Become a Patron of The Overhead Wire and The Direct Transfer Daily

Hey All!

Thanks for keeping up with The Overhead Wire and The Direct Transfer in your RSS feeds or by checking back in to the website. Many of you are using the RSS instead of getting the daily email and that's awesome. As many of you know, for nine years I've put together The Direct Transfer Daily (formerly The Other Side of the Tracks) and for the last few months (and a year+ with Tanya Snyder) have been doing the Talking Headways Podcast at StreetsblogUSA. In my previous job there was a bit of support for these projects however now that I'm working on my own as a consultant that isn't as sustainable. It probably wasn't sustainable before but I love doing it and still do.

I'd like to keep collecting news and podcasting to share information with folks who love cities. Hopefully I can also write more at The Overhead Wire and here. My intern Kelly has been loading news and writing posts and I need to keep paying her for that great work and pay for some of my time creating these resources.

So if you're so inclined I would really appreciate your support. The Patreon is a monthly subscription donation that you choose. It can range from cents to $150 a month. That higher level will allow someone to co-host the podcast with me once a year. $2 a month gets you a sticker with our loveable Overhead Wire logo on it.

You can pledge continuing support for The Overhead Wire on Patreon here.

Folks have also been asking if they can give one time. I'm more than happy to have your support that way too. You can click on the PayPal Link Below.

So let's keep this going. Thanks so much for continued reading of our link collections and listening to the podcast. We really appreciate it and I hope they help you as well.

Podcast: Tara Pham Discusses St. Louis and Civic Innovation

This week on the podcast, Tara Pham joins the podcast to talk about St. Louis.  We talk about the music scene, civic innovation, the internet service economy, and her company's focus on collecting better data for cities.  Check it out!

Podcast: Bruce Katz Discusses UK devolution and the Power of Metro Regions

This week Bruce Katz from the Brookings Institution joins us to talk about plans for devolution in the United Kingdom and how the lessons from that process can be applied here in the United States by the federal and state governments.  Lots of great quotes in this one, so you'll want to take a listen.

The Next Big Tech Hub?

With the tech-driven growth that many places have seen, cities all over the US are trying to become the next big tech hub. Cities are trying to woo developers, incentivize start-up development, or become the next city with Google Fiber. However, Chattanooga, with its superfast fiber-optic broadband network, knows that high speed Internet isn’t the only thing that’s needed to attract tech companies. They’ve already seen economic growth from the higher broadband speeds, but they’re also trying to increase density and strategize ways to continue growing sustainably by diversifying development.

But while other cities strive to attract large tech companies, Mountain View is growing wary of them. Recently, the city denied a Google plan to build its new headquarters there, despite Google offering $240 million in community benefits for the development rights. Instead, Mountain View awarded LinkedIn the rights to develop in North Bayshore, in order to avoid becoming dependent on one big company.

There is some reason to their fears. Silicon Valley’s rapid growth has transformed nearby cities, and it’s spilling over. Demand for housing is high, and it’s driving up rents. The existing infrastructure is nowhere near sufficient to handle the volume of users, resulting in traffic congestion and constant transit woes. Bay Area cities have grown rapidly, and there is definite backlash. Even cities in the East Bay have seen dramatic and rapid development. Many cities located near BART stations have seen an influx of housing and retail development.

One developer, Lennar, is counting on the continued spillover of tech workers into neighboring cities. They’ve bought an 11-acre chunk of land in Fremont that they intend to develop into 2200 houses, apartments and offices. This is in addition to two other large housing developments that Lennar is intending to build in San Francisco. Other developers have followed suit and bought parcels of land, albeit smaller. While these developments will take over a decade to complete, demand is high, and still growing.

Podcast: Yonah Freemark on TOD

This week we have Yonah Freemark on the podcast to talk about TOD in Chicago.  How come the population is shrinking even in strong market parts of the city and what can we do about it?  Yonah also mentions why the zoning code is the way that it is and his definition of TOD.  Listen in to hear more.