Tag Archives: civics

Corrales, New Mexico’s lighted holiday season tractors

One of the quaintest scenes one can find during the holiday season are the lighted tractors found in and around Corrales, New Mexico. They add a special flavor to the historic agricultural community that has sought to maintain this heritage … Continue reading

Posted in agriculture, art, cities, civics, culture, entertainment, fun, historic preservation, history, holiday, peace, pictures, placemaking, Religion, tourism, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A comparison between Burning Man’s Black Rock City and the Greater World Earthship Community

The American West is blessed with two modern utopian communities — Burning Man’s Black Rock City on a high desert playa in northwestern Nevada and the Greater World Earthship Community located west of Taos, New Mexico. As Burning Man/Black Rock … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, Advocacy, Alternative energy, architecture, art, branding, cities, civics, Civil Rights, civility, climate change, Communications, culture, deregulation, deserts, diversity, economic development, energy, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, food systems, fun, futurism, geography, government, health, history, Housing, human rights, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, literature, Maps, marketing, minimalism, nature, peace, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, politics, product design, recycling, Renewable Energy, social equity, spatial design, sustainability, technology, third places, tourism, Trade, Travel, urban design, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

These rankings seem skewed to favor one city

Since when are the boroughs of New York City considered separate cities? Apparently, Forbes magazine believes they are synonymous even though they were consolidated to form the current city boundary in 1898. In its 2015 rankings of “the best cities for … Continue reading

Posted in cities, civics, culture, geography, government, history, Maps, North America, placemaking, planning, spatial design, Statistics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

America’s “Coast Guard Cities”

Provided below is a list of the 16 American communities which have been designated by Congress as Coast Guard Cities. T 15 cities and one county have been recognized  because “they have extended so many considerations to the Coast Guard family and … Continue reading

Posted in aerospace, airports, aviation, branding, cities, civics, civility, culture, economic development, geography, government, history, military, North America, recreation, sailing, shipping, transportation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Transforming an eyesore into eye-candy

Similar to the image above, the vast majority of highway and railroad underpasses across the country are the epitome of sterile concrete and overgrown weeds.  Left as underutilized vacant space, they hardly engender any sort of warmth or welcome, particularly … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, architecture, art, bicycling, Biking, Cars, cities, civics, civility, economic development, economic gardening, fitness, fun, geography, hiking, history, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, pictures, placemaking, planning, revitalization, spatial design, topography, tourism, traffic, trails, transportation, Travel, urban planning, visual pollution, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

It’s a beach, not a litter box for plastic!

This disgusting and disgraceful view is what we were greeted with upon arriving at the beach of San Jose Island on the Texas Gulf Coast 10 days ago.  The largely uninhabited island sits on the north side of the mouth … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, civics, civility, consumerism, education, environment, planning, pollution, recycling, sustainability, tourism, Travel, visual pollution | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

“Planning should be aspirational”

“Planning should be aspirational.” Those four words sum up in a nutshell what the planning profession should be all about. They were stated by a friend of mine recently at a meeting and no truer statement was ever said about … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, cities, civics, civility, Communications, culture, diversity, education, government, human rights, humanity, inclusiveness, land use, planning, social equity, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Eerie winter images of an abandoned mall

Check out this weblink to wintry post-apocalyptic images of an abandoned shopping mall (Rolling Acres Mall) near Akron, Ohio. The photos were taken by photographer Johnny Joo.  The mall opened in 1975 and the last stores closed in 2013. It … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, architecture, art, cities, civics, consumerism, economic development, economic gardening, film, geography, history, infrastructure, land use, movies, pictures, planning, spatial design, urban planning, visual pollution, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Urban planning and the ten principles of yoga

My wife and I started practicing flow yoga about 10 months ago. We have found yoga to be very rewarding towards our physical, mental, and spiritual health in our daily lives. As an urban planner, I believe the ten principles … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, architecture, cities, civics, civility, Communications, culture, diversity, environment, fitness, health, history, humanity, land use, minimalism, nature, new urbanism, peace, planning, psychology, revitalization, spatial design, sustainability, third places, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Planners should not be just paper pushers and processors!

In the planning profession, there is an inherent risk of urban planners becoming solely mundane paper pushers and permit processors. That is due to several factors, including: The variety of requests being processed – rezonings, special use permits, variances, plats, planned unit developments, site … Continue reading

Posted in Administration, cities, civics, civility, Communications, government, land use, logistics, planning, politics, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments