Category Archives: UK

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

World’s largest h-y-p-h-e-n-a-t-e-d core cities

As a companion to the previous post on cities/towns with the most hyphens in their name, this post lists the largest cities (core city not metro area) that have a hyphen in their name. The minimum population for inclusion in … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, Asia, branding, Canada, Caribbean, China, cities, civics, culture, economic development, Europe, fun, geography, government, history, India, Latin America, Maps, North America, place names, placemaking, planning, Russia, South America, Statistics, toponymy, UK | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Monikers/nicknames for film and movie-making hubs

The allure of stardom not only applies to those in acting, but also the geographic locations where movie magic is made. The following list identifies those places around the globe where film/movie-making has been significant enough for the city/region/nation to … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, art, Asia, branding, business, Canada, Caribbean, China, Cities, commerce, Communications, consumerism, culture, economic development, entertainment, Europe, film, fun, geography, history, India, industry, Latin America, Mexico, movies, North America, Oceania, pictures, placemaking, planning, South America, Television, theaters, tourism, Travel, UK, video | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Soaking up the sun with floating solar farms

In recent years floating solar farms have been popping up on water bodies around the globe. While typically more expensive to initially install, floating solar facilities have several notable advantages, including: Less use of productive farm land or valuable lands … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, agriculture, Alternative energy, architecture, Asia, China, climate, climate change, economic development, ecosystems, energy, engineering, environment, Europe, geography, India, infrastructure, Maps, nature, North America, pictures, planning, politics, Portugal, product design, Renewable Energy, rivers/watersheds, Science, solar, spatial design, States, Statistics, technology, topography, UK, urban planning, water | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Slow Horses” – a brilliant new spy series

AppleTV has released yet another winner. Slow Horses, based on the book of the same name by author Mick Herron, was released in late April. The six-episode first season is a monumental triumph filled with great acting, superb writing, and … Continue reading

Posted in art, books, branding, culture, entertainment, Europe, film, fun, music, songs, spying, Television, UK, video, Women, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

World’s tallest Mormon Temples

The following list identifies the tallest Mormon (LDS) Temples in the world. Many of these stunning structures are architectural masterpieces and regardless of your beliefs, one cannot help but impressed and inspired by their beauty. A minimum height for inclusion … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, architecture, art, Asia, Canada, Caribbean, Cities, culture, economic development, geography, infrastructure, land use, Latin America, Mexico, North America, Oceania, product design, Religion, skylines, skyscrapers, South America, Statistics, third places, tourism, Travel, UK, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Here Comes the Sun” displayed on flags worldwide

Listed below are those nations, tribal nations, states, provinces, counties, and cities whose flag depicts the sun. Some of my favorites are shown throughout the post. There are likely more examples from around the globe, so as always any additions, … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, art, Asia, branding, Canada, Caribbean, cities, civics, Communications, culture, diversity, Europe, fun, geography, government, historic preservation, history, Latin America, Native Americans, North America, Oceania, peace, placemaking, politics, product design, South America, States, UK, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tuesday Tunes: Chronology of my favorite music artists

Below is a table identifying my favorite musical artists over the years. As can be seen, they vary from time to time, with some appearing more than once. Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Weezer, The Stills, and Wolf Alice have all accomplished … Continue reading

Posted in art, Canada, Communications, culture, entertainment, fun, history, Ireland, Music, music reviews, pictures, Radio, UK, video, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 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 , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wolf Alice proves that great rock ‘n’ roll is alive and well

London-based rock band Wolf Alice released their third full-length album, Blue Weekend, on June 4th to rave reviews by their fans and by the critics. In fact, as of June 6th, Blue Weekend has the highest composite score on Metacritic … Continue reading

Posted in art, entertainment, Europe, Music, music reviews, Radio, Statistics, UK, video, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment