James S. Russell

Architecture Critic, Journalist and Consultant

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Can Amazon Be . . . Gasp . . . Good for New York?

by James Russell on December 26, 2018 - Get free updates on posts here

James S. Russell

“Stop Amazon!” is increasingly the mantra of activists in New York, referring to the new $5 billion campus the company is slated to develop in Long Island City, Queens. With righteous rage, city council members at a hearing demanded the company stop cooperating with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement on facial-recognition software and end their union-resisting stance. Progressives have made stopping Amazon a cause. They're gentrifiers! (Sorry, that ship has sailed...) They exploit … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Agile City, Architecture, Cities

Questions for Brett Kavanaugh

by James Russell on September 3, 2018 - Get free updates on posts here

James S. Russell

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh will no doubt be subjected to detailed questioning this week about his substantial record as a jurist. Kavanaugh has been groomed through the equivalent of a far-right judicial finishing school, and has reliably reflected those very conservative views of the law. Indeed, the farthest he seems to have strayed from Washington, D. C. and Bethesda, where he grew up, is Yale where he obtained both his undergraduate and law degree. I think most of us, whatever … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Agile City, Cities

Tax Plan to Cities: Drop Dead

by James Russell on December 11, 2017 - Get free updates on posts here

  You may have paid little attention to the  tax plan rushing headlong through Congress. It has been advertised as a middle-class tax break and an inducement to  business to create jobs through a dramatically lowered corporate tax rate. Pay attention, especially if you live in a city or suburb, as most of us do. Media and opponents of the plan have focused on the elimination or possible reduction in the deduction for state and local taxes and a possible $500,000 cap on deduction … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Agile City, Cities

Disaster Recovery Secret Weapon: Neighborhood Groups

by James Russell on October 3, 2017 - Get free updates on posts here

James S. Russell

In a year of extraordinary disasters, the sheer scope of recovery and rebuilding can seem mind boggling. We’re tempted to turn away in horror at buildings  with roofs ripped off in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, the pancaked structures in Mexico City, the piles of debris in Houston front yards. Government and private aid groups are well versed in the delivery of food, blankets, and other donated items, but whether recovery restores neighborhoods to health or leaves them with boarded-up houses … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Agile City, Architecture, Cities

Why You’ll Never Get a Raise under Trump

by James Russell on February 5, 2017 - Get free updates on posts here

James S. Russell

I am no labor expert but all the things I know much more about —and usually write about—from climate change to transportation and architecture—were held hostage in this election to voters who wanted a dramatic change in their economic prospects—i.e., a raise in wages to be orchestrated by the self-anointed business genius (but serial bankrupt) Trump. The rage at Trump and his actions is enormously heartening and powerful to a point.  The energy is too scattered and inchoate now. It’s time to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Agile City, Cities Tagged With: income growth, pay raise, wages

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About James Russell

James S. Russell is an architecture critic, journalist, teacher and consultant. He's the author of the book, The Agile City, and has written for publications like Architectural Record, Bloomberg News, NY Times and more. Continue reading

Recent Posts

  • Cities’ rise from the dead shows why extortion is bad
  • It Should Not Be Bad for Cities to be Rich
  • Can Amazon Be . . . Gasp . . . Good for New York?
  • Questions for Brett Kavanaugh
  • Tax Plan to Cities: Drop Dead

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