Category Archives: landscape architecture

It all ends up in the lake…or the bay…or the stream

Posted on August 11, 2019 by

  When you live near the Great Lakes as we do, or any body of water, it is a fact of life that storm water runoff from your yard, roof, garden, building, parking lot, factory, or farm is going to … Continue reading →

Posted in cities, civics, civility, climate change, ecosystems, environment, government, health, humanity, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, nature, Pets, planning, pollution, recycling, rivers/watersheds, sustainability, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Lisboa, Glorious Lisboa

Posted on September 28, 2018 by

Posted in air travel, architecture, art, bridges, Cities, commerce, culture, downtown, entertainment, Europe, fun, geography, historic preservation, history, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, pictures, placemaking, planning, Portugal, rail, sailing, skylines, spatial design, topography, tourism, transit, Transportation, Travel, Uncategorized, urban planning, walking | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

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 | 2 Comments

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 | 10 Comments

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

Two downtown pedestrian malls that work and work very well

Posted on May 19, 2017 by

I have now had the pleasure of recently visiting two American cities with hugely successful pedestrian malls in their downtown core – St. Augustine, Florida and Boulder, Colorado. During the 1960s and 70s, pedestrian malls were seen as a possible … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptive reuse, Advocacy, architecture, art, bicycling, Biking, branding, cities, civics, coffee shops/cafes, colleges, commerce, Cuisine, culture, density, downtown, economic development, entertainment, Food, fun, geography, historic preservation, history, Housing, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, Maps, pictures, placemaking, planning, shopping, spatial design, third places, tourism, traffic, transit, transportation, Travel, urban planning, walking, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

America’s most beautiful downtown – my vote is St. Augustine

Posted on May 15, 2017 by

I have had the great pleasure of visiting many communities across America ranging in size from hamlet to town to major city. This includes visits to parts of 49 states. Until this past week’s visit to St. Augustine, Florida I … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptive reuse, Advocacy, architecture, art, bridges, cities, civics, civility, Cuisine, culture, diversity, downtown, geography, government, historic preservation, history, humanity, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, Maps, North America, pictures, placemaking, planning, skylines, spatial design, tourism, Travel, urban planning, walking, zoning | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

An artistic planning masterpiece

Posted on January 8, 2016 by

  As an urban planner, I have seen some very well-written and thought-provoking master plans in the past 25+ years. But recently I stumbled across a specialized plan that I think may top them all – the Public Art Program … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, architecture, art, branding, Cities, civics, culture, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, education, entertainment, fun, geography, government, historic preservation, history, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, music, nature, new urbanism, placemaking, planning, spatial design, sustainability, tourism, Travel, Uncategorized, urban planning, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Transforming an eyesore into eye-candy

Posted on July 27, 2015 by

Similar to the image above, the vast majority of highway and railroad underpasses across the country are the epitome of sterile concrete and overgrown weeds.  Left as underutilized vacant space, they hardly engender any sort of warmth or welcome, particularly … Continue reading →

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, architecture, art, bicycling, Biking, Cars, cities, civics, civility, economic development, economic gardening, fitness, fun, geography, hiking, history, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, pictures, placemaking, planning, revitalization, spatial design, topography, tourism, traffic, trails, transportation, Travel, urban planning, visual pollution, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment