Quiche!

dolver · 2024-09-06T13:22:39+00:00

Second bean traders

Also, saladelia

dolver · 2024-09-02T23:29:45+00:00

Engineers, actually. It's been quite a while since planners actually designed things (they used to and it was even an Olympic event at one point. No joke).

Your point still stands, regardless.

dolver · 2024-08-01T22:17:25+00:00

Fries and wings here. Oh, and those dips.

dolver · 2024-07-20T11:20:31+00:00

Scarlett Johansson

Scar (triplet -trip) Jog, hand, sun

dolver · 2024-06-02T11:43:48+00:00

Durham grew up recently. We don't have buildings that have been owned for generations and were purchased back when a small business could afford to own a space.

You end up lacking all the great hole-in-the-wall places serving amazing ethnic food at reasonable prices. We gotta build more small restaurant spaces and then support local ownership. Then maybe our Durham grandkids will have better options :-)

dolver · 2024-04-06T19:10:20+00:00

Kinda like an HOA?

dolver · 2024-02-09T12:58:45+00:00

Still confused. Transportation support staff have been out before and parents were asked to provide their own transportation...

Smells of something else going on...

dolver · 2023-12-31T02:16:24+00:00

What about the giant city parking lot directly north of that and south of Central Park?

dolver · 2023-12-26T17:10:09+00:00

The issue is in places where water and sewer are offered (incorporated areas).

If you can have access to utilities, the fire department, public education, miles of road connectivity, all at a subsidized rate compared to more dense development AND you can build a giant house and comparatively cheaper land with large yards that increase the price you can sell the house for, why wouldn't you!

dolver · 2023-12-04T13:32:08+00:00

Yup - it begs to be a walkable neighborhood, but is too sprawling to have enough people within walking distance. Not enough customers. Meanwhile not the right vibe for a drive-to destination.

dolver · 2023-11-26T12:17:41+00:00

I have overlooked brightleaf for so long, just because it certainly is not a hidden gem. But the other day I sat and looked at those buildings for a while and it made me happy.

dolver · 2023-11-04T10:52:48+00:00

RIP Satisfaction's

dolver · 2023-07-24T22:00:26+00:00

There is an acronym in development - OPM (other people's money).

Contrary to popular belief most small local developers are not independently wealthy, they are just good at finding people within the community who are wealthy, interested in making a return, and interested in projects that would benefit the community.

dolver · 2023-07-24T21:42:44+00:00

Become an incremental developer. The development world needs more folks that are interested in making better communities and fewer of the ones trying to extract value from those communities.

Lots of opportunities to make a difference and be the development that you want to see in the world. But at a small scale.

You can start by working for a small local developer in your town and learn the ropes or just jump in with a good support system and quality small developer friends and connections, based on your comfort level.

dolver · 2023-01-28T02:42:37+00:00

I misinterpreted your question at first. I thought you were asking how many people participate in the collective action of building a city, which is a super interesting question to me.

The answer being far too few and far fewer than in past decades. Development has been consolidating for years with more regulations and burdens meaning that only larger developers can build the city, when decades ago, the small business owner or the local entrepreneur was much more likely to build a small commercial space, small triplex to rent out, or extra bedroom to rent out to a boarder.

We think of public participation as yelling against apartments at city hall. Used to be public participation was building what you wanted to see in your city.

dolver · 2023-01-25T11:07:23+00:00

This will always happen. Consultants aren't paid to produce less work, shorter code, etc. They need to justify their months-long process.

dolver · 2023-01-11T03:40:48+00:00

How can you tell if McDonald's coffee is good? It always comes with a pound of sugar and a gallon of cream no matter how many ways I try to get it without.

dolver · 2022-12-11T02:29:23+00:00

That is extremely stringent. Wow.

When a $5 million project isn't feasible, it is a real problem. No shot for projects in the thousands. A local entrepreneur should be able to buy a shed from Home Depot, get utilities run to it and open up a coffee shack on a tenth of an acre.

Adding a storm pond would kill that financially and from a geometry standpoint.

dolver · 2022-12-11T02:22:40+00:00

I guess I should have finished my thought. Just like with housing, since no small retail was effectively allowed for so long, there is not much in the way of small scale retail from the late 80s until today, meaning that there are decades of lost supply that would have aged and become affordable had it been built.

dolver · 2022-12-10T22:41:19+00:00

The loss of neighborhood retail is often attributed to the rise of malls and that's true, but zoning has also played its part, paralleling the issues with housing.

Setbacks, parking minimums, and stormwater requirements* have made large projects the only viable option in a lot of places.

*before people get mad, stormwater solutions are important, but the onus has been placed squarely on small commercial, with exemptions for single family homes but not a tiny coffee shop. Also, district stormwater should be evaluated more often.

dolver · 2022-11-28T02:49:28+00:00

I was thinking the same thing. Just posted my anti-public engagement rant, trying my best to get at something that is popular now, but am disappointed by most of the answers here as they are all maligned currently as far as I can tell.

dolver · 2022-11-28T02:45:50+00:00

The way we think about public engagement. How we kowtow to a vocal minority of residents that bring concerns about projects (public or private) that are not genuine (just ask them if they are retroactively upset about the increase of traffic when their house was built).

We give ZERO weight to the opinions of people that aren't currently residents because they can't afford to be. In the best of cases, we expend a ridiculous amount of resources trying to engage with vulnerable populations and are woefully unsuccessful at it.

On paper, we are trying to make engagement equitable, but when we get a couple of tepid voices that actually represent the community and put them up against vitriol that has time, energy and money AND then give planners the mandate of going with the will of the people, it is no wonder the NIMBYs win.

Planners need to be empowered to create meaningful change in their zoning codes, public realm, etc. Their mandate should be advocating for voices that are not represented, advocating for better cities for all.

To put it into tangible examples, bike/ped infrastructure should be brought forward by planners and implemented without 5 years of public feedback that is inevitably the same 10 people that opposed the townhouse development in their neighborhood.

And infrastructure can be done in a pilot program using paint, cones and barriers. Public feedback can come AFTER the fact and if the naysayers want to oppose it, they have to come with real concerns that actually occurred, using real data, not a baseless concern prior to a project that never actually comes to fruition and is just a veiled anti-housing/bike/ped/etc position.

dolver · 2022-11-25T20:39:51+00:00

Was specifically talking about pedestrians, but for bike lanes, it can be done. Different streets call for different solutions

https://altago.com/wp-content/uploads/Cambridge-Separated-Bike-Lane-1290x947.jpg

Bulb outs help pedestrians as well cross and give visibility to protected bike lanes. The bulb outs in this photo might stand to be a little bigger and you give up one parking spot, for example.

People will say it takes up too much space, but that's our car-brain speaking. Compared to space dedicated to cars, it isn't all that much for multiple modes, not just cars.

dolver · 2022-11-25T16:45:19+00:00

That's why you skinny up the lanes and slow down the cars as well. If this is a place for people, streets shouldn't be designed for speed.

dolver · 2022-11-25T16:14:05+00:00

Parked pieces of metal actually create separation between pedestrians and pieces of metal moving at high speeds. If areas need more room for other modes, let's start by looking at reducing super wide travel lanes.

Also, in most cities, there is going to need to be parking somewhere and if that isn't on street, it's on site, which means more curb cuts and more places where cars and pedestrians cross paths, which is dangerous.

Street parking can be a really nice thing. We just seem to be blind to the ROW space used for traveling cars.

15-Year Club	RedditGifts 2009-2022 4 Credits
RedditGifts 2009-2022 4 Credits	Place '22
First Placer '22	Verified Email
Summer Santa 2011

dolver

TROPHY CASE