Labor Takes a Vacation

Street and alley vacations can be a fraught affair these days. A vacation is when a private developer purchases public right of way to build on, under, or over. A parking lot under an alley way, for example, is a subterranean vacation. But it’s not just a sale because there has to be “public benefit.” […]

On Urban Density: We’re Not All Goldilocks

This post originally appeared on Better Institutions on April 20, 2014. Goldilocks is the story of a selfish young girl who breaks into another family’s home, eats their food, and destroys their property. She has a very self-centered perception of what’s “just right,” and she’s perfectly willing to trample on the rights of others in […]

DPD on Sinks: Social Plumbing, Too

Scott Shapiro of Eagle Rock Ventures sent the following letter to Department of Planning and Development (DPD) and City Council staff on proposals from DPD to regulate sinks in microhouisng. I’ve written about the strange obsession that some people on Council and others have about sinks (I called it social plumbing). This is a good […]