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Brent Toderian

@BrentToderian

May 20

@Anne_Hidalgo

Since I’m talking about urban leadership, let’s talk more specifically about what @Anne_Hidalgo has done in Paris.

She used periodic pilots opening up streets to people, focussing on air pollution, health and quality of life. When people liked it, she built on that success. 1/

@Anne_Hidalgo

Paris Mayor @Anne_Hidalgo did the same thing with bike lanes— some pilots to prove they worked, but quickly making them permanent & decisively expanding on them during the pandemic when they were well received. Don’t ask if folks want something that they can’t picture. Show them.

@ANNE_Hidalgo

For the water edge transformation of the Seine, closing road space to cars & creating a great place for people, the previous mayor started that, but @ANNE_Hidalgo fought to keep it (including in court), made it permanent & expanded it. It set the tone for a lot that followed. 3/

Read 5 tweets

Brent Toderian

@BrentToderian

Apr 20

THREAD: I’m going to try this thread to clearly state my perspective on electric vehicles, car dependency and better cities, to those who frequently ask me, including media, elected leaders and many others. Here goes. Please share if you think it helps. 🧵#EVS

To be clear, despite the complexities, problems & grey areas that make electric vehicles much more complicated than the “silver bullets” many claim them to be, I DO support the replacement of ICE vehicles with EVs. It will take longer and be more complicated than boosters think.

But it’s important to understand what #EVs WON’T do, that we STILL badly need solutions for.

We know FOR SURE that EV cars, trucks & SUVs still badly pollute from manufacturing, brakes & tires, creating serious health issues, even IF the energy source is renewable (many aren’t).

Read 15 tweets

Brent Toderian

@BrentToderian

Feb 22

THREAD: For decades, I’ve been making the undeniable case that cities & city-regions need healthy downtowns, including economically (since inner cities subsidize suburbs). EVERYONE benefits from a healthy downtown no matter where you live & work, and whether you ever go downtown.

We’ve already been having a LOT of discussions about the urgent need for smart strategies to keep downtowns healthy coming out of the global pandemic, in the face of shockwaves including uncertain new realities around working from home, and many implications for downtown health.

In recent weeks, we’ve witnessed ANOTHER major threat to the health of downtowns — the idea that prolonged extremist occupations, with or without trucks, could render downtowns at least temporarily unlivable, and questionable places to run businesses.

That should concern us ALL.

Read 8 tweets

Brent Toderian

@BrentToderian

Nov 10, 2021

@BillGates

This is important for #COP26

A while back, I received a note from a Manager in the executive office of @BillGates, asking if they could send me a copy of his new book “How To Avoid A Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need.” I was happy to say yes.

She wrote: “Our aim is to get the book into the hands of as many people working to prevent a #climatecrisis as possible. It’s an issue that affects us all; the more conversations we can help start about the way we work together to get to zero, the better.”

I couldn’t agree more.

I generally respect Bill Gates’ intentions in putting his energies into trying to make things better in the world. Putting aside the usual (& completely correct) comments about how billionaires should be taxed more, it’s a lot more than most billionaires are doing.

However…

Read 18 tweets

Brent Toderian

@BrentToderian

Oct 23, 2021

One of the biggest municipal public policy mistakes I see happening in many cities is a political tendency to focus almost entirely on the construction of below-market housing when trying to tackle “affordability.” Affordability is complex, & solutions need to be equally complex.

For example, if local politicians send the message that they don’t want to see new ownership housing, or even market rental housing, because “what we REALLY need are below-market homes,” the resulting supply slowdown means ownership & rental housing will get even MORE expensive.

@HarvardGSD

“In America, housing is a commodity to be bought and sold like a car. The result is that those with means have a place to live, and those without means do not. We must change this paradigm.” — former San Francisco chief planner John Rahaim. @HarvardGSD
gsd.harvard.edu/2021/06/john-r…

Read 4 tweets

Brent Toderian

@BrentToderian

Sep 28, 2021

One of the KEY conversations in city-building we too often avoid because we’re accused of “pointing fingers:”

Who REALLY creates single-use, car-dependent suburban sprawl? Is it developers (& their consultants) who build it, or the local governments who allow & even mandate it?

And let’s get this out of the way RIGHT away — It’s NOT “the market” that creates suburban sprawl. It won’t be built if no one builds it, and it won’t be built if no government allows it (and SUBSIDIZES it). And surveys have always shown the “market” wants other, better choices.

So is it developers or local governments that create suburban sprawl?

It’s easy to say “both,” & I’ve seen plenty of examples where this is true. Developers propose it & aggressively lobby for it, & then municipalities lock it into the rules so it’s the only thing that’s legal.

Read 7 tweets

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