99% Invisible did an episode recently about coverting office buildings to residential. Its an idea that I hear floated pretty often and sometimes get questions about as a structural engineer (I’m not that kind of structural engineer, so I never have much of an answer other than broad strokes, ha). Especially in the post covid, remote/hybrid work world.
I don’t think its really their finest work, but it is nice to see someone at least take a small dive into some of the issues these kinds of projects have to deal with. I think this topic deserved a bit more time and would have loved to see them do a mini series on it.
Anyway, I saw this thread get revived and thought this episode might be interesting to some folks here. Enjoy!
Hi DTR Community,
Please consider attending this event June 6th. Featuring Daniel Herriges, co-author of the latest Strong Towns book Escaping the Housing Trap.
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this already; but the City of Raleigh recently launched a podcast called Big Ideas Raleigh. Seems like a cool idea. Already a few episodes in the stream.
Imagine not using the excuse of not having a robust rail solution while STILL pursuing development that prioritizes the pedestrian. IMO, there’s no reason why Raleigh can’t take learnings from this sort of development. I also appreciate that they are open to modifying their strategy and development model to be inclusive of some cars in a really surgical way.
Traveling across the country this past year, Tempe is one of the only cities I would live in outside of the Raleigh or Durham. It’s fantastic and well connected. Street cars, light rail,10 mins from airport, scenic, and they are creating a walkable community from virtually nothing. Have long thought the culdesac concept would be great for the DMV site.
The Culdesac concept is interesting. I would love for a Raleigh developer to build something like this. Though with a different name. The name is horrible.
Very interesting article about why buildings today are simple and austere, while buildings of the past were ornate and elaborately ornamented. The answer is not the cost of labor.
Not quite on the topic of Urban Raleigh but here’s a panel discussion that I participated in about online communities and I just want to say that you all make yourself look good! I thought this was really interesting and I was proud to be a speaker on it. I invite any one to give it a listen as different people discuss a possible future with more thoughtful, tight-knitted communities.
Exploring the role of local forums to strengthen information, community and democracy
Forget what you know about the current infrastructure of digital public forums—listservs, Facebook Groups, Nextdoor. Done right, forums could be spaces where local journalism can thrive, build a real audience, and do the essential work of informing people on topics important in their lives, investigating corruption and malfeasance, and providing useful analysis. Unfortunately, the local forum is an oft-neglected area with a lot of potential upside for communities, local journalism, and American democracy.
Watch this compelling discussion that asks us to imagine a wave of thriving, prosocial, public-spirited local forums, ones that are AI-enabed and community-led, and that increase community cohesion and resilience, while strengthening civic engagement and democracy.
Interesting and thoughtful discussion, thanks for sharing! What brought me here to start was my professional interest in urban design and place. Raleigh, despite my long absence, still feels like the place I am rooted.
2nd is the detailed coverage of DTR that really no other professional news site can, or is willing, to provide. We get crowd sourced news and updates that I never get from the traditional media.
Finally, I enjoy the general civility. Despite what I know to be a wide range of political outlooks, as a whole we seem to keep things focused and respectful. In many ways this a safe harbor for me from the tempst that is the rest of the world.
I am so pleased to see Leo get some recognition for the great job he’s done in creating, moderating and perpetuating this form. This is closer to the future we were promised than the mosh pit that is most social media. Again, thanks Leo and to everyone else who makes this such a lively, engaging and informative place to experience.
