Category Archives: Economy

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

Ten planning lessons from LA’s South Bay beach cities

We had the pleasure of visiting the three South Bay beach cities of Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Hermosa Beach over the Christmas holiday weekend. Below are ten planning lessons learned from these charming and beautiful communities. Peace! Esplanade nearest … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Alternative energy, Alternative transportation, architecture, bicycling, Biking, branding, business, cities, civics, climate, climate change, commerce, culture, demographics, density, economic development, Economy, ecosystems, electric vehicles, entertainment, environment, fun, geography, health, hiking, historic preservation, history, Housing, humanity, industry, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, nature, pictures, placemaking, planning, pollution, recreation, Renewable Energy, revitalization, spatial design, Statistics, sustainability, third places, topography, tourism, trails, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, walking, water, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten planning lessons from mighty Los Angeles

Despite its detractors, every time I’m in Los Angeles, the city impresses me more. From the first time in 1970 to just recently, the changes are palpable, especially the move(s) away from being so car-centric and increased densification. Below, is … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Alternative transportation, architecture, art, bicycling, branding, business, cities, civics, commerce, culture, density, distribution, downtown, economic development, Economy, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, fun, geography, Highway displacement, highways, historic preservation, history, humanity, immigration, industry, infrastructure, land use, logistics, Maps, mountains, movies, music, nature, Passenger rail, peace, pictures, placemaking, planning, pollution, rail, Railroads, recreation, skylines, skyscrapers, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, Television, topography, tourism, Trade, traffic, transit, transportation, Travel, trucking, urban design, urban planning, walking, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

15 years after the tornado – Planning lessons from Greensburg, Kansas

May 4, 2007, will always remain a pivotal day in the history of Greensburg, Kansas. On that day, much of the city of Greensburg was obliterated by a EF5 category tornado. Thankfully, most residents survived the tragedy due early and … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Advocacy, Alternative energy, Alternative transportation, architecture, art, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, book reviews, books, branding, business, charities, cities, civics, civility, climate, commerce, culture, downtown, economic development, Economy, ecosystems, education, energy, environment, geography, government, health, Health care, history, Housing, humanity, infrastructure, land use, literature, nature, pictures, placemaking, planning, politics, recycling, Renewable Energy, revitalization, Small business, solar, spatial design, Statistics, sustainability, technology, topography, tourism, Trade, transportation, Travel, Uncategorized, urban planning, volunteerism, walking, water, water conservation, weather, writing, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Place Name Hall of Fame: Distinctly recognizable town/small and mid-sized city names

The following list identifies those towns/small cities that have distinctly recognizable names — ones that are well-known enough that most people would have immediately have a mental image of it if the place was mentioned in conversation or literature, even … Continue reading

Posted in advertising, archaeology, architecture, art, branding, business, Canada, cities, civics, commerce, Communications, Cuisine, culture, diversity, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, Economy, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, fun, geography, Geology, hiking, historic preservation, history, inclusiveness, land use, marketing, Mexico, music, Native Americans, natural history, nature, North America, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, recreation, scenic byways, shopping, spatial design, sustainability, third places, topography, toponymy, tourism, Trade, trails, Travel, urban design, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

America’s highest altitude commercial passenger airports

The following list identifies the loftiest airports in the United States with current commercial passenger air service. Eight (8) states are represented on the list – none located east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Colorado leads the … Continue reading

Posted in aerospace, air travel, airport planning, airports, aviation, business, cities, commerce, economic development, Economy, geography, history, infrastructure, land use, logistics, nature, planning, spatial design, Statistics, topography, tourism, Trade, transportation, Travel, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Observation towers as economic & tourism development tools

While preparing my recent post on North American observation towers, an intriguing trend was noticed across the Midwest and Great Plains. There, where topographic changes can often quite subtle, observation towers appear to have become an economic development and/or tourism … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, architecture, art, branding, cities, civics, economic development, economic gardening, Economy, entertainment, environment, fitness, fun, geography, health, hiking, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, marketing, nature, pictures, placemaking, planning, product design, recreation, revitalization, rivers/watersheds, skyscrapers, spatial design, Statistics, technology, third places, topography, tourism, Travel, urban design, urban planning, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Three stages of becoming an important logistics hub

With “just-in-time” supply chains and distribution networks, as well as ever-increasing digital sales, efficient logistics networks have become vitally important to the business community. In that same vein, this modern distribution paradigm has led to the establishment of enormous logistics … Continue reading

Posted in cities, commerce, Communications, consumerism, distribution, economic development, Economy, geography, industry, infrastructure, land use, logistics, Maps, planning, shopping, spatial design, Statistics, Trade, transportation, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Soviet-era and Russian Monotowns

In Russia, cities and towns whose economy and existence are largely tied to a single, dominating industry are referred as “Monotowns,” which is short for Monofunctional Towns (or Cities). These are basically their equivalent to the Western terminology of “Company Towns.” Most … Continue reading

Posted in business, cities, civics, commerce, Economy, geography, health, history, humanity, industry, infrastructure, land use, Maps, Mining, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, poverty, Russia, social equity, sustainability, Trade, transportation, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A rich collection of coin-minting cities

  The following list identifies those cities around the globe that are or were home to publicly owned and/or overseen mints that produce coinage for the government. Only those mints producing coins since approximately 800 AD are included. If known, … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, architecture, Asia, branding, business, Canada, cities, commerce, Economy, Europe, geography, history, India, Ireland, Mexico, North America, Oceania, Russia, South America, tourism, Travel, UK | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment