Authors
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problogic
- Place Name Hall of Fame: Distinctly recognizable town/small and mid-sized city names
- Twelve planning lessons from Taos and the Taos Pueblo
- Solar energy production in the USA on former surface mines
- Monikers/nicknames for film and movie-making hubs
- Albuquerque – A city at the convergence of unparalleled geophysical landforms
- Strict planning & zoning destroys eclectic, offbeat, and funky
- Madrid, NM – Coal mining ghost town to eclectic art colony
- The many moods of the Sandia Mountains in a single day
- The “unity of drought” must supersede myths and self interest
- Gnarly Native American art on skateboard decks
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Category Archives: visual pollution
Twelve planning lessons from Taos and the Taos Pueblo
The following are ten+ planning-related lessons learned from our visits to the 400+ year old Town of Taos and the 1000+ year old Taos Pueblo. The beauty of this area is beyond mere words — a good reason why the … Continue reading
Posted in air travel, airport planning, archaeology, architecture, art, aviation, branding, business, cities, civics, climate, climate change, commerce, culture, demographics, diversity, economic development, ecosystems, environment, futurism, geography, government, historic preservation, history, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, injustice, land use, Native Americans, natural history, nature, placemaking, planning, politics, rivers/watersheds, scenic byways, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, third places, topography, tourism, Trade, traffic, transit, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, water, water conservation, zoning
Tagged Biotecture, Indigenous, land use, Native Americans, New Mexico, planning, Taos, Taos Air, Taos Pueblo, UNESCO World Heritage site
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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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“Ice Ice, Baby” Planning for freestanding ice kiosks/houses
Traditionally, ice has been sold at stores via large ice chests or boxes situated just inside retail stores or along the front sidewalk near the building entrance/exit. These units were often rented from, maintained, and serviced by ice manufacturers such … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, architecture, branding, business, commerce, Cuisine, economic development, entrepreneurship, Food, industry, infrastructure, land use, marketing, pictures, planning, product design, Statistics, technology, Travel, urban planning, visual pollution, zoning
Tagged business, Fotomat, freestanding, Ice, ice house, ice kiosk, ice making, land use, retail, water
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Salt of the Earth: Striking beauty of desert salt flats (or pans)
If you haven’t had the opportunity to see a salt flat (or pan), they are one of the most strikingly beautiful natural features on the planet. The remoteness, the otherworldly feel, the arid environment, and the rugged visual contrasts are … Continue reading
Posted in aviation, climate change, deserts, ecosystems, electric vehicles, energy, environment, EVs and hybrids, Food, geography, Geology, historic preservation, industry, land use, Mining, natural and organic foods, nature, planning, pollution, recreation, Renewable Energy, rivers/watersheds, Science, Statistics, sustainability, topography, tourism, Travel, visual pollution, weather
Tagged arid, climate, deserts, dry lakes, nature, playa, salar, salt, salt flats, salt pans, solar
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Planning for the EVolution in charging stations
As the number of EV (electric vehicle) charging stations have increased, their design and appearance have grown in style and variety. While many EV charging stations are currently accessory uses on the site of other uses like hotels, theaters, parking … Continue reading
Posted in adaptive reuse, advertising, Alternative energy, Alternative transportation, architecture, branding, Cars, cities, climate change, commerce, Communications, consumerism, culture, economic development, electric vehicles, energy, environment, futurism, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, light pollution, marketing, pictures, planning, pollution, product design, Renewable Energy, spatial design, Statistics, sustainability, tourism, Trade, traffic, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, video, visual pollution, zoning
Tagged charging, charging stations, design, electric cars, electric vehicles, EVs, hybrid electric vehicles, hybrid/electric vehicles, planning, zoning
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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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America’s earliest example of destructive urban renewal
Like most people, when asked where America’s first urban renewal project was undertaken, I would have probably guessed cities like New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, or Boston. These are all logical guesses, but the first urban renewal (or redevelopment) project … Continue reading
Posted in archaeology, architecture, branding, cities, civics, civility, culture, diversity, downtown, economic development, geography, government, historic preservation, history, Housing, inclusiveness, infrastructure, injustice, land use, Maps, Native Americans, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, politics, product design, revitalization, spatial design, sprawl, third places, topography, toponymy, tourism, Trade, traffic, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution
Tagged American exceptionalism, Circleville, Hopewell Culture, Native American earthworks, Ohio, Place, place names, placebreaking, placemaking
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Healing Interstate injustice by removing freeways
Back in 2018, I wrote a post about the trend in freeway-capping projects. These efforts are an attempt to partially rectify (or put a bandaid over) the injustices of America’s highway-building mania that took place between the 1940s and 1980s. A … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative transportation, Cars, Cities, civics, Civil Rights, civility, commerce, culture, economic development, economic gardening, environment, geography, health, Highway displacement, history, Housing, inclusiveness, infrastructure, injustice, land use, Maps, new urbanism, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, racism, revitalization, social equity, spatial design, Statistics, tourism, Trade, traffic, transportation, urban planning, visual pollution
Tagged boulevards, cities, demolition, freeways, highways, immoral highways, inequity, injustice, Interstate injustice, Interstates, replacement
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Interstate injustice – the human and economic toll
The following raw data tries to put some perspective into the vast extent of destruction that took place in American urban centers during the highway building boom of the late 1940s through the 1980s. Overall, the number of dwellings lost … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, Cars, cities, civics, Civil Rights, civility, commerce, demographics, diversity, downtown, economic development, environment, gentrification, geography, government, health, Highway displacement, history, Housing, human rights, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, injustice, land use, Maps, pictures, planning, politics, pollution, racism, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, topography, Trade, traffic, transportation, Travel, urban planning, visual pollution
Tagged displacement, economics, freeways, highways, Interstate Highways, Interstate injustice, racism, redlining
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Ten Planning Lessons from Bisbee, AZ
Current and former mining towns (as well as all declining post-industrial cities) can learn valuable lessons from Bisbee on how to survive and later begin to reverse the decline after its founding industry falters. Architectural gems from previous eras are … Continue reading
Posted in architecture, art, Cities, civics, culture, economic development, Environment, geography, health, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, Nature, placemaking, planning, pollution, revitalization, sustainability, third places, topography, tourism, Transportation, Travel, Uncategorized, urban planning, visual pollution, zoning
Tagged Arizona, arts, Bisbee, copper, historic preservation, mining, pollution, revitalization, tourism
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Panethos 