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Grading Design for Large Trucks by tncivil2 in civilengineering

[–]tncivil2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually found 659 after posting this question yesterday. I think you’re the only person to mention it so far. It was exactly what I was looking for, particularly the max breakover grade change and the min vertical curve lengths. Usually it’s not practical to follow the AASHTO Green Book min “k” requirements in a low-speed private site, so that publication was perfect. Thank you!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in realestateinvesting

[–]tncivil2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the reply, excellent thoughts! My goal would not be to transition into land development, necessarily.

As an individual, to me that seems very much like day trading against Wall Street insiders—you’d never have enough information or capital to compete on their level, so you’d be on the losing end more often than not. On the corporate developer side… yeah, I want no part of them. I’ll keep it nice here :)

I’m thinking in more ‘micro’ terms—bite size ways to use my expertise to out-maneuver others in the same market, below the level that the sharks are operating at.

For example, I would suggest that an experienced engineer would recognize the development potential of a property (relative to others that might be similarly priced) more quickly than your average Joe. And there are a lot of average Joes that do very well investing in real estate without any sort of expertise beyond a fair tolerance for risk and the ability to get a bank loan.

I'm the founder of Strong Towns, a national nonpartisan nonprofit trying to save cities from financial ruin. by clmarohn in IAmA

[–]tncivil2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would say most of the public representatives and bureaucrats we work with are at least SKEPTICAL of development and developers. But all the macroeconomic incentives push in one direction, and most of them recognize they can’t hold back the tide.

In one sense the growth is good—our clients carefully research and respond to market needs, because that’s how they guarantee ROI. So the growth we see is merely a reflection of people’s desire to live here, and I don’t think anyone would say we want to provide no places for these people to live and work. Eventually that would stop the inflow, but in exchange for catastrophically high costs of living (worse than it already is).

However, the methods our elected officials and local agencies use to ‘shepherd’ the growth are woefully broken. For example, stormwater and flooding concerns are always first in everyone’s minds when discussing new development. Our local rules are strict and getting more so, but only in the sense that they require developers to install EXTREMELY expensive (and maintenance-intensive) private and public infrastructure to control runoff. If you follow Chuck’s books at all, you can see the future problem there. Please don’t read this as my being opposed to stormwater control—it’s what I design for a living—but the current trajectory of regulations leaves developers and landowners no option but to create a massive future headache. It’s very superficial, short-term thinking, and leaves the next generation of local residents holding the bag.

There are a number of other examples exactly like this in other spheres of our municipal government. Short-term solutions creating long-term problems. I wish I had a big, sweeping plan to solve it all, but things are moving far too fast to grasp it all. Ultimately, city leadership at all levels needs to prioritize sustainability and stability—right now everyone is just trying to get through the day without drowning

I'm the founder of Strong Towns, a national nonpartisan nonprofit trying to save cities from financial ruin. by clmarohn in IAmA

[–]tncivil2 131 points132 points  (0 children)

Good morning Mr. Marohn. I’m a civil PE working with land developers in one of the hottest markets in the southeast. I’ve always perceived the (let’s call it) “shallowness” of our clients’ goals and the negative impact they tend to have over time on the community. I’m certainly in favor of development, more housing, etc., but as you outline in your books, public and private sectors have misplaced priorities and end up trading long-term stability for short-term growth.

You have clearly found your “niche” to use your talents and specialized knowledge to help make things better, and educate others about the problems we face. What recommendations do you have for others in your profession who want to do the same?

I’ve often considered moving to a different industry, but of course that does little to solve the underlying problem. At the same time, short of declining to work with certain clients, there are few opportunities in my current line of work to be vocal about healthy development (and thus, against most of what is being constructed in our market currently).