Category Archives: Food

The buzz about America’s “bee-friendly” cities

Communities representing 37 states and the District of Columbia are listed beelow as designated “Bee City USA” members. Unfortunately, there are also 13 states without any city members including Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, agriculture, Animal rights, Animals, cities, civics, civility, climate, climate change, culture, ecosystems, education, environment, Food, government, health, insects, land use, landscape architecture, natural and organic foods, natural history, nature, planning, Science, seasons, spatial design, States, Statistics, sustainability, tourism, Travel, urban planning, water, water conservation, Wilderness, Wildlife, xeriscaping, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Snapshots of Chicago in geometric black & white

Posted in adaptive reuse, architecture, art, cities, civics, Cuisine, culture, downtown, entertainment, Food, fun, futurism, geography, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, new urbanism, Passenger rail, pictures, placemaking, planning, product design, rail, Railroads, revitalization, skylines, skyscrapers, spatial design, technology, third places, tourism, transit, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Strict planning & zoning destroys eclectic, offbeat, and funky

After three decades in the planning profession and several more years since retirement, I’ve come to the conclusion that if you want your community to maintain or build a funky, hip, offbeat, or eccentric vibe, it can not be done … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, advertising, Advocacy, archaeology, architecture, art, branding, business, cities, civics, commerce, consumerism, Cuisine, culture, demographics, deregulation, diversity, economic development, economic gardening, entertainment, entrepreneurship, family, Food, fun, gentrification, health, historic preservation, history, homelessness, Housing, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, marketing, Mining, opinion, pictures, placemaking, planning, poverty, product design, revitalization, shopping, signs, Small business, social equity, spatial design, third places, tourism, Travel, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Regional and semi-national fast food burger chains

Most of us are familiar with the national fast food burger chains like McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Dairy Queen, Five Guys, Sonic, and Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr. But, there are many local, regional, and semi-national burger chains that dot the map and … Continue reading

Posted in advertising, branding, cities, consumerism, Cuisine, culture, Food, food systems, fun, geography, history, land use, product design, shopping, Statistics, third places, tourism, traffic | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

“Ice Ice, Baby” Planning for freestanding ice kiosks/houses

Traditionally, ice has been sold at stores via large ice chests or boxes situated just inside retail stores or along the front sidewalk near the building entrance/exit. These units were often rented from, maintained, and serviced by ice manufacturers such … Continue reading

Posted in advertising, architecture, branding, business, commerce, Cuisine, economic development, entrepreneurship, Food, industry, infrastructure, land use, marketing, pictures, planning, product design, Statistics, technology, Travel, urban planning, visual pollution, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Viva historic preservation in the “True Las Vegas”

We recently spent part of a day wandering about downtown Las Vegas, New Mexico and came away very impressed by the preserved historical and cultural assets of this High Plains city. Unlike the overwhelming glitter and gaudiness found in Nevada, … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, archaeology, architecture, art, branding, business, cities, civics, civility, commerce, Cuisine, culture, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, entertainment, entrepreneurship, Food, fun, geography, government, historic preservation, history, Housing, infrastructure, land use, libraries, Maps, pictures, placemaking, planning, revitalization, shopping, Small business, spatial design, Statistics, third places, topography, tourism, Trade, Travel, urban design, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Albuquerque’s two distinctive ranchito suburbs

All of us are familiar with the enormous ranches and farming operations that are most often found flung across the Midwestern and Western United States. We are also familiar with the smaller scale ranchettes and farmettes that tend to dot … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Advocacy, agriculture, Animals, archaeology, architecture, art, cities, civics, culture, density, diversity, economic development, economic gardening, environment, Food, food systems, geography, government, health, historic preservation, history, land use, Maps, Native Americans, nature, placemaking, planning, recreation, rivers/watersheds, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, sustainability, third places, topography, tourism, Trade, trails, Travel, urban planning, walking, Wildlife, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Salt of the Earth: Striking beauty of desert salt flats (or pans)

If you haven’t had the opportunity to see a salt flat (or pan), they are one of the most strikingly beautiful natural features on the planet. The remoteness, the otherworldly feel, the arid environment, and the rugged visual contrasts are … Continue reading

Posted in aviation, climate change, deserts, ecosystems, electric vehicles, energy, environment, EVs and hybrids, Food, geography, Geology, historic preservation, industry, land use, Mining, natural and organic foods, nature, planning, pollution, recreation, Renewable Energy, rivers/watersheds, Science, Statistics, sustainability, topography, tourism, Travel, visual pollution, weather | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Salt of the Earth: Striking beauty of desert salt flats (or pans)

Geography of Chewy.com’s fulfillment centers

The table included in this post lists the current and future fulfillment centers developed by Chewy.com, an e-commerce pet products company. As is clearly evident, there has been a rapid expansion of fulfillment centers since 2014. Pennsylvania has seen the … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, branding, business, cities, commerce, consumerism, distribution, ecommerce, economic development, Food, geography, health, Health care, history, infrastructure, land use, logistics, marketing, Pets, planning, shipping, shopping, spatial design, Statistics, technology, Trade, transportation, trucking, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Favorite scenic byways and roadways traveled

Below, listed in alphabetical order, are my favorite scenic byways and highways that I’ve traveled from across the United States. Those shown in bold would be at the top of my list. No freeways, toll roads, or interstate highways allowed … Continue reading

Posted in archaeology, architecture, art, Biking, Cars, culture, deserts, ecosystems, entertainment, environment, Food, fun, geography, Geology, Great Lakes, highways, hiking, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, nature, peace, pictures, placemaking, planning, rivers/watersheds, scenic byways, spatial design, sustainability, topography, tourism, trails, transportation, Travel, walking, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment