Authors
-
problogic
- Tuesday Tunes: Out-of-this-world rock band names
- Riding the rails of interstellar discovery at the Very Large Array
- Majestic “mesa” cities and towns around the globe
- Canada’s next supergroup – A Short Walk to Pluto
- Two migration tales of strength, hardship, and tenacity
- An out-of-this-world visit to the Very Large Array (VLA)
- Albuquerque is a national leader in water conservation
- The buzz about America’s “bee-friendly” cities
- Tallest buildings of Greater Washington, DC
- New Mexico’s protected wildlife areas along the Rio Grande
-
Tag Archives: utilities
Street tree trimming gone berserk!
Needless to say, the cartoon below about street tree trimming in Alameda, California certainly depicts some of the worst examples that could be seen across the country. Here in the Midwest, the top-left image is more often referred to as “goal post” or “touchdown” … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, art, cartoons, cities, civics, civility, environment, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, nature, pictures, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, satire, sustainability, transportation, urban planning, visual pollution, Wildlife
Tagged Alameda, cities, Dan Burden, infrastructure, land use, landscapes, nature, street trees, transportation, tree trimming, trees, utilities
3 Comments
Utility infrastructure does not have to be ugly
This electrical substation in suburban Chicago (Elk Grove Village) is an excellent example of how, with a little effort, utility infrastructure can be designed to be aesthetically pleasing and blend well with its surroundings. Well done!
Posted in architecture, art, cities, civics, energy, environment, infrastructure, land use, placemaking, planning, product design, spatial design, urban planning, visual pollution
Tagged aesthetics, design, energy, infrastructure, land use, planning, substations, utilities
Leave a comment
Don’t punish trees for poor utility practices
In the aftermath and finger-pointing that will surely follow the Great Ice Storm of 2013, there will likely be calls by the utilities and some citizens to obliterate more trees to prevent such wholesale power outages in the future. My response to that … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, Alternative energy, cities, civics, civility, Communications, energy, environment, history, humanity, infrastructure, land use, nature, planning, Renewable Energy, sustainability, urban planning, weather, Wildlife
Tagged energy, environment, history, ice storm, nature, planning, trees, utilities, weather
Leave a comment
An unreliable power grid is unacceptable!
The continuing repairs to the grid across unlucky parts of Michigan, Ontario, New York and Maine clearly shows the weaknesses in our electrical grid and how susceptible it can be to the whimsy of Mother Nature. One sort of expects a power grid to … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, Alternative energy, commerce, Communications, consumerism, culture, deregulation, economic development, economics, energy, environment, geography, government, health, history, Housing, humanity, infrastructure, land use, nature, North America, planning, politics, Privatization, product design, Renewable Energy, seasons, sustainability, technology, weather
Tagged advocacy, business, commerce, economics, electric, electricity, energy, geography, health, infrastructure, land use, opinion, outages, planning, power, power grid, the grid, Toronot, utilities
Leave a comment
Pissed-off planner: upgrade the damn grid!
For the second time in six weeks large swaths of Greater Lansing have been thrust into the dark and cold by bad weather – first a wind storm and now an ice storm. And once again, much of the suffering … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, Alternative energy, architecture, cities, civics, civility, commerce, Communications, economic development, energy, environment, geography, government, health, history, Housing, humanity, infrastructure, land use, nature, planning, politics, product design, seasons, spatial design, sustainability, urban planning, weather, zoning
Tagged climate, disasters, electrical grid, electricity, emergency planning, land use, meteorology, planning, seasons, storms, utilities, weather, winter
Leave a comment
Power pole streetscape blight
I don’t know about your community, but here in Greater Lansing there seems to be an intense love affair between public utilities and power poles. “Holy pincushions, Batman, you’d think they’d all been raised by a family of porcupine.” In … Continue reading
Posted in adaptive reuse, Advocacy, Alternative energy, architecture, cities, civics, civility, commerce, Communications, downtown, economic development, energy, geography, government, history, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, new urbanism, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, product design, revitalization, skylines, spatial design, sprawl, sustainability, technology, third places, urban planning, visual pollution
Tagged blight, cities, land use, planning, pollution, power lines, urban planning, utilities, visual pollution
9 Comments
Feck the straight-line mindset!
Please excuse me for utilizing the Irish version of a well-known four-letter profanity. It was picked up while visiting that lovely island last month. The milder term “feck” seemed to be the most appropriate word for titling this post with … Continue reading
Posted in Active transportation, Advocacy, architecture, bicycling, Biking, Cars, cities, geography, government, history, infrastructure, land use, Passenger rail, planning, rail, spatial design, technology, trails, transit, transportation, urban planning
Tagged air-line railroads, bicycling, construction, design, engineering, hiking, infrrastructure, land use, planning, public works, railroads, roads, sewers, streets, trails, transportation, utilities, water lines
5 Comments
Infrastructure to nowhere – sowing the seeds of sprawl
Seriously folks, one would have thought that most people (politicians, professionals, and citizens alike) would have figured out this basic tenet of Sprawl 101 by now, but apparently not. When you build a new road, widen a road, extend utilities … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, Cars, cities, civics, civility, commerce, density, economic development, education, environment, geography, government, history, Housing, humanity, infrastructure, land use, new urbanism, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, spatial design, sprawl, sustainability, transportation, urban planning, zoning
Tagged cities, infrastructure, land use, planning, roads, sewer, spatial design, spawl, transportation, urban planning, utilities, water, zoning
4 Comments
Panethos 