Comments on: The Daily Dig - NY Times ‘Special Infrastructure Issue’ Edition

By: Manufacture This » Blog Archive » Building Up Infrastructure

Manufacture This » Blog Archive » Building Up Infrastructure — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:01:44 +0000

[...] wants to note The Infrastructurist’s take on this past weekend’s New York Times feature on “infrastructure.” Earlier this [...]

By: admin

admin — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:57:00 +0000

Ken - I missed that quote. But you’re right — it’s rather striking.

-Jeb

By: Streetsblog Los Angeles » The Two-Wheeling Future of Fort Worth

Streetsblog Los Angeles » The Two-Wheeling Future of Fort Worth — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:36:45 +0000

[...] how dachas, or summer cottages, have provided food for urban Russians in economic hard times; and The Infrastructurist breaks down the NY Times magazine special issue on infrastructure this weekend, so you don’t have [...]

By: Streetsblog San Francisco » The Two-Wheeling Future of Fort Worth

Streetsblog San Francisco » The Two-Wheeling Future of Fort Worth — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:11:02 +0000

By: Dane

Dane — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:05:57 +0000

The Vinoly item about double-decking NYC streets and bikes causing traffic congestion was just utterly stupid.

By: Ken

Ken — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:26:25 +0000

So, what’s a man gotta do to get into prison in Austria? Sounds nice! I don’t want to turn an infrastructure blog into a debate about human rights and criminal justice, but I must say that this quote etched on a wall outside the prison is just beautiful: “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.”

Crappy prisons only harden hardened criminals. Kudos to Austria for this excellent exercise in rehabilitative justice.

By: Streetsblog Capitol Hill » The Two-Wheeling Future of Fort Worth

Streetsblog Capitol Hill » The Two-Wheeling Future of Fort Worth — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:16:33 +0000

By: Streetsblog New York City » The Two-Wheeling Future of Fort Worth

Streetsblog New York City » The Two-Wheeling Future of Fort Worth — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:00:37 +0000

By: Manufacture This » Blog Archive » The Early Shift

Manufacture This » Blog Archive » The Early Shift — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:00:44 +0000

[...] massive piece on infrastructure in Sunday’s New York Times magazine . Here’s the Infrastructurist blog’s take on it [...]

By: admin

admin — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:18:06 +0000

TAS,
Thanks for the comment. I’m a big fan of LaHood’s, as I think I’ve indicated on the site. But I’m not sure that being more dutiful in my summary of a Deborah Solomon q&a would help his cause. My goal in writing that item as I did was to entice people to click through and read the interview for themselves–that is, to pique some curiosity.

By: Cap'n Transit

Cap'n Transit — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:29:14 +0000

Thanks, Jeb! I like your site too; very informative! I can’t say I share your enthusiasm for highway bridges, but everyone’s got their own tastes!

By: TAS

TAS — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:34:26 +0000

Great digest of a Sunday Times Magazine worth reading. I understand the odd burden you feel to be both amused and amusing, but providing a little context would confer on Sec. LaHood the cred he deserves. Not sure I understand the practice of painting allies and adversaries with the same jaded brush.

If you read the piece referenced above on high-speed rail, you’ll hear Sec. LaHood saying: “These things can’t happen unless you have real intense involvement from the government…These things are very expensive. But we wouldn’t have an Interstate system if there weren’t an involvement from the government. That’s how we should look at high-speed rail.”

Let’s help him build us some transformative infrastructure; we can teach him how to skateboard later.

By: admin

admin — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:38:33 +0000

Thanks, Cap’n. I enjoy your site.

-Jebediah

By: Deacon

Deacon — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:55:01 +0000

Great Post! Been following the Hoover Dam By-Pass Construction. Thats truly an awesome project! Nothing like Concrete and Steel. Lets hope we can get some Rails n Ties down people!

By: Cap'n Transit

Cap'n Transit — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 03:42:45 +0000

Thanks for posting this. Lots of good stuff in there. Of course they had to include that moronic Vinoly PRT proposal, didn’t they?

By: Derek Young

Derek Young — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:25:16 +0000

Banning new retail construction would prove to be a complicated legal problem. Off the top of my head, I would think Equal Protection would be the most serious issue. You’re essentially creating two classes of property owners, ones who own already developed property and ones that don’t.

I would also think that local government would not be able to do it on its own even if it could justify some sort of permanent moratorium. New development would just move outside its boundaries. Instead we’d likely need amendment to each state’s zoning enabling acts.

We happen to be wrestling with such an issue in my town. The owner of two adjacent former car dealerships (closed before the financial crisis) wants to increase a building size cap in place in that business zone. The idea, though rather clumsy, is to force development to be a collection of smaller buildings. He’d prefer to build a large super retailer three times the size allowed. So while I’d like to have SOMETHING in that empty ugly space, building more big box when you’re trying to create a neighborhood is counterproductive.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:24:44 +0000

We don’t need no stinkin’ automobiles.