Why Times Square Buildings Are Required to Wear Billboards
Times Square's lights are not just advertising chaos. New York zoning requires major buildings in the district to carry large illuminated signs.
Urbanism
How San Antonio Turned a Deadly Flood Channel Into the River Walk
The San Antonio River Walk began as a flood-control problem, survived a proposal to pave it over, and became one of Texas's most valuable urban places.
Why New York Still Has So Few Public Bathrooms
New York's public bathroom shortage is not just an inconvenience. It is the result of old comfort stations, fiscal crisis closures, maintenance costs, design failures, and slow public construction.
The Public Spaces New York Got by Letting Developers Build Bigger
New York's privately owned public spaces were born from a zoning bargain: developers got extra floor area, and the city got plazas, arcades, atriums, and a lot of uneven results.
Park Avenue Is Called Park Avenue Because It Covered a Railroad
Park Avenue's name comes from a vanished linear park built over railroad tracks, a strip of greenery later narrowed for traffic.
Why SoHo Has So Many Glass Sidewalks and So Few Trees
SoHo's missing street trees are tied to one of its most beautiful industrial leftovers: hollow sidewalks filled with glass vault lights.