"In Defense of Shattuck: Housing in downtown Berkeley"

The Discourse Lounge | March 31, 2023

The Shattuck of today is such a vibrant, fun place; more lively than ever before…I really like the work of Trachtenberg Architects who are making some of the most creative facades for their apartment complexes.

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"How Paris Kicked Out the Cars"

Slate | March 30, 2023

It is a humbling experience to try to learn any new skill as an adult. But there is a particular humiliation in learning to ride a bike. Not only because biking is something everyone already assumes you know how to do and the quintessential skill you never forget.

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"Why does American multifamily architecture look so banal? Here’s one reason"

The Architect's Newspaper | March 29, 2023

In a recent article in The New York Times, Anna Kodé lamented the blandness of multifamily architecture in the U.S. and posited several theories for this disappointment.

The root cause of the banality is quite simple. The answer is something that, once seen, cannot be unseen: stairs.

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"Why famed urbanist Richard Florida is still bullish on San Francisco"

SF Business Times | March 24, 2023

The No. 1 place for startup innovation fueled by venture capital in the United States and the world by a huge margin is the San Francisco Bay Area. There’s not even a place that comes close. And when I say the Bay Area, I mean San Francisco proper, Oakland and the East Bay, and the Silicon Valley.

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"The Great Defenders of the Status Quo"

The Atlantic | March 16, 2023

Environmental laws are being used to justify oil drilling in Los Angeles, single-family zoning in Minneapolis, and the construction of the border wall.

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