National Links: Not Everyone Can Afford to Ride the Bus
More than half of people with incomes below the federal poverty line can’t afford to access transit, and why jaywalking laws are outdated and unsafe.
Category: Housing
National Links: Phoenix’s Ancient Watery Secret
The desert city of Phoenix, Arizona is home to 180 miles of canals, supplying much needed water in a region plagued with scarcity. Yet the canals are not without precedent: the Hohokam people, who once inhabited the area, constructed hundreds of miles of canals to supply tens of thousands of acres of farmland, hundreds of years before Phoenix rose from the ashes of the civilization.
National Links: Wildfire Sprinklers
In Spain, two towns have erected a tower system, called the Guardian Project, to slow encroaching wildfires.
How Minneapolis Could Become A Missing Middle Housing Factory
Despite changing zoning codes to allow for more small multi-family housing, Minneapolis hasn’t seen much development. Here are some ways to improve the situation.
Envisioning a More Affordable Summit Avenue (and Rest of St. Paul)
What a Chicago boulevard can teach us about improving our land use in St. Paul.
National Links: The Politics of Air Conditioning
Remember when air conditioning was a luxury for the well off? Few people under 50 do, in the climate-controlled United States. Is our current comfort compromising our future’s heat index?
The Remarkable Garden of Miss Iris
May 10, 2022 Lexington-Hamline, Hamline-Midway, Frogtown, North End 17 miles Lexington-Hamline The practical purpose of garages — storage — means they play a secondary role to the importance, look and care of the accompanying house. An exception of sorts is the one-time garage behind 1277 Dayton Avenue. What was most likely the original garage has […]
The reality and myth of the Minneapolis 2040 plan
The Minneapolis 2040 plan is back in the news, but not for fun reasons. Last week, a Hennepin County district court judge ordered the City of Minneapolis to stop implementing that groundbreaking comprehensive plan until the city could demonstrate that it complied with state environmental legislation. The plan, which was adopted over three years ago, […]
National Links: No More Demolition
For half a century cities like St. Louis felt that demolition was the best way to solve urban ills tied to out-migration and decay. But according to Tony Nipert, this can result in another type of displacement through neglect. And solutions that include rehabilitation only result in more demolition 10 years later if actions aren’t taken to get people into those homes. Other solutions are needed to revitalize neighborhoods in cities.
National Links: The Inhumanity of ‘NIMBY’
Every day at The Overhead Wire, we collect news about cities and send the links to our email list. At the end of the week we take some of the most popular stories and post them to Greater Greater Washington, a group blog similar to streets.mn that focuses on urban issues in the D.C. region. […]