that they would have to raise to match this investment and deploy their resources elsewhere. I am not in favor of reducing Google's tax burden, only allowing Sidewalk Labs to recoup its costs from building out the infrastructure from the developers who later build on top of those literal pipes. I have not seen any indications that a Google Tax Break is part of the discussion at this stage.
This is a project of immense scale with some issues but I honestly think most people haven't even cracked open the PDF. (I've been reading this all morning, and I'm not even close to done) Skepticism around controls and timelines are warranted but the project hasn't even gotten finalized. It seems like people want it to fail regardless of the underlying merits.
This doesn't even touch the public data stuff which I understand why people would be skeeved out about.
posted by 27kjmm at 8:32 AM on July 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
As an overeducated communist Canadian I don't need to eyeball their PDF to be able tell Google to please not do this to my country. They can do this to some other city inside the USA.
In fact they are banking on a non US city being a pushover. That in itself is an outrage.
posted by polymodus at 9:02 AM on July 14, 2019 [7 favorites]
In fact they are banking on a non US city being a pushover. That in itself is an outrage.
posted by polymodus at 9:02 AM on July 14, 2019 [7 favorites]
Sure, NIMBYism is a fair and reasoned response.
How exactly are they banking on that?
posted by 27kjmm at 9:14 AM on July 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
How exactly are they banking on that?
posted by 27kjmm at 9:14 AM on July 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
That's like saying people opposing colonialism is a form of NIMBYism which is fucking offensive.
posted by polymodus at 9:34 AM on July 14, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by polymodus at 9:34 AM on July 14, 2019 [8 favorites]
And maybe skip the rhetorical sea lioning while replying to me.
posted by polymodus at 9:36 AM on July 14, 2019
posted by polymodus at 9:36 AM on July 14, 2019
I have not seen any indications that a Google Tax Break is part of the discussion at this stage.
That is because they already get an enormous one. Which is what I am protesting, they need to demonstrate they are paying their fair share of taxes before I would even consider them an ethical partner. If they are walking into this deal with dirty hands, why would I believe their behaviour would improve when they have even more leverage over the government?
posted by saucysault at 9:56 AM on July 14, 2019
That is because they already get an enormous one. Which is what I am protesting, they need to demonstrate they are paying their fair share of taxes before I would even consider them an ethical partner. If they are walking into this deal with dirty hands, why would I believe their behaviour would improve when they have even more leverage over the government?
posted by saucysault at 9:56 AM on July 14, 2019
The city, led by democratically elected officials can and should make these decisions on infrastructure building
What, like the clusterfuck that's the SF Bay Area? Look, after 25 years of seeing the Bay Area cities repeatedly sabatoge area mass transit, low income housing and every other livability initiative, its pretty damn obvious that's what they were elected to do. The voters of Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale and all the others voted those clowns into office to do exactly what they doing.
The voters care about the following: keep the value of their homes appreciating, keep THOSE people out of town, get good schools for their kids only and fix potholes and street lights. Oh yeah, and occasionally they whine that "something should be done" about the increasing number of homeless encampments. To expect communities will elect governments that are enlightened, well, don't hold your breath.
But look on the bright side "Waterfront development" means its probably going to be abandoned within 25 years due to flooding. Because global climate change doesn't care about tax incentives.
posted by happyroach at 10:12 AM on July 14, 2019 [2 favorites]
What, like the clusterfuck that's the SF Bay Area? Look, after 25 years of seeing the Bay Area cities repeatedly sabatoge area mass transit, low income housing and every other livability initiative, its pretty damn obvious that's what they were elected to do. The voters of Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale and all the others voted those clowns into office to do exactly what they doing.
The voters care about the following: keep the value of their homes appreciating, keep THOSE people out of town, get good schools for their kids only and fix potholes and street lights. Oh yeah, and occasionally they whine that "something should be done" about the increasing number of homeless encampments. To expect communities will elect governments that are enlightened, well, don't hold your breath.
But look on the bright side "Waterfront development" means its probably going to be abandoned within 25 years due to flooding. Because global climate change doesn't care about tax incentives.
posted by happyroach at 10:12 AM on July 14, 2019 [2 favorites]
Mod note: 27kjmm, this is an actual moderator. You need to step way back and let this thread run without responding to every comment, and definitely without getting snarky and defensive when people disagree.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 10:20 AM on July 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 10:20 AM on July 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
I just want to make public my prediction that the Up Zoning of Oregon's cities is going to result in the destruction of comprehensive land use planning in Oregon within the next 50 years due to the unforeseen political consequences of this change.
posted by Pembquist at 12:04 PM on July 14, 2019
posted by Pembquist at 12:04 PM on July 14, 2019
"In February, however, leaked documents obtained by the Toronto Star showed that Sidewalk Labs was devising plans to develop about 350 acres surrounding that parcel, and that it would seek profit through property taxes and development fees that would normally be directed to city coffers."
referring to:
"In return for its investment in this vision, Sidewalk Labs wants a share of the property taxes, development fees and increased value of city land that would normally go to city coffers."
I am extremely uncomfortable with Google getting a cut of the tax revenue directly, without its being a nonprofit, without government having absolute control over the funding.
I feel similarly about redevelopment agencies, as implemented in California: RDAs provided efficient and uncontrolled transfer of public revenues into private businesses without oversight or guaranteed performance.
If it is a private enterprise, then let Google buy it, build GoogleGoodLand, and charge admission. If it's a public good, then let's vote on it, and create an agency with oversight and control. There's not much in between those two for me.
posted by the Real Dan at 12:25 PM on July 14, 2019 [6 favorites]
referring to:
"In return for its investment in this vision, Sidewalk Labs wants a share of the property taxes, development fees and increased value of city land that would normally go to city coffers."
I am extremely uncomfortable with Google getting a cut of the tax revenue directly, without its being a nonprofit, without government having absolute control over the funding.
I feel similarly about redevelopment agencies, as implemented in California: RDAs provided efficient and uncontrolled transfer of public revenues into private businesses without oversight or guaranteed performance.
If it is a private enterprise, then let Google buy it, build GoogleGoodLand, and charge admission. If it's a public good, then let's vote on it, and create an agency with oversight and control. There's not much in between those two for me.
posted by the Real Dan at 12:25 PM on July 14, 2019 [6 favorites]
Toronto is so stupid. Come on guys, agree to whatever, let the multinational invest billions
Haha, no, in Canada the approach is for the government to invest the billions, then sell it at way below cost to the private company in the future.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 1:42 PM on July 14, 2019 [6 favorites]
Haha, no, in Canada the approach is for the government to invest the billions, then sell it at way below cost to the private company in the future.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 1:42 PM on July 14, 2019 [6 favorites]
Yeah, I blame Mike Harris (and his 905 voters) for his dismal dysfunctional vision of the future, which Tranna hasn't quite recovered from since then. There have always been urban planners in City Hall and Metro Hall that can design concepts like this, but they keep getting sidelined by waves of populist politicians. So when we get bored, we then look to an outside savior to fix things.
posted by ovvl at 3:50 PM on July 14, 2019
posted by ovvl at 3:50 PM on July 14, 2019
Metafilter: As an overeducated communist I don't need to
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 4:18 PM on July 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 4:18 PM on July 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
Thanks kliuless, amazing post, a lot to take in and a great roundup of North American development thought. I'm not from there either but
Strip away all the fancy graphics, balloons, kayaks bobbing at the quay, building fenestration, and soft landscape and look very critically ... also be wary of an overly thick* presentation document. Google is in the business of massaging information.
Also look very critically at anything involving First Nations. From afar it looks like Canada's natives get a poor deal, somehow I don't see Google setting a precedent there.
Very hard to take a developer seriously when they state "We are mindful of a history of broken treaties" while at the same time trying to treat city-scale development as a tax break.
A project I worked on where I was producing and assembling the info pack - which I really believed could be reduced to a poster, but which my boss insisted be an attractively-bound hundred page wodge. I did warn him ... so we walked in and the wodge was handed to the country's highest profile land lawyer who said ... "ahh, another fucking phone book" and dropped it with an unceremonious thump where it never emerged again. In my experience fancy graphics hide more than they reveal.
I've had a peep at one of the pdf's (ch 4). They are making the right noises but at least here in NZ it is hard to ensure developers don't throw out all these things as the budgets and timeframes tighten - this was certainly the case in the redevelopment of Christchurch post quake.
Red text is horrible to read on any colour background.
And I'm on record here in NZ for complaining about thick, pretty documents.
posted by unearthed at 8:37 PM on July 14, 2019 [7 favorites]
Strip away all the fancy graphics, balloons, kayaks bobbing at the quay, building fenestration, and soft landscape and look very critically ... also be wary of an overly thick* presentation document. Google is in the business of massaging information.
Also look very critically at anything involving First Nations. From afar it looks like Canada's natives get a poor deal, somehow I don't see Google setting a precedent there.
Very hard to take a developer seriously when they state "We are mindful of a history of broken treaties" while at the same time trying to treat city-scale development as a tax break.
A project I worked on where I was producing and assembling the info pack - which I really believed could be reduced to a poster, but which my boss insisted be an attractively-bound hundred page wodge. I did warn him ... so we walked in and the wodge was handed to the country's highest profile land lawyer who said ... "ahh, another fucking phone book" and dropped it with an unceremonious thump where it never emerged again. In my experience fancy graphics hide more than they reveal.
I've had a peep at one of the pdf's (ch 4). They are making the right noises but at least here in NZ it is hard to ensure developers don't throw out all these things as the budgets and timeframes tighten - this was certainly the case in the redevelopment of Christchurch post quake.
Red text is horrible to read on any colour background.
And I'm on record here in NZ for complaining about thick, pretty documents.
posted by unearthed at 8:37 PM on July 14, 2019 [7 favorites]
unearthed, I upvoted you partially because I agree with you completely, but what really got me over the line was "wodge".
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:44 PM on July 14, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:44 PM on July 14, 2019 [3 favorites]
- Heads Up, California: Sydney Has Figured Out How to Get the Rents Down - "It's by building lots more housing, obviously."
- 'Where the American Dream Goes to Die': Changes in House Prices, Rents, and Incomes since 1960 by Region & Metro - "How out-of-whack is the discrepancy in growth between incomes, rents, and house prices?"
- What Happens When Landlords Can Get Cheap Surveillance Software? - "Cheap surveillance software is changing how landlords manage their tenants and what laws police can enforce."
- Only Washington Can Solve the Nation's Housing Crisis - "The federal government once promised to provide homes for every American. What happened?"*
Toronto's astonishing growth: Will it matter to Buffalo? - "'I don't think most Americans understand the scale of what's going on in Toronto', said Frank Clayton, a senior research fellow at Ryerson University."
posted by kliuless at 5:43 AM on July 23, 2019
posted by kliuless at 5:43 AM on July 23, 2019
The voters care about the following: ... fix potholes and street lights.
I'm not even sure they care about that -- SV has the worst suburban roads I've ever had the misfortune of driving on. El Camino in Mountain View, and Homestead and Wolfe in Cupertino come to mind most readily, but everyone seems to have a pet terrible road.
posted by pwnguin at 7:16 PM on July 24, 2019
I'm not even sure they care about that -- SV has the worst suburban roads I've ever had the misfortune of driving on. El Camino in Mountain View, and Homestead and Wolfe in Cupertino come to mind most readily, but everyone seems to have a pet terrible road.
posted by pwnguin at 7:16 PM on July 24, 2019
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posted by carter at 2:55 AM on July 14, 2019 [4 favorites]