Urban planning - The Handbuilt City

drawing of a row of different houses

Real Estate Urban Planning Affordable housing Housing

Will California Get Out Of Its Own Way?

February 6, 2023February 5, 2023 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments Accessory dwelling unit, accessory dwelling units, ADU, adus, bay area, california, california housing crisis, california housing prices, cities, densification, Density, exclusionary zoning, granny flats, housing, housing development, population density, san jose, sb9, subdivision, Urban planning

Zoning reform has become a flashpoint for political debate in the United States. While it intuitively seems like it would

auburn-hills-transit-downtown-michigan-SMART-service-funding

Urban Planning Transit infrastructure

Into Exurban Oblivion: Auburn Hills Mulls Ditching Transit Service

February 21, 2022February 21, 2022 Guest 0 Comments auburn hills, bus, bus ridership, buses, calley wang, chrysler, DaimlerChrysler, DDOT, Detroit, divergent diamond, diverging diamond, editorial, farebox recovery ratio, fca, FCAU, fiat chrysler, Flint MTA, Ford, general motors, great lakes crossing, how is transit funded, mdot, michigan department of road engineering, michigan department of transportation, Nat Zorach, nimbyism, public transit, retrofitting the suburbs, ridership, RTA, rta michigan, SMART, stellantis, suburban transit, the handbuilt city, transit, transit funding, transit millage, transportation, Urban planning

In one of the farthest-north suburbs of Detroit, a municipality’s elected representatives are discussing the possibility of eliminating fixed-route transit, which has the support of an overwhelming percentage of the electorate, to save around $800,000 per year. In this guest co-editorial, Calley Wang and Nat Zorach argue that this is a really, really terrible idea.

the sears tower looms beyond the brutalist campus of the university of illinois chicago, where the summer institute on sustainability and energy (SISE) takes place.

Mobility Public transit Transit infrastructure

Best Nerds Podcast No. 2: Innovation and Equity in Transportation

July 14, 2021July 14, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments argonne national lab, best nerds, best nerds on earth, best nerds podcast, bike lanes, bike lanes and gentrification, bike lanes are white lanes, city planning, DDOT, detroit department of transportation, economic justice, equity, ian edward munroe, ian munroe, JCESR, kelsey zlevor, kunal sahasrabuddhe, lisa nuszkowski, Mikki Taylor-Hendrix, mobility, MoGo, mogo detroit, Nat Zorach, public transit, racial justice, summer institute on sustainability and energy, thomas alaan, transit, transit justice, transit organizing, transportation, transportation justice, university of illinois chicago, university of new orleans, Urban planning, wsp

Our second podcast is finally out. I take responsibility for the delay. There were some technical issues I ran into,

Urban Planning Transit infrastructure

Dreams of Better Transit Signage. How Legible Is Your City?

June 23, 2021June 23, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments advocacy, bus, bus routes, buses, calley wang, camillo sitte, citycraft, dan gilbert, dan gilbert industrial complex, DDOT, detroit department of transportation, jane jacobs, legibility, LRT, martha connell, motor city freedom riders, QLINE, richard sennett, ridership, robert moses, statecraft, transit, transit corridors, transit infrastructure, transit signage, transportation riders united, TRU, urban design, Urban planning

Transit advocacy should necessarily focus on making sure transit systems can be easily accessed. In many cases, that begins with signs to show people where to go.

Urban Planning Mobility Transit infrastructure

Transportation Bonanza 11: The Rural, The Urban, And The MDOT

February 17, 2020February 20, 2020 Nat Zorach 0 Comments conferences, field trips, green stormwater infrastructure, lansing, mdot, michigan, mobility, planning, stormwater, transit, transportation, transportation engineering, transportation planning, Urban planning

Nat takes a snowy Thursday trip to the capital to attend the Transportation Bonanza in Lansing with other planners, engineers, and nerds.

Greening Sprawl and The Limits of Incrementalism

October 8, 2019October 8, 2019 Nat Zorach 0 Comments arkansas, CNU, Density, Detroit, greenfield, LEED, municipal revenue, New Urbanism, Oklahoma, rick fedrizzi, Sprawl, straw ban, strip malls, suburbia, suburbs, townships, Urban planning

Often, when I get excited about a discussion about sustainable urbanism or green building, the projects in question turn out

Business & Economics Urban Planning Canada Cycling

Canada Trip III – Leaving Montreal

September 18, 2019November 15, 2019 Nat Zorach 0 Comments anglophone, business, Canada, congestion, francophone, jeune chambre de commerce du quebec, marketing, mobility, montreal, multicultural marketing, publicis, quebec, quebecois, Toronto, urban growth, Urban planning, voxco

We leave Montreal today for Toronto, where we will begin the “extension” portion of our Canada program. Our Montreal trip

Cities & Urban Planning

Detroit Park City: Unlearning the Motor City’s Parking Culture

June 8, 2017 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments Density, donald shoup, free parking, jeff speck, parking, parking garages, parking minimums, Urban planning

At a recent MDOT planning meeting hosted at the illustrious Shed 5 in Detroit’s Eastern Market, I again found myself thinking,

That Dude Who Voted No On My Zoning Proposal Is Now In Jail And Schadenfreude Is Real

January 27, 2016April 25, 2017 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments Calumet Region, community development, East Chicago, Indiana, Indiana Harbor, Inland Steel, Renovation, Rust Belt, Steel mills, Urban planning, US Steel, Zoning

In a scenario worthy of the Duma or a small, post-colonial African republic, newly reëlected East Chicago city councilman Robert