Benjamin Schneider
Slate
San Francisco, CA, United States
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Past articles by Benjamin:
Scooters Are Making Cities Safer, More Humane, and More Efficient
In cities like Atlanta, Nashville, and Indianapolis, getting around on two tiny wheels offers a new view of urban life. → Read More
This map shows what transit could actually look like in San Jose and Silicon Valley in the 2040s
It's difficult to think long-term these days, but in the glacial world of transportation planning, the long view is the only view. The Bay Area has some exciting transportation plans to look forward to in the midst of our dismal present: Within the next decade Caltrain electrification and BART to downtown San Jose will connect the three major cities of the Bay Area with fast, frequent, reliable… → Read More
These maps show what transit could actually look like in the Bay Area in 2040
Based on my knowledge as a journalist and researcher who closely follows the Bay Area's transportation planning scene, I crudely mapped out what the region's mass transit network could look like sometime in the 2040s, once the second transbay tube and other major projects are completed. These are not fantasy maps: every transit line depicted here has been proposed in some form by government… → Read More
How to Make a Housing Crisis
The new book Golden Gates details how California set itself up for its current affordability crunch—and how it can now help build a nationwide housing movement. → Read More
Bjarke Ingels Group and WXY Reimagine Downtown Brooklyn
The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership wants to make bold streetscape improvements akin to the recent redesign of 14th Street in Manhattan. → Read More
The Rise and Fall of the Exuberant Airline Map
Early airline maps were inventive and colorful, but now that flying is mundane, the maps have gotten blander, say the authors of a new book on the genre. → Read More
TIF and the City: All About Tax Increment Financing
Depending on who you ask, TIF is an essential tool for cities to revitalize neighborhoods, or an opaque developer giveaway with few public benefits. → Read More
How to Understand Municipal Zoning Codes
Don’t know your R1 from your FAR? We’re here to explain how zoning laws work, how these ordinances shape your city and neighborhood, and why we fight over them. → Read More
The Architecture of Adult Entertainment
Photographing strip-club exteriors from Miami to L.A. for his series “Gentlemen’s Club,” François Prost found pink stucco, flashy signs—and lots of parking. → Read More
8 Buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright Added to UNESCO World Heritage List
Eight Wright buildings, located around the country, are the first American works of modern architecture that UNESCO deems “of outstanding universal value.” → Read More
Liberal America’s Single-Family Hypocrisy
Policies to increase the density of America’s cities will ease poverty. They’ll also create a built environment that is consistent with progressive values. → Read More
How Community Land Trusts and Co-ops Work: An Explainer
Community land trusts and housing co-ops are alternative forms of homeownership that often serve those shut out by traditional markets. → Read More
With Trains Like Schwebebahn, No Wonder Germans Love Public Transit
The Schwebebahn, Wuppertal's Prussian-era train, has a unique design: Its wheels sit atop the singular rail, and the trains hang below it, connected by supports that look like the Iron Giant’s knuckles. → Read More
Social Cyborgs | Benjamin Schneider
Participating in the network from across the uncanny valley, net artists seek to critique Instagram from the inside. → Read More
A Primer on the Founding Fathers (and Mothers) of Modern Urbanism
15 people who changed how we plan, design, think about, and live in cities. → Read More
You Can't Build Your Way Out of Traffic Congestion. Or Can You?
When traffic-clogged highways are expanded, new drivers quickly materialize to fill them. Here’s how “induced demand” works. → Read More
Behold San Francisco's $2 Billion Bus Station
The Salesforce Transit Center, San Francisco’s new bus and (someday) high-speed rail terminal, has been billed as the Grand Central Station of the West. But it might just become the Bay Area’s answer to the High Line. → Read More
San Francisco's Sidewalk Poop Crisis, Explained
As the city’s population grows, those who are homeless have fewer places to go. And more affluent residents are getting fed up. → Read More
Inclusionary Zoning: Everything You Need to Know
You’ve seen the term. You may think you know what it means. But you never quite understood why it exists or how it works. Here’s your introduction to inclusionary zoning. → Read More
A Guide to Little Vehicles, the Future of Urban Mobility
Can e-bikes, electric scooters, velomobiles, and other battery-boosted mobility gizmos really rid the city of the private car? → Read More