#building-codes — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #building-codes, aggregated by home.social.
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Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment For Taiwan - Updates And Improvements In TEM PSHA2025
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2026.108903 <-- shared paper
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https://www.globalquakemodel.org/product/global-seismic-hazard-map <-- shared (open data) Global Seismic Hazard Map / data
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#GIS #spatial #mapping #seismic #earthquake #catalogues #catalog #resilience #risk #hazard #geology #engineeringgeology #probabilistic #seismichazardassessment #PSHA) #groundmotion #models #modeling #Taiwan #TaiwanEarthquakeModel #rupture #Offshore #seismogenic #structures #opendata #GEM #GlobalSeismicHazardMap #PSHA2025 #national #seismichazard #engineering #infrastructure #subduction #structuralgeology #planning #design #policy #regulations #buildingcodes -
Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment For Taiwan - Updates And Improvements In TEM PSHA2025
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2026.108903 <-- shared paper
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https://www.globalquakemodel.org/product/global-seismic-hazard-map <-- shared (open data) Global Seismic Hazard Map / data
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#GIS #spatial #mapping #seismic #earthquake #catalogues #catalog #resilience #risk #hazard #geology #engineeringgeology #probabilistic #seismichazardassessment #PSHA) #groundmotion #models #modeling #Taiwan #TaiwanEarthquakeModel #rupture #Offshore #seismogenic #structures #opendata #GEM #GlobalSeismicHazardMap #PSHA2025 #national #seismichazard #engineering #infrastructure #subduction #structuralgeology #planning #design #policy #regulations #buildingcodes -
#NoNaturalDisasters [UN]
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https://www.undrr.org/our-impact/campaigns/no-natural-disasters | https://www.nonaturaldisasters.com/ <-- shared technical articles
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#Resilience #ClimateAction #Governance #risk #hazard #riskassessment #naturalhazard #disaster #humanimpacts #engineeringgeology #NoNaturalDisasters #natural #nature #earthquake #storm #flood #flooding #tsunami #volcano #desertification #wildfire #fires #publicsafety #planning #policy #preparedness #ISO31000 #monitoring #buildingcodes #engineering #landuse #earlywarning #humanmaderisk #exposure #vulnerability #socioeconomic #ecosystems #habitat #livelihoods #farming #infrastructure #buildings #structures #industrial #cost #recovery #economics #homes #extremeweather #hurricane #tornado #resilience #sustainability #poverty #assessment #UNDRR #UN #riskreduction
@United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction -
#NoNaturalDisasters [UN]
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https://www.undrr.org/our-impact/campaigns/no-natural-disasters | https://www.nonaturaldisasters.com/ <-- shared technical articles
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#Resilience #ClimateAction #Governance #risk #hazard #riskassessment #naturalhazard #disaster #humanimpacts #engineeringgeology #NoNaturalDisasters #natural #nature #earthquake #storm #flood #flooding #tsunami #volcano #desertification #wildfire #fires #publicsafety #planning #policy #preparedness #ISO31000 #monitoring #buildingcodes #engineering #landuse #earlywarning #humanmaderisk #exposure #vulnerability #socioeconomic #ecosystems #habitat #livelihoods #farming #infrastructure #buildings #structures #industrial #cost #recovery #economics #homes #extremeweather #hurricane #tornado #resilience #sustainability #poverty #assessment #UNDRR #UN #riskreduction
@United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction -
Structure Crumbles, Health Falters: City Declares Residence Unfit for Habitation
Why was the house declared unfit for living on May 20 2026? Learn how this affects local property values and what owners must do to fix the building.
#citysafety, #housingnews, #propertyupdate, #buildingcodes, #localnews
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City officials condemned a local home today due to major structural damage. This is a serious safety step to protect people from health risks.
#citysafety, #housingnews, #propertyupdate, #buildingcodes, #localnews
https://newsletter.tf/city-condemns-unsafe-house-may-2026/ -
Building permit disputes: sheds, electrical, and living spaces. Some violations upheld, others dismissed due to board splits. #PermitIssues #BuildingCodes #LocalGovernment #PropertyLaw #Zoning
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The one reason Americans can’t build quaint, walk-up apartments like they have in Europe
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The one reason Americans can’t build quaint, walk-up apartments like they have in Europe
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The $30 Fix That Keeps Your House 55°F Forever - Why Did The Industry Ban It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJD11GGbG1s#6FeetDown #GroundHeat #Thermodynamics #Buildingcodes #ThermalManagement #Climate #PassiveHomes #Energy #Architecture #PassiveHouses #ThermalPhysics #DefusionLength
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The $30 Fix That Keeps Your House 55°F Forever - Why Did The Industry Ban It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJD11GGbG1s#6FeetDown #GroundHeat #Thermodynamics #Buildingcodes #ThermalManagement #Climate #PassiveHomes #Energy #Architecture #PassiveHouses #ThermalPhysics #DefusionLength
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This $0 Wall HEATS Your Home in Winter, COOLS It in Summer — HVAC Industry Buried It for 60 Years
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2laXfgGNC8#Buildingcodes #HVAC #Energy #Architecture #Trombewall #ThermalMassWalls #ThermalPhysics #Physics #SolarEnergy
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This $0 Wall HEATS Your Home in Winter, COOLS It in Summer — HVAC Industry Buried It for 60 Years
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2laXfgGNC8#Buildingcodes #HVAC #Energy #Architecture #Trombwall #ThermalMassWalls #ThermalPhysics #Physics #SolarEnergy
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This $50 Wall Panel Heats Your Home for FREE All Winter. Why Did the HVAC Industry Hide It?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giVeQmztv9U#Energy #Solarenergy #Capitalism #Buildingcodes #Climate #Politics #HVAC #FossilLobby #FossilIndustryScam
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This $50 Wall Panel Heats Your Home for FREE All Winter. Why Did the HVAC Industry Hide It?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giVeQmztv9U#Energy #Solarenergy #Capitalism #Buildingcodes #Climate #Politics #HVAC #FossilLobby #FossilIndustryScam
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Building Damage Risk In Sinking Indian Megacities
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https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01663-0 <-- shared paper
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https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-annals-X-G-2025-613-2025 <-- shared paper
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https://www.downtoearth.org.in/urbanisation/writing-on-the-wall-groundwater-exploitation-is-triggering-subsidence-in-indo-gangetic-plain-90523 <-- shared media article
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#GIS #spatial #mapping #spatialanalysis #India #subsidence #risk #hazard #groundwater #depletion #exploitation #pumping #sinking #overpumping #aquifer #watermanagement #structural #damage #infrastructure #cost #residential #publicsafety #economics #engineering #construction #buildingcodes #remotesensing #model #modeling #satellite #earthobservation #elevation #megacities #city #cities #urban #differential #settlement #planning #policy #mitigation #maintainence #inSAR #verticallandmovement #VLM #engineeringgeology #geostatistics #flood #flooding #sediment -
Building Damage Risk In Sinking Indian Megacities
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https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01663-0 <-- shared paper
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https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-annals-X-G-2025-613-2025 <-- shared paper
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https://www.downtoearth.org.in/urbanisation/writing-on-the-wall-groundwater-exploitation-is-triggering-subsidence-in-indo-gangetic-plain-90523 <-- shared media article
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#GIS #spatial #mapping #spatialanalysis #India #subsidence #risk #hazard #groundwater #depletion #exploitation #pumping #sinking #overpumping #aquifer #watermanagement #structural #damage #infrastructure #cost #residential #publicsafety #economics #engineering #construction #buildingcodes #remotesensing #model #modeling #satellite #earthobservation #elevation #megacities #city #cities #urban #differential #settlement #planning #policy #mitigation #maintainence #inSAR #verticallandmovement #VLM #engineeringgeology #geostatistics #flood #flooding #sediment -
@Chigaze I don't follow building code changes very closely [0], so I can't tell you if Alberta leads or follows. But it's mostly a technocratic matter, not ideological, so I wouldn't just assume that the political direction of the province has much to do with how it develops.
Alberta is free to adopt the single staircase policy now. I'm not sure how the public could best put pressure onto the process.
[0] I'm a CSA S6 guy, not an NBCC guy.
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@Chigaze I don't follow building code changes very closely [0], so I can't tell you if Alberta leads or follows. But it's mostly a technocratic matter, not ideological, so I wouldn't just assume that the political direction of the province has much to do with how it develops.
Alberta is free to adopt the single staircase policy now. I'm not sure how the public could best put pressure onto the process.
[0] I'm a CSA S6 guy, not an NBCC guy.
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Somebody I know was midway through a call today including #FEMA and having to do with resilience against flooding, involving various other agencies to coordinate advice to the public.
During the call, #NPR announced that FEMA will no longer have anything to do with #BuildingCodes. FEMA participation and experience is retracted.
This of course is insane.
Our well being is falling apart.
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Somebody I know was midway through a call today including #FEMA and having to do with resilience against flooding, involving various other agencies to coordinate advice to the public.
During the call, #NPR announced that FEMA will no longer have anything to do with #BuildingCodes. FEMA participation and experience is retracted.
This of course is insane.
Our well being is falling apart.
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All kinds of increased density and urbanist upgrades are being thrown into file 13 (that's the trash for you youngsters out there) because cities insist on parking and other requirements that are not actually necessary.
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2024/8/21/lets-embrace-our-nonconforming-grandpas
#Redevelopment
#Renovation
#BuildingCodes
#Urbanism
#Architecture -
All kinds of increased density and urbanist upgrades are being thrown into file 13 (that's the trash for you youngsters out there) because cities insist on parking and other requirements that are not actually necessary.
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2024/8/21/lets-embrace-our-nonconforming-grandpas
#Redevelopment
#Renovation
#BuildingCodes
#Urbanism
#Architecture -
Have building codes else where been amended to increase the number of cubicles in women's bathrooms?
Toilet queues disproportionately impact women — but desperate times don't always call for desperate measures - ABC News
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-05/toilet-queues-disproportionately-disadvantage-women/104418584
#Lavatories #Toilets #Bathrooms #BuildingCodes #ConstructionCodes #EverydayAnnoyances #EverydaySexism #ArchitcturalSexism #Queues #Lines
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"Over the past 15 years, North Carolina lawmakers have rejected limits on construction on steep slopes, which might have reduced the number of homes lost to landslides; blocked a rule requiring homes to be elevated above the height of an expected flood; weakened protections for wetlands, increasing the risk of dangerous storm water runoff; and slowed the adoption of updated building codes, making it harder for the state to qualify for federal climate-resilience grants."
Archived NYTimes article on GOP malfeasance in re: building codes in North Carolina
The whole "home building industry" is a trash fire tbh.
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"Over the past 15 years, North Carolina lawmakers have rejected limits on construction on steep slopes, which might have reduced the number of homes lost to landslides; blocked a rule requiring homes to be elevated above the height of an expected flood; weakened protections for wetlands, increasing the risk of dangerous storm water runoff; and slowed the adoption of updated building codes, making it harder for the state to qualify for federal climate-resilience grants."
Archived NYTimes article on GOP malfeasance in re: building codes in North Carolina
The whole "home building industry" is a trash fire tbh.
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The Difference Between Alarming And Catastrophic - Cascadia Megafault Has One Especially Deadly Section, New Map Reveals
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https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/geology/the-difference-between-alarming-and-catastrophic-cascadia-megafault-has-1-especially-deadly-section-new-map-reveals <-- shared technical article
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https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2024/06/08/cascadia-subduction-zone-one-of-earths-top-hazards-comes-into-sharper-focus/ <-- shared technical statement
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https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adl3198 <-- shared paper
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#GIS #spatial #mapping #engineeringgeology #risk #hazard #megathrust #fault #faulting #earthquake #PNW #PacificNorthwest #CascadiaSubductionZone #remotesensing #naturalhazard #mitigation #model #modeling #geophysics #seismology #tsunami #displacement #buildingcodes #engineering #construction #warningsystems #plates #platetectonics #spatialanalysis #geometry -
The Difference Between Alarming And Catastrophic - Cascadia Megafault Has One Especially Deadly Section, New Map Reveals
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https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/geology/the-difference-between-alarming-and-catastrophic-cascadia-megafault-has-1-especially-deadly-section-new-map-reveals <-- shared technical article
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https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2024/06/08/cascadia-subduction-zone-one-of-earths-top-hazards-comes-into-sharper-focus/ <-- shared technical statement
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https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adl3198 <-- shared paper
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#GIS #spatial #mapping #engineeringgeology #risk #hazard #megathrust #fault #faulting #earthquake #PNW #PacificNorthwest #CascadiaSubductionZone #remotesensing #naturalhazard #mitigation #model #modeling #geophysics #seismology #tsunami #displacement #buildingcodes #engineering #construction #warningsystems #plates #platetectonics #spatialanalysis #geometry -
The building design that could crack the code on climate adaptation!
#architect #architecture #building #buildingcodes
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/06/24/news/building-design-could-crack-code-climate-adaptation -
The building design that could crack the code on climate adaptation!
#architect #architecture #building #buildingcodes
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/06/24/news/building-design-could-crack-code-climate-adaptation -
Cascadia Subduction Zone, One Of Earth's Top Hazards, Comes Into Sharper Focus
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https://phys.org/news/2024-06-cascadia-subduction-zone-earth-hazards.html <-- shared technical article
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https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adl3198 <-- shared paper
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#GIS #spatial #mapping #PNW #USA #PacificNorthwest #BritishColumbia #Washington #Oregon #NoCal #Seattle #BC #CascadiaSubductionZone #CSZ #megathrust #earthquake #earthquakes #fault #faulting #risk #hazard #geology #structuralgeology #engineeringgeology #remotesensing #survey #geophysics #tsunami #buildingcodes #warningsystems #coast #coastal #tectonics #plates #model #modeling -
Cascadia Subduction Zone, One Of Earth's Top Hazards, Comes Into Sharper Focus
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https://phys.org/news/2024-06-cascadia-subduction-zone-earth-hazards.html <-- shared technical article
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https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adl3198 <-- shared paper
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#GIS #spatial #mapping #PNW #USA #PacificNorthwest #BritishColumbia #Washington #Oregon #NoCal #Seattle #BC #CascadiaSubductionZone #CSZ #megathrust #earthquake #earthquakes #fault #faulting #risk #hazard #geology #structuralgeology #engineeringgeology #remotesensing #survey #geophysics #tsunami #buildingcodes #warningsystems #coast #coastal #tectonics #plates #model #modeling -
The #Biden administration issued new minimum #EnergyStandards for homes built with federal dollars.
A bundle of #BuildingCodes that set efficiency targets for insulation,windows, HVAC and other systems, the updated energy standards apply only to new #AffordableHousing construction built with federal financing or funding.
All told, the average annual savings work out to $963 per household."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-25/biden-boosts-energy-efficiency-standards-for-affordable-housing
#WhatBidenDid -
The #Biden administration issued new minimum #EnergyStandards for homes built with federal dollars.
A bundle of #BuildingCodes that set efficiency targets for insulation,windows, HVAC and other systems, the updated energy standards apply only to new #AffordableHousing construction built with federal financing or funding.
All told, the average annual savings work out to $963 per household."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-25/biden-boosts-energy-efficiency-standards-for-affordable-housing
#WhatBidenDid -
New Map Shows Where Damaging Earthquakes Are Most Likely To Occur In US
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https://phys.org/news/2024-01-earthquakes.html <-- shared technical article
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https://doi.org/10.1177/87552930231215428 <-- shared paper
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#GIS #spatial #mapping #earthquakes #USA #risk #hazard #evaluation #USGS #model #modeling #spatialanalysis #SeismicHazard #NSHM #geology #engineeringgeology #geologichistory #fault #faulting #tectonics #engineers #structures #codes #buildingcodes #buildingdesign #quake #seismicdesign #assessment #publicsafety #planning #requlations #engineering
@USGS -
New Map Shows Where Damaging Earthquakes Are Most Likely To Occur In US
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https://phys.org/news/2024-01-earthquakes.html <-- shared technical article
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https://doi.org/10.1177/87552930231215428 <-- shared paper
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#GIS #spatial #mapping #earthquakes #USA #risk #hazard #evaluation #USGS #model #modeling #spatialanalysis #SeismicHazard #NSHM #geology #engineeringgeology #geologichistory #fault #faulting #tectonics #engineers #structures #codes #buildingcodes #buildingdesign #quake #seismicdesign #assessment #publicsafety #planning #requlations #engineering
@USGS -
#Zoning #officer #fired after being asked to 'look into' #DragQueenStoryHour.
#Town #Boardmember #JoeMastroianni told the #employee to #checkout the #event planned for a local #cat #cafe
A week later, the #supervisor #fired her with no #explanation she says.
#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #NewYork #Rotterdam #Codes #BuildingCodes #ZoningLaws #PlanningBoard #Hate #Bigotry #Harassment #Homophobia #Transphobia
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/worker-fired-asked-look-into-drag-story-hour-18490767.php
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#Zoning #officer #fired after being asked to 'look into' #DragQueenStoryHour.
#Town #Boardmember #JoeMastroianni told the #employee to #checkout the #event planned for a local #cat #cafe
A week later, the #supervisor #fired her with no #explanation she says.
#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #NewYork #Rotterdam #Codes #BuildingCodes #ZoningLaws #PlanningBoard #Hate #Bigotry #Harassment #Homophobia #Transphobia
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/worker-fired-asked-look-into-drag-story-hour-18490767.php
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Morocco’s recent earthquake was not unexpected, as the country lies on a complex tectonic boundary that is prone to seismic activity. The earthquake revealed the lack of adequate building codes and enforcement in Morocco, where many structures are vulnerable to collapse. Morocco must improve its seismic resilience and preparedness and invest in retrofitting and reconstruction.
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@croselund This essay clearly articulates a super important point for focusing our efforts on climate. Building much more #wind and #solar, and reducing demand for #enduses of those fuels (e.g. via #EVs, #buildingcodes & #fuelswitching), are the most effective and require most of our effort. Stopping new pipelines or new wells, e.g. #willow or #MountainValleyPipeline, has little or no effect. Counteritive, and not understood by many or most activists, right? This Medium article explains why.
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#buildingcodes #sustainableenergy #gascompanies #unconscionable
https://undark.org/2023/03/28/in-small-town-colorado-gas-interests-fight-electrification/?utm_source=Undark%3A+News+%26+Updates&utm_campaign=55c3b8773a-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5cee408d66-185e4e09de-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D -
The worst failures of American urban planning
This post looks at macro-scale urban planning failures to identify what this retired planner believes are/were the worst blunders that have taken place in American urban planning, as a profession. Keep in mind that urban planning includes a lot of sub-specialties, so the range of topics will extend beyond just land use planning or zoning. Please feel free to forward your thoughts on these, as well as other mistakes you feel should be included.
- URBAN RENEWAL
It is difficult to encapsulate the myriad of the harmful impacts that urban renewal had on American cities after World War II without writing an encyclopedia about the topic. Suffice it to say that this planner believes that far more cities were harmed than helped by urban renewal and that the poor, disadvantaged, and minority residents of those cities paid an enormous price for its implementation. Entire neighborhoods and districts were literally bulldozed away causing wholesale dislocation and displacement.
Areas of “urban renewal” in Detroit (1963) – Source: detroitography.com
Beyond the obvious tragedy of needlessly displacing residents and destroying neighborhoods, urban renewal projects often “uglified” cities with drab, bland, lifeless, uninspired, brutalistic developments that sapped the life out of the surrounding community. With the soul of the neighborhood gone, is it any wonder why so many of these developments, and life within them, degraded so quickly?
Brutalistic destruction of St. Louis neighborhoods by mind-numbing Pruitt-Igoe complex – Source: elusive.multibriefs.com
2. FREEWAYS CUTTING THROUGH URBAN CORES
Cypress Freeway cutting thru Oakland – Source: cnu.org
An offshoot of urban renewal, freeway construction through the heart of American cities served to sever entire neighborhoods off from the balance of the city. Most often, once again, these were neighborhoods largely comprised of the poor, disadvantaged, and minorities. Studies have shown that during the height of the post World War II freeway building boom in the United States, 475,000 households were displaced by these ribbons of concrete. That equates to nearly one percent (.9%) of all households in the entire nation in 1960! (Corrected missing decimal point on 11/23 – my apologies) And this number is a much larger component of those households comprised of diverse populations. In the ethnically diverse Overtown neighborhood in Miami alone, 10,000 households were displaced for construction of single interchange (I-95 and I-395)! (see photo below that shows the interchange under construction)
Interchange construction in Miami’s Overtown – Source: thenewtropic.com
Not only did freeway construction render areas of the city virtually lifeless, but they often destroyed the economic, social, and transportation fabric of the city. The loss of thousands of homes and businesses from freeway development obliterated critical tax revenues generated by those properties, uprooted families and friends who had to move elsewhere (often outside the city limits), disconnected street networks with dead-ends and roads to nowhere, and cordoned off entire segments of the population into concrete-moat surrounded ghettos.
Moat-like appearance of West Baltimore Freeway – Source: smartcitiesdive.com
- The loss of 100 city blocks of prime real estate.
- The value of the buildings lost to freeways alone has been estimated to be $655 million.
- 10,000 people were displaced just by the construction of the most recently completed US 71 freeway and 12,000 more folks were displaced by freeway construction between 1950 and 1970.
Freeway construction thru Kansas City in 1957 – Source: strongtowns.org
3. SINGLE-FAMILY, LOW-DENSITY ZONING IN URBAN/SUBURBAN AREAS
If there is one factor that pushes sprawl more than any other, it is single-family, low-density (or large lot) zoning. Some may argue that freeway construction or public utility (water and sewer) extensions are larger factors, but those in themselves do not promote low-density development. If the zoning was appropriate, then denser developments could be constructed along highway and utility corridors.
Suburban sprawl outside Minneapolis – Source: theatlantic.com
Single-family, low-density zoning forces each residence to occupy a larger piece of land than is truly necessary, thereby gobbling up more land in the process. To combat this sprawl inducer, communities have instituted a variety of counter-measures, including smaller lot sizes, increased density, mixed uses, mixed use zoning, accessory dwellings, etc., etc. Unfortunately, in most instances, with the exception of Minneapolis and a few other places, single-family, low-density zoning remains still remains a popular option.
One of the biggest hurdles to overcome regarding the single-family, low-density zoning classification is that it is often imprinted on so many of our brains as “the American Dream.” While in the past 15-20 years, younger generations had countered this false paradigm to some extent, by flocking back to large cities, both Covid-19 and their parental biological clocks appear to be reversing this recent trend towards density.
4. EXCLUSIONARY SINGLE-FAMILY ZONING
In addition to being a sprawl inducer, single-family zoning includes a particularly ugly side when it comes to how the poor, minorities, and the underprivileged are treated by many zoning codes. Single-family housing standards along with building codes are far too often used as a way to exclude (or literally zone out) so-called “undesirable land uses” by making the rules too restrictive for affordable housing/land uses to be built. In America, “undesirable land uses” are not just obvious things like junk yards or landfills, but are also a not so subtle way for separating out minorities, the poor, or the underprivileged through “class-based” exclusionary zoning practices. Sadly, this disparity was an oversight of the Fair Housing Act and neither the majority of subsequent court cases, nor Congressional action have yet to reverse the huge mistake.
Source: realestatelawblog.com
Boldly, some places have taken steps to correct the unfairness by instituting minimum affordable housing requirements for all new developments, but overall, lasting damage has been done. At the current rate, it will take decades or more to resolve exclusionary zoning practices on a project-by-project basis, instead of adopting sweeping reform of the Fair Housing Act or within state zoning laws.
5. BLAND SAMENESS NATIONWIDE
The hard and fast cookie-cutter approach of Euclidean Zoning found in many ordinances tends to create a bland sameness of development in community-after-community across the country. With the exception of the local topography and perhaps local architecture, one could drive along many strip commercial corridors across America and think you were in the same place the entire time.
Source: commons.wikimedia.org
When we do visit some of those special places that are unique and set apart from the crowd (Santa Fe, Mackinac Island, Bisbee, or Savannah for instance) it is celebrated, but the individuality of place is rarely pursued beyond talk. Part of this may due to the reliance on tried and true ordinance language that has tested both legal challenges and time.
The planning profession’s over-reliance on drawing existing ordinance language from other cities and towns to shape their community’s own regulating documents is a long-term and on-going problem. The practice is so inherit that books are routinely published that provide planners with previously crafted examples from across the country. Is it any wonder that codes are virtually interchangeable? Fill in the blanks for the community’s name and away you go. In fact, this planner has even seen some previously adopted zoning ordinances that still contained the name of the source community within the document!
Source: worldfinance.com
But, the failure of sameness can also be attributed to the rigidness of building codes and Euclidean-based zoning ordinances, prototypical designs being promoted by regional and national chains, overworked staff, lack of strong legal support for aesthetic considerations in some states, a lack of vision or will by elected community leaders, budget and time-conscious consulting arrangements, as well as a variety of other reasons.
To address the scourge of sameness, a number of cities and towns have developed form-based zoning codes which more precisely detail exactly what kind of community is being sought. Hopefully, as this trend grows, the personality of individual communities will become more apparent over time. One can only hope that a renewed sense of place will come sooner versus later to many parts of the country.
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SOURCES:
- https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/6/23/kansas-citys-blitz-how-freeway-building-blew-up-urban-wealth
- https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129475747
- https://archive.thinkprogress.org/top-infrastructure-official-explains-how-america-used-highways-to-destroy-black-neighborhoods-96c1460d1962/
- https://tcf.org/content/facts/understanding-exclusionary-zoning-impact-concentrated-poverty/?session=1
- https://formbasedcodes.org/definition/
#buildingCodes #EuclideanZoning #formBasedCode #freeway #lowDensityZoning #minorities #sameness #sprawl #transit #urbanPlanning #urbanRenewal