Category Archives: third places

Forget the latest planning buzzword and just plan

First it was “context sensitive solutions,” then “cool cities,” followed by “third places,” and most recently it has been the term “15 minute city.” All of these terms (and a myriad of others) are principally buzzwords meant to promote and … Continue reading

Posted in advertising, Advocacy, books, branding, business, cities, civics, civility, Communications, consumerism, culture, education, history, land use, literature, marketing, opinion, placemaking, planning, politics, product design, reading, Social media, third places, urban planning, 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

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

Keeping Bisbee, Arizona bizarre!

As can be seen by the following photos, any and all efforts to keep wonderful Bisbee, Arizona bizarre are proving to be highly successful. Thank goodness, we would not want Bisbee to be any other way. Enjoy!

Posted in adaptive reuse, art, branding, cities, Communications, culture, diversity, entertainment, fun, historic preservation, history, humanity, land use, landscape architecture, Mining, pictures, placemaking, recreation, revitalization, satire, signs, spatial design, third places, tourism, Travel, urban design, 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

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

America’s most charming walkable neighborhood is in…

Los Angeles! Yes, you read that correctly. The city known for miles of freeways and lengthy traffic jams is also home to what this retired urban planner feels is the most charming walkable neighborhood in the United States. In fact, … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Alternative transportation, architecture, art, books, Cars, cities, civics, culture, density, engineering, entertainment, environment, fitness, fun, geography, health, hiking, historic preservation, history, Housing, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, Maps, mountains, nature, new urbanism, parking, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, product design, recreation, skylines, spatial design, technology, third places, topography, tourism, traffic, trails, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, walking, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten planning lessons from LA’s South Bay beach cities

We had the pleasure of visiting the three South Bay beach cities of Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Hermosa Beach over the Christmas holiday weekend. Below are ten planning lessons learned from these charming and beautiful communities. Peace! Esplanade nearest … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Alternative energy, Alternative transportation, architecture, bicycling, Biking, branding, business, cities, civics, climate, climate change, commerce, culture, demographics, density, economic development, Economy, ecosystems, electric vehicles, entertainment, environment, fun, geography, health, hiking, historic preservation, history, Housing, humanity, industry, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, nature, pictures, placemaking, planning, pollution, recreation, Renewable Energy, revitalization, spatial design, Statistics, sustainability, third places, topography, tourism, trails, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, walking, water, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Estadios de béisbol mas grandes de America Latina – ACTUALIZADO (Largest baseball stadiums of Latin America) – UPDATED

Estadio de Béisbol Monterrey – Source: facebook.com/EstadiosDeMexico/posts/estadio-de-beisbol-monterrey-la-casa-de-los-sultanes-de-monterrey-en-la-lmb-y-lm/3118047278255427/ Estadio Nacional de Dennis Martínez, Nicaragua – Source: gomezvazquez.international/opening-of-the-dennis-martinez-stadium _________ La siguiente lista identifica aquellos estadios en América Latina que se utilizan principalmente o en su totalidad para el béisbol. Estas impresionantes instalaciones … Continue reading

Posted in architecture, branding, Caribbean, cities, culture, engineering, entertainment, fun, geography, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, Latin America, Mexico, pictures, placemaking, planning, product design, recreation, South America, spatial design, sports, Statistics, third places, tourism, Travel, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Snapshots of Chicago in geometric black & white

Posted in adaptive reuse, architecture, art, cities, civics, Cuisine, culture, downtown, entertainment, Food, fun, futurism, geography, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, new urbanism, Passenger rail, pictures, placemaking, planning, product design, rail, Railroads, revitalization, skylines, skyscrapers, spatial design, technology, third places, tourism, transit, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment