Urbanexus Update - Issue #62
Please scroll down for the weekly compilation of analysis, reporting and opinion about real estate and community development. Some links may lead to material that is behind a paywall.
Adapting to a changing downtown market
San Diego’s Horton Plaza — archpaper.com
The postmodern Horton Plaza Mall opened in 1985 and was conceived as a microcosm of the street grid overlain with typical shopping center typology, including self-constrained streetscapes and multilevel terraces. Defensive urbanism helped the mall thrive early on, but the complex has fallen on hard times in recent years. Now there is a plan to bring it up-to-date and integrate it with the surrounding downtown area.
Homelessness
A housing crisis tests liberal values in Berkeley, CA
This eccentric Northern California enclave was a sanctuary long before the designation became a must-have merit badge for any left-leaning city. But California’s housing crisis is testing whether Berkeley can remain that kind of place.
Seattle landlord losing tenants A long-time Ballard landlord is rapidly losing tenants due to the rampant crime, drug use, and homelessness on the surrounding streets.
As the face of homelessness changes, politicians cling to limited policy ideas and quick fixes. A more systematic approach is needed.
Metropolitan areas
Workers without college degrees flee larger metro areas Metropolitan areas long offered work and wages that drew job seekers. Now it depends on your education, and the ability to offset high housing prices.
Interior growth increasing in California — www.newgeography.com
A major shift took place in California’s population growth --- which has fallen below the national average --- over the past eight years. The latest Census Bureau population estimates (for July 1, 2018) show that growth has stalled in the coastal metropolitan areas. At the same time annual population growth rates have trended upward in the nearby interior areas.
An industrial town on the edge of a booming region
Located an hour ferry ride west of Seattle on the Olympic Mountain side, it is too far away for most would-be commuters, and a Navy shipyard there which employs more than 15,000 people dominates the waterfront downtown. But although the shipyard and nearby military bases are still major employers, the city itself has not fared as well.
Too much of a good thing
A permit, but no general contractor
A former strip club sits vacant as the developer continues its search for someone to renovate it amid Seattle's hot construction market.
Transportation
How to plan for the future of electric vehicles
Battery costs are dropping, the technology is proving itself on a larger scale, and there is strong public support and political will to move forward in many jurisdictions. But there are some challenges to overcome. Transit agencies need to consider electricity demand in their routing plans—something they’ve never had to think about before. Along with transportation patterns, agencies also need to consider electricity supply and facility constraints.
Gentrification
Rats are taking over Gentrifying neighborhoods are a key reason behind the vermin outbreak, which extends beyond New York — Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles are also confronting issues.
Around the world
Land may never be returned to Sri Lankan Tamils
Government authorities said about 80 percent of confiscated land had been handed back. The remainder, mostly held by the military, may never be returned, say post-conflict experts