#29: NYC's Urban Textscape, Helsinki Eliminates Traffic Deaths, and Vacation Homes

Welcome to the 29th issue of Urbanism Now, our weekly newsletter curated with brief and insightful urban ideas from around the world to inspire action where you (c)are.

This newsletter is curated by Maria Paula Moreno Vivas and Ray Berger. Learn more on our About page.

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Let's get started:

• Helsinki has gone a full year without a single traffic-related fatality, a remarkable feat achieved via new speed limits, speed cameras, and many infrastructure changes. (Submitted by Oriane)

• A new visual essay from The Pudding explores NYC’s “urban textscape” by recording text from signs, graffiti, and advertisements found in public spaces using Street View. A pretty amazing technical feat along with a great analysis.

• An analysis from Construction Physics shows that over half of America's 4.8 million vacation homes are packed into just 4% of its census tracts. These homes are limited by the same low construction productivity and restrictive zoning that impacts housing in cities.

• Chronotrains, lets you see how far you can travel by train from any European station in up to five hours, using clever isochrone mapping and real travel data. It’s a fun, practical tool for trip planning or exploring Europe’s best, and worst, connected cities.

Videos, podcasts, books, and socials:

• Curious what the garbage collection was like in the USSR? This video by Ushanka Show has you covered.

Jobs:

• Affordable Housing Management Academy seeks 10 mentors with experience in affordable housing to guide and empower emerging leaders.

• California YIMBY is hiring a political director to design and execute the organization’s political strategy to shape state legislative, administrative, and judicial outcomes. $110k - $140k+ salary.

• TU Delft and AMS Institute are hiring a postdoc in circular urban development and industrial symbiosis to help model and plan circular value chains in Amsterdam. €40k - €64k salary. August 15.

• European Cyclists’ Federation seeks a junior Projects & Partnerships Coordinator to support EuroVelo, the European cycle route network. 2,200€ monthly salary August 26.

Events and deadlines:

• The International Journal of Urban and Regional Research is seeking abstracts for a symposium on "Debt Urbanism and the Housing Question." August 22.

• BetaNYC is hosting CityCamp NYC, an event for networking and learning to build a better city at the CUNY School of Law. Sept 6.

• Oxford

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