Category Archives: minimalism

A comparison between Burning Man’s Black Rock City and the Greater World Earthship Community

The American West is blessed with two modern utopian communities — Burning Man’s Black Rock City on a high desert playa in northwestern Nevada and the Greater World Earthship Community located west of Taos, New Mexico. As Burning Man/Black Rock … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, Advocacy, Alternative energy, architecture, art, branding, cities, civics, Civil Rights, civility, climate change, Communications, culture, deregulation, deserts, diversity, economic development, energy, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, food systems, fun, futurism, geography, government, health, history, Housing, human rights, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, literature, Maps, marketing, minimalism, nature, peace, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, politics, product design, recycling, Renewable Energy, social equity, spatial design, sustainability, technology, third places, tourism, Trade, Travel, urban design, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Simple New Year’s resolutions to help our planet

Providing a quick list of simple solutions to help save our planet seems like an appropriate blogpost topic for the New Year, as we can all add some/all of these to our list of resolutions. Please feel free to pass … Continue reading

Posted in agriculture, air travel, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, Bus transportation, civics, climate change, consumerism, ecosystems, electric vehicles, environment, fair trade, Food, food systems, health, humanity, minimalism, nature, Passenger rail, politics, pollution, product design, recycling, Renewable Energy, Science, shopping, social equity, sustainability, tourism, Trade, transportation, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A visual celebration of Le Corbusier’s five Unite’ d’Habitation

Five European cities have the distinct honor of being home to a magnificent Brutalist style, utopian ideal, multiple-family housing complex designed by renown architect, Le Corbusier. These Unite’ d’Habitation are breathtaking in their form and functionality. Each building has slight … Continue reading

Posted in architecture, art, Cities, culture, Europe, geography, historic preservation, history, Housing, humanity, land use, minimalism, placemaking, planning, skylines, spatial design, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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 , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rad quotes from “The Minimalists”

In case you have never heard of The Minimalists, they are two gentlemen, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, who have jettisoned rampant consumptive consumerism and adopted a lifestyle of minimalism. In other words, they have rejected the continuous accumulation … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, art, book reviews, books, branding, civility, consumerism, culture, economics, education, entertainment, family, health, humanity, literature, Love, minimalism, sustainability, writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Urban planning and the ten principles of yoga

My wife and I started practicing flow yoga about 10 months ago. We have found yoga to be very rewarding towards our physical, mental, and spiritual health in our daily lives. As an urban planner, I believe the ten principles … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, architecture, cities, civics, civility, Communications, culture, diversity, environment, fitness, health, history, humanity, land use, minimalism, nature, new urbanism, peace, planning, psychology, revitalization, spatial design, sustainability, third places, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

A “Wales” of a great Welsh trail

Kudos to Wales for accomplishing something that no other country on the planet has done – in 2012, it completed a hiking trail along its entire 870 mile long coastline. Yes…you read that correctly – its entire coastline! What a … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, bicycling, Biking, branding, charities, civics, civility, climate change, Communications, culture, economic development, entertainment, environment, Europe, fitness, fun, geography, government, health, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, logistics, minimalism, nature, pictures, placemaking, planning, product design, spatial design, sustainability, third places, tourism, trails, transportation, Travel, UK, urban planning, walking, Wildlife, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Nonconforming (or unsustainable) cities

The article by Craig Pittman in the August/September issue of Planning magazine entitled “Water War. Southern Style” was a fascinating read. My only quibble with the story is it never addressed the toughest question – should cities be allowed to outgrow … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Alternative energy, architecture, cities, civics, civility, climate change, consumerism, culture, density, diversity, economic gardening, economics, environment, food systems, geography, Geology, government, health, historic preservation, history, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, minimalism, Nature, new urbanism, peace, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, recycling, Renewable Energy, revitalization, spatial design, sprawl, sustainability, Transportation, Travel, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Talking ‘Bout My Generation

Here’s a terrific post by Reader Area Development – posted with permission. Enjoy! Posted by readerareadevelopment in Uncategorized  This past week I quietly celebrated my 30th birthday. No super b-day bash, no party at Chuck E. Cheese, and no jubilee. Having a birthday in … Continue reading

Posted in civics, climate change, culture, density, diversity, economics, environment, health, land use, minimalism, new urbanism, peace, placemaking, revitalization, spatial design, sustainability, transportation | Leave a comment

Don’t engineer to fail – involve planners early

Let me preface this post by saying that I know a number of well-meaning civil and transportation engineers. Unfortunately, they tend to be in the minority of their profession and many still do not grasp the essence of what good urban … Continue reading

Posted in cities, civics, environment, infrastructure, land use, minimalism, planning, spatial design, sprawl, sustainability, transportation, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments