If I was in charge of my city, I would.....

[M II A II R II K]

Create nodes of satellite downtowns that not only has the density which also looks dense, including not having a bunch of high rises among a load of asphalt.

[homebucket]

For SF I would:
Complete HSR
Expand BART
- Connect the loop from SF to SJ
- Add 2 more Transbay tunnels (Bay Fair connecting to SFO, and Fremont to Menlo Park/Palo Alto)
- Geary subway extension with a line going down 19th Ave connecting to Daly City
- Presidio extension through North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf and tunnel under bay to Marin County and add line all the way up to Santa Rosa
- Add a line connecting Walnut Creek to Dublin and on to Fremont
- Extend Richmond line up to Vallejo and Napa/Farfield
- Add express service
Build high density nodes with emphasis on housing, retail, and offices within 5-10 min walk of every single BART/Caltrain/VTA stop, no height limits unless required by FAA

[llamaorama]

I don't know how I feel about city-county mergers or municipal consolidations. It really depends. I think a lot of forumers on SSP who think its a good idea must have formed their perspective looking at cities like St. Louis or Chicago or the Northeast where there is a genuine problem with lots of very small, balkanized local government entities that are struggling.

But then in other regions of the country things are different I think.

What kind of municipalities would you be dissolving away? Would the new metro government have the same power as an incorporated city or would it be knocked down the status of a county that lacks the power to enact ordinances?

In Houston a lot of our suburban sprawl is unincorporated Harris County. Rather than efficient government, we just have weak government that doesn't do a whole lot. In its place there are a lot of not-municipal special districts that tax to support things like water, emergency services, etc. Seems counter-productive.

County government in Texas is not traditionally geared towards being comprehensive. Counties were supposed to have a Sheriff, a jail, pave the roads, keep public records, etc. We have 254 of them, a small handful of which are just ridiculously populous and run airports and pro sports arenas while many others have more cows than people.

I fear that if you went too far and created local government entities with millions of people covering enormous geographic territories, you'd get something that isn't responsive to citizens or local needs. And harder to administer. If you merged cities and counties around Dallas for example, you'd end up a city as large as New York overnight and that would be such a huge paradigm shift I'm not sure our institutions and leaders can handle it.

Consolidated city counties also have a tendency to prioritize suburban interests over less affluent areas and tend to be more conservative. This happened to Indianapolis with unigov and it happened to Fort Worth when it annexed too much land right before the recession and the tea party became a thing in the outer burbs. Areas that are working just fine on their own with their own set of rules are going to be gimped by people from other areas.

I think as the level of complexity of government increases exponentially and the mayor and council lose that direct relationship with one or more city managers, they'd turn into partisan Democrats/Republicans too. Instead of a city budget being a hands-on process, it would become a mysterious black box and the council would basically revert to "Cut Taxes!" or "We must support communities of color!" and just slap at each other instead of getting anything done. It would be a real travesty.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

Hamilton County and the City of Cincinnati hate each other, but a part of me thinks it'd sure be nice to see them merge. Townships are a completely foreign concept to me despite growing up in one.

Probably because the city is Democrat, county is still Republican? Here, both city and county are Democrat so lot of cooperation. Wasn't the case 15-20 years ago. Big city/ county mergers make sense. Not sure how Ohio works but in New York, counties are subdivided into towns which take on some county functions plus there are villages with overlap. Lots of redundancy and taxes. Texas is more straightforward. You're in an incorporated area or not.

[Northern Light]

Were I in charge of Toronto, I would:

1. Purchase/expropriate private properties along the Etobicoke and Scarborough waterfronts (west/east suburbia) Completing a full public pedestrian/cycling trail along the entire water's edge of Lake Ontario with associated publicly accessible parks. Keep costs sane by phasing same over 20 years.

2. Daylight 4 or 5 buried creek segments, including Taylor-Massey Creek in Scarborough, Small's Creek in central-east City, Wilket Creek north of York Mills in North York, and Burke Castlefrank Creek in the Rosedale Valley.

3. I would restore any creek's in concrete channels to 'natural' embankments with at least 30M of natural cover on either side.

4. I would remove the Allen Road expressway completely, fill the ditch, and build a local complete street, parks and affordable housing in its place.

5. I would build the badly needed 'Relief Line' subway from Bathurst/Queen in the west to Don Mills/Eglinton in the north-east.

6. I would adopt as-of-right zoning on every arterial/collector road in Toronto for at least 5 storeys, (without reducing any current permissions).

7. I would finish the expansion of public library hours, opening all Branches for at least 72 hours each week; with large/district branches open 84 hours per week.

8. I would adopt a similar program as above to expand recreation centre hours to at least 6am-11pm, 7 days per week across the City.

9. I would expand the availability of year-round public washrooms with a focus on parks and the subway system.

10. I would narrow/diet any road greater than 2 lanes in each direction, highway excepted. Surplus space would go to wide sidewalks and boulevards with quality tree-growing conditions and to cycle tracks (protected bike lanes).

11. I would better winterize the City by deploying snow-melt technology strategically to streets/sidewalks/bus stops that are on slopes or in flood-prone areas to reduce the use of road-salt and improve winter safety. I would also make optional heaters standard in most bus shelters.

12. I would better protect the city against extreme summer temperatures by mandating that all surface parking be at least 75% shaded by trees and use a high-albedo surface.

13. I would reduce the multiple for monthly transit passed to 40 (from around 56 today).

14. I would expand Bike-share city wide.


And a few other things..............


To pay for the above, I would:

1) Raise Toronto's property tax rate to the median level for the Greater Toronto area.

2) Impose Tolls on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway

3) Raise the cost of Permit Parking to fair market value (Typically a range of $100-$220 per month) from a current range of mid 30s- 60'ish.

4) I would impose pay and display parking on all side streets near popular shopping districts or within 300M of a subway line. (permit holders exempt)

[Doady]

As a suburbanite, I think one of the main differences with inner cities is there is more differences between each building/lot. More piecemeal growth instead of mass development, small lots instead of large lots, and over time each lot got redeveloped separately from others, or each building or unit has been customized to the resident's or the business owner's preference. Perhaps it's not to my preference, like the painted brick thing, but those differences in opinion are part of the charm of these places. I think to discourage diversication and differentation and encourage uniformity and conformity is not something I would do I were in charge of my city. The neighbourhood develops character over time because the people start to show their character, and that needs to be encouraged more, not discouraged.

[TWAK]

Request to get annexed by a city and have some sewer installed.

[Buckeye Native 001]

What llamaorama said highlighted a lot of my concerns about city-county mergers. It really depends on what part of the country (and what state) you're in and the sizes of the counties in which cities operate.

Hamilton County is a lot less conservative than it used to be (has gone blue since the 2008 election) but still a lot farther to the right than the City of Cincinnati itself. There's also some race issues, especially in the townships (I'm thinking of Anderson in particular)...

Also, there's been about two or three Cincinnati city council members federally indicted within the past year.

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by homebucket

For SF I would:
Complete HSR
Expand BART
- Connect the loop from SF to SJ
- Add 2 more Transbay tunnels (Bay Fair connecting to SFO, and Fremont to Menlo Park/Palo Alto)
- Geary subway extension with a line going down 19th Ave connecting to Daly City
- Presidio extension through North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf and tunnel under bay to Marin County and add line all the way up to Santa Rosa
- Add a line connecting Walnut Creek to Dublin and on to Fremont
- Extend Richmond line up to Vallejo and Napa/Farfield
- Add express service
Build high density nodes with emphasis on housing, retail, and offices within 5-10 min walk of every single BART/Caltrain/VTA stop, no height limits unless required by FAA

I like you ideas, especially as they relate to San Francisco itself. The Geary subway extension and 19th Av connection to Daly City would remake the western half of the city. If that ever happened with the zoning changes that you suggest, SF would be well on its way to becoming the giant world class city that it ought to be.

[TexasPlaya]

Houston city limits is pretty big so it does some heft/sway over the surrounding areas....

I would greatly alleviate the flooding issue by cooperating with surrounding counties to build additional reservoirs/ set aside natural flood plains upstream from Houston while continuing and expanding the current plan to upgrade the many bayous that snake through Houston. Naturally, adding green space and adding/upgrading parks is part of the deal when creating flood projects so a major green belt initiative would go hand in hand with flood control.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by austlar1

I like you ideas, especially as they relate to San Francisco itself. The Geary subway extension and 19th Av connection to Daly City would remake the western half of the city. If that ever happened with the zoning changes that you suggest, SF would be well on its way to becoming the giant world class city that it ought to be.

Yeah, if I could pick just one of those items I'd go with the Geary/19th BART extension. SF State's campus and the massive infill plan for Parkmerced--plus future upzoning of the Stonestown area--would make a BART stop there regionally important and generate a lot of new ridership.

[Elkhanan1]

Originally Posted by Northern Light

Were I in charge of Toronto, I would:

1. Purchase/expropriate private properties along the Etobicoke and Scarborough waterfronts (west/east suburbia) Completing a full public pedestrian/cycling trail along the entire water's edge of Lake Ontario with associated publicly accessible parks. Keep costs sane by phasing same over 20 years.

2. Daylight 4 or 5 buried creek segments, including Taylor-Massey Creek in Scarborough, Small's Creek in central-east City, Wilket Creek north of York Mills in North York, and Burke Castlefrank Creek in the Rosedale Valley.

3. I would restore any creek's in concrete channels to 'natural' embankments with at least 30M of natural cover on either side.

4. I would remove the Allen Road expressway completely, fill the ditch, and build a local complete street, parks and affordable housing in its place.

5. I would build the badly needed 'Relief Line' subway from Bathurst/Queen in the west to Don Mills/Eglinton in the north-east.

6. I would adopt as-of-right zoning on every arterial/collector road in Toronto for at least 5 storeys, (without reducing any current permissions).

7. I would finish the expansion of public library hours, opening all Branches for at least 72 hours each week; with large/district branches open 84 hours per week.

8. I would adopt a similar program as above to expand recreation centre hours to at least 6am-11pm, 7 days per week across the City.

9. I would expand the availability of year-round public washrooms with a focus on parks and the subway system.

10. I would narrow/diet any road greater than 2 lanes in each direction, highway excepted. Surplus space would go to wide sidewalks and boulevards with quality tree-growing conditions and to cycle tracks (protected bike lanes).

11. I would better winterize the City by deploying snow-melt technology strategically to streets/sidewalks/bus stops that are on slopes or in flood-prone areas to reduce the use of road-salt and improve winter safety. I would also make optional heaters standard in most bus shelters.

12. I would better protect the city against extreme summer temperatures by mandating that all surface parking be at least 75% shaded by trees and use a high-albedo surface.

13. I would reduce the multiple for monthly transit passed to 40 (from around 56 today).

14. I would expand Bike-share city wide.


And a few other things..............


To pay for the above, I would:

1) Raise Toronto's property tax rate to the median level for the Greater Toronto area.

2) Impose Tolls on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway

3) Raise the cost of Permit Parking to fair market value (Typically a range of $100-$220 per month) from a current range of mid 30s- 60'ish.

4) I would impose pay and display parking on all side streets near popular shopping districts or within 300M of a subway line. (permit holders exempt)

And I'd do lake filling between Ontario Place and the Humber to double or triple the width of the green strip between the Gardiner and the lake.

[eschaton]

Talking about comprehensive zoning reform, I would simplify the zoning code in the city to be the following:

Single-Family Detached Form: Allows for continued development of detached-single-family homes, but also allows for the construction of multi-units up to fourplex levels as long as they follow the existing neighborhood context in terms of setbacks and building heights.

Single-Family Attached Form: Meant for the traditional rowhouse areas of the city. Allows for the development of new houses, along with multi-units up to six-units so long as they match with the surrounding built context (likely limit of around three stories). No parking minimums.

Mixed-use - Low Density: Allows for any type of residential (including larger apartment buildings), commercial development, and some light industrial uses. Building heights allowed up to six stories. Essentially meant to replace traditional neighborhood commercial districts. No parking minimums.

Mixed-use - Moderate Density:

Similar to the above in uses, but increases height limits up to twelve stories. Meant for transit-intensive corridors. No parking minimums.

Mixed-use - High-Density:

Again, similar to the above, but meant for Pittsburgh's commercial districts (Downtown/Oakland). No height limits. Not only no parking minimums, but parking maximums set up by code.

Residual Industrial:

Essentially the few remaining things which really do not mix well with industrial/commercial uses (dirty industry, tow pounds, scrapyards, etc.).

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by pj3000

If it's done correctly, with a natural, mineral-based/linseed oil paints, then frequent repainting won't be an issue. They allow moisture to escape from the brick, and won't cause efflorescence and spalling of the brick

As you noted the building in Steely's picture "appears" to be a lime wash so there's no issue with moisture. In reality I doubt it's lime - buildings from that era were often built with a rough textured face brick, so any paint (lime or not) would have that faded look unless the painter used a fat ass roller and a lot of pressure. but that also means the moisture can escape through all the nooks and crannies where the paint didn't reach.

I agree with the others who have mentioned bad window replacements... seems like almost every neighborhood building in Chicago has seen its original wood or steel windows replaced by cheap white vinyl. Unfortunately vinyl can't be painted so you're stuck with white forever unless you do another replacement. Black looks a little less jarring but traditionally the windows could have been any number of colors, usually muted green, blue, red etc.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

.....forever ban the stupid recent trend of painting face brick.

Here's another recent victim in my neighborhood:





What was once a nice, timeless, century-old maroon brick chicago 3-flat will now forever look like yet another goofy victim of the stupid brick painting trend of the late teens.

Well, I guess they got tired of the white paint because the very same 3 flat that started this whole rant of a thread nearly 4 years ago is now............. blue?!?!?!?





You shoulda left the beautiful earthy deep maroon face brick alone, ya stupid knuckleheads.

[meh]

^ it's happening more frequently in St. Louis these days as well, and it's almost always out-of-state investors/flippers.

[MonkeyRonin]

The white was awful, but the deep blue looks great IMO. But then again I'm from a place where people have been painting brick for a long time...

[meh]

^ agree the blue looks really nice. and as an addendum, painted brick can look amazing, but painting quality face brick defeats the purpose of quality face brick, and shortens its life.

[streetscaper]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Well, I guess they got tired of the white paint because the very same 3 flat that started this whole rant of a thread nearly 4 years ago is now............. blue?!?!?!?





You shoulda left the beautiful earthy deep maroon face brick alone, ya stupid knuckleheads.

This blue looks really nice imo!!

[kool maudit]

Erect this unbuilt 1927 proposal right there on Nybroviken.