MetaFilter posts tagged with planning

OASIS

ocherdraco — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:02:21 -0800

The New York City Open Accessible Space Information System Cooperative (OASIS) is an online, interactive mapping and data analysis application that gives an incredibly detailed view of New York City's open spaces and how they are used. The map enables overlays of information like: transit; parks, playgrounds and open space; zoning and landmarks; current and historical land use; social services; demographics; and environmental characteristics.(via The Ministry of Type, who like OASIS mainly for its pretty map possibilities.) From the project's "About" page:

How: A community-based undertaking, local organizations design and test the first city wide, web-based, open space mapping resource for NYC. OASIS facilitates and focuses the delivery of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) resources to provide timely and accurate information about the green infrastructure of NYC. What OASIS Will Do: OASIS will enable NYC community residents, for the first time, to:
create maps of open space by zip code, borough, tax block and lot, and/or neighborhood;
identify key open space resources within or near a user- defined area;
locate these resources by name, type, and other attributes in addition to geographic-based searches;
identify other natural resources and landmarks near or adjacent to open spaces in the city;
calculate statistics based on open space patterns by zip code, borough, tax block and lot, and/or neighborhood;
undertake “what if” scenarios, such as, what would my neighborhood look like if these vacant lots remained community gardens, or how would new bike lanes or bus routes improve my access to a park in the Bronx?; and
use other mapping and data analysis tools.
Why: OASIS is based on the belief that a common, free, open space inventory – really a web-based GIS mapping resource – is invaluable to NYC’s greening and planning communities. In NYC and across the Nation, GIS and other GeoData Systems are critical planning tools for enhanced spatial visualization and data analysis. They integrate socioeconomic profiles and demographic analysis with data set creation, strategic mapping and comprehensive community and regional planning services. GIS is an invaluable resource for environmental, design, health, safety, economic and planning decision making.

One powerful man's nothing is a hundred men's lives.

T.D. Strange — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:51:48 -0800

Lexington’s Mayor, Jim Newberry, bristled at critical questions about The Dame block, “Nothing of consequence ever happened on that block.” Richie Wireman begs to differ. Wireman spent 4 months documenting the final stages of the long and controversial demise of one city block full of established local businesses to make way for a dubiously financed high-rise development. While no longer a gaping eyesore, today, the project is not exactly as advertised.

Gardens By The Bay

Joe Beese — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:29:42 -0800

The Gardens will put in place a pervasive garden ambience and quality living environment from which Singapore's downtown will rise, and steer Singapore to the forefront of the world's leading global cities. (via)

Artistic Suburban Culture

netbros — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:33:58 -0800

Ross Racine's work may be interpreted as models for planned communities as much as aerial views of fictional suburbs, referencing the computer as a tool for urban planning as well as image capture.

Chimp throws stones, gets castrated.

binturong — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:31:54 -0800

Chimp stores weapons. After throwing cached stones at zoo visitors, the unfortunate animal had his own stones removed. Other examples of foresight and planning in animals are described here and here.

Meet you at the Circl-Serv!

Miko — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 06:26:57 -0800

"The plans for Victory City have evolved over a period of 38 years, nurtured by the vision and dedication of Victory City's inventor, Orville Simpson II [no relation]. Mr. Simpson conceived of the general idea of Victory City in 1936, when he was only 13 years old. Afraid of being ridiculed, Mr. Simpson kept his ideas about designing and building the City of the Future to himself … a secret vision he held in his mind... It wasn't until 1960 — after he had embarked on a lucrative career in real estate investing and apartment building management — that Mr. Simpson decided to make his ideas about Victory City known to the general public."

If not in your backyard, then whose?

desjardins — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:54:54 -0800

Newcomers, with the zeal of recent converts, are often the most vocal in resisting change to the neighborhood they have just discovered. An exploration of NIMBYism. If not in your backyard, then whose? Probably a low-income minority group. Opposition to affordable housing is often thinly-veiled racism. How NIMBYism affects a seven-year old boy on LA's skid row. African-Americans fight back against environmental injustice. A Latina activist blogs about gentrification. There's also YIMBYs (Yes In My Backyard).

Coming Soon: A pink hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot spot

Miko — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:28:48 -0800

The [US] National Trust for Historic Preservation has released its 21st annual list of the nation's Most Endangered Historic Places. Among them: Sumner Elementary School in Topeka, Kansas, (where Linda Brown tried to register for school, resulting in Brown vs. Board of Education); New York City's Lower East Side; California's State Parks; Philadelphia's Boyd Theatre, and several others. The previous 20 years of Most Endangered Historic Places can be found in the Archive. The Trib weighs in on the inclusion of Chicago's Michigan Avenue Streetwall The Inky on Boyd Theater Topeka Capitol-Journal (CapJo?) on Sumner Elementary Times-Picayune on Charity Hospital SF Chronicle on the state's parks Lower East Side Endangered? So what else is new?asks the New York Times

Encyclopedia of Transportation Planning Strategies

salvia — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:04:26 -0800

Too much traffic? Can't find parking? Choking on smog? Worried about climate change? Gas prices too high, but you still have to drive? Send your city planner a link to the Online Encyclopedia of Transportation Demand Management strategies. The Victoria Transport Policy Institute was mentioned in a comment back in 2005, but not the encyclopedia, which is one of the most complete online transportation resources that I've run across lately.

A Shed By Any Other Name...

amyms — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:55:41 -0800

"As a great architect once said, 'Buildings should look like what they are'." John Jessop became so frustrated with the red tape required for his company to get permission to build a farm shed, he submitted a sarcastic application . Read his full "Planning Application for Erection of Agricultural Implement Shed" here [pdf, 3 pages]. No word yet on whether the shed was approved. Via.

Tree lined Eco Boulevard

Burhanistan — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 10:29:40 -0800

Madrid's "Air Tree" is a working experiment in combining public spaces with energy generation.

So, it wasn't the Happiest Town on Earth?

amberglow — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:54:55 -0800

Remember the Town Disney Built? -- 50% of the homes in Celebration, Florida are up for sale. A failure of corporate-owned and -planned Community™? or just a fallout of the bursting of the housing bubble? And whither New Urbanism? Celebration's Front Porch (home page) a neo-traditional architectural view: The Celebration Controversies

#7: Ten percent of all city space shall be open land where you can "touch the dirt"

salvia — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 19:26:49 -0800

"First we kill the architects..." Photographer Danny Lyon [1, 2, 3, 4] offers ten suggestions for New York City. Suggestion #6: "Leave the World Trade Center excavation exactly as it is and use the space as a freshwater pond planted with pink, white, and yellow lilies..." His essay is only one of many from names you'll recognize in a book called Block by Block: Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York. An associated exhibition opened yesterday [museum, NYT review]. Is New York City moving in the right direction? Is your city? [via] Footnotes: * It might also be interesting to see what others think about the direction of NYC. (Though only eleven people had expressed their opinion as of this posting.) * Background on Lyon's suggestion #7: he titled a collection of Polaroids of his children I Like to Eat Right on the Dirt.

Associative Design

Burhanistan — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 19:25:10 -0800

Associative Design - a study of new neighborhood models. requires QuickTime

Get Your Ducks In A Row Or Else

Robert Angelo — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 11:51:50 -0800

Get Your Ducks In A Row Or Else.

Those Atkins cheesecakes are delicious, but now they're leaving a bad aftertaste.

...Failure to Communicate...

rzklkng — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 11:32:12 -0800

The Great War on Terror shall be won with Powerpoint.

[Army Lt. General David] McKiernan had another, smaller but nagging issue: He couldn't get Franks to issue clear orders that stated explicitly what he wanted done, how he wanted to do it, and why. Rather, Franks passed along PowerPoint briefing slides that he had shown to Rumsfeld: "It's quite frustrating the way this works, but the way we do things nowadays is combatant commanders brief their products in PowerPoint up in Washington to OSD and Secretary of Defense…In lieu of an order, or a frag [fragmentary order], or plan, you get a bunch of PowerPoint slides…[T]hat is frustrating, because nobody wants to plan [img] against PowerPoint slides."

(Here's briefing standards *.ppt, clipart, and some earlier governmental [pdf] uses of PowerPoint [Cryptome], FAS, along with one from ABCNEWS making the case against Iran.) Also, here are previously related MeFi PowerPoint threads on the Downing Street Memos and the Columbia disaster.

The Death and Life of a Great Person

Chuckles — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 09:35:39 -0800

Dark Age Ahead. Jane Jacobs passes on.

NYC Google Maps Trip Planner

allkindsoftime — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:30:11 -0800

Yet another Google Maps hack for the NYC subway system. This one helps you plan your trip from point A to point B, and gives you an estimated travel time. Most locals will quickly find that the routes it suggests usually aren't the optimum, however this may be useful for visitors, at least until Friday morning. In the event of a strike, this is your best bet for some form of direction.

Maybe a graboid got him?

deafmute — Sun, 16 Oct 2005 18:05:12 -0800

Ed Bacon, friend to skaters, died Friday. He presided over a successful urban renewal campaign (a rarity), yet leaves behind a complex legacy in the city he loved. [bugmenot]

serious human rights abuses which would undermine an otherwise successful military campaign, and our reputation internationally

amberglow — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 19:06:12 -0800

In case the Downing Street Papers weren't enough: US State Dept. documents from the National Security Archive, obtained thru a Freedom of Information Act: State Department experts warned CENTCOM before Iraq war about lack of plans for post-war Iraq security, Planning for post-Saddam regime change began as early as October 2001, and ...They provide detail on each of the working groups and give the starting date for planning as October 2001. Entire sections of a Powerpoint presentation the State Department prepared on November 1, 2002 -- including those covering "What We Have Learned So Far" and "Implications for the Real Future of Iraq" -- have been censored as still-classified information. ... (PDFS)

Philly in 3-D

luriete — Fri, 10 Jun 2005 15:11:04 -0800

Is a "virtual" Philly even better than the real thing? Well, GeoSim Systems thinks so. Except for the aroma of freshly-grilled cheesesteak, at least. Their "Virtual Philadelphia" is the most detailed urban imaging system I've seen yet, and you can read about the monumental process of turning photographic images (taken from both aircraft and street-level) into this incredible rendering in a February 17 NY Times article (reg req). And - as expected - Google wants to get in on the action and do the same thing in San Francisco. via BB

Cleveland gets sold down the (burning) river

bitter-girl.com — Fri, 20 May 2005 08:28:34 -0800

Cleveland bloggers are organizing against a giant suburban-style shopping plaza called Steelyard Commons (to be built on the site of the city's historic steel factories), which will include an immense Wal-Mart at its core. After City Council passed legislation in February to prevent Wal-Mart from adding a grocery store (causing the Bensonville bullies to "pull out" and scuttle the project), the developer was aided and abetted behind closed doors by Cleveland's mayor, Queen Jane. Despite the mayor's proclamation of "no public money" or tax abatements for the project, there's plenty of evidence to the contrary.

The City (1939)

Doohickie — Thu, 20 Jan 2005 21:28:38 -0800

The City [Parts I & II, each a 15:00+ minute realPlayer video].
An urban planning film from 1939 that takes a nostalgic look at country life, compares it to the hustle and bustle of 1930s big city life, and presents a utopian alternative. Reviews of The City, Parts I & II, can be found at the Prelinger Archives if you want to read about them before you commit to watching the 30 minute movie. I tripped across this while surfing around on the forums at Cyburbia: The urban planning portal. Also notable: Music by Aaron Copland.

Don't Hold Back Folks, Let Us Know How You Feel

mmahaffie — Mon, 23 Aug 2004 20:18:54 -0800

An Ugly Buildings Hit List seems to be developing in Scotland. The president of the Royal Institute of British Architects is calling for the demolition of the ugliest buildings in Scotland. The Architects have their list, and the press is asking the public to chime in as well (with pictures).

Cyburbia

PrinceValium — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 11:34:22 -0800

Cyburbia - the urban planning portal. (Check out the photo gallery.)