Infrastructure Archives - The Handbuilt City

Policy Energy Infrastructure

Biden Infrastructure Plan: What All Is Included?

April 2, 2021April 2, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments anna clark, biden administration, biden infrastructure bill, biden infrastructure plan, biden transportation policy, bridges, broadband internet, civilian climate corps, department of transportation, federal budget, federal deficit, federal spending, gretchen bakke, high-speed broadband, high-speed rail, infrastructure, infrastructure investment, joe biden, mdot, mobility infrastructure, nonmotorized infrastructure, nonmotorized transportation, pedestrian infrastructure, policy, port, ports, ports of entry, road safety, roads, USDoT, waterways

We must remind critics of the Biden infrastructure plan what all is included in the term “infrastructure.” It’s a little bit more than just cars.

Policy Mobility Infrastructure

Buttigieg Suggests VMT Tax. Here Are A Few Alternatives.

March 31, 2021March 31, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments air pollution, biden infrastructure plan, biden transportation policy, cap-and-trade, carbon tax, daily signal, david ditch, elon musk, F-150 Super Duty State of Mind, f150, f150 super duty, gas consumption, gas prices, gas prices under biden, gas station, gas stations, gasoline, george saros and her emails, infrastructure funding, infrastructure spending, oregon carbon tax, oregon VMT, pete buttigieg, secretary of transportation, tesla model 3, tesla model s, un agenda 21, UN Agenda 21 Globalist Conspiracy, Utah VMT, vehicle miles traveled, VMT tax

VMT is a tough sell for a variety of reasons. Can’t we just get it over with and get a national carbon tax?

Infrastructure Utilities

Centralization: Economy of Scale? Looming Disaster? Lil Bit of Both?

March 26, 2021March 26, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments 1.21 jiggawatts, ann durkin keating, blair kelley, centralization, charles perrow, chicago streetcars, coal power, decentralization, detroit edison, detroit public lighting, detroit public lighting authority, distributed generation, DTE Energy, electrical generation, georg leidenberger, hazen pingree, hazen s. pingree, history of street lighting, invisible networks, mehrsa baradaran, mistersky power plant, municipal streetcar systems, municipal water systems, municipalization, networks, normal accidents, power grid, power grids, private responsibility, public responsibility, samuel insull, social contract, solar power, street lighting, streetcar systems, Streetcars, texas winter storms, the detroit edison, transit systems

Streetcars, gas and water pipes, power lines, and other “invisible networks,” to borrow a line from the title of Ann Durkin Keating’s book, make up a vibrant history of infrastructure in which centralization vs. decentralization is a big debate.

Business & Economics Transit infrastructure Infrastructure

Black Ocean Strategy? Private Firms Are Looking To Cut Themselves A Slice Of The Infrastructure Pie.

March 25, 2021March 25, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments ann arbor, anthony townsend, austerity, autonomous cars, BRT, CASE, cavnue, chicago parking meter deal, chicago parking meters, daley the lesser, diane cross, EVs, fast bus, finance 101, ford mustang mach-e, free market, google, highways, hudson yards, infrastructure, Infrastructure Partners, invisible hand, jeff cranson, LRT, mach-e, mark de la vergne, mdot, michael heller, morgan stanley infrastructure partners, MSIP, mustang mach-e, PAV, privatization, privatization of transportation infrastructure, privatized, richard j. daley, richard m. daley, roadways, Sidewalk, sidewalk labs, SMART, smart city, smart roadways, subways, transportation infrastructure

Wall Street and Silicon Valley are looking for access to infrastructure as they seek out new markets and sources of reliable revenue streams and growth potential. It’s good work … if you can get it.

Environment Infrastructure Ecology

Rivers and Roads (and the World’s Largest Dam Removal)

January 14, 2021January 14, 2021 Vishva Nalamalapu 0 Comments clallam county, coast salish, dam removal, elwha, elwha river, elwha river dam, glines canyon, glines canyon dam, jefferson county, lake aldwell, lake mills, lower elwha klallam tribe, olympic peninsula, pacific northwest, salish sea, strait of juan de fuca, washington, washington state

In the Olympic Peninsula, dam removals on the Elwha River and resulting road washouts lead us to question the compatibility of changing ecosystems and unchanging infrastructure.

Adaptation & Resilience Climate Infrastructure

Farewell, Arecibo: The Need For Climate-Resilient Infrastructure

December 10, 2020December 10, 2020 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments adaptation, arecibo, arecibo observatory, arecibo radio telescope, astrophysics, carl sagan, climate change, dam collapse, edenville dam, extreme weather, flooding, goldeneye, henry flagler, hurricanes, jodie foster, overseas railroad, pierce brosnan, puerto rico, radio astronomy, radio telescope, resilience, sanford dam, sean bean, st. francis dam, tacoma narrows bridge, teton dam, tom skerritt, william fichtner

The collapse of the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico highlights the gradual attrition of American leadership in science, and the failure of an entire generation of political leadership– in both parties- to address the increasingly grave threats of climate change.

Adaptation & Resilience Energy Infrastructure

“What, Me Maintain Critical Infrastructure?” The Problem With Privatization

May 21, 2020May 21, 2020 Nat Zorach 0 Comments

The Edenville Dam collapse in Michigan highlights the problem of what happens when critical infrastructure is deregulated– and privatized.

Environment Infrastructure

Green Stormwater Infrastructure And You

April 13, 2020April 13, 2020 Nat Zorach 0 Comments combined sewer overflow, CSO, CSS, green stormwater infrastructure, GSI, infrastructure, infrastructure funding, urban heat island

I made a GSI Alignment Chart to help explore– perhaps with some levity- different approaches to green stormwater infrastructure.