EXECUTIVE HOTEL LE SOLEIL NEW YORK

SUPER-EFFICIENT, CLEAN AND QUIET ROOM WITH MINI-FRIDGE AND LOCATION NEAR TONS OF TRAIN TRANSIT

The price point was amazing. 

A $250 to $300 room for $150 (plus taxes).

Very quiet room with a great bed and efficient layout.

I loved the walk-in shower with endless hot water.

The room is not big, but I don't come to New York to sit in the room.

The storage space, mainly a vertical tower with all kinds of drawers and open cubes, was the best I've seen in a compact room.

It had a great desk (also my breakfast bar) and closet. Lots of outlets and two charging stations on the clock radio.

DIA DAY LOS MUERTOS

THE DAY OF THE DEAD IN OXACA, MEXICO

Oaxaca is a cultural capital.

The region is amazing and diverse.

The city of Oaxaca easily is one of the top 10 culinary destinations on the planet.

The grand churches and buildings are an architecture buff’s dream.

The surrounding small towns are historic and enchanting.

Nothing compares to the observation of Dia de los Muertos.

It runs Nov. 1 to Nov. 2 but for weeks leading up to the family-centric observations, folks are decorating altars, preparing special foods and sharing their colorful city.

THE 15-MINUTE CITY

OLD-FASHIONED COMPACT, CONVENIENT, MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT FOR A MODERN, POST PANDEMIC, WALKABLE WORLD

“Milan or New York, for example are already widening sidewalks, pedestrianizing streets and increasing bike lanes,” Cristina Garrido said, noting that Barcelona has converted parking lots into civic space.

“The pandemic has accelerated a change that had to be done if we wanted our cities to be sustainable in a mid/long term.

From now on, cities will be more people-centered, and they will have more public spaces allocated for people.”

THE 15-MINUTE CITY

OLD-FASHIONED COMPACT, CONVENIENT, MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT FOR A MODERN, POST PANDEMIC, WALKABLE WORLD 

Cristina Garrido -- Director of Innovation for CitiesToBe, an urban platform powered by Barcelona-based Smart Cities Consultant anteverti –

 said cites around the world are embracing the 15-minute concept, especially as a reaction to the pandemic.

THE 15-MINUTE CITY

OLD-FASHIONED COMPACT, CONVENIENT, MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT FOR A MODERN, POST PANDEMIC, WALKABLE WORLD

“The current gold standard for this with small-scale development is Portland, Oregon, which passed its residential infill program (RIP) last fall,” said Strong Towns Senior Editor Daniel Herriges.

An analysis conducted by the city in consultation with several small-scale and affordable housing developers, including Neil Heller and Habitat for Humanity,

found that significant affordability benefits would be achieved by the policy the city ended up passing, which provides a sliding scale of allowed FAR for buildings between four and six units -- if they provide rent-reduced affordable units.”

THE 15-MINUTE CITY

OLD-FASHIONED COMPACT, CONVENIENT, MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT FOR A MODERN, POST PANDEMIC, WALKABLE WORLD

Strong Towns is a nonprofit focused on strengthening the urban core while eliminating budget-busting sprawl development.

 “A trend I expect will grow among cities changing their zoning to allow more missing middle and walkable urban infill development -- the kind conducive to a 15-minute neighborhood –

is that of building density or floor area ratio (FAR) bonuses into the zoning code specifically for affordable units,” Senior Editor Daniel Herriges said.

THE 15-MINUTE CITY

OLD-FASHIONED COMPACT, CONVENIENT, MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT FOR A MODERN, POST PANDEMIC, WALKABLE WORLD

Strong Towns Senior Editor Daniel Herriges emphasizes that the 15-minute neighborhood saves cities the high cost of maintaining sprawl.

“It's important to remember that the cost premium for compact, mixed-use neighborhoods is largely a function of artificial scarcity, he said.

“Fifteen-minute neighborhoods, and the kinds of housing that work well in them, are not expensive to create or maintain.

They often have high real-estate values only because they are very popular and we haven't built enough of them in the last few decades.