Category Archives: architecture

Ten Planning Lessons from Ancient Pueblos & Cliff Dwellings

Posted on October 3, 2019 by

After visiting numerous pueblos, cliff dwellings, and ancient ruins in the Southwestern United States, it is clear to this retired urban planner that the Native Americans were the first great community planners in North America. The sites visited thus far … Continue reading →

Posted in archaeology, architecture, cities, culture, density, environment, geography, Geology, historic preservation, history, Housing, humanity, infrastructure, land use, Native Americans, nature, placemaking, planning, spatial design, sustainability, topography, tourism, Travel, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten Planning Lessons from Albuquerque

Posted on September 18, 2019 by

We have been enjoying an awesome trip to New Mexico. This post about Albuquerque is the first of several that will be written about the state, is residents, and its communities. Paz! The preservation and protection of the original 1706 … Continue reading →

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Advocacy, air travel, airport planning, airports, Alternative transportation, architecture, aviation, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, Bus transportation, cities, civics, colleges, commerce, Cuisine, culture, density, diversity, downtown, economic development, entertainment, fun, geography, hiking, historic preservation, history, Housing, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, new urbanism, Passenger rail, placemaking, planning, rail, Railroads, spatial design, sprawl, third places, tourism, transit, transportation, Travel, urban planning, walking, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Thriving and Inclusive First-Ring/Inner Suburbs

Posted on September 5, 2019 by

As metropolitan areas grow in population or enlarge their land area by sprawl, gradually, the innermost or first-ring suburbs start to experience some of the same problems that the core city have found challenging. This is particularly true in regions … Continue reading →

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, architecture, art, bicycling, cities, civics, colleges, commerce, culture, density, diversity, economic development, economic gardening, education, entertainment, entrepreneurship, fun, geography, government, health, historic preservation, history, Housing, human rights, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, new urbanism, Passenger rail, placemaking, planning, racism, revitalization, Science, shopping, skylines, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, third places, tourism, traffic, transit, urban planning, walking, zoning | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Ten Planning Lessons from Orlando/Winter Park

Posted on September 3, 2019 by

In terms of diversity and inclusiveness, the Orlando region of today is much improved compared to the Orlando of 50 years ago. Unlike much of the Orlando area, Winter Park has successfully maintained/employed new urbanism, walkability, and traffic calming techniques … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptive reuse, air travel, airport planning, airports, Alternative transportation, architecture, art, Cars, cities, civics, Civil Rights, civility, commerce, culture, downtown, economic development, entertainment, geography, government, historic preservation, history, human rights, inclusiveness, land use, Maps, new urbanism, pictures, placemaking, planning, skylines, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, third places, tourism, traffic, transportation, Travel, urban planning, walking, weather | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Temples of Jazz – The Ballrooms

Posted on August 18, 2019 by

  This post is the first of a three-part series about those special places that brought the jazz era to life beyond the recording studio and radio station. The ballrooms, theaters, and smokey clubs are where jazz musicians were able … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptive reuse, architecture, art, cities, civics, Civil Rights, civility, culture, demographics, diversity, entertainment, geography, historic preservation, history, humanity, injustice, land use, music, placemaking, politics, racism, Radio, revitalization, third places, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ten Planning Lessons from Detroit’s Corktown Neighborhood

Posted on July 29, 2019 by

Some planning lessons learned from one of my favorite neighborhoods in all of Detroit. A city’s oldest neighborhood can also be a leader in its revival. The historic site of a former major league stadium (Tiger Stadium) can enjoy a … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptive reuse, architecture, art, branding, business, cities, civics, culture, economic development, economic gardening, education, fun, geography, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, new urbanism, placemaking, planning, politics, revitalization, Small business, spatial design, sports, third places, tourism, Trade, transportation, Travel, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Smaller Cities with Taller Skylines

Posted on July 15, 2019 by

  None of these cities currently exceed 100,000 in population, but they each have a surprising number of tall buildings dotting their downtown area skyline. This post is dedicated to these smaller cities who are reaching for the stars…so to … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, cities, downtown, economic development, fun, geography, land use, new urbanism, placemaking, planning, skylines, skyscrapers, Statistics | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten+ Planning Lessons from Page, Arizona

Posted on July 1, 2019 by

Some might be wondering where the heck Page, Arizona is located and secondly, how could a town founded in 1957 offer up any planning advice. Well, Page sits close to the Arizona-Utah border where the Glen Canyon Dam was constructed … Continue reading →

Posted in Active transportation, Alternative transportation, archaeology, architecture, bicycling, cities, civics, commerce, culture, deserts, diversity, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, entertainment, environment, geography, Geology, government, health, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, Native Americans, nature, placemaking, planning, spatial design, sprawl, topography, tourism, transportation, Travel, zoning | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

America’s First Great Town Planners…

Posted on May 30, 2019 by

…were not William Penn (Philadelphia), Pierre Charles L’Enfant (Washington, DC), James Oglethorpe (Savannah), nor other post-Columbian examples. No, America’s first great town planners were the Native American Indians. Whether they were the builders of magnificent cliff dwellings and mesa-topped pueblos … Continue reading →

Posted in archaeology, architecture, art, cities, civics, culture, education, environment, geography, Geology, historic preservation, history, humanity, land use, Native Americans, placemaking, planning, spatial design, topography, tourism, Travel, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Hell’s Worth of Wickedness in One Cowtown

Posted on April 17, 2019 by

Frontier Towns, Chapter 4: Ellsworth, Kansas   “As we go to press, hell is still in session in Ellsworth.”  That’s a famous newspaper headline dating from 1873 about the situation in Ellsworth, Kansas. Ellsworth may have been situated along the … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptive reuse, Animals, architecture, cities, civility, commerce, geography, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, Maps, placemaking, planning, rail, Railroads, shipping, tourism, Trade, transportation, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment