Coronavirus and its Impacts on Urbanism

[JumboBuc]

A Tale of Two Chambers.
Reaction to the just-passed Senate version of the coronavirus stimulus bill.

The bill passed the Senate unanimously with full bipartisan support. And one can find plenty of other pieces from publications of various ideologies that generally support the bill given the unprecedented crisis our world is facing.

Ignore the voices of opinion columnists whose literal job it is to stoke division and feign outrage.

 

[Brad Plaid]

Agreed. It's pretty sad though that nothing-whatsoever-to-do-with-covid pork from both sides was added ($25 million for the DC Kennedy Performing Arts Center?). If a clean bill can't be passed at a time like this it will never happen. Where are you line item veto? Onto the House...

 

[Arlington]

The Kennedy Center is OK by me: All the private arts performers and performance venues are as threatened as the airlines by the shutdown, but the Ken Cen can't go to the public markets for capital.

 

[Brad Plaid]

Out of curiosity. Kennedy Center tax statements
2017 net income $12,609,295 Net assets $401,347,327 Executive compensation $4.6 million

 

[kmp1284]

Out of curiosity. Kennedy Center tax statements
2017 net income $12,609,295 Net assets $401,347,327 Executive compensation $4.6 million
View attachment 4436

Such a paltry sum in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Brad Plaid]

There are legitimate mechanisms for funding projects like the Kennedy Center. Politically-motivated pork attachments, especially to a critical humanitarian aid bill, is not one of them. It is a practice that always smells bad.
That was such a great scene, loved MM. Thanks for the memory, however juvenile the putdown intention.

 

[bakgwailo]

There are legitimate mechanisms for funding projects like the Kennedy Center. Politically-motivated pork attachments, especially to a critical humanitarian aid bill, is not one of them. It is a practice that always smells bad.
That was such a great scene, loved MM. Thanks for the memory, however juvenile the putdown intention.

Considering the President has personally said he approves this and pushed for it (Melania, oddly enough on the board) seems to point out that it wasn't a partisan addition by democrats to the bill. They also employee 3,000 people, and another 1,000 guest artists.

 

[Paletexan]

This is not a very encouraging article - https://www.politico.com/states/cal...g-near-transit-as-its-future-what-now-1269263

 

[Arlington]

This is not a very encouraging article - https://www.politico.com/states/cal...g-near-transit-as-its-future-what-now-1269263

Yup, the same cranks who originally said that COVID was a hoax will now cite it as a reason we can't have nice urban things. NIMBYs truly excel at random, half-factual reasons for whatever it is their heart desires.

I think it is premature to declare that cities are more vulnerable. COVID hit cities first, but they have great infrastructure. WHen COVID comes to places without hospitals, what will we say of the virtues of rural life then?

 

[DZH22]

I don't really know who this person is but heard about their passing from this.

Michael Sorkin, architecture’s brilliant sage, has died of complications from Covid-19

Sorkin's legacy is firmly rooted in designing sustainable cities—a cause he championed long before it became fashionable.

qz.com

 

[HenryAlan]

I think it is premature to declare that cities are more vulnerable. COVID hit cities first, but they have great infrastructure. WHen COVID comes to places without hospitals, what will we say of the virtues of rural life then?

They will say that the cities caused the pandemic. Look no further than the rhetoric coming from Florida, already blaming New York for the quickly growing infection rate, ignoring that the state government took all of the wrong steps when first responding to the crisis.

 

[Java King]

Marty Walsh was on the Channel 5 Sunday news program called "On the Record" and they asked him about the Boston construction ban vs. the state. He seemed to hint that it was only a temporary shut-down in order to get proper procedures and safety measures in place. He was evading the question a bit, but his answer left me some hope:

"I want to make sure that every construction worker in the city of Boston in safe. There is no difference between a construction worker working on a construction site or a banker working in a bank," Walsh said. "We're working with the state to make sure the policies are in place that there's proper washing stations and there's proper procedures on site so that a construction worker has the same protections as our first responders do."

On the Record

 

[DominusNovus]

Some friends and I were doing a zoom drinking hour friday and discussing the situation with office buildings (we're all WFH right now). Anecdotally, many executives are very surprised by how well their workforces are adapting to working from home. You can bet that they're going to task someone with running the numbers and see just how that balance works out for them. If they can handle remote work on a regular basis, and even if that decreases worker productivity by 10%, but at the same time, saves more with smaller offices than they lose in productivity, it makes sense to encourage it - especially if you combine it with something like flex space in the offices themselves, allowing you to have employees that come in for only a few days out of the week. Not only that, but offices they own could be utilized for other purposes, maybe even residential. After all, once enough companies start following this trend, you'll see an overall reduction in commercial occupation in cities. The demand pressure will result in all sorts of shifts.

As a middle ground between encouraging more work from home, you could easily see more and more smaller satellite offices, especially when you consider just how cheap real estate and labor outside of the urban centers can be. For companies that aren't gungho on work from home, perhaps locating a satellite office in the suburbs is a more acceptable compromise. So, if you have the money, I'd say find some vacant office building in the suburbs and buy it for a bargain.

 

[stefal]

Not to get sidetracked any further but a lot of this has to do with cost of living, housing playing a large portion of it. The fastest growing ones tend to be places with much cheaper cost of living. If remote working becomes more of a thing after the pandemic, look to see this trend continue or even speed up as people flee expensive cities they work in to work remotely from cheaper cities. This could have serious ramifications for more expensive cities/states as they lose out on valuable tax dollars.

Isn't Boston and Greater Boston still slightly exempt from this? Our biomedical/engineering and defense companies all require a lot of in person work.

 

[Arlington]

I don't really know who this person is but heard about their passing from this.

Michael Sorkin, architecture’s brilliant sage, has died of complications from Covid-19

Sorkin's legacy is firmly rooted in designing sustainable cities—a cause he championed long before it became fashionable.

qz.com

Tribute to Michael Sorkin (second half of the episode below).

The Smell of Concrete After Rain - 99% Invisible

Stories inspired by two people from the world of architecture and design we’ve lost due to COVID. No matter which James Bond actor is your favorite, it’s undeniable that the Sean Connery films had the best villains. There’s Blofeld, who turned cat-stroking into a thing that super-villains do...

99percentinvisible.org

They describe about how Sorkin included people and politics in his reviews, and concludes with an extended reading from Sorkins list of 250 Things an Architect Should Know
first 25:

 

[EdMc]

Do you miss Boston? I do, too.

Due to the coronavirus, there are scenes of strangely unique, mostly lifeless streets in our major cities (some cities are contemplating opening some streets to bicyclists and pedestrians). Here are some scenes of life in Boston from not long ago.

 

[EdMc]

 

[EdMc]

Be safe, stay safe,

EdMc

 

[bolehboleh]

That made me both happy and sad. Good show, Ed.

 

[EdMc]

Thanks for the compliment and thumbs up.

Regarding the subject matter of this thread, two Boston Globe articles today broached the subject.

Mr. David Manfredi wrote an opinion piece in today’s edition of the Boston Globe.

The power of cities
The coronavirus provides an opportunity to revitalize cities to be more relevant, more vibrant, and more healthful.

Excerpt -
“Among the many compelling lessons of the coronavirus pandemic is a deeper understanding of what Americans love about cities. Not merely because they are places convenient to live and work, but also because they provide places to gather; fortify our lives with music, theater, dining, and sports; and foster the exchange of ideas that contributes to our well-being and happiness.
Such is the power of cities. Cities evolve. People rebound. The renaissance of American cities may be momentarily threatened by the pandemic, but it will endure.”

“David P. Manfredi is CEO and founding principal of Elkus Manfredi Architects.”

In the same edition, Tom Keane wrote an opinion piece.

The thrill of city living is gone
Maybe a takeaway from the coronavirus is that the suburbs really are better.

Excerpt-
“I live in downtown Boston, in a too-small place for too much money. But the argument I always made to myself was that it was worth it. There was the energy and intellectual ferment of folks packed together. There were culture, sporting events, and nightlife right outside the door. Instead of chain restaurants, we had cool little bistros and chef-driven haunts, the better to stretch the palate.
Well, that’s all gone.
The building I’m in used to have amenities like a workout room and roof deck. They’re now shuttered because of stay-at-home orders imposed to stem the spread of COVID-19. Increasingly, that’s true for parks and other recreational areas. Walking outside is discouraged anyway, and if you do, the state has ordered you to wear a mask.

In addition, and perhaps most important, people in the ‘burbs aren’t running the same health risks as those in the city. Pandemics spread when people are near one another. Sure, I’m behind the four walls of my apartment, but going outside for groceries means riding the elevator with other residents, walking through a crowded lobby, and making my way down narrow sidewalks.”

“Tom Keane is a writer in Boston.”

Well, Germany and Taiwan are a couple of countries that fared much better than the United States because they met the pandemic head on with testing and contact tracing. I just read that New Zealand has no more confirmed cases of coronavirus.

I think an individual is going to choose between suburb and city based upon income and a kid’s education before thinking about a possible virus. The program, 60 Minutes, had a feature last night about rural Texas communities being affected by coronavirus. Several rural hospitals are closing due to the virus (drain on finances). “There goes the neighborhood“ is a refrain that comes to mind.