Category Archives: environment

The Descriptive Detail of Inuit Town Names

Posted on December 18, 2018 by

As Inuit town names are being reestablished in the Arctic regions of Canada, Alaska, and Greenland, this author has found them to often be much more interesting and descriptive than the former English or Danish (in Greenland) names. Too often, … Continue reading →

Posted in Arctic, Canada, cities, civics, culture, diversity, environment, Europe, geography, land use, Language, North America, place names, placemaking, planning, topography, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Top Eleven Planning Lessons from Lisbon, Portugal

Posted on October 8, 2018 by

Below are my top eleven (11) planning lessons from a delightful week-long trip to Lisboa (Lisbon), Portugal in late September. Many more could be added this list, but for brevity’s sake we’ll stay with these eleven (11) for now. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, architecture, art, cities, civics, civility, Cuisine, culture, diversity, downtown, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, Europe, Food, fun, geography, Geology, historic preservation, history, humanity, inclusiveness, land use, music, nature, pictures, placemaking, planning, Portugal, revitalization, spatial design, topography, tourism, transit, transportation, Travel, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Ten Planning Lessons From Warsaw, Indiana

Posted on June 5, 2018 by

Warsaw, Indiana may not be the first place on most folks lists of planning trend setters across the nation, but in most any community one can find both good and bad lessons to learn from. This prosperous city along with … Continue reading →

Posted in bicycling, bike sharing, business, Cars, cities, commerce, Communications, demographics, downtown, economic development, environment, geography, Health care, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, placemaking, planning, revitalization, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, technology, tourism, traffic, transportation, urban planning, walking, zoning | Leave a comment

Fishy Town Names

Posted on June 3, 2018 by

Here’s my working list of cities, towns, and villages that are named after fish, fish related activities, or include some form of fish terminology in their name. Please note that in some instances the place name may not have originally … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, cities, environment, fun, geography, history, Language, nature, place names, Wildlife | Tagged , | 2 Comments

WATCH mUSkeGOn!

Posted on May 29, 2018 by

Got to admit that it has been quite a few years since I last visited Muskegon, Michigan. Even though it is my mother’s birthplace, I can only think of two or three trips to the city (not passing by on … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptive reuse, architecture, art, cities, Cuisine, culture, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, entertainment, environment, Food, historic preservation, infrastructure, land use, placemaking, planning, recreation, revitalization, skylines, spatial design, third places, tourism, Travel, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It is Time to Ban Gas-powered Leaf Blowers!

Posted on May 11, 2018 by

Personally, I’m sick and tired of noisy leaf blowers disturbing the enjoyment of beautiful days. It has gotten to the point where one cannot keep their windows open or sit on the deck without these infernal things droning on and … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Alternative energy, environment, health, landscape architecture, nature, peace, planning, pollution, product design, seasons, Statistics, sustainability, technology | 3 Comments

If you drive a SUV, you need to plant 127 trees a year!

Posted on May 8, 2018 by

As the accompanying chart shows, if you own and operate a sport-utility vehicle (SUV), you’ll have a lot of tree planting to do to offset your annual emissions from driving that monstrosity. At approximately $200 per tree (a rather low … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, bicycling, Cars, civics, climate change, electric vehicles, environment, health, nature, Passenger rail, pollution, rail, Railroads, sustainability, transit, transportation, walking | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Mending Interstate Injustice – Freeway Capping Projects

Posted on April 28, 2018 by

In recent years there has been an effort in some cities to mend some of the wounds of Interstate Highway era gashes that were savagely cut through American cities. A method for healing these scars has been to cap the … Continue reading →

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Advocacy, architecture, Cars, cities, Civil Rights, civility, density, diversity, downtown, economic development, environment, geography, Green roofs, historic preservation, history, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, pictures, placemaking, planning, poverty, racism, revitalization, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, transit, transportation, Travel, tunnels, urban planning, walking, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Must modern houses resemble office buildings?

Posted on April 21, 2018 by

A housing trend I’ve noticed in Traverse City is homes being built that look more like an office building rather than a dwelling. I’m all for architectural freedom, but personally it’s not an appealing trend, at least in the manner … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, architecture, art, cities, culture, deserts, environment, futurism, geography, historic preservation, history, Housing, land use, landscape architecture, planning, spatial design, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Interstate Injustice: Plowing Highways Through Minority Neighborhoods

Posted on April 7, 2018 by

The list provided at the end of the post is a partial tally of the once vibrant, historically Black and Latino neighborhoods that have been largely decimated by Interstate Highway construction. Much of this community displacement and destruction took place … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, cities, civics, Civil Rights, economic development, environment, geography, health, history, Housing, humanity, infrastructure, land use, Maps, planning, politics, poverty, racism, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, traffic, transportation, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments