The Overhead Wire will send out daily news about the city and a link to our email list. At the end of the week, they pick the most popular articles and post them to Greater Greater Washington, a Streets.mn-like group blog focused on urban issues in the DC area. They’re a national link, sometimes fun, sometimes silly, but hopefully helpful.
no less parking: Researchers at a business association in Toronto found that replacing parking spaces with cafe seating and other uses during the pandemic generated $181 million in sales. If the parking lot had been used for cars, in the same time frame he would have generated $3.7 million. The results point to a perverse incentive to use scarce urban real estate for parking cars rather than human activity. (Oliver Moore | Globe and Mail)
Self-driving cars won’t go anywhere fast: After investing $100 billion and taking on passengers for six years, tech companies are still far from flooding the roads with “self-driving” cars. Even the once-evangelical supporters of the movement have given up on working with vehicles in a constrained environment. Supporters still believe the vehicle is finally ready, but it won’t be until we’re all very old.(Max Chavkin | Bloomberg Businessweek)
curbless street in Ann Arbor: Ann Arbor has completed the first segment of the city’s first curbless street. When completed, the street will be three blocks long, giving merchants flexibility for outdoor dining and deliveries. The city also removed north-facing lanes and widened sidewalks. (Ryan Stanton | MLive)
An anthropologist’s view of housing: Why build a house and neglect maintenance? We ponder these ideas in more depth in a fascinating interview about our new project at End of the House: Racism and Correction in the Late-Industrial Midwest(Eve Glasberg | Columbia News)
How to recycle the tower: In Amsterdam, the Dutch recycle all materials from a 14-story office tower. This could be a future blueprint for waste reduction around the world. The project derives from the theory of regenerative economics and cradle-to-grave material handling. Reuse is the best-case scenario for many materials and devices, but the way they are designed can make implementation difficult. The economy as a whole needs to understand how to implement projects like this to maximize their impact. (Jessica Camille Aguirre | The New York Times)
Quote of the week
“You can feel the pollution all the time. Even when you get home, it still smells like it’s been polluted.”
– Ines Galan on Bloomberg’s CityLab talks about car troubles in London.
Podcast this weekjournalist Megan Kimble talks about the battle between housing and highways in Texas.
