The City in Winter
I first posted this piece in February of 2019 during the coldest point in the winter season. Now that COVID-19 has us contemplating socializing outside in the depth of winter, we should to look to the Norwegian concept of Friluftsliv or “free outdoor life.” No city has embraced this concept better than Winnipeg. […]
Read MoreCity Shots
@kcrw Summer Nights kicks off Saturday night in @lachinatown It all starts at 5pm, DJ @lizarichardson starts at 8pm and DJ @garthtrinidad at 10pm. A post shared by DowntownLA.com (@downtown_la) on Jun 29, 2018 at 11:06pm PDT
Read MoreCity Shots
Lower downtown walking tour #LODO #dairyalley #downtowndenver #unionstation #streetfacades #historicstreets A post shared by @ catown04 on May 1, 2018 at 11:18am PDT
Read MoreOn the Merits of Roundabouts
I grew up in Orange, California, a city that decided to forgo the traditional town square in favor of a circle. The Orange Circle is a two-lane roundabout surrounding a park and a fountain that was funded, I kid you not, back in 1886 through local bake sales. Every teenager in town learned to drive […]
Read MoreTransforming Vacant Lots into Public Spaces
One thing we heard loud and clear at our planning open house for The Loop was the desire for more public space. I heard Gertrude Stein paraphrased a number of times as people joked, “There is no there there.” Public spaces are taken for granted in a downtown area, where parks and squares are common threads in […]
Read MoreStreet Fight
If you hear a voice that says that you can’t transform a street, by all means transform that street, and that voice will be silenced. — Janette Sadik-Khan (@JSadikKhan) February 28, 2017
Read MoreWhat Pokemon Go Can Tell Us About Our Cities
By now, we’ve all read the articles about the Pokemon Go phenomenon— it’s better than Fitbit at getting people moving, people’s legs hurt because they are walking so much, and everyone from retailers to Hillary Clinton is learning how to take advantage of the crowds of people out and about hunting Pokemon. If you’re one […]
Read MorePublic Space v. Online Space
It’s a common scene every time I stop by the local coffee shop for a mid-morning pick-me-up. The tables are full of people busily working their laptops, iPads and cell phones. (How does one, I wonder, get those types of jobs?) They’re definitely engaging in conversations, just not with the people immediately beside them. How did […]
Read MoreWhat makes a street pedestrian friendly?
Vox had a great photo essay on how people used streets at the turn of the last century. It was an interesting follow up to their article on the history of jaywalking and further illustrated how the public street is now seen as primarily a thoroughfare for car traffic. Before cars were so ubiquitous, “city streets […]
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