Favorites September 19th 2023

David Watson

Sep 20, 2023

See new posts Conversation Coby @Cobylefko An under appreciated component of our favorite places is building right up to the property line. When combined with more broadly admired narrow streets, we get a sense of enclosure that envelops us, makes us feel protected & comfortable, as opposed to small and vulnerable. — (src)

I just can't imagine a situation where a street would feel nicer with larger setbacks or a wider street.

See new posts Conversation Dan Federman @dfed.me @TheFederman This is how Paris’s Fire Department lowered response times while adding tons of protected bike lanes: they shrunk their fire engines! If Paris can do this (where the median building is ~7 stories), I’m surprised that @SFFDPIO can’t. — (src)

Here are more photos of the tiny little fire trucks that operate in a city much denser than any in California.

Bella Chu @bellachu10 A really good benchmark for historic preservation: is the building open to the public? Penn Station and historic hotels w/ ground floor restaurants (even if you have to pay for drinks) are public goods. Walking past some rich guy’s house does not benefit anyone but the occupant. Quote Max Dubler 🏳️‍🌈 @maxdubler · Sep 18 Replying to @maxdubler I am fine with historic landmarking a limited number of *individual structures* of extraordinary value. I have a problem when we start freezing entire neighborhoods in time. https://twitter.com/andkg/status/1703800149221298345?s=46&t=s2lg3xg-3S9fmnfZ2K66kA — (src)

Here's a longer thread on the subject, but I think a public access requirement should be absolutely fundamental to any historic preservation.

friendly gecko @friendly_gecko I liked this part. Tokyo offers abundant proof that homes, small businesses, convenience stores, and even factories can all coexist. One wonders why strictly segregated zoning exists at all.

Kuramae, however, remains affordable for many, and even as newer buildings replace older ones, it remains economically diverse. The ease of building in Tokyo means that new construction is not synonymous with luxury housing. Small workshops and factories are common. The Mendos’ neighbors include a custom lacemaker, a small factory that embosses items for department stores and a paper goods store. Yoshinobu Yanase, a dapper man dressed in a tan vest and a bow tie, worked for more than a decade as a salesman for a fashion accessories company, dabbling in design and even persuading the company to make some of his products. Then, three years ago, he started selling his own line of leather backpacks, messenger bags and other leather goods from a room in a multi-floor retail building in Kuramae. He sells only 30 to 40 items each month, but he pays only 90,000 yen per month for the store and 110,000 yen for a 600-square-foot one-bedroom apartment on the other side of the Sumida River. The combined rent is the equivalent of roughly $1,400 a month. “In Tokyo,” he said, “it is possible to do this.” — (src)

It's a quote from a recent NYTimes article about Tokyo, the affordable big city. After reading Arbitrary Lines, I'm now convinced that the ideal is to literally get rid of zoning. Here's an argument where the author expands a bit on why he's a full blown 'zoning abolitionist'.

Flotsam and Jetsam

– SF Sunset Night Market was very successful, they're going to do it every month starting sprint 2024 (src)
– Russian army recruitment ad shows soldiers discussing which part of Kiev they want to live in. Very anti-colonialist of them /s. (src)
– Mercury News has an article about how prop 13 is destroying California's schools. (src)
– Stores are moving to using RFIDs to do checkout. Amazon too, they're abandoning the camera approach. (src)
– "political extremism supported by an illusion of understanding" (src)
– Go to jail for skipping a $3 bus fare, but kill a pedestrian and you might not even get a ticket. (src)
– While it is finally smoky in the bay area today, looking at a satellite photo, we're actually doing quite well, relatively few fires in CA this year. (src)

– Literally lost an F-35. (they eventually found it again) (src)
– Article about the debate held by The Free Press on 'has feminism failed' was amusing. (src)
– Lawrence Lessig argues that congress should rule that Trump is eligable to run for president, to avoid a constitutional crisis. (src)

– Microsoft leaked both their Xbox 10-year strategy doc and also like 20 TB of employee backups all in one day! (src)
– Court blocks california's 'protect the children' online safety bill. (src)