In 2004 I wrote a story for Urban Land entitled A Far West Side Story about the plan for a major redevelopment of the Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s far west side. In addition to a monstrous amount of office and housing, it was to be home of the new Jets stadium, which would also help the city attract the 2012 Olympics. In 2005 of course, London was awarded the Olympics and the far west side plans went in to flux. The plan has been revived of late, led by developer Tishman Speyer. It has generated extensive coverage in the New…

Kids in Cities has become a pet topic for me, as I introduce Ellis to places like Chicago, Boston and San Francisco while considering future school choices here in Minneapolis. Everywhere I go now, I hear about choices facing young parents in cities. Should I stay or should I go? On a visit to St. Louis last fall, I sat at Crepes in the City one Sunday morning, and overheard a young couple adamantly telling their friends that they were going to stay put after the kids were born. We were on Washington Avenue in the middle of yuppie-ville, or…

For a recent family trip to the bay area, I did a little reserach and our family stayed in two vacation rentals, one in Santa Cruz and the other in San Francisco. I loved it. They were prefect for my wife, son, wife’s parents and her brother, and all it took was a little browsing of a vacation rentals website to ensure what was around us and walkable. In Santa Cruz, we stayed in the quaint Seabright neighborhood, a few blocks from the ocean and a mile from downtown. The neighborhood was fabulous – a new urbanists dream with a…

By reading entries on this website, it is obvious that I travel quite a lot. I stay in a lot of hotels, and usually do a little research ahead of time to ensure they are well located, in a walkable part of the city. I have also done some market studies on hotels over the years, allowing me to survey the numbers and read up on industry trends. Between consulting and firsthand experience, I have come to understand a few things, including hotel concepts. Nowhere was this more apparent than at the Hilton Garden Inn in The Woodlands, Texas. I…

Following up on a prior entry, our brave legislature indeed did override Governor Pawlenty’s veto of the $6.6 billion transportation bill. The state gas tax will increase, as will sales taxes in the seven-county metro, all to pay for road and transit improvements. This is immensely good news, although it will cause long-term bitterness in the statehouse. Six farsighted and courageous House Republicans broke ranks to override the veto with the DFL, and it has already cost them leadership positions and endorsements. We’ll see if voters are as irrationally unforgiving come the fall elections. At long last, perhaps Minnesota will…

Perhaps the most frequently referenced term from “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” by the late Jane Jacobs is the notion of “eyes on the street.” To refresh your memory, she evokes the idea in her chapter on sidewalks and safety. She says there must be a clear demarcation between public and private space, there must be eyes on the street, and sidewalks must have fairly continuous foot traffic. A couple weeks ago, while renting a fabulous victorian flat in San Francisco, I was reminded of Jacobs’s writings firsthand, particularly when some shady characters were loitering on the…

Two issues have been my mind recently, and both have to do with the proliferation of the creation of town centers and lifestyle centers. Most of these new town centers are in suburban locations that don’t previously contain a “place to gather;” or a downtown in the traditional sense. The issues are whether or not it is possible for a single-developer to create a downtown from scratch in a short period of time, and in doing so, if these “town centers” have truly public streets or if they are private. The jury is still out on the first issue, but…