Land Use & Transportation

As our Southeast neighborhoods change and redevelop, it makes sense to consider the impacts on the City’s infrastructure. When single-family homes or smaller commercial buildings are replaced by increased commercial and residential density, how does the City account for increased demand on the water, transportation, sewer, stormwater, and open space services?  The City addresses those impacts by charging developers System Development Charges (SDCs), one-time fees based on the size and… Read More »The Nuts and Bolts of System Development Charges

The amount of new development in the SE Uplift coalition neighborhoods has been significant over the past year. Apartment buildings are seemingly springing up left and right, homes are being demolished and replaced by something different, and the splitting of lots is continuing to take place. Our quadrant is clearly a place where people want to live and where developers are eager to cash in on that desire. One issue… Read More »Solar Access and New Development

It is the nature of cities to change and evolve over time. Sometimes the change is dramatic like the transformation that is occurring on SE Division Street today. Other times, it is more subtle like when a large tree on your street succumbs to old age and has to be removed. Large or small, changes to a city’s built environment have an impact. They can breathe new life into a… Read More »Change is the only Constant

What will we see in the SE Uplift coalition area in 2014? One safe prediction is that there will be a number of land use and transportation planning projects that will impact our neighborhoods both this year and for many years to come. Here is a look at many of the projects that are taking place. 20s Bikeway A project that will plan, design and construct safety improvements along a… Read More »January 2014 Land Use Trends

If you are a parent of children of a certain age or perhaps if you are a person who grew up during a certain era, you might be familiar with the character Map who appears in the children’s show Dora the Explorer. Each episode, Map helps Dora figure out how to get to where she wants to go. It is a good lesson – if you don’t know where you… Read More »The Changing Role of Maps

This is a question I frequently hear from neighbors when they learn about a new development occurring in their neighborhood. Often this question is asked when they see construction equipment on a site – their first indication that something might be going on. This year, the Indian Institute of Technology have seen a 50 per cent fall in the number of start ups registering for hiring. Flipkart, Snapdeal, OlaCabs and… Read More »“Why wasn’t I notified about it?”

Our roads serve a lot of purposes. They move people and goods. They connect us to places we want to go and to our neighbors. They sometimes help to define our neighborhoods. They sometimes divide our neighborhoods. The competing needs of our roadways have been front and center in our coalition this summer. Neighbors and city agencies have been working together to balance the mobility needs of automobiles, transit, bicycles,… Read More »Trends in Land Use – Road Diets