Welcome - my name is Kevin Klinkenberg, and this site "The Messy City" is my blog and company website. I started blogging on urban planning and design issues in 2007, and began working in the field in 1993. Please feel free to connect with me on any of the social media sites listed here. Thanks for reading.
All in Transportation and Infrastructure
New Urbanism Blog: The City of Panama Beach, Florida has retained a team lead by Planning Works, LLC and assisted by 180° Design Studio and White & Smith, LLC to prepare an initial assessment of form-based codes for the City. A form-based code is a land development regulation that is based principally on design, rather use, impact, or other aspects of land development.
A new urban design blog recently launched, offering insight to the online architecture and design community to promote walkable communities. The site is operated by 180° Urban Design and Architecture.
In an interview from Streetsblog, Congress for the New Urbanism President, John Norquist, discusses what's broken with national transportation policy and how to fix it.
New Urbanism Blog: A Streetfilm from Clarence Eckerson Jr. shows a new 14-mile BRT system in the San Fernando Valley using a former rail right-of-way. Unlike many rapid bus transit systems in the U.S., the Orange Line is true BRT. It features a dedicated roadway that cars may not enter, has a pre-board payment system so buses load quickly and efficiently, and uses handsome, articulated buses to transport passengers fast.
New Urbanism Blog: Kevin Klinkenberg, a principal architect and urban planner, discusses improved mass transit through modern versions of the streetcars that once served Kansas City. He also discusses he distinction between a streetcar and light rail.
Good news: older neighborhoods with well-connected, grid-like street patterns are safer, too. This contradicts a widely held belief that cul-de-sac patterns are safer because they reduce traffic.
Riding the bus in Kansas City can be downright difficult. Sure the KCATA has a website, there have been marketing campaigns in both print and broadcast media, and we're even on Google Transit. But is internet access as a precursor to public transportation really a good policy?
These days, recession-pummeled Americans are following the federal stimulus package almost as avidly as, in happier times, they obsessed over Anna Nicole Smith or Laci Peterson. They’re arguing whether stimulus money should go to the arts, or to repair and expand infrastructure, such as fixing bridges, boosting transit or finishing urban loop roads.
Instead, new urbanists are more inspired by City Beautiful, Garden City, andEuropean urban patterns, according to architect Kevin Klinkenberg of 180 Degrees Design Studio. Deflections, curves, and changes in block patterns are liberally employed throughout most new urban plans.
New Urbanism: Kevin Klinkenberg,principal of 180 Degree Design Studio discusses the problem sprawl causes in Kansas City.