Category Archives: business

Ten favorite and least favorite state capital cities

Provided below are lists of favorite and least favorite state capital cities across the country. These are based on impressions obtained from visiting and in some cases, living in those cities (Indianapolis, Columbus, and Lansing). The list is not based … Continue reading

Posted in architecture, art, branding, business, cities, civics, civility, colleges, commerce, culture, demographics, diversity, downtown, economic development, Economy, education, entertainment, geography, government, health, historic preservation, history, Housing, humanity, inclusiveness, industry, infrastructure, land use, marketing, mountains, natural history, new urbanism, place names, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, racism, recreation, revitalization, rivers/watersheds, schools, skylines, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, States, sustainability, third places, topography, toponymy, tourism, Trade, traffic, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten dreamy planning lessons from cruising Michigan’s Woodward Corridor

The following are ten planning lessons from the quartet of amazing Detroit area suburban cities situated along the famous Woodward Corridor, home of the annual Dream Cruise each August. Those four Southeast Michigan cities are Birmingham, Ferndale, Pontiac, and Royal … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, advertising, Alternative transportation, architecture, art, bicycling, Biking, branding, Bus transportation, business, Cars, cities, civics, commerce, Cuisine, culture, density, diversity, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, engineering, entertainment, fun, geography, government, health, highways, historic preservation, history, Housing, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, Maps, marketing, new urbanism, parking, Passenger rail, pictures, placemaking, planning, rail, recreation, revitalization, skylines, social equity, Statistics, theaters, third places, tourism, traffic, transit, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, walking, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Twelve planning lessons from the Interstate Highway System

The following are 12 planning lessons learned from America’s Interstate Highway System. Just as the network continues to expand with the addition of new routes such as I-11 in Nevada and Arizona, I-14 in Texas, I-42 and I-87 in North … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Advocacy, Alternative transportation, bicycling, Biking, business, Cars, Cities, civics, Civil Rights, commerce, culture, downtown, economic development, ecosystems, engineering, Environment, geography, government, health, Highway displacement, highways, history, infrastructure, land use, logistics, Maps, Nature, new urbanism, Passenger rail, pictures, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, product design, racism, Railroads, revitalization, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, technology, topography, tourism, Trade, traffic, Transportation, Travel, trucking, Uncategorized, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Twelve planning lessons from Durango, Colorado

There are few cities in this country that can grasp your heart and soul as quickly as Durango, Colorado. From the moment of arrival, the city quickly absorbs you into its charming aura. It may be the snow-capped mountains drenched … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Advocacy, Alternative transportation, Animal rights, Animals, archaeology, architecture, art, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, branding, business, charities, cities, civics, civility, climate, climate change, colleges, commerce, Cuisine, culture, diversity, downtown, economic development, Economy, ecosystems, education, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, fitness, fun, geography, Geology, government, health, hiking, historic preservation, history, homelessness, Housing, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, Maps, marketing, Mining, mountains, Native Americans, natural history, nature, Passenger rail, peace, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, psychology, rail, Railroads, recreation, revitalization, rivers/watersheds, schools, Science, social equity, spatial design, Stairway networks, Statistics, sustainability, third places, topography, toponymy, tourism, Trade, traffic, trails, transit, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, walking, water conservation, water trails, Wildlife, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why do former Western mining towns more often appear to recover while Eastern ones continue to decline? A comparative analysis from a human and A.I.

There are many thoughts on this issue and it can be much more complex that just a single reason. As a result, it was decided to compare this blog author’s thoughts on the subject to those of chat.openai.com to see … Continue reading

Posted in art, books, business, cities, commerce, Communications, culture, economic development, education, energy, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, film, geography, Geology, government, health, historic preservation, history, humanity, infrastructure, land use, literature, Maps, Mining, mountains, movies, music, Native Americans, natural history, nature, opinion, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, psychology, recreation, revitalization, social equity, songs, spatial design, Statistics, sustainability, technology, Television, topography, tourism, Trade, Travel, unemployment, urban planning, visual pollution, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A scenic day trip on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

On Saturday, April 15th, we embarked on a day trip aboard the Durango & Silverton Railroad, a historic narrow gauge railway that has been running since 1882 in Southwest Colorado. Despite the snow-capped peaks and canyons, the weather was stunning, … Continue reading

Posted in art, business, cities, culture, economic development, engineering, entertainment, fun, geography, Geology, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, Mining, mountains, nature, Passenger rail, pictures, placemaking, planning, rail, Railroads, Statistics, third places, topography, tourism, Trade, transportation, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tallest of the tall by state, province, territory or country in North America

The following list identifies the tallest building in each state, province, and territory in descending order. For nations other than the United States, Canada and Mexico, the tallest building for the entire country is listed. The minimum height for inclusion … Continue reading

Posted in architecture, business, Canada, Caribbean, cities, culture, downtown, economic development, engineering, fun, geography, history, Housing, infrastructure, land use, Latin America, Mexico, North America, pictures, placemaking, planning, product design, skylines, skyscrapers, spatial design, States, Statistics, tourism, Travel, urban design, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Forget the latest planning buzzword and just plan

First it was “context sensitive solutions,” then “cool cities,” followed by “third places,” and most recently it has been the term “15 minute city.” All of these terms (and a myriad of others) are principally buzzwords meant to promote and … Continue reading

Posted in advertising, Advocacy, books, branding, business, cities, civics, civility, Communications, consumerism, culture, education, history, land use, literature, marketing, opinion, placemaking, planning, politics, product design, reading, Social media, third places, urban planning, writing, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Living amid an “Ecology of Fear”

I recently read Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster by the late Mike Davis. It is an intriguing book that switches from whimsical to dark and foreboding at the turn of a page. In fact, the … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Africa, Animals, archaeology, art, Asia, book reviews, books, branding, business, Canada, Cars, cities, civics, Civil Rights, civility, climate, climate change, commerce, Communications, culture, demographics, density, diversity, economic development, economics, ecosystems, education, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, film, fun, futurism, geography, Geology, government, Guns, Handguns, health, highways, hiking, historic preservation, history, homelessness, Housing, human rights, humanity, immigration, inclusiveness, India, industry, infrastructure, injustice, land use, Latin America, literature, marketing, money, movies, music, natural history, nature, opinion, planning, politics, pollution, poverty, psychology, racism, reading, Religion, revitalization, schools, Science, Science fiction, Sexism, Small business, social equity, Social media, spatial design, Statistics, sustainability, technology, Television, theaters, topography, tourism, Trade, traffic, transportation, Travel, unemployment, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, weather, Wilderness, Wildlife, Women, writing, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Walkable placemaking with outdoor public stairways

Note: – For purposes of this blogpost, stairways, stairs, and stair-steps are used interchangeably. Post updated 2/16/23 _______ The first time it occurred to me that outdoor stairways could be an important walkability tool for cities was while visiting Edinburgh, … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Advocacy, Alternative transportation, archaeology, architecture, art, book reviews, books, branding, brewpubs, business, cities, civics, coffee shops/cafes, commerce, culture, demographics, diversity, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, Economy, engineering, entertainment, environment, fitness, fun, geography, government, health, Health care, hiking, historic preservation, history, Housing, humanity, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, literature, logistics, Maps, Mining, mountains, natural history, nature, new urbanism, pictures, placemaking, planning, product design, recreation, revitalization, shopping, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, Stairway networks, Statistics, sustainability, third places, topography, tourism, traffic, trails, transit, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, walking, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment