I’m a huge fan of the city of Cincinnati. I love the magnificent architecture, the cool people, and the gorgeous natural beauty that surrounds the city. And I’m incredibly excited that many of the best historic neighborhoods are beginning to come back to life after a fifty year slumber brought on by middle class exodus … Continue reading Revitilization in Walnut Hills, Cincinnati
I have an on-going correspondence with a particular city planner who recently asked, “What pushes a neighborhood down vs. what lifts it up?” In the end I suspect this is going to be like the old joke. Ask three rabbis a question and you’ll get five answers. Perhaps I should provide a few examples of popular … Continue reading The Urban Planner’s Dilemma
I was at a company Christmas party (not mine, by the way) last night and after about half an hour I ran out of my extremely limited supply of social skills. I ducked out into the city and started taking photos in the misty drizzle – a serious gift after a three year drought. … Continue reading Belden Place: Dark Alley Urbanism
North America is populated with endless examples of previously great neighborhoods that have fallen on hard times. How do we reactivate these places on a super tight budget without resorting to the usual Silver Bullet build-it-and-they-will-come model of the heavily subsidized casino, stadium, outlet mall, aquarium, or convention center which are all proving increasingly ineffective … Continue reading Shoestring Pre-vitalization: Walnut Hills
Gracen Johnson of Another Place For Me recently sent out a request for examples of adaptive reuses for outdated buildings. This is part of her exploration of what’s likely to happen to all the cheap, ugly, poorly constructed, disposable structures that currently litter the landscape all across North America. First, here’s an example of a completely … Continue reading Adaptive Reuse: Old Stuff, New Life
I attended the Congress for New Urbanism in Salt Lake City, Utah and interviewed James Alfandre as he put the finishing touches on the Granary Row project. This story was edited by my friend Kirsten Dirksen in Barcelona and was originally posted to her site Faircompanies.com Continue reading Granary Row, Salt Lake City, Utah
Jeff Tyler is a regular guy in the suburbs who found himself out of work when the Great Recession hit his construction business hard in 2008. After a year and a half of unemployment wondering what to do he took a chance selling hotdogs from a roadside cart. He now has three carts and is … Continue reading Self Employment: Happiness and Prosperity During a Recession
I’ve been visiting Segovia, Spain for twenty five years and I’m still mesmerized by its beauty. This two thousand year old town is full of examples of buildings and urban strategies that are time tested and durable. Many empires have come and gone and each left its mark. You can read the history of Segovia … Continue reading Segovia Spain: Traditional Urbanism
Granola Shotgun 