Tag Archives: parks

Scaling the sands: Toughest dune hikes trekked to date

As one who loves to scale to new heights, whether it be mountains, hills, ridges, lighthouses, dunes, or towers, I’ve got to admit some of the toughest treks have been trying to hike/climb sand dunes. While the other climbs involve … Continue reading

Posted in deserts, ecosystems, environment, fun, geography, Geology, health, hiking, history, land use, logistics, mountains, natural history, nature, pictures, place names, planning, Skies, Statistics, topography, toponymy, tourism, trails, Travel, walking, water, weather, Wilderness, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten planning lessons from our national parks

Provided below are ten planning lessons garnered from having the honor and pleasure of visiting countless national parks, monuments, historic sites, battlefields, lakeshores, seashores, trails, and preserves across our nation. The lessons are not necessarily presented in order of importance, … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Alternative energy, Alternative transportation, Animals, archaeology, architecture, art, Astronomy, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, branding, Bus transportation, Cars, charities, Cities, civics, climate, culture, deserts, diversity, economic development, ecosystems, education, electric vehicles, energy, entertainment, Environment, EVs and hybrids, family, fitness, geography, Geology, government, Green roofs, health, hiking, historic preservation, history, land use, mountains, natural history, Nature, parking, placemaking, planning, politics, recreation, rivers/watersheds, solar, spatial design, sprawl, sustainability, third places, topography, tourism, traffic, transit, Transportation, Travel, Uncategorized, urban planning, walking, water, water conservation, water trails, waterfalls, Wilderness, Wildlife, 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

Places that should be National Parks

The photos speak for themselves, but the list below are some of the beautiful and inspiring places in the United States (and one in Canada) that this author believes should be National Parks. Some are already part of the National … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, culture, deserts, entertainment, environment, fun, geography, Geology, Great Lakes, hiking, historic preservation, history, land use, landscape architecture, Native Americans, natural history, nature, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, recreation, rivers/watersheds, scenic byways, States, topography, toponymy, tourism, trails, Travel, volcanoes, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Scaling Santa Fe’s Sun Mountain Trail

We spent our late Wednesday afternoon scaling one of the most scenic urban hiking trails one can imagine. The Sun Mountain Trail in Santa Fe, New Mexico is a visual and technical delight. Rising some 813 feel above the roadside … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, cities, deserts, entertainment, environment, fun, geography, Geology, health, hiking, infrastructure, land use, Maps, nature, placemaking, planning, recreation, Statistics, topography, tourism, trails, Travel, urban planning, walking, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An Impressive Park Memorializes When Quilts Saved a Town

Frontier Towns, Part 7: Panguitch, Utah In city planning, as well as park and recreation circles, one of the most successful trends of the past decade or two has been the creation of pocket parks. These small oases help provide … Continue reading

Posted in art, cities, geography, historic preservation, history, land use, placemaking, planning, recreation, topography, tourism, Travel, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

From protective to active – repurposing historic city walls

When we think of city walls, some of the first images that come to mind are imposing structures erected as a protective or defensive barrier. More often than not, city walls were constructed from stone, masonry, brick, and/or concrete. Unfortunately, … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, archaeology, architecture, bicycling, Canada, cities, culture, economic development, entertainment, environment, Europe, fitness, geography, health, hiking, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, placemaking, planning, recreation, revitalization, spatial design, topography, tourism, transportation, Travel, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What a “smart park” idea!

According to the Daily Tribune newspaper, the City of Royal Oak, Michigan is in the process of establishing what is thought to be the nation’s first “Smart Park” in a pedestrian plaza within its trendy and vibrant downtown area. This … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Alternative transportation, art, bicycling, cities, civics, Communications, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, entertainment, entrepreneurship, fun, government, infrastructure, land use, new urbanism, placemaking, planning, product design, recreation, Social media, spatial design, technology, third places, tourism, urban planning, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ranking America’s urban forests

American Forests recently announced its ten best cities for urban forests for 2013. The top ten, out of the  50 largest cities in the nation are listed in alphabetical order below (weblinks to each winner’s results are provided): Austin Charlotte … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, cities, civics, climate change, energy, environment, geography, health, historic preservation, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, nature, new urbanism, North America, placemaking, planning, pollution, recreation, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, sustainability, tourism, Travel, urban planning, visual pollution, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How Liverpool shaped The Beatles

While I enjoy many songs by The Beatles, I tend to think of myself as more of a Rolling Stones man – music that is a little harder, edgier, and rugged. But, I too was (and still am) captivated by … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, Advocacy, architecture, art, book reviews, books, Bus transportation, Cars, cities, civics, civility, coffee shops/cafes, commerce, Communications, Cuisine, culture, diversity, downtown, economics, education, entertainment, environment, Europe, family, film, geography, government, health, historic preservation, history, Housing, humanity, infrastructure, Labor, land use, literature, Love, movies, music, music reviews, nature, new urbanism, Passenger rail, peace, pictures, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, poverty, psychology, Radio, reading, Religion, revitalization, schools, skylines, spatial design, sprawl, sustainability, third places, tourism, transit, transportation, Travel, UK, unemployment, urban planning, visual pollution, walking, weather, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment