I want my MMT! (Multi-Modal Transportation)
There has been some hubbub made lately of Chevrolet’s hiring of Ross Martin, MTV’s executive vice-president of branding. This move explains why a poorly constructed Chevy compact car has been made to...
View ArticleA quick thought on NIMBYism
Salon.com has some seriously great articles on urbanism and city-making, maybe the best outside of sites that are devoted to the subjects. A recent article whose title invoked the 1% in true Salon...
View ArticleI’m D.C. Bound!
I’m making the leap. I’ve never seen a cherry tree in bloom and I think it’s about time. Washington, D.C. is my sort of city. Although they were a little slow to catch up to us with a bike share...
View Article…And I’m back.
I have been on blogging hiatus over the summer. The last time I wrote I explained that I was planning on making the move to D.C. in the immediate future. As life would have it, the move was not written...
View ArticleFor real this time; aka “a quick life update”
I set out writing this blog unsure of whether I wanted to write with a more personal or professional approach. Lately, it seems, I have settled on not writing much of anything at all. The last time I...
View ArticleRainy Day Map Making
Bored at home so I made an interpretation map of downtown Minneapolis. Feel free to add your input, agreement, or scorn.
View ArticleMetrodome Redemption?
I finally took a moment to google the new Vikings stadium proposal while brushing my teeth this morning. I realize that the rendering HKS offered as their design concept is nothing close to what will...
View ArticleThe Crystal Court, 40 years later
With cold weather coming soon, it’s a good time to talk about indoor spaces. While thumbing through my old copy of William H. Whyte’s The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces I came across his glowing...
View ArticleDreaming of The 7th Street Mall
A quick candid photo taken on typical Fall evening on Nicollet Mall. Nicollet Mall is the best part of Minneapolis. If not, it is definitely the best part of downtown. It is the best example of...
View ArticleA Hotel In Excelsior
Excelsior at sunrise. Photo by Al Whitaker, Excelsior’s Amateur Photographer Laureate I grew up in Excelsior, Minnesota. Even so, I’ve been writing this blog for just over a year and have not yet...
View ArticleA dubious urbanist wonders: Is this a good thing?
The Flats At West End, positioned to conveniently conceal the Hilton Homewood Suites attached to its back end. Something interesting has been happening lately. It’s a strange phenomenon that has this...
View ArticleParking Minimums Need To Go
Managing a city is a very difficult thing to do. It is a task fraught with chicken-and-egg problems. Vibrancy won’t increase without density, density won’t increase without vibrancy – things like that....
View ArticleDogs Make Our Neighborhoods Better
The most valuable trait that a neighborhood can have is people. This statement may sound obvious, but to paraphrase Jane Jacobs; people are drawn to other people. Our culture, unfortunately, has mostly...
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