Authors
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problogic
- Tuesday Tunes: Surname band names of the rock era
- Ten planning lessons from astronomical research sites
- Tuesday Tunes: Out-of-this-world rock band names
- Riding the rails of interstellar discovery at the Very Large Array
- Majestic “mesa” cities and towns around the globe
- Canada’s next supergroup – A Short Walk to Pluto
- Two migration tales of strength, hardship, and tenacity
- An out-of-this-world visit to the Very Large Array (VLA)
- Albuquerque is a national leader in water conservation
- The buzz about America’s “bee-friendly” cities
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Category Archives: Labor
The planning profession could use some anarchy!
Just before the climatic car race scene in the movie Grease, John Travolta’s opponent turns to him and says the following: Well, in the urban planning field, one can definitely NOT say “there ain’t no rules.” And that’s a problem. … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, cities, civics, Civil Rights, civility, Communications, culture, demographics, digital communications, diversity, education, government, history, homelessness, Housing, human rights, humanity, inclusiveness, Labor, land use, movies, Native Americans, opinion, peace, pictures, planning, poverty, Religion, social equity, Social media, spatial design, sustainability, urban design, urban planning, video, Welcome, Women, zoning
Tagged anarchy, Burning Man, charettes, forums, hearings, inclusiveness, planning, principles, public, rules, zoning
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Iconic ironmaking furnace stacks of stone
The following list and accompanying photographs identify those iconic ironmaking blast furnace stacks that remain standing in the United States. Most of these monumental structures were built between the 1770s and 1880s. The quality of their construction (mostly with a … Continue reading
Posted in archaeology, architecture, art, business, cities, commerce, economic development, geography, Geology, historic preservation, history, industry, infrastructure, Labor, land use, Maps, Mining, place names, placemaking, product design, revitalization, topography, toponymy, tourism, Trade, Travel
Tagged blast furnace, bloomery, industry, iron, iron furnaces, smelters, stacks, stone stacks
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Driving and striving to survive a broken ‘Merica
I will never, ever look at a recreational vehicle, van, motor home, or campground the same way again. Not since reading Jessica Bruder’s engrossing, informative, and heartbreaking new book entitled Nomadland. I have long imagined, envied, and eagerly anticipated my … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, ageism, art, book reviews, books, Cars, civics, civility, consumerism, culture, demographics, economics, Economy, family, geography, health, Health care, history, homelessness, Housing, human rights, humanity, Labor, literature, logistics, minimalism, politics, poverty, product design, reading, shopping, social equity, Statistics, transportation, Travel, unemployment, Women, writing
Tagged book reviews, books, homelessness, houseless, Jessica Bruder, literature, Nomad land, nomads, van dwelling, workamping, writing
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“A Handmaid’s Tale” – Is fiction becoming reality?
Though written 32 years ago, the dystopian theocratic society described in Margaret Atwood’s striking novel bears an uncanny likeness to what is (and has been for some time) being preached and advocated by far-right political and religious zealots in our … Continue reading
Posted in art, book reviews, books, Canada, censorship, civics, civility, Communications, culture, feminism, futurism, human rights, humanity, Labor, literature, Love, Religion, Women, writing
Tagged A Handmaid's Tale, fiction, Margaret Atwood, novels
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America’s busiest container ports in 2014
Interesting data provided in the chart below. Despite a labor strike in 2014, Los Angeles and Long Beach continued to the lead the way as the busiest container ports in the United States based on twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). the … Continue reading
Posted in cities, commerce, economic development, economics, Economy, geography, globalization, history, infrastructure, Labor, land use, logistics, planning, Railroads, rivers/watersheds, shipping, Statistics, transportation, Travel
Tagged cities, commerce, container ports, freight, geography, harbors, intermodal, logistics, ports, shipping, transportation
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Equity is an economic growth engine!
Findings from the National Equity Atlas for ten (10) geographically dispersed mid-sized metropolitan regions are provided below. Check out the last column as it depicts how much more robust each of these regions would have been if there had been … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, ageism, business, cities, diversity, economic development, economic gardening, economics, Economy, fair trade, feminism, geography, government, history, humanity, inclusiveness, Labor, planning, poverty, social equity, Statistics, Women
Tagged cities, diversity, employment, gender equity, geography, income, National Equity Atlas, persons of color, planning, social equity, statistics, wage equity, wages, women
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The DUMB reality of opting-out
In an ironic twist of fate, Southeast Michigan’s regional bus system is nicknamed SMART (Southeast Michigan Regional Transit). Given the ability of communities in the region to opt-out of participation, the name certainly is an oxymoron to the DUMB (Detroit Unworkable Metro Bus) … Continue reading
Posted in Active transportation, Advocacy, Alternative transportation, bicycling, Bus transportation, Cars, cities, civics, civility, commerce, Communications, economic development, geography, government, health, history, human rights, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, Labor, land use, logistics, Maps, placemaking, planning, pollution, poverty, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, sustainability, traffic, transit, transportation, Travel, urban planning, walking, writing
Tagged buses, cities, connectivity, Detroit, economy, fairness, land use, planning, poverty, SMART, social equity, social justice, traffic, transit, transportation
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When land use planning turns EVIL
As professional planners, we like to think of land use planning as a fairly benign occupation that may stir controversy and discourse every now and then. I doubt many of us would consider the profession as being evil. But, as … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Asia, book reviews, books, China, cities, civility, Europe, geography, government, history, human rights, humanity, infrastructure, Labor, land use, Maps, military, North America, Oceania, peace, planning, South America, transportation, UK, urban planning, writing
Tagged apartheid, books, China, Dalai Lama, history, human rights, humanity, In Exile from the Land of Snows, infrastructure, land use, land use planning, peace, planning, Tibet, urban planning
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“Small, Gritty, and Green” just misses the mark
While quite an interesting read, the book Small, Gritty, and Green: The Promise of America’s Smaller Industrial Cities in a Low-Carbon World, by Catherine Tumber raised only a few new ideas to this urban planner. Perhaps that was because it … Continue reading
Posted in adaptive reuse, Alternative energy, art, book reviews, books, branding, cities, civics, climate change, colleges, commerce, culture, diversity, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, Economy, education, energy, entrepreneurship, environment, Food, geography, globalization, government, health, historic preservation, history, Housing, inclusiveness, infrastructure, Labor, land use, literature, marketing, new urbanism, North America, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, poverty, psychology, recreation, Renewable Energy, revitalization, schools, Science, Small business, spatial design, sprawl, States, Statistics, sustainability, technology, third places, tourism, Trade, transit, transportation, Travel, unemployment, urban planning, weather, writing, zoning
Tagged agriculture, book reviews, books, cities, economics, geography, globalization, industrial cities, land use, Midwest, new economy, Northeast, planning, revitalization, Rustbelt, Small Gritty and Green, sprawl, urban planning
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An image of human-made Earth acne
The image below is a satellite photograph of the Cananea Copper Mine in the northern Mexico state of Sonora. As the old adage states, “a picture says a thousand words.” In this case, most of those words would be negative. … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, aerospace, cities, environment, geography, Geology, globalization, government, health, history, Labor, land use, Maps, Mining, nature, North America, pictures, politics, pollution, visual pollution
Tagged Cananea, copper, ecology, environment, geography, geology, government, health, inaction, labor, land use, Mexico, mining, photos, politics, pollution, safety
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Panethos 