#modal split

After the tremendous composition “Feral Feeling,” which we covered on our pages upon release date, a Frankfurt-based pop artist, Modal Split, arrives with another beautiful piece that will suit anyone into wisely constructed music. “Love Yourself” is a self-explanatory composition that carries a significant message, reminding us to respect and care for ourselves. And this sincere, meaningful,…

“Feral Feeling” is the latest single by Modal Split, a Frankfurt-based independent songwriter and musician. It’s the first standalone single this year, serving as an adequate follow-up to “Ceremony” and “Somno,” two outstanding extended plays. Modal Split also released “Departure,” a collaboration song with synth virtuoso, musician, and producer Luke Tangerine. Soundwise, Modal Split explores all…

s. S. 30 Radverkehr in Deutschland – Zahlen, Daten, Fakten, Bundesminister für Verkehr und digitale Infrastruktur, Stand August 2014, 44 S.pdf

Traffic is a big deal when it comes to real estate development. Residents are almost always concerned about the additional traffic that a development might bring to their community. And who can really blame them. They're frustrated by traffic as it is in the city and so they naturally assume that more residents in their community will translate into more cars on the road.

But as natural as this reaction might seem, I don't believe that opposing intensification is the right long-term solution. In fact, I would argue that the question of traffic is a bit of a red herring. Because as Toronto's Chief Planner Jennifer Keesmaat explains in this blog post, density can actually go a long way to reducing traffic congestion. And it does that by placing people closer to where they work, and by creating an environment that's more conducive to other forms of mobility: walking, biking, and public transport.

So instead of becoming fixated on traffic, I think there's another, perhaps more relevant, question that we should be asking ourselves: Will this development, over the longer term, help to encourage a modal split that leads to more transit usage and less driving?

Because if it doesn't, well then we're not doing anything to correct the problem we already have. In fact, if we don't allow intensification to happen, it means we're simply pushing demand outwards, horizontally. And the more you push people out of a city, the more likely they are to drive. In which case we're only delaying the inevitable -- which is more traffic.

30% setzen aufs Rad

Das statistische Bundesamt hat heute eine Zahl veröffentlicht, die mich dann doch überrascht hat. In Großstädten >500.000 Einwohner setzten 30% der Menschen ausschließlich auf’s Rad und ÖPNV. Die Zeit meint dazu, 30% würden auf’s Auto verzichten. Meine Meinung dazu ist bekannt. 70% verzichten regelmäßig auf’s Rad. Es ist dabei übrigens noch viel Luft nach oben. Denn wie die Sueddeutsche schreibt,…