Tag Archives: Traverse City

Ten planning lessons from the death of Mountain Lion P-22

Source: Steve Winter of National Geographic via bbc.com and reddit.com The tragic death this weekend of Mountain Lion P-22 in/near Los Angeles’ Griffith Park struck a somber chord within me, much like the euthanized death of a neighborhood-roaming black bear … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Animal rights, Animals, architecture, Cars, charities, cities, civility, climate, climate change, culture, ecosystems, engineering, environment, geography, Geology, government, health, Highway displacement, highways, hiking, history, humanity, infrastructure, land use, mountains, natural history, nature, opinion, Pets, pictures, placemaking, planning, recreation, rivers/watersheds, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, sustainability, topography, toponymy, tourism, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, water, water conservation, water trails, Wilderness, Wildlife, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Little Graves release their first full-length album – “Rituals”

It’s not often that you get a chance to review a first full-length album from a band that you have followed almost from the start. Little Graves, who formed back in 2017, just released their first full-length album on Friday. … Continue reading

Posted in art, entertainment, fun, Music, music reviews, pictures | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A BOLD transit-oriented development plan

There are transit-oriented developments and then there are BOLD transit-oriented developments. Here is Traverse City, we are fortunate to have a transit agency with a bold vision for a better tomorrow – the Bay Area Transportation Authority or BATA. Being … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Advocacy, Alternative transportation, Bus transportation, cities, climate change, economic development, environment, government, health, Housing, infrastructure, land use, new urbanism, placemaking, planning, social equity, spatial design, sustainability, transit, transportation, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Venice Effect: Destination cities imperiled by mass tourism

Mass tourism can be roughly defined as thousands of people going to the same destination, often at the same time of the year, and often arriving in large, consecutive human waves. Examples of these human waves of tourism include, but … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, air travel, art, aviation, book reviews, books, branding, cities, civics, civility, commerce, consumerism, culture, demographics, density, diversity, downtown, economic development, entertainment, environment, gentrification, geography, globalization, historic preservation, history, Housing, humanity, infrastructure, land use, placemaking, planning, recreation, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, sustainability, tourism, traffic, transportation, Travel, urban planning, walking, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

TC’s totally cool downtown “Art Banner Project”

Walk, bike, or drive around downtown Traverse City and you will soon see one of the enormous art banners hanging from the walls of some of the buildings. Brainchild of retired Art Department Chair of Northwestern Michigan College, Paul Welch, … Continue reading

Posted in art, branding, cities, civics, Communications, culture, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, fun, history, land use, new urbanism, pictures, placemaking, planning, revitalization, skylines, spatial design, third places, tourism, Travel, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

From institutional to inspirational

Unlike this amazing aerial shot, photographs taken from the ground can hardly depict the enormous size and impressive setting of Grand Traverse Commons (formally Traverse City State Hospital or Northern Michigan Asylum). Once an imposing (and probably intimidating) institutional facility, … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, architecture, art, business, cities, civics, commerce, economic development, economic gardening, entertainment, entrepreneurship, health, Health care, historic preservation, history, Housing, infrastructure, land use, new urbanism, pictures, placemaking, planning, product design, recreation, revitalization, shopping, skylines, spatial design, third places, tourism, Travel, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An artistic planning masterpiece

  As an urban planner, I have seen some very well-written and thought-provoking master plans in the past 25+ years. But recently I stumbled across a specialized plan that I think may top them all – the Public Art Program … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, architecture, art, branding, Cities, civics, culture, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, education, entertainment, fun, geography, government, historic preservation, history, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, music, nature, new urbanism, placemaking, planning, spatial design, sustainability, tourism, Travel, Uncategorized, urban planning, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Designer dumpsters of Traverse City

It’s not often you see dumpsters that once could call “artistic,” but here in Traverse City, there is a series of painted ones dotting the downtown alleys between Front and State Streets. These designer dumpsters were painted by elementary school … Continue reading

Posted in art, business, cities, civics, civility, culture, downtown, economic gardening, environment, infrastructure, land use, placemaking, planning, pollution, product design, recycling, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Even paradise has cloudy days

Over the past few months my praise and love for the Traverse City area has been expressed in many posts here on Panethos, on Facebook, or in conversations with family and friends. But even paradise on Earth can have cloudy … Continue reading

Posted in bicycling, Biking, books, brewpubs, cities, civics, civility, Communications, environment, family, geography, health, history, holiday, humanity, Love, movies, nature, pictures, placemaking, reading, seasons, tourism, Travel, weather | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Urban design without fake plastic signs

In many communities across the country, commercial signage seems to be employed in a manner that appears more appropriate in Las Vegas, Times Square, or in this Radiohead video for the song Fake Plastic Trees, rather than on businesses fronting Main Street. … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, advertising, architecture, art, branding, business, cities, commerce, Communications, consumerism, downtown, economic development, historic preservation, history, land use, new urbanism, placemaking, planning, signs, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments