Lev Kushner

Recovering bureaucrat and urban futurist.

[Julia Ioffe @juliaioffe]

How was there never an episode about Kendall Roy going to Burning Man?

[North Street @northassoc]

To draw travelers, digital nomads and new residents, cities need a new Department of Hospitality for the remote work age, write @levkushner and @Greg_Lindsay https://t.co/5GwlsdQXNz via @CityLab

[Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 @Noahpinion]

Interesting. Online shopping hurts new product discovery, compared to in-person shopping.

Real world = serendipity

[21st Century City @urbanthoughts11]

Customers' mode of travel
vs.
Shopkeepers' estimate

[Lev Kushner @levkushner]

This looks exactly like the (currently disastrous) Powell Street BART Station in SF, which goes to show you how much housing policy impacts spaces like these.

[21st Century City @urbanthoughts11]

Copenhagen South will open in 2024 and become a new hub for:
🚇 Metro (1 direction)
🚊 S-Train (3 directions)
🚆 Intercity and Regional trains (4 directions)

📸 ⁦@ramboll⁩ and GottliebPaludan

[Lev Kushner @levkushner]

@MattDoyle76 Oh good.
And while I'm at it, Mikael Uhre has got to be a candidate for face of the week after Jose Martinez's goal today. Hands to face in awe.

[Lev Kushner @levkushner]

@andrew_wiebe It's got to be a sporcsperson, no?

[Jesse D. Jenkins @JesseJenkins]

Any artists out there want to design similar inspirational 'propaganda' posters for the clean energy transition?

[Armand Domalewski @ArmandDoma]

Dumb question: could you convert Westfield mall to a university campus? Turn every store into a classroom, the walkways in between become common space…

[Lev Kushner @levkushner]

Insightful piece on the new frontiers AR opens up in cities by my friend @Greg_Lindsay. Should AR uses be taxed? How can cities ensure public safety? The different approaches cities take could have massive impacts on the lived experience of residents. https://t.co/sB9xvlzaJ4

[Nick Bloom @I_Am_NickBloom]

WFH is shifting city centers activity from daytime to nighttime. WFH employees are heading into town after work, particularly on Friday and Saturday night.

For example, New York financial district restaurants have doubled night-time spending share since 2019.

[Lev Kushner @levkushner]

@drorpoleg it's got to be called Pauly Shoring. Please call it Pauly Shoring.

[Lev Kushner @levkushner]

@DKThomp This exactly mirrors Prof Steven B Smith's writing comparing nationalism (lone ranger) vs. patriotism (relational). The former is fear based, the latter is founded in self-appreciation and the desire to improve. See his book "Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes"

[Bruce Katz @bruce_katz]

Owner of SF's Largest Hotel, the Hilton Union Square, Is Walking Away, Surrendering It to Lender https://t.co/T8HXhoMHZu

[Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias]

The internet’s ability to deliver rapid-fire national attention to every local controversy that occurs in a giant country makes federalism really really really hard to sustain.

[Lev Kushner @levkushner]

We need clarity on when human contact is valuable during the ritual of commerce.
For low-value transactions, customer service is valuable up front to advise decision-making (clothing, meals, etc.). For high value ones, human hand holding during the actual purchase is critical.

[Derek Thompson @DKThomp]

Too many restaurants have it backwards with QR code menus and paper checks.

Pulling up a menu on your phone to zoom in and out of a digital PDF, when printed paper exists: absurd

"scan this code to find and pay your check whenever you want": brilliant!

https://t.co/CKHjCVIB2M

[Dror Poleg @drorpoleg]

"We live in a noisy world where it's increasingly hard to predict which cultural products will resonate. Online, this problem is solved by producing lots of content and seeing what sticks. Offline, it's much harder to experiment or change course. Every mistake is expensive."

[Lev Kushner @levkushner]

@drorpoleg it's the middle ones that are truly screwed: too old to be attractive as offices but not old enough to have any charm or convertible floor plates.