New Articles on Urbanism in New York

July 12, 2020 Taylor Seidel

The New York times published not one, but two excellent pieces this week that explore the transformative power of deprioritizing cars and prioritizing pedestrians and bikers on our streets. Although New York likes to think of itself as a great city like Paris, London, or Vancouver, New York has fallen dramatically behind on improvements to the urban space. I liked these two pieces because they harness our imagination to show how small improvements (a repainted street, a bike bridge) could help shape the city in which we all deserve to live.

Diagram showing how space that’s currently devoted to cars could be shifted to create more space for pedestrians (nytimes)

A diagram of a complete street - with room for pedestrians, bikers, buses, shared transit (taxis), and cars (nytimes)

I’ve Seen a Future Without Cars, and It’s Amazing - Farhad Manjoo

This is an amazing piece and worth checking out for the powerful graphics alone. I am a firm believer that simple and intuitive graphics (backed up with data and best practices) are one of the simplest ways of advancing the cause for a better city. When people oppose zoning changes or bike lanes, I optimistically believe that deep down they share our mission - a better city - but lack the vocabulary and institutional knowledge required to imagine the potential positive effects of the improvement and the possible negative ramifications of not improving anything. Graphics like this are going to start great conversations - I can’t wait to see where they lead.

I was very interested to see the that the url slug for this article was “ban-cars-manhattan.” The idea of banning cars is one that very few urbanists prescriben to… but one that is often thrown in our faces when we propose changes to the city. Giving the NYTimes the benefit of the doubt, I’d like to think that this was simply the most convenient way of abbreviating this longer headline. But my cynical side thinks the editors were being intentionally inflammatory to attract tens of thousands of angry comments!

New York as a Biking City? It Could Happen. And It Should. - Michael Kimmelman

This article explores a remarkable plan for a 425-mile system of protected bike lanes throughout New York City that was proposed by The Regional Plan Association (boring name but awesome work!). Protected bike lanes are one of the best and cheapest ways to encourage more people to use their bikes to get around. And as has been demonstrated by cities like Paris, the COVID pandemic is a huge opportunity to grow these bike networks. This was my favorite quote from the article:

Getting through this whole crisis depends on city leaders’ capacity to think ahead, not hunker down. Robert Moses, New York’s storied planning czar, plotted during the depths of the Depression so he could be ready when the money materialized. Whatever else one might say about Moses, he knew how to get stuff done.

Although it’s funny to find inspiration from a reviled planner like Robert Moses, in this he’s right. Now is our time to plan the city we aspire to live in - tomorrow we’ll make it happen.

The Shape of the City

September 13, 2019 Taylor Seidel

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Broadacre City (Image from CityLab)

Whether I’m day dreaming out the window at my office or walking around running errands, I think a lot about the shape of the city. I am fascinated by the intersection of humanity, capitalism, and nature. Before building a city, us humans see a landscape with lakes, rivers, forests, hills, and valleys. For better or worse, we bridge the rivers, we flatten hills, we shape the shoreline, and we carve streets into the hillside. While we try to follow a plan - usually a grid - we often end up with a smorgasbord of layouts. Throughout this network of streets, we build all sorts of buildings shaped by the funny confluence of economics, policy, and aesthetics. While the natural world that we bulldozed emerges here and there in our parks, the weeds cracking through a sidewalk, and the bunnies procreating in my neighborhood, the business of human life builds through decades of routine. People make simple choices: What’s the fastest route to my job? What’s the most convenient form of transportation available? How far am I willing to walk for a little errand? These little decisions have huge consequences into how the city is laid out, valued, and built. And none of this is a straight-line: it’s a messy, beautiful mixture of many forces working in all sorts of ways we don’t understand.

I recently read this fascinating article in CityLab called The Commuting Principle That Shaped Urban History by Jonathan English. English explores the idea of the Marchetti Constant - the principle that most people are willing to commute 30 minutes to their job each day. In practice, this means “that the physical size of cities is a function of the speed of the transportation technologies that are available.” From ancient Rome to medieval European cities, the dimensions of the city were determined by how far someone could walk in 30 min - about a 1 mile radius. Fast forward to the 18th century when trains and streetcars were introduced to cities like Chicago and Philadelphia - now the city could grow in scale to accommodate new commuting technologies. Then skip to the mid-1950s when cities grew by another order of magnitude… this time determined by the scope of their freeways and automobile infrastructure. The car reigned supreme for half a century and created cities of massive sprawl.

The growth of cities based on the technology most people used to commute. (Image from CityLab)

The fascinating Marchetti Constant renders one of the many complex factors that shape our cities into an incredibly simple rule - a 30-minute commute. Although this phenomenon is based on quantitative data about the sizes of cities over time, if you look at it the other way, it suggests that a 30-minute commute is one that is reasonable and satisfactory for most people. More urban planning principles should be grounded in beliefs about a satisfactory city life - What is a reasonable proximity to parks? To public transit? To shops and restaurants? And to our neighbors? - instead of around which technologies are the most efficient or groundbreaking.

But when we do pause to think about the technologies that shape our cities, it’s clear we have to take a step back from cars. Since cities with robust public transit and pedestrian and bike access are not only more sustainable but so much more pleasant to live in, it is time for a fundamental rethinking of the shape and size of our cities.

Recreating History

Seattle of 1908 (Image from the Seattle Times)

Seattle of 2019 (Image from the Seattle Times)

While on the topic of cities and change, I also wanted to give a shout out to a semi-regular feature in the Seattle Times that I love. It compares historical photographs with their modern day equivalent. I loved the image that was shared today. In a city changing as quickly as Seattle, it’s sometimes hard to imagine the city 20 years ago and it’s nearly impossible to recognize the Seattle of 1908, but it’s wonderful to imagine what it would have been like. So many things we take for granted - how did you even get to Mercer Island without the bridge!? - are not yet built. Comparing the historical photograph taken somewhere in Fremont with the modern recreation, not only are the forests gone and the shoreline changed, but an entire bridge is blocking the view! In fact, the Seattle Times photographer describes how it is impossible to perfectly recreate the photograph because of the buildings and physical changes! Wow - how fast the city changes! I can’t wait to imagine the next 20 years!

Book Rec: Design is a Job

January 16, 2019 Taylor Seidel

I wanted to throw out a quick recommendation of a great book - Design is a Job by Mike Monteiro. In a delightful 135 pages, Monteiro provides a fresh roadmap for how to succeed in the current design industry. Reflecting on his experiences working as a designer AND as a boss, he is able to weave the creative and business aspects of the industry together. Besides being funny and down-to-earth, Monteiro has a gift for capturing workplace phenomena - describing dynamics and situations that are so straightforward and common sense that I’ve never been able to pin them down myself!

One of the most insightful chapters for me was about new business - the biggest driver of which being referrals. It’s a beautiful cycle that starts by simply doing some good work. Usually, you’re only able to do good work if it’s something you’re passionate about and believe in. Once you’ve done some good work and fostered a positive relationship with a client, they are likely to recommend you to others in their network. Doing great work for more clients means more referrals…. and more opportunities to sharpen your craft.

Since reading this book, I’ve tried to consider the business and logistical considerations of my own creative work and reconsider how I interact with other designers. Outside of the workplace, I’ve been thinking about how putting more positive energy into my work and relationships will lead to more great work and happier relationships. It can work internally on a team or in a company. It can work for volunteer opportunities and boards. It can even work for friendships and dating!

The moral of the story: If you invest your time and energy in work that you are passionate about, good things will come!

Artist converts storefront into theater

July 31, 2018 Taylor Seidel

I love downtowns - from the bustle of Manhattan to the 1-block heart of a rural community. Downtowns bring people together. I love what this artist has done to turn an unloved block into a cultural destination!