The Austin Company’s Post

“The cost of running a city is the linear feet of everything … of sewer and water and sidewalk and roads …” In order to create more sustainable and affordable places to live, cities need to continue improving how they plan for and account for their infrastructure. #localgov #municipalfinance #cityplanning

Thanks for this conference which covered all the topics related to swelling, from microstructure to dams.

New Orleans History Lessons... * I was curious what commerce looked like in the early 1800s. * After a four-month voyage from Pittsburgh down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, a steamboat named New Orleans arrived in its namesake city on the 12th of Jan. 1812. This event - the first steamboat to navigate the Mississippi - marked a revolution in commerce and travel on the #river, allowing for movement both upstream and downstream to begin. Two-way steam driven boat traffic on the river led to significant growth and prosperity for the city of New Orleans over the next 50 years. * The Mississippi River, which is approximately 2,350 miles long from its source in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, where it empties, has been vital to colonial European and, later, American interests since Hernando de Soto set his eye upon it in 1541. (a story for another time!) * With the development of steam technology in the early 19th century, New Orleans became one of the #largestports in the #world. The city handled #trade from the #mississippirivervalley as well as the Eastern seaboard, Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin America. * Pretty impressive that the shipping industry on the Mississippi began in 1812, OFFICIALLY! * PHOTO: This photo is from ca. 1860, at the Port of New Orleans, which was a bustling hub of steamboat traffic. (THNOC) * #steamboats #waterways #earlyhistory #neworleanshistory #louisiana #ships #thegenealogyinvestigator #history #news #learnsomethingnew

Building resilience is more than just hardening physical infrastructure. It’s also about understanding the wider range of societal dimensions of resilience—safety, health, economy, social cohesion and equity—and devising solutions that reflect the critical connections among them. Join Atkins at #FRC23 to learn more.

If you're interested in the history of Scottish tenements, check out this article from The Courier on the story of tenement housing in Dundee. The article gives an overview of what tenement living used to be like and the reasons why Scotland opted to build tenements to house industrial workers rather than the terraced houses commonly found in England ⬇️ https://bit.ly/48iINZV

Illinois to Quebec

Yoho National Park , British Columbia

Sometimes we need to take a break and just enjoy our surroundings. Silver Dollar Lake - Georgetown, CO 12,000ft above sea level 🌄 Distance: 4.2 miles Time: 3 hours & 21 minutes Elevation Gain: 1,453ft

You are King of the Britons. You want to be a good King and help your subjects. You want to provide them with housing. Affordable homes. For all tenures. Beautiful houses. Houses like we used to build, traditional homes made in Georgian times; not those high-rise monstrosities they build today. Built in nice, real neighbourhoods, with green spaces and parks, local shops and services, and a cricket green. A genuine sustainable community, with new jobs, using renewable energy and increasing bio-diversity. You do everything right. You appoint a design team that spend six years - six years - engaging the local community through charettes and ‘enquiry by design’ to work up a design that will complement the unique historic character of the local area and its rich history. One day, you will be able to look back proudly at your contribution, and unlike some of your predecessors, know that you treated your people well and generously. Surely, your people will be grateful, appreciative and thank you for everything you are doing. Surely……. Er……. “It seems there’s no end to the greed of Prince William and King Charles!! It’s a disgrace that they pose as environmentalists when in fact they’re like all developers and it’s purely about the money! “And what about food security?? All this Grade 1 and 2 farmland being concreted over.” “My family are very proud 3rd-generation Duchy farmers and they feel ashamed and betrayed. No honour, just greed. We were hoping the Royals were maybe oblivious to it all, with good intentions, but it’s all a gloss.” Ouch. What an ungrateful lot. And what was the point of that six years? All that time, effort and money. And what do you have to show for it? There’s got to be a better way. And there is. Start engaging those that want to see new homes. Those that want to see new homes for themselves and their family. You might not know it, but a majority of people support housebuilding in their area. Let’s start talking to them. When will our industry learn that you’ll never convert a NIMBY? Faversham shows you can spend years talking to them, giving them everything they want, and they still oppose you. When something doesn’t work, you should stop doing it. But our industry, with its head in the sand, keeps doing the same old thing. Let’s start talking to supportive audiences. And make sure their voices start to balance the public debate. It’s only then, that Councillors will be confidently able to support your plans. How the world has changed. In 2024, even the King of the Britons needs approval from the local planning committee. That would never have happened in Henry VIII day. https://lnkd.in/e3BbNj8B