Phil
@Urban_Connector
Followers
4K
Following
26K
Media
1K
Statuses
10K
Urbanism at the intersection of transportation and development | Professional Engineer | CNU-A | Posts not representative of my employer or any organization
ATL
Joined July 2022
Launched my UrbanConnector YouTube channel this weekend. I plan on posting a mix of my usual written content on the site as well as new video content on YT such as drone tours, city reviews, opinions and more. What type of videos do y’all want to see? .
4
2
69
San Fransisco really fumbled being the greatest city on earth by not building housing.
✅ always wanted to hit this view early am on a clear day - epic
665
3K
130K
We’ve got to get past this “bike infrastructure is only for rich white people”phase. Go to any majority Black or lower income neighborhood, and you’ll see more people biking for day to day needs than anywhere. And usually, with little to no bike infrastructure.
65
454
4K
The sprawl that causes it….
16
106
3K
A city not evolving is one dying.
Some folks say: "I drive around Atlanta now & everything looks so different, it makes me sad.". Windshield perspectives are so weird. Folks like me have been walking & riding MARTA for many years; pedestrian-oriented development that puts destinations on sidewalks make us happy.
9
110
2K
The absolute worst trend that’s taken over cities right now.
140
51
2K
Was doing some research last night. The true cost of car ownership is over 10k per year. Imagine the blanket savings if we had more neighborhoods that enabled more families to become 1 car households.
48
159
2K
Probably one of the best new construction small scale buildings I’ve seen in a while.
37
58
2K
I will never have an ounce of respect for people who fight housing on the basis of environmentalism. How is people commuting 20+ miles better for the environment than infill?.
Over 50% of Cape Cod's workforce commutes from off Cape as a housing crisis grows. 300+ units were proposed on a golf course in Hyannis. Environmental groups & wealthy neighbors sued, killing the project, further exacerbating the regions housing issues.
21
152
2K
I think this is a pretty good looking building. The “everything needs to look amazing” crowd is weird and half the reason we’re in the crisis that we’re in.
74
50
2K
1970s urban planning was a weird time . Houston basically has an entire underground city
60
49
2K
Saw someone say they agree with the proposed legislation essentially banning houses <750 sqft because “nobody should have to live in a doghouse” . Do people not understand that nearly every 1br apartment and even some 2 br are you<750?.
89
57
1K
People will choose to live a mile back into a one-way in one-way out subdivision in a cul-de-sac 40 miles from downtown and complain about 30 seconds of “delay” added from bike lanes, no turn on red, and other safety measures. Sorry your 2 hr commute became 2 hr 1 min!.
10
92
1K
I’m convinced people don’t actually know what manhattan looks like.
Mother of god!! They're going to have to rename Menlo Park to Manhattan after this!
7
14
1K
People love saying this about the least dense, most car centric, sprawled cities. It couldn’t be further from the truth.
@FluentInFinance Please don’t come to Charlotte…we full.
15
46
1K
Reminder that in 2017 when I-85 collapsed in Atlanta MARTA ridership soared and overall traffic through the metro area improved.
All lanes in BOTH directions of I-95 are closed between Woodhaven Road & Aramingo Ave exits. “They will be closed for a long time.” Philadelphia city officials say. Alternative routes will be extra packed, including Roosevelt Blvd, Torresdale Ave & Route 130 in South Jersey.
16
83
970
One day Nashville will realize they don’t need vehicular traffic on Broadway and it will instantly become a much better city.
36
29
895
Nothing about this is funny.
16
17
775
Great looking building. Of course OP resorts to the normal “it’ll bring crime” cover for their racism BS in the replies.
65
14
771
90% of the narrative issue surrounding housing and development is how these headlines are written
18
17
762
My biggest pet peeve about environmentalists is that many will care about 2-3 trees more than the positive impacts of having homes, sidewalks, trains, greenways etc that will take cars off the road and have an actual positive impact on the environment.
Both CAL High Speed Rail and HS2 have their problems, but one shared by both is the crazy design decisions made to avoid “environmental impact”. Of course these decisions are made completely ignoring the environmental impact of projects that cost this much and take this long.
16
62
728
Single family tear downs replaced by million dollar single family mansions are the true problem when it comes to affordability, gentrification, and displacement. But for some reason, it seems to be the only type of development the general public is okay with.
16
88
684
Really impressed with Houston! . So much urban nature. Decent transit. Good mixed use and missing middle. Underrated.
36
34
714
This is how you make the most of a small downtown. 📍Greenville, SC
27
22
605
Actually it’s not. Apartments with decks actually cost nearly $300 a month in rent value to build and it’s highly subsidized against people who don’t drive.
Charging for parking in an apartment you already paid rent at is the most greedy shit ever.
11
18
578
And then I walk over to the grocery store and get what I need.
y'all love walkable cities until you need to get groceries.
8
10
486
This is the logic that many people miss. They think that luxury apartments and condos cause gentrification but in reality not building enough of them is a big cause. People with money are going to spend it in other areas that would otherwise stay relatively “affordable”.
People HATE condos. Especially a skyscraper like this one which contains 450 new units. This is what it would look like if those ppl bought up 450 single family homes in rapidly gentrifying East Austin instead. Fight displacement by building luxury condos.
14
61
457
We are so close to completely being able to get around safely by bike. My thoughts and pics: 1/x
5
13
440
Worse for who?.
The Austin, TX housing downturn keeps getting worse. Inventory of homes for sale just surged +442% over the last two years. Up to almost 9,000 houses on the market. That's the highest inventory level on record for April going back 7 years. Prepare for more price declines in
6
14
408
It’s probably just me walking and biking in urban environments way more the past few months but it seems like drivers have gotten so much worse lately. No regard for sidewalks, stop bars, red lights, parking literally anywhere, stopping literally anywhere. It’s so bad.
27
17
380
We typically think about highway displacement being a thing of the past, but these images are from 2015 to 2023 all within a couple miles of each other. Some of these holes were <10 YO. 100s of homes and businesses destroyed for a bypass in what is a relatively low traffic region
21
26
394
Thought the map was bout to morph into an expansion plan for a second.
🎄 Season’s Greetings from MARTA! May your holiday be filled with joy, peace, and safe travels.
13
15
378
MARTa has long-term parking for like $5 a day at select stations and it drops you off basically inside the terminal.
For hours now, 80% of @ATLairport's parking lots and decks have been at capacity leaving travelers frustrated. For the lots that have space, people are having to wait for busses. I'll have the details and what the airport says passengers should do on @FOX5Atlanta at 6.
15
12
369
Your apology needs to be just as loud as the disrespect was 🔥. 📍Cincinnati. I did not know Cincy would go this hard!
26
16
381
I feel like developers are the only profession that people have a fit about making a profit. Isn’t the point of basically any profession to make a profit at the end of the day? That’s what pays the bills.
"But the greedy developer will make a profit.". Good! . Developers provide housing. The more they profit, the more housing they build. The more housing they build, the more affordable housing is.
23
18
353
100% false. Know what helps control infrastructure costs? Density. Something Atlanta doesn’t have.
We said we were full, but y’all didn’t listen. lol.
7
21
361
Safe bike and ped infrastructure helps everyone. The more people we’re able to give the option of not relying on a car for everyday needs, the more affordability that will be opened up.
1
27
331
Is there anyone who went from a two-car to 1 (or 0) car household or 1 to 0 that’d like to give some quotes for an article?.
136
23
255
If we’re ever going to get anywhere, we have to treat transportation and land use as the same industry. They’re so separate today.
“So I replied “Actually, the best transportation plan is a great LAND-USE plan!”
3
32
279
Do you ever just walk down Fayetteville Street and get mad that it’s not absolutely lined with shops and restaurants. Should be one of the best stretches of street in the South.
22
4
271
What’s the story here? Some of the most valuable land in the South and it’s somehow still a vehicle oriented strip mall with 0 Beltline access. How has it not been transformed into an urban format center. Could literally keep the big boxes but build over them and in the lots.
29
15
273
There are also many young singles, young couples, and empty nesters that would love to live in that sized space because they’d like to live in a great neighborhood.
2
6
269
6 people die each day on Georgia roads because of people like this.
2
1
266
@sam_d_1995 People also underestimate how much easier it is for a large group of people to get out of the way of emergency services than a gridlock of cars is.
0
1
253
No reason I shouldn’t be able to hop on a train Friday afternoon and get to Charlotte in less than 2 hours, catch the Hawks game and take the train back same night. It’s ridiculously sad how behind rail is in this country.
13
8
252
Haze and a smell of chlorine just East of Atlanta. Seems less than ideal…
13
28
241
To add - I’ll never understand when people get mad about luxury townhomes replacing a SFH. Like hello that 8 townhomes on one SF lot just basically saved 7 other houses on the block from being torn down. This is why missing middle is extremely vital.
1
12
222
Louder! “That’s because an increase in new rentals drove up vacancies, making it harder for landlords to raise prices”.
The median U.S. rent price in October was $1,978, nearly the same as a year ago. That’s because an increase in new rentals drove up vacancies, making it harder for landlords to raise prices 👉 #housing
1
35
221
Walmart on MLK in Atlanta has closed “for now” and may not reopen. Located adjacent to the AUC and MARTA, it is one of the only full service grocery options for the entire West Side of Atlanta. Last time I was there, the lines were down the isles on a random Sunday evening
10
78
227
People hate on Atlanta’s airport but you really miss it once you consistently fly out of other airports.
36
11
217
Also, when I’m out cycling even for joy there’s a good amount of Black and all types of people. It’s not an exclusive or even majority white activity or form of transportation.
2
9
200
@BlueCheese608 They’re usually already in dense areas with things right next door so what would really be the difference?.
5
0
224
Just because something doesn’t work for you doesn’t mean it doesn’t work for everyone. Not even going to touch the “neighborhood character” BS angle.
3
3
210
We’re going to call $3B for 22 miles of light rail that will connect 45 neighborhoods of Atlanta too much now?. Look at the costs of single road projects! . We have a big misunderstanding on the $ of infrastructure. Serious cities spend big on transit.
7
25
235
Why don’t we talk about St Pete more? . The city of 300,000 20 miles from Tampa punches way above its weight when it comes to urbanism and activity. It’s not just a retirement community either. I dove into some of why I love coming down here.
16
16
178
My frustration is that we could’ve built the Beltline 5 times over by now if we weren’t putting in the infrastructure to support future rail. Look at the bridges, the grading, the ROW allocation. Too much wasted time, money, and infrastructure to just give up.
Mayor Dickens has qualms about Beltline rail based on operating costs: . “We are still in the state that does not fund its public transit. We do not have support for MARTA nor will we have support for the Beltline. it’s all in the fare box". 1/.
6
30
185
Light rail and multi use trail is working out just fine for Charlotte. Streetcar along the Beltline will be fine. Stop the nonsense.
4
18
175
Wow Greenville, I’m impressed. This is how you do a mid sized downtown while making the most of a small riverfront.
13
8
182
After a few years in wonderful Raleigh, NC I'm back home in Atlanta! . Atlanta, for all it's flaws and challenges is home. It's not perfect but the future is bright. Next time you see me on the Beltline, be sure to stop and say hi. Let's get to work!.
10
2
170
@the_transit_guy 🙋🏾♂️engineer here but love development and run a blog mostly revolving around YIMBYism.
2
1
158
Wait until you see what he suggests as the way to avoid it…. By focusing on widening roads. that’s exactly how Atlanta ended up with the “traffic mess”.
"We do not want to be Atlanta with the traffic mess." -North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore
6
17
165
From 50 units in a walkable, transit rich environment to six, million dollar units. The people responsible (NIMBY neighbors) should be ashamed.
6
24
155
City I dislike: Atlanta .City I think is overrated: Atlanta.City I like: Atlanta .City I love: Atlanta .City I feel most myself in: Atlanta .City I still need to visit: Toronto and Montreal.City I dream of living in: all big cities.Favorite city of all time: Atlanta.
10
10
154
You can’t just say “don’t build” either. That’s how you end up like San Fransisco or Austin. You can’t stop people from moving in. Not building will land you in the worst case scenario of everyone being priced out.
2
6
144
Raleigh, I’m concerned. A look into why the suburban mindset of some in Raleigh will lead us down a dangerous path despite constantly ranking as one of the best places to live.
12
18
142
Give me a break people. It’s the middle of the 6th largest metro in the country. If anything’s “incompatible” it’s the streets and streets of low density single family McMansions
9
6
135
If your front yard is this big this close to the core of a major city - more often than not your opinions on what’s best for a proper city are going to be I’ll-advised.
Q: This group has signs that say, “Trains on * our * Beltline?” Who’s included in “our?”. A: They talk about the Beltline like it's their own private backyard, so the answer isn’t hard to imagine. In so many ways, their use of the word “our” seems to say the quiet part out loud.
6
8
136
“Enjoying your walk?”. New anti Beltline rail sign spotted with a QR code. Like a streetcar moving at 15-20 mph is just going to kill the quality of enjoying the Beltline more than any other factor that’s there today.
8
5
141
Well planned suburbs and suburban retrofit are key to solving the housing crisis, affordability and slowing climate change. We’re not going to convince everyone to live in cities so we must make better suburbs too.
what is your hottest pro-suburb take?.
2
9
134
Series I wrote for @SouthernUrb regarding how low car and car free areas are a game changer for affordability .
1
12
129
Credit: Vintage Atlanta Facebook . 📍1969 Grady Curve Atlanta . Look at the amount of land we sacrificed. It looks even more wild when the highway was smaller and new than it does now. Really destroyed our neighborhoods and cores.
2
13
131
This angle always makes Raleigh look like a real city.
5
3
131
📍 Water Street, Tampa . Impressive architecture, great streetscapes, top level material choices. Absolutely game changing development for Downtown Tampa
10
7
131
The dense development is pricing out people? . Is this a joke?. It’s the lack of dense development pricing folk out. People see a few “dense” units go up in Raleigh and think it’s density. Raleigh’s density and urban fabric is puny and pathetic for a city that size.
@Urban_Connector The trouble is the dense development inside 540 is pricing out a lot of the working class and forcing them to Johnston/Franklin/Harnett Counties. $1600/mo for a 1 bedroom apartment is not feasible for the average employee. .
9
10
117
This page and drivers are really ignorant.
BRUH
7
5
118
Imagine having about 100’ of prime Beltline frontage….and then building something with its back turned to it with a garage and surface parking. Fumble of the year.
22
5
119
RE a lot of the quotes. 318 homes where there were 0 is not gentrification. If there’s the demand for 318 homes, chances are the pressure is already on that neighborhood. Not building these would mean many SFHs that were just fine would get torn down for million dollar mansions.
3
6
122
Isn’t most of the Beltline’s high cost and long buildout timeline because of the infrastructure, utilities, and more that’s been built to support future rail? . So we probably could’ve had the whole loop finished 5 years ago for a fraction of the cost if we’re abandoning rail?.
4
13
109
Awesome. Next, let’s remove parts of I-277 then we’ll really be talking.
A strategy for Charlotte's West End that's been in the works for years proposes tearing down acres of highway infrastructure that divided the historically Black neighborhoods from Uptown.
4
9
121
People are acting like this is some unheard of thing
City officially seeks developer to replace Midtown #Atlanta fire station with high-rise that includes affordable housing.
7
12
120
Having these concrete panels blocking this view from King Memorial should be considered a crime.
2
8
115
I love when people try to equate something that ripped apart majority black neighborhoods to something that will increase access and connect almost half the city. Wealthy neighbors love to act like they own the whole neighborhood.
@Urban_Connector But you are forcing rail on neighborhoods that are against it. Just as the state did with interstates. Everyone is for local control until they disagree with the neighborhoods🤷🏼♂️.
7
7
127
I’d run for a council seat but it’s virtually impossible for people with regular 9-5s in Atlanta. Not nearly enough $ to be the main job and meeting times too wacky to work.
Charlotte City Council should be a full time position that pays a minimum of $100k. It makes no sense for city council to be a part time job that pays $30k in a city with one million citizens and a $4 billion budget.
8
8
115
Lots to love about DC but the direct access to miles and miles of urban scenic trails is up there.
6
10
113
It’s just concept level but wow the Cary Downtown plan looks great. town owned land that will be going to RFQ
12
6
117