Category Archives: sprawl

Walkable placemaking with outdoor public stairways

Note: – For purposes of this blogpost, stairways, stairs, and stair-steps are used interchangeably. Post updated 2/16/23 _______ The first time it occurred to me that outdoor stairways could be an important walkability tool for cities was while visiting Edinburgh, … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Advocacy, Alternative transportation, archaeology, architecture, art, book reviews, books, branding, brewpubs, business, cities, civics, coffee shops/cafes, commerce, culture, demographics, diversity, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, Economy, engineering, entertainment, environment, fitness, fun, geography, government, health, Health care, hiking, historic preservation, history, Housing, humanity, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, literature, logistics, Maps, Mining, mountains, natural history, nature, new urbanism, pictures, placemaking, planning, product design, recreation, revitalization, shopping, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, Stairway networks, Statistics, sustainability, third places, topography, tourism, traffic, trails, transit, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, walking, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cities/suburbs should replan street networks for low-speed electric vehicles

As the electric vehicle revolution expands around the globe, one factor that cities and suburbs need to start accounting for is the increased adoption of low-speed electric vehicles for personal and transit use. Whether you refer to them as low-speed … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, Alternative transportation, Bus transportation, Cars, cities, civics, climate change, commerce, consumerism, density, downtown, electric vehicles, engineering, environment, EVs and hybrids, fun, geography, health, highways, history, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, logistics, new urbanism, parking, pictures, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, product design, revitalization, shopping, solar, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, technology, Trade, traffic, transit, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, walking, zoning | 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

Finding “Los Angeles” amid the aura of “LA”

Downtown Los Angeles with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background – Source: unsplash.com Every city is unique unto itself. Just like human beings, cities have their own character, appearance, identity, flaws, attributes, and aesthetics. As a result, no single … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Alternative transportation, architecture, art, bicycling, Biking, books, branding, business, Cars, cities, civics, commerce, culture, diversity, downtown, economic development, engineering, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, film, fun, geography, highways, hiking, historic preservation, history, homelessness, Housing, humanity, inclusiveness, land use, literature, Love, mountains, movies, Music, nature, new urbanism, Passenger rail, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, politics, rail, Railroads, recreation, skylines, skyscrapers, songs, spatial design, sprawl, technology, Television, theaters, third places, topography, toponymy, tourism, Trade, traffic, trails, transit, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, walking, writing, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Humorous nicknames for complicated freeway interchanges

“The Beast,” “The Octopus,” or “East Delay” just east of downtown LA – Source: maps.google.com Below are the humorous names given to complicated freeway interchanges. The most common terms tend to be “Spaghetti Junction” (20), “Spaghetti Bowl” (6), “Malfunction Junction” … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, Asia, branding, Canada, Cars, cities, commerce, distribution, engineering, Europe, geography, highways, history, infrastructure, land use, Maps, North America, Oceania, pictures, place names, planning, spatial design, sprawl, topography, traffic, transportation, Travel, urban planning | 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

Ten planning lessons from the death of Mountain Lion P-22

Source: Steve Winter of National Geographic via bbc.com and reddit.com The tragic death this weekend of Mountain Lion P-22 in/near Los Angeles’ Griffith Park struck a somber chord within me, much like the euthanized death of a neighborhood-roaming black bear … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Animal rights, Animals, architecture, Cars, charities, cities, civility, climate, climate change, culture, ecosystems, engineering, environment, geography, Geology, government, health, Highway displacement, highways, hiking, history, humanity, infrastructure, land use, mountains, natural history, nature, opinion, Pets, pictures, placemaking, planning, recreation, rivers/watersheds, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, sustainability, topography, toponymy, tourism, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, water, water conservation, water trails, Wilderness, Wildlife, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten planning lessons from Daniel Burnham’s Chicago

The following are ten planning lessons from multiples visits to the dynamic City of Chicago. Source: onlyinyourstate.com ________ If Chicago intrigues you too, here are several books about the city that are available via Amazon.com.* ……….Link – The Third Coast……………………………………………Link … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, air travel, airport planning, airports, Alternative transportation, architecture, bicycling, Biking, Bus transportation, Cities, civics, commerce, culture, downtown, engineering, fun, geography, historic preservation, history, land use, Passenger rail, pictures, placemaking, planning, rail, Railroads, rivers/watersheds, skylines, skyscrapers, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, third places, tourism, traffic, transit, Transportation, Travel, Uncategorized, urban design, urban planning, weather, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

From sea to shining sea of wasteful surface parking lots

The images below depict the extent of wasteful surface parking lots that can be found across the United States at many major sports venues, especially those dedicated to football, baseball, and soccer. Much of the land currently set aside for … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Alternative transportation, Cars, cities, downtown, economic development, engineering, geography, history, Housing, infrastructure, land use, Maps, parking, Passenger rail, placemaking, planning, Portugal, product design, rail, Railroads, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, technology, third places, tourism, traffic, transit, transportation, Travel, UK, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

New “Austin Towers” will soon be spying over Texas

For multiple decades the tallest building in Texas has been located in either Dallas, Houston, or San Antonio. That fact is about to change, as the booming state capital of Austin will soon takeover this vertical leadership role in the … Continue reading

Posted in architecture, art, branding, business, cities, civics, Civil Rights, civility, commerce, Cuisine, culture, diversity, downtown, economic development, engineering, gentrification, geography, highways, historic preservation, history, Housing, human rights, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, pictures, placemaking, planning, poverty, skylines, skyscrapers, sprawl, spying, Statistics, third places, tourism, traffic, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment