JONATHAN BERK
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Trends and thoughts on the world of new urbanism from Greater Boston and the across the World.
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What Makes a City Attractive?

3/29/2016

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Many in Boston share a visceral reaction to the lack of variety that exists in the swiftly rising  Seaport section of Boston. The complains of "a sea of indistinguishable glass boxes" come from those in the design community and those who just spend time living, working or enjoying Boston's Seaport District.  We point to other waterfronts and cities around the world who have streetscapes developed over hundreds of years and wonder... "why can't new development in Boston look more like that?" 
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While we can all admit that these two images are striking in their differences and the desires to achieve or even replicate streetscapes as they exist in Amsterdam, we're not Amsterdam, or even Oslo.  It's important to understand some of the reasons behind why we may complain about the scale and design of the Seaport and learn how we can build urban streetscapes that work on the "human scale." 

The School of Life has done a great job of explaining the economic and regulatory drivers behind how cities develop and how we interact, live, work and fall in love with cities.

The 6 principles on how to build an attractive city. (as described by The School of Life) 
  1. Not too chaotic, not too ordered. Organised complexity. Between chaos and boring.
  2. Visible life.
  3. Compact. Squares: a square must offer containment but not claustrophobia.
  4. Orientation and mystery. Balance between big, straight boulevards and little warrens of streets.
  5. Scale. Ideal city block is 5 stories high. Tall buildings reserved for something special, worthy of prominence.
  6. Make it local. Cities need to have strong characters.
 
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Benefits outweigh the Burdens of New Housing in Massachusetts

3/15/2016

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The benefits of new housing far outweigh the burdens new housing brings on Massachusetts Cities and Towns.  That's the outcome of a study commissioned by the Public Policy Center and it's Executive Director Michael Goodman.  Listen to Mr. Goldman's interview on WBUR and read the text of the entire report below.
...Some of the other proposals on Beacon Hill that would require communities to make accommodations for multi family housing and improved municipal planning would move in that [positive] direction...
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    Jonathan Berk

    Starting a dialogue on the future of urban living in Boston and beyond.  

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