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Cool, looks like we are mostly like-minded. I am definitely on a new push to encourage retail/residential centers. I truly believe this is the next wave of development. In essence, replace the traditional malls, (which seem to be dying), to new retail centers surrounded by dense housing. Offer housing and residential so close together that nobody needs to commute, atleast for shopping. I really think this is the next stage, and big cities like Atlanta and Seattle could be pioneers with this.
IDK, I kind of have a love hate relationship with Atlanta's skyline.
At first site, it doesn't look very dense, but then you have to realize that there are 3 separate skylines that span across I-75, which requires a panoramic picture to capture it all (then you have Sandy Springs). It really makes the Urban core feel big.
At the same time, it makes each INDIVIDUAL DISTRICT look less dense. Atlanta has more skyscrapers above 400 ft than Boston, Philly, and Seattle, but you'd never realize it because it's all so spread out.
I hear you on this! I tend to like the spread out feel, as it does offer better transportation opportunities. As for the overall look, well that it is somewhat objective.
Seattle is the new kid on the block here, and they are rapidly becoming one of the more dense cities in the country. Wait...not saying they are the most dense, (by a mile), but becoming "more" dense. Seattle could be in the top10 in density by the end of this year.
Seattle also has a neighboring suburban competitor, Bellevue, not likely to catch Seattle, but perhaps is in the top 2 or 3 of suburban downtowns in the US. (If not #1).
Seattle has been one of the leaders in adding residential density, with about 140-150 per square mile per year added since 2010. Much of that is greater Downtown (Lower Queen Anne, South Lake Union, the denser parts of Capitol Hill, etc.) and much has been in another 10% of the city or so (within city limits) that allows density. Some of those areas are starting to get pretty dense with critical mass, like Ballard where 3,000 units have been added in a pretty small area.
But our real "differentiator" from most other cities is downtown office construction. Groundbreakings since 2010 are around 10,000,000 sf. Or a fair bit higher if laboratories and medical buildings are included.
Or maybe transit, where usage, at least by commute share, is already the highest outside the NY/Chi/Phi/Bos/SF/DC group. And we're working on about $70 billion in voter approved funding packages.
IDK, I kind of have a love hate relationship with Atlanta's skyline.
At first site, it doesn't look very dense, but then you have to realize that there are 3 separate skylines that span across I-75, which requires a panoramic picture to capture it all (then you have Sandy Springs). It really makes the Urban core feel big.
At the same time, it makes each INDIVIDUAL DISTRICT look less dense. Atlanta has more skyscrapers above 400 ft than Boston, Philly, and Seattle, but you'd never realize it because it's all so spread out.
Personally I love it. I love coming into Atlanta on 85 and seeing Buckhead in the distance, and then bam you're hit with Midtown and Downtown. Plus Atlantas buildings are all different. The cylindrical Westin, the pencil Boa, mountainesque Promenade II, the regal 191 Peachtree, the Lego looking GP, etc etc.
That doesn't help residents of the city if a large part of the market demand is from wealthy investors living abroad who basically drive a lot of new construction and then leave it empty for the most part. Sure, you can ostensibly create enough supply eventually that will satisfy the global investments, but that's a lot of supply to make before it stops getting screwy for the local resident.
432 Park Ave is guilty of this. Drove up values all around it, raising prices and squeezing native New Yorkers out. Yet most everyone who lives in 432 Park is a foreign elite and not a permanent resident.
I read somewhere that only 19% of the building is typically occupied at one time. Mainly because these foreign elite use it as vacation home. That doesn't help the natives or the middle though at all.
432 Park Ave is guilty of this. Drove up values all around it, raising prices and squeezing native New Yorkers out. Yet most everyone who lives in 432 Park is a foreign elite and not a permanent resident.
I read somewhere that only 19% of the building is typically occupied at one time. Mainly because these foreign elite use it as vacation home. That doesn't help the natives or the middle though at all.
Right. These buildings, in addition to not actually adding any real supply for the vast majority of residents, also don't add people paying income taxes, add little in additional spending from sales tax, and worst of all, rely on a series of schemes to pay property taxes often less than 10% (or none at all for a decade) what should actually be paid in regards to their property value.
IDK, I kind of have a love hate relationship with Atlanta's skyline.
At first site, it doesn't look very dense, but then you have to realize that there are 3 separate skylines that span across I-75, which requires a panoramic picture to capture it all (then you have Sandy Springs). It really makes the Urban core feel big.
At the same time, it makes each INDIVIDUAL DISTRICT look less dense. Atlanta has more skyscrapers above 400 ft than Boston, Philly, and Seattle, but you'd never realize it because it's all so spread out.
Philadelphia and Atlanta actually have about the same size skyline when you include all buildings over 300 FT tall. You're right though, you definitely wouldn't know it as Philadelphia's skyline is practically all clustered together, and Atlanta's is spread out over several miles.
432 Park Ave is guilty of this. Drove up values all around it, raising prices and squeezing native New Yorkers out. Yet most everyone who lives in 432 Park is a foreign elite and not a permanent resident.
I read somewhere that only 19% of the building is typically occupied at one time. Mainly because these foreign elite use it as vacation home. That doesn't help the natives or the middle though at all.
1. 432 Park has a very small footprint (about 0.7 acres)
2. The "half empty" 432 Park still has around the same number of people residing there as the building that was on its place, the Drake hotel. Its a big building.
3. Those buyers at 432 Park who do not reside there still have to pay maintenance and property taxes. Just for reference, maintenance in that building is $17,000 per month and the property tax is $16,000 per month, after the tax abatement.
So the city gets best of both worlds. These people do not use any city services/do not contribute to congestion since they do not reside here, yet still pay into NYC coffers and into the local economy $33,000 a month per unit. The city can increase its budget without raising the tax burden on the residents.
1. 432 Park has a very small footprint (about 0.7 acres)
2. The "half empty" 432 Park still has around the same number of people residing there as the building that was on its place, the Drake hotel. Its a big building.
3. Those buyers at 432 Park who do not reside there still have to pay maintenance and property taxes. Just for reference, maintenance in that building is $17,000 per month and the property tax is $16,000 per month, after the tax abatement.
So the city gets best of both worlds. These people do not use any city services/do not contribute to congestion since they do not reside here, yet still pay into NYC coffers and into the local economy $33,000 a month per unit. The city can increase its budget without raising the tax burden on the residents.
432 Park is symptomatic of a larger issue, not just what its small footprint (and tall lanky box) has. The half empty building shouldn't be in quotes. It's pretty well established that virtually all units are not used as primary residences.
The Drake Hotel was a hotel--sure, it's a big building as it took up the same footprint, but 432 Park Avenue is a far taller building than what was there previously and it's almost certain that the Drake Hotel had more people in it at pretty much any time except for during 432 Park's construction since it was a hotel in a high demand area and there were a lot of people employed by it.
Does it matter that these people pay a bunch into maintenance fees for the unit? That's not direct tax revenue--that's money that goes into the company that manages the building which has no guarantee of being put into the local economy because there is no reason why the people of that company need to spend it in NYC. $16K is a pittance compared to what they are supposed to be paying in property tax were they to be taxed fairly with the same kind of assessment and rates that every other home owner in NYC does. How does it make sense that the extremely wealthy should be held to a different standard than everyone else for the property tax rate they should pay?
This is a pretty hard sell--and even harder given that what was replaced was a hotel which likely generated an order of magnitude greater revenue for the city's coffers and was much less of an eyesore.
And to a circle back--this is still missing the greater point being made in the first place which was these luxury constructions do little in addressing supply issues for the people actually living in the city.
Philadelphia and Atlanta actually have about the same size skyline when you include all buildings over 300 FT tall. You're right though, you definitely wouldn't know it as Philadelphia's skyline is practically all clustered together, and Atlanta's is spread out over several miles.
Philly is somewhat unique in that it doesn't really have a major secondary CBD (UC is just an extension of the urban core across the Schuylkill).
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