Apartment City

RIO DE JANEIRO ― Seven years ago, Vila Autódromo was little more than a tranquil fishing village on the edge of Jacarepagua Lagoon, next to the racetrack for which it was named. Like the hundreds of other favelas that dot Rio de Janeiro ’s landscape, it had long been neglected by the city government , and it lacked many basic public services that are standard in the fast- growing wealthier neighborhoods just across the water. But to the more than 600 families that lived there, it was home. “This was a paradise,” said Luiz Cláudio Silva, who lived in Autódromo for more than 20 years. “I thought that I would live here for the rest of my life.” By the time the Rio Olympics are over, just 20 of the families who lived in Autódromo in 2009, the year the International Olympic Committee chose the city to host the games, will remain. The community, which sits less than a mile away from Rio’s Olympic Park, was crushed so that the city could build new access roads to connect Olympic venues . ...

PALM BEACH GARDENS — Trying to catch up with massive construction and deal with future growth in Palm Beach Gardens , traffic engineers say they have a 20-year plan for Interstate 95 and a central-west intersection. Florida Department of Transportation officials explained it Thursday at Palm Beach Gardens City Hall . They talked about the upcoming projects at Central, Northlake and PGA Boulevards and at the intersection of the Beeline Highway and Northlake during the workshop. No construction will begin until 2021, they said. Palm Beach Gardens residents questioned a timeline that could have Northlake and Beeline and the Northlake and I-95 interchange under construction at the same time. Here’s a look at some of the key spots that will undergo changes: NORTHLAKE AND BEELINE FDOT quashed plans for a flyover at the intersection of Northlake and the Beeline Highway amid complaints from PGA National residents . Instead, engineers plan to build a new connector road through a triangular...

Ilene Waterstone says Park La Brea is "overpriced projects right now." Photo by Shane Lopes Ilene Waterstone, actor- comedian Steve Martin 's personal assistant, moved into a tower at the Park La Brea Apartments on April Fools' Day in 1992. She wasn't sure what to expect. "I used to think of Park La Brea as being the old people's complex," she recalls. It wasn't long before she fell in love with it. The grounds were lush and well-maintained, her neighbors respectful and neat. Then about two years ago, things went to hell. Elevators in her high- rise building repeatedly broke down, forcing Waterstone , 64 and saddled with chronic orthopedic problems , to trudge up and down floor after floor in a dimly lit stairwell to her eighth-floor apartment. She once made the climb wet and embarrassed after coming home from a water aerobics class to yet another grounded elevator . Rats and cockroaches infested what she says was an increasingly filthy buil...

Londoners are increasingly turning to the river to make commuting a great deal less stressful. As more developments spring up along the Thames and the river taxi route extends east and west along its banks, commuting by boat is becoming a serious option for many residents… Words: Fiona Brandhorst London’s newest river stop at Battersea Power Station Pier will be providing peak river services every 20 minutes to Blackfriars in 15 minutes and an express route to Canary Wharf for the thousands of new residents. Prices start from £1.33m for a two bedroom apartment in Prospect Place and Battersea Roof Gardens . ‘While many Londoners pile on to a hot, stuffy tube or wrestle with each other for a space on the bus, there are a growing number who take the Thames Clipper to work,’ comments Giles Barrett , Knight Frank Partner , Riverside. ‘As one client said he can even enjoy a G&T on his way home in the evenings.’ A growing number of people are taking the Thames Clipper to work. As ...

Two U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development top management representatives from the Birmingham, Ala., field office spent Tuesday afternoon listening to residents’ concerns at a Phenix City low - income apartment complex . Their site visit to Stonewood Apartments off 28th Avenue was sparked by a video posted to YouTube last month that shows a former resident manager berating , cursing and threatening to evict a handicapped tenant who was complaining about a faulty refrigerator. HUD Program Center Director Donna Crane and Chief Project Manager for Multifamily Housing Jalon Rush - Carter began meeting with residents during the lunch hour. They declined to comment, but said this was not a scheduled visit. The HUD representatives referred all questions to the Birmingham office , which did not respond Tuesday to an email seeking comment . The HUD investigation into the management of Stonewood, which has 50 federally- subsidized serving elderly and handicapped residents , ...

Photo: Contributed Photo / Contributed Photo Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Image 1 of 3 Potential Source water area of Proposed Easton Saddle Ridge development . Potential Source water area of Proposed Easton Saddle Ridge development . Photo: Contributed Photo / Contributed Photo Image 2 of 3 Final look at potential proposed including buildings and apartments Easton Saddle Ridge Development . Final look at potential proposed including buildings and apartments Easton Saddle Ridge Development . Photo: Contributed Photo / Contributed Photo Image 3 of 3 Permitted Residential Density in the Aspectuck Easton Lake and Hemlocks Reservoir Waterbeds near Saddle Ridge Development . Permitted Residential Density in the Aspectuck Easton Lake and Hemlocks Reservoir Waterbeds near Saddle Ridge Development . Photo: Contributed Photo / Contributed Photo In Easton, Saddle Ridge back for third try Back to Gallery EASTON — After a pair of failed attempts, a proposal for construction on 12...