The Handbuilt City

Nat returns to the Land of the Rising Passive Aggression to log some CEUs and talk about housing innovation.

new york city ban on coal-fired pizza ovens

April 10, 2024 Nat M. Zorach

Burgerbanism: Coal-Fired Pizza, The Latest Front in the Culture War?

New York City has banned coal-fired pizza ovens unless they’re equipped with industrial-grade pollution treatment systems. Pizza didn’t do anything to deserve this.

International Religion & Faith

April 3, 2024 Nat M. Zorach

Let’s Not Spray Paint Swastikas on Synagogues. Okay?

Hate crimes do absolutely nothing to make the world a better place. Do you even have a good point, though, by using the swastika to liken a government of right-wing extremists to another government of right-wing extremists? Also no.

light bulb over the city for the NREL prize

Energy Energy Efficiency Policy

April 2, 2024 Nat M. Zorach

NREL Prizes for Energy Innovation

The Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory are teaming up to produce a series of competitive prize programs to facilitate innovation in energy and decarbonization.

ghost kitchens restaurant delivery and takeout industry

Burgerbanism Business & Economics

March 22, 2024 Nat M. Zorach

Burgerbanism: Ghost Kitchens, The Latest Wild Idea In Restaurant Innovation

The delivery app industrial complex has some interesting new models for how to brand, sell, and prepare fast food.

Affordable housing Events Housing Urban Planning

March 19, 2024 Nat M. Zorach

YIMBY Meetup in April!

On April 4th, The Handbuilt City and ADL Ventures will host an event at Batch Brewing Company in Detroit to talk about how we can unlock housing opportunity using industrialized construction and regulatory innovation.

Cars

March 8, 2024 Nat M. Zorach

Motornormativity: How Cars Undermine Empathy And Promote Violence

The term “carbrain” is well-established in left-urbanist circles. According to one academic study, it’s actually a real thing– and, the authors of that study say, it threatens to undermine safety and sustainability as we think about the future of the built environment and the technology we use to move through it.

ugly yet charming midcentury housing austin texas

Affordable housing Housing Policy

March 4, 2024 Nat M. Zorach

Everything’s Bigger In Texas, Including The YIMBY Movement

Keep Austin weird? Or, “keep Austin’s built environment thoroughly eclectic and its infrastructure slightly dysfunctional”? Lessons from the first YIMBYTown conference in the Lone Star State.

Burgerbanism Food

March 1, 2024 Nat M. Zorach

Burgerbanism No. 12: The Strip Malls Of Austin Barbecue

Nat explores the delicacies of the strip malls of north Austin, Texas, as the city densifies steadily and continues to produce award-winning barbecue.

Detroit Economic Development Housing

February 21, 2024 Nat M. Zorach

Billionaire Owner of Losing Sports Team Wants More Handouts

Yesterday, the Detroit City Council deferred a vote to lavish public subsidies on a new project of the healthcare industrial