I filmed this story in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. As always, my far more talented friend Kirsten Dirksen did the editing. There are also glimpses of other nearby neighborhoods such as East Walnut Hills and some views for the city taken from across the Ohio River in Kentucky. Michael Uhlenhake is an architect and long time … Continue reading Rowhouse Rebirth
Once, a long, long time ago before any of our grandparents were born there was flavor. Apples had apple flavor. Bananas had banana flavor. Grapes had grape flavor. Things just tasted like what they were. But then there was imitation flavor. The little blue lumps in blueberry muffin mix aren’t blueberries. They’re some other substance that … Continue reading Imitation Purple Flavor
Google Google Google Last month I bought an old fixer-upper for $15,000 in Cincinnati. It was originally offered at $17,000, but I got the sellers down a bit. The place is a complete disaster. All the copper pipes and wires have been stripped out of the building. It hasn’t seen paint for decades. Every window … Continue reading Some Kindly Advice From an Old White Guy
I just discovered two amazing blogs and I really want everyone I know to check them out. First, Up In The Valley. As a native son of Los Angeles I only dream of taking photos like these since they capture the texture, sadness, and freakish beauty of the city. And the commentary alternates between poignant and … Continue reading “Yo No Soy Una Puta Mierda”
We all need to change the conversation about growth. Some forms of growth start out modest and gradually mature and continue to build value over time. Other kinds of growth rapidly decline and fail leaving a smoldering financial hole. I’m a longtime member of the Strong Towns organization that’s working hard to change the usual … Continue reading Productive Growth: Strong Towns Video
I’m a longtime supporter of the Strong Towns organization. Strong Towns seeks to reframe the usual conversation about the kinds of growth, investment, and development we want in our communities. Our current post World War II pattern of horizontal expansion is beginning to fail. The cost of maintaining all the attenuated public infrastructure is outstripping … Continue reading The Illusion of Wealth: Strong Towns Video
When I first arrived in San Francisco many years ago I bounced around from couch to couch and rented space in other people’s homes until I finally found a place that I could afford on my own. It was a little 1930’s garden shed in what was then a disreputable neighborhood. (How times change.) It … Continue reading Affordable Housing, Minus the Housing and Affordable Parts
This week I participated in a newly formed group that will be bringing Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns and Joe Minicozzi of Urban3 to Sonoma County, California this fall. Sonoma County is experiencing the same challenges as most places across the country in terms of urban form and municipal governance and there’s a need to … Continue reading Bringing a Rational Perspective to the Table
I’m not a “fight City Hall” kind of guy. I can’t be bothered with the imperial intrigue of Washington or state politics. I avoid anything done on a large complex scale. Instead, I look for local affordable rational work-arounds that get the job done under the radar in places that the big boys just don’t … Continue reading Slack Haven: Slow Urbanism
I drove out to a distant suburb this afternoon to attend to some business and I passed by a cluster of billboards on the side of the freeway that got me thinking. The general gist of the slogans asserted a conservative anti-government anti-urban rebellion. These are clearly people who don’t want density and public transit … Continue reading Stack and Pack vs. Smear All Over
Granola Shotgun 