Mike Eliason Profile picture
Sep 1, 2021 15 tweets 6 min read Read on X
this is how climate-resilient ecodistricts are being planned in german, austrian and other cities in EU

there is not one single city in US that is planning transit-adjacent development like this

it is very reason we keep whiffing climate goals, affordability goals, & livability
this scales up as well. this is the ULAP quartier in berlin, also undergoing an urban development competition

this is *exactly* how we should be planning around our light rail station.
mein.berlin.de/projekte/ulap-…
this is the joke of planning we have around our light rail stations instead...
soon to be opened roosevelt station here in seattle, v. vienna's nearly completed sonnwendviertel.

where is the open space for roosevelt? where are the thousands of units of social housing? where are the kindergartens? the baugruppen? Image
soon to be opened northgate v. vienna's nordbahnhof district. all those buildings in nordbahnhof? 6-10 story bldgs, to the donau.

northgate drops to single family zoning in TWO blocks

which one has more open space? more affordable housing? is more walkable?

not seattle ImageImage
$2B husky stadium light rail stn (no multifamily zoning within walking distance - but multimillion dollar single family houses) v. munich's domagkpark - 1,800 homes - half of them affordable. kindergartens. open space. work spaces...

could house a lot of people in montlake ImageImage
future 130th st. light rail station - with virtually no land zoned for multifamily housing, situated between a golf course and a highway... v. utrecht's merwede - homes for 12,000. ample social housing. open space. parks. jobs. cafes.

just... WTF are we even doing. Image
148th st station in shoreline, v. freiburg's rieselfeld - a compact district w/ ample social housing, schools, kindergarten, library, open space...

which one is more walkable? which should we replicate?

rieselfeld isn't even on light rail - it's the end of a *tram* line ImageImage
seattle suburb (mercer island) v. paris suburb (boulogne-billancourt)

y'all... they put the MF light rail station in middle of a very loud, inaccessible highway.

and then there's virtually no multifamily zoned land near the station.

this should be criminal Image
i mean... this is how *suburban* paris is being developed near TOD... we can't even do this in the *largest* city in the pacific northwest

it's sooooo awful. it's pathetic. it's unwalkable. it's not climate action - it's just a massive waste

landezine-award.com/boulogne-park/
we're gonna building light rail to ballard. instead of putting it where density is, shift it recently built *townhomes* - and we won't even see it open until 2035 🤣

here it is against incredible mehr als wohnen district in zuerich. a massive cooperative for 1200. open space! Image
we are blowing what may be largest light rail system under construction in the US - by locating stations in areas least amenable to legit car-light/free districts around them. we're getting very little social housing, no open space v. EU peer cities.

it's incredibly depressing
smith cove (future light rail station in brownfield - at present, will have zero housing) v. stockholm's hammarby sjostad (tram/bus/boat access): ~11,000 homes for 25k. work space for 10,000. blue-green infra. open space. shops...

le siiiigh ImageImage
judkins park light rail station in seattle v. malmo's Bo01 (bike/bus!)

yet *another* ST station in the middle of a highway v. blue-green ecodistrict w/ 1,400 units, ample social housing, 50% open space, biodiversity, shops...

we apparently lack the ability to do this anywhere Image
lynnwood link extension (seattle suburb, 16 miles to downtown seattle. that's a lot of parking! 😱) v. heidelberg's passivhaus district, bahnstadt.

bahnstadt: family friendly. 3,700 homes planned/20% affordable. 6k jobs. open space. schools. direct access to nature (farmland) 😍 ImageImage

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More from @holz_bau

May 20
will never understand why SDOT is so bad at planning and future-proofing for sustainable mobility

the dexter & thomas protected intersection is an expensive case study in how to prioritize cars instead of sustainable mobility, through poor planning
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and nearly every other intersection on dexter is an absolute sh*tshow

having one poorly planned protected intersection doesn't change that.

the poor network is the problem, and directly related to why seattle's bicycle mode share has remained a flat 3% for over 30 years.
if we actually made cars do what SDOT is making bicycles do at this intersection in more of the city - we might actually meet our vision zero goals

unfortunately, this design fails to prioritize sustainable mobility. the bike lane is too narrow, and not adaptable to higher usage
Read 4 tweets
Mar 24
thinking about how wildly different quality of new 1-BR units are in US v. germany...

seattle (l): double loaded corridor. 800 sf. 36' deep. windowless BR. 1 window (!)

munich (r): point access block. 650 s.f. windows for BR/bath, k/d/l. ~16' deep. + 110 sf balcony.
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that character carries through to the interior. radically different quality of living, of daylight, of privacy in many cases as well.

again, seattle (l), v munich (r)


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can you imagine a 1 bedroom apartment with light on 3 sides?!?

twinned point access block w/ units from 1-3BRs.
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Read 10 tweets
Mar 14
what is the cost of FAR wasted in townhomes?

30% of calc'd FAR of this back to back townhouse project is just... stairs

codes & regs & financing & poor construction quality make flats impossible at this scale

it's not insignificant. it's 1,300 s.f. Image
the opportunity cost of 4 separate townhomes over flats is basically an additional 3-BR unit.

imagine paying $850k for something like this - and knowing a third of your mortgage is just paying for stairs.

literally the dumbest sh*t i've seen in a minute.
this is exactly what harrell's comp plan is designed to induce.

it's not going to be affordable. it's not going to be accessible. it's going to continue to decimate biodiversity. it's going to reduce climate adaptation.

we're going backwards

Read 4 tweets
Mar 3
i've given a number of talks about how poor quality of life is in US multifamily housing, and it's a central theme of my book...

a >1,400 sf 2BR with only 2 windows and none in the common area and one bedroom home is a first.

this is where building codes are headed in the US. Image
double loaded corridors. no limitations on building depth. absurdly high FAR. 50' dead end corridors.

this is where the IBC is headed. multifamily housing in other countries doesn't look anything like this.

and mass timber doesn't fix this problem.
quality of life in multifamily homes should not be substantially lower than that of detached houses

yet that is *exactly* what US building codes induce.

it isn't like this in other countries.

without substantial change (legalizing taller point access blocks) it'll get worse
Read 12 tweets
Feb 23
car free streets. hundreds of businesses. how do they even survive?

Image
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the answer?

early morning or late night deliveries

deliveries by bike, scooter or hand cart

density isn't limited to a block or two off the street but continues forever

no single family zoning

pedestrian priority

mixed use zoning

point access blocks w/ small footprints
we've eaten at several incredible places that have at most 10 seats

the abundance of buildings with minuscule footprints allow for a ridiculous amount of commercial diversity on ground floor (and above/below)
Read 11 tweets
Jan 4
i should do a thread on elevator to unit ratios in other countries...

i'll start with this one, just because it's pretty low:

basel (CH)
(8) elevators in (2) 3-story buildings, serving just 48 units.

elev to unit ratio: 1:6

baudokumentation.ch/projekt/wohnen…
the stunning swiss coop in this thread

basel (CH)
(12) elevators in (12) connected 5-story buildings, serving 125 units.

elev to unit ratio: 1:10.4

luca selva's wohnueberbauung densa park

basel (CH)

(8) elevators in (2) 5-story+ DG buildings, serving 99 units.

elev to unit ratio: 1:12.4

baudokumentation.ch/projekt/wohnue…
Image
Read 14 tweets

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