Verdunity

Fiscally-informed planning, design, & community engagement to help cities cultivate strong neighborhoods.

[Verdunity @VERDUNITY]

Positively dystopian.

[Chris Hatch @Dirtdog]

Chick-fil-A
Elevated Drive thru concept
1.91 acre lot
40 parking stalls
5,000 SF building
65 car d/t stack

This store has no customer dining area. Pickup and d/t windows only. Exterior bathrooms. Food travels via conveyor belt from the kitchen upstairs. The future is here!

[The Economist @TheEconomist]

America has a killer-car problem. Its roads are nearly twice as dangerous as the rich-world average. It doesn’t have to be that way https://t.co/lpSdpz6YSV

[Charles Marohn @clmarohn]

Stages of the Suburban Experiment Ponzi Scheme

Stage 1: Lots of growth. Aren't we smart!

Stage 2: First maintenance bills come due. Ouch, but hey, still growing!

Stage 3: Growth slows, maintenance costs mount, local taxes go up, debt goes up. Pain, but it's only temporary (fingers crossed).

Stage 4: Taxes up significantly, debt up more, yeah, sorry, we can't maintain that park or your street anymore. Need to invest in more growth.

Stage 5: Denial, dysfunction, and blame while things fall apart with more taxes and debt, maybe some predatory fines (note: bondholders are still getting paid).

This article⬇️describes the impact to housing (higher taxes) in Stages 3 and 4. There is worse to come, unfortunately, unless your city breaks free of this trap.

https://t.co/2KvUMrpy8a

[Verdunity @VERDUNITY]

@Bike_DE @rebeccalsanders @greg_shill @apbp @Up4Growth @SmartGrowthCEO @salimfurth @sam_d_1995 @clmarohn @notjustbikes @mandy_fries @TizzyLockmanDE @BethOsborneT4A @LtGovernorDE @BillNesper @Sjoess @MillarRoger @schlthss @StrongTowns @dpherriges @DEHouseDems @DESenateDems 👏👏

[APA STaR @APA_SmallTown]

STaR Members: Be like Sweetwater, Texas, winner of the 2023 Vernon Deines Honor Award for Comp Plan, nominated by AJ Fawver @VERDUNITY .

Apply now for a Small Town & Rural Planning Award.
Nominations open thru 1/31/24.
https://t.co/bMILlKCDu2

[Verdunity @VERDUNITY]

We will be at #APATX23 in Corpus in November! Come and visit us at our booth in the exhibitors' hall, or check out one of our sessions – On Thursday, @planning_guru will be chatting about the challenges small towns face with Wayne Childs of @generalcode

[Verdunity @VERDUNITY]

It is an intentional choice to buy a car and live in a larger home. If you make those choices, it's not your city's job (or other taxpayers) to subsidize those choices, especially at the expense of others who don't or can't afford to entertain those same choices.

[Kevin Shepherd @k_shepherd]

“It’s not my duty as mayor to make sure you have a parking spot...For me, it’s the same as if you bought a cow, or a refrigerator, and then asked me where you’re going to put them." 💪 https://t.co/2mBCV742Uj

[Brent Toderian @BrentToderian]

Car-dependent suburban sprawl is the most publicly expensive and publicly subsidized form of human habitation in human history. And that’s before you even start the math on the big picture costs & consequences. #SuburbanSprawl

[Brent Toderian @BrentToderian]

Never forget, multimodal streets (aka “complete streets”) are simply more efficient, because they move, hold & serve more people within the same space. Whether you think streets are just for moving people, or are for a LOT more, they’re just better. HT @NACTO #citymakingmath

[Chad West @ChadWestDallas]

I wrote in @DMNOpinion about the need to update our parking code to better serve neighborhoods. If you care about housing, taxes, the environment, and yes even traffic itself, you should let City of Dallas know you want to eliminate parking minimums.

https://t.co/2B0rAohq93

[Verdunity @VERDUNITY]

Kudos to #NorthCarolina for becoming 1st to make these policy changes statewide. This is the type of bold leadership we need to put U.S. cities back on a path that will keep housing and infrastructure affordable. Single family suburban development does not pencil long term!

[Aaron Lubeck @aaron_lubeck]

Today #NorthCarolina became the first state to change its Residential 1-2 Family Code to the 1-4 Family Code, a reform that opens up:
- lower cost triplexes & quads
- more viable missing middle housing
- more flexible alignment with zoning

It’s potentially revolutionary for affordability. And no one is talking about it.

[Verdunity @VERDUNITY]

@archfordallasfw @CityOfDallas @StrongTowns @ChadWestDallas @Jayniefordallas @ncoxbarrett @DallasAptGP @JesseForDallas @dallasnews @TheBetterBlock We're working on some land use fiscal analysis (value/acre) for South Dallas as part of a grant project. It's not full scope of what we normally do and won't cover the full city, but it will provide good context for broader discussion and potential citywide study in the future.

[Verdunity @VERDUNITY]

We enjoyed helping @sweetwater_tx put together their first ever comprehensive plan! Honored to have another plan we worked on recognized as a Vernon Deines winner for the 3rd time in the last 2 years! (Parsons, KS and @CityOfTaylor TX w Lionheart Planning)

#GoCultivate!

[APA STaR @APA_SmallTown]

STaR 2023 Vernon Deines Honor Award for
Comprehensive Plan: City of Sweetwater (Texas) Comprehensive Plan
@sweetwater_tx @VERDUNITY

STaR Members log onto https://t.co/iy9tgc0rn9 & d/l the newsletter to read all about it.

[Kevin Shepherd @k_shepherd]

@txleg is voting soon on important bills that will impact housing affordability, public service/ infrastructure costs, and cities' fiscal health. I asked two city mgmt leaders to join me to discuss a few bills they're most concerned about. Listen & share! https://t.co/noM5ZWLChv

[Verdunity @VERDUNITY]

In the latest episode of #GoCultivate, @planning_guru chats w Julianna Dodson about the challenges rural communities face and strategies to connect and align resources together to make these places stronger. Lots of resources linked in the shownotes too!

https://t.co/Z1y9d031ZK

[Verdunity @VERDUNITY]

William Fulton, former Director of Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, Mayor of Ventura, CA, and Director of Planning and Development for San Diego. On this episode of Go Cultivate! we discuss his book; Place and Prosperity. https://t.co/37WYQQODOm

[Beth Osborne @BethOsborneSGA]

"Every time I go on a motorway in the U.S., I’m quite scared, because it’s very big. You have a lot of lanes, with heavy traffic, and at a certain speed, the minimum contact can have huge consequences." #DangerousByDesign
https://t.co/ww7PUMxnZ5

[Kevin Shepherd @k_shepherd]

This is greatness. The #suburbanexperiment might feel great for a while, and it fails in the end. @clmarohn I think you'll like this one.. Let's get back to cultivating #strongtowns https://t.co/gUVNG0zOoq

[Verdunity @VERDUNITY]

Great move from Houston to OPEN the street to all users. More please!

[Brent Toderian @BrentToderian]

“Houston Council just voted to reshape the city's downtown. In a unanimous vote, Council approved a plan to keep 7 blocks of Main Street downtown closed off to traffic permanently.”

Great move, Houston. Awful headline, @Houstonchron. The street is OPEN!
https://t.co/ZUhameSRCu

[Strong Towns @StrongTowns]

Walkable, mixed-use communities aren't confined to just big cities. We can build them in suburban and rural areas as well by reforming zoning and parking laws!

(Mount Gretna, PA)