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problogic
- Snapshots of Chicago in geometric black & white
- Ten planning lessons from Daniel Burnham’s Chicago
- Aerial tramways – a “last mile” transit solution for airports and stadiums
- Top ten (10) tallest airport control towers by continent
- Tall Timbers – World’s tallest wooden skyscrapers
- From sea to shining sea of wasteful surface parking lots
- New “Austin Towers” will soon be spying over Texas
- Ten planning lessons from mighty Los Angeles
- The top 100 Interstate Highway truck bottlenecks
- Cleverly cultivated cannabis shop names
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Category Archives: opinion
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
4 Comments
Is Burning Man making a mistake at Fly Ranch?
I’m torn. A part of me wants to travel this very minute to Fly Ranch and experience the scenic landscapes on this lovely site, while also visualizing the various art/sustainability projects taking place there. On the other hand, the site … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, Alternative energy, architecture, art, branding, charities, civics, climate, climate change, Communications, culture, deserts, diversity, economic development, ecosystems, education, environment, food systems, futurism, geography, health, historic preservation, history, humanity, land use, Maps, Native Americans, natural history, nature, opinion, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, pollution, recreation, Renewable Energy, social equity, spatial design, sustainability, technology, topography, tourism, Travel, visual pollution, water conservation, Wildlife
Tagged art, Burning Man Project, conservation, Fly Ranch, geography, humanity, Indigenous, land use, Native Americans, nature, Nevada, planning, sustainability
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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 art, artistic, blight, cities, culture, eclectic, flair, fun, funky, neighborhoods, offbeat, planning, signs, style, towns, whimsy, zoning
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The “unity of drought” must supersede myths and self interest
*A small commission is earned from purchases that are made using the above links to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. _______ The book Water is for Fighting Over: and Other Myths About Water in the … Continue reading
Posted in art, book reviews, books, cities, civics, civility, climate, climate change, economic development, ecosystems, education, engineering, environment, futurism, geography, Geology, government, health, history, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, injustice, land use, landscape architecture, literature, Maps, Native Americans, natural history, nature, opinion, planning, politics, reading, recreation, rivers/watersheds, Science, social equity, spatial design, Statistics, topography, urban planning, water, water conservation, weather, writing
Tagged book reviews, books, collaboration, Colorado River, drought, ecology, ecosystems, environment, John Fleck, myths, Rio Grande, Southwest, water, water conservation, watersheds, writing
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Opinion: Greed is destroying college football
With today’s (July 1, 2022) announcement of USC and UCLA moving to the Big Ten Conference in 2024, another nail has been hammered into the coffin of college football. Effectively, only two or three conferences (SEC, Big Ten, and ACC) … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, branding, business, colleges, commerce, culture, economics, education, entertainment, fun, geography, historic preservation, history, injustice, marketing, money, opinion, politics, social equity, sports, Television
Tagged college football, education, football, geography, greed, money, sports, television
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15.3 million footsteps from Istanbul to Xian!
Over the course of four years (1999-2002), author and retired journalist Bernard Ollivier trekked the ancient Silk Road on foot from Istanbul, Turkey to Xian, China. He accomplished this monumental 7,500 mile (12,000 km) feat by overcoming aches, pains, illnesses, … Continue reading
Posted in Active transportation, Advocacy, archaeology, architecture, art, Asia, book reviews, books, China, cities, civics, civility, commerce, Communications, Cuisine, culture, diversity, education, entertainment, environment, family, fun, geography, health, highways, hiking, historic preservation, history, Housing, human rights, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, injustice, land use, Language, literature, Maps, military, natural history, nature, opinion, pictures, place names, placemaking, politics, pollution, reading, recreation, Religion, Statistics, topography, tourism, Trade, traffic, trails, transportation, Travel, walking, weather, Wildlife, Women, writing
Tagged Asia, Bernard Ollivier, book reviews, books, cultures, hiking, travel, walking, writing
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Ten planning lessons they didn’t teach you in school
The following insights are not covered sufficiently in planning school. The planning community should work with accredited schools to assure that future graduates are aware of these issues and are better equipped to handle/address them. These are presented in no … Continue reading
Posted in civics, Civil Rights, civility, colleges, Communications, culture, feminism, gentrification, health, Highway displacement, homelessness, inclusiveness, injustice, land use, opinion, planning, politics, Privatization, racism, Sexism, social equity, urban planning, zoning
Tagged employment, equity, job, justice, planner, planning, work, zoning
2 Comments
The overuse of castle-centric Medieval design
If there is one aspect of classic architecture that does not appear to transfer well into many modern land use applications, it’s the Medieval castle. All too often, at least here in the United States, castle-oriented architecture is the only … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, architecture, art, branding, business, cities, civics, commerce, consumerism, culture, downtown, economic development, education, entertainment, entrepreneurship, Europe, geography, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, marketing, opinion, pictures, placemaking, planning, product design, revitalization, shopping, spatial design, sustainability, tourism, transportation, Travel, trucking, UK, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, zoning
Tagged aesthetics, Belgium, Bruges, design, Disneyfy, England, landscape architecture, landscaping, Medieval, Medieval architecture, York
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Nature preserves should never be named for people
The title of this post might sound a bit harsh, but here’s the thought process behind it: Humans rarely, if ever, have contributed to the long-term growth and maturation of a natural site – that’s Mother Nature’s handiwork. More often … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, Animals, branding, environment, geography, Geology, hiking, historic preservation, history, humanity, infrastructure, land use, nature, opinion, place names, placemaking, planning, recreation, rivers/watersheds, social equity, spatial design, third places, topography, tourism, trails, Travel
Tagged Arcadia, conservation, land trusts, nature preserves
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Panethos 