Category Archives: racism

Two migration tales of strength, hardship, and tenacity

Far too often, certain pundits, politicos, and just plain bigots depict refugees and immigrants as criminals and/or parasites. That couldn’t be further from the truth for the vast majority of those people who are seeking a new life in another … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, art, book reviews, books, charities, civility, culture, diversity, education, entertainment, family, film, government, history, human rights, humanity, immigration, inclusiveness, injustice, Latin America, literature, movies, opinion, peace, politics, poverty, racism, Travel, Uncategorized, Welcome, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Living amid an “Ecology of Fear”

I recently read Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster by the late Mike Davis. It is an intriguing book that switches from whimsical to dark and foreboding at the turn of a page. In fact, the … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Africa, Animals, archaeology, art, Asia, book reviews, books, branding, business, Canada, Cars, cities, civics, Civil Rights, civility, climate, climate change, commerce, Communications, culture, demographics, density, diversity, economic development, economics, ecosystems, education, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, film, fun, futurism, geography, Geology, government, Guns, Handguns, health, highways, hiking, historic preservation, history, homelessness, Housing, human rights, humanity, immigration, inclusiveness, India, industry, infrastructure, injustice, land use, Latin America, literature, marketing, money, movies, music, natural history, nature, opinion, planning, politics, pollution, poverty, psychology, racism, reading, Religion, revitalization, schools, Science, Science fiction, Sexism, Small business, social equity, Social media, spatial design, Statistics, sustainability, technology, Television, theaters, topography, tourism, Trade, traffic, transportation, Travel, unemployment, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, weather, Wilderness, Wildlife, Women, writing, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

America’s longest freeway capping parks

Below are freeway capping projects that incorporate park land or greenspace atop the deck that have taken place or which are proposed in the United States. They are listed by their known or approximate length (~) using maps.google.com. Unfortunately, there … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, architecture, art, bridges, Cars, cities, civics, culture, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, engineering, entertainment, fun, geography, Highway displacement, highways, historic preservation, history, inclusiveness, infrastructure, injustice, land use, landscape architecture, Maps, nature, pictures, placemaking, planning, pollution, product design, racism, recreation, revitalization, social equity, spatial design, Statistics, third places, topography, tourism, trails, transportation, Travel, tunnels, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Three superb and fresh reads about Los Angeles

“These three books will certainly introduce readers to the width and breadth of mighty Los Angeles. If that entity, however you define it, resists a simple explanation, then so be it. For that may be one of the LA’s most endearing and enduring qualities.” Continue reading

Posted in art, book reviews, books, business, Cars, cities, culture, diversity, downtown, economics, entertainment, environment, fun, geography, government, Highway displacement, highways, hiking, historic preservation, history, homelessness, Housing, humanity, immigration, inclusiveness, industry, infrastructure, injustice, land use, literature, mountains, movies, Music, natural history, nature, new urbanism, placemaking, planning, pollution, racism, rail, recreation, Renewable Energy, revitalization, skylines, social equity, songs, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, sustainability, technology, Television, third places, topography, tourism, Trade, traffic, trails, transit, transportation, Travel, trucking, urban design, urban planning, walking, weather, Wildlife, writing, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Confessions of a recovering freeway nerd

Source: wired.com I’ll admit it. In my younger days, I was a certified freeway nerd. Growing up in Indianapolis, I was in awe of the Interstate Highway System. Lucky for me, Indy had plenty of them, including my teenage and … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Advocacy, Alternative transportation, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, bridges, Bus transportation, Cars, cities, civics, climate change, commerce, culture, density, distribution, downtown, economic development, electric vehicles, energy, engineering, environment, EVs and hybrids, fun, futurism, geography, health, Highway displacement, highways, historic preservation, history, humanity, infrastructure, land use, nature, new urbanism, Passenger rail, pictures, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, poverty, product design, racism, rail, Railroads, recreation, Renewable Energy, revitalization, scenic byways, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, sustainability, technology, topography, tourism, Trade, traffic, trails, transit, transportation, Travel, trucking, tunnels, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Creating LA’s starlit aura – “The Mirage Factory”

What an outstanding book! Perhaps, my favorite the best city biography ever read. Author Gary Krist simply nails it with The Mirage Factory. It’s entertaining, enthralling, infuriating, and thoroughly engaging to read. You will definitely learn some amazing and eye-opening … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, art, book reviews, books, branding, business, Cars, cities, civics, commerce, Communications, consumerism, culture, demographics, economic development, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, film, fun, geography, Geology, government, highways, historic preservation, history, Housing, humanity, industry, infrastructure, injustice, land use, marketing, movies, music, nature, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, politics, product design, racism, reading, Religion, rivers/watersheds, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, technology, theaters, topography, tourism, Trade, traffic, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, Women, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The racist rot that has corroded St. Louis and America

“The imperium of St. Louis (and thus of the United States) is continually framed by the history of genocide, removal, and the expropriation and control of land — all justified in the name of white supremacy.” Page 6 The recently … Continue reading

Posted in art, book reviews, books, cities, civics, Civil Rights, commerce, culture, demographics, diversity, economic development, feminism, geography, government, health, Highway displacement, history, Housing, human rights, humanity, immigration, inclusiveness, injustice, land use, literature, Native Americans, planning, politics, poverty, racism, Railroads, rivers/watersheds, Sexism, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, urban design, urban planning, Women, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The pioneers behind historic Black-owned pharmacies

A quick trip to the drugstore sounds like a typically mundane shopping adventure we all have taken from time to time. Unfortunately, for Black Americans, especially during America’s Jim Crow segregation era, a trip to the pharmacy for prescriptions or … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Africa, business, cities, civics, Civil Rights, civility, commerce, consumerism, culture, demographics, diversity, economic development, education, entrepreneurship, geography, health, Health care, historic preservation, history, humanity, inclusiveness, injustice, land use, North America, pictures, placemaking, planning, politics, racism, Science, shopping, social equity, States, third places, urban planning, Women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Civil Rights Era bus boycotts and the heroes who led the way

To honor the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., tomorrow (January 15) and Rosa Parks upcoming birthday on February 4, the following post identifies the peaceful bus boycotts that took place during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, charities, cities, civics, Civil Rights, civility, Communications, culture, diversity, government, historic preservation, history, human rights, humanity, inclusiveness, injustice, movies, peace, pictures, politics, racism, social equity, Statistics, transit, transportation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment