I recently published an article that explored some of the ways regulations make it difficult for small businesses to get off the ground and function. Among the examples I used from around the country was Bank Suey in Hamtramck, Michigan. My story was subsequently reposted on various other sites which the owner, Alissa Shelton, read … Continue reading Hamtramck: Scale and Institutional Frameworks
Here are some photos of the HopMonk Tavern in Novato, California in the Wine County just north of San Francisco. The food here is great. The atmosphere is terrific. When you’re inside the building or out on the enclosed patio it’s exactly what you’d want or expect from this part of the world. But let’s … Continue reading A Rural Paradise in the Bulk Warehouse Aisle
There’s currently a lot of talk about why so many towns, counties, and states are going broke. “Teachers are getting paid way too much.” “Cops and fire fighters have extravagant pensions.” “It’s waste, fraud, and abuse.” “It’s welfare queens.” “It’s immigrants.” “It’s the Democrats.” “It’s the Republicans.” But here’s the truth. Even if you fired … Continue reading Municipal Solvency: How to Not Go Broke
Google My last post was about how Silicon Valley is evolving into an urban form that’s not quite leafy and open enough to be a suburb anymore, but not really vibrant and compact enough to be a proper city either. “Too thin to be jelly. Too thick to be jam.” The story got an unusually … Continue reading Silicon Valley: Jelly in the Jam
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’m a longtime advocate of walkable, mixed-use, mixed-income, transit-served neighborhoods. But lately I’ve been having impure thoughts about suburbia. Let me explain. What often passes for a neighborhood in America is a low grade assemblage of chain convenience stores, big box outlets, franchise muffler shops, multi-lane highways, and isolated cul-de-sacs. Even when it’s physically … Continue reading Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love Sprawl (Sort of)
Phase Change is a common principle in science. A simple example is water at various temperatures. Water is water at 50°F. Water is water at 100°F. Water is water at 200°F. But at exactly 212°F water stops being water and it becomes steam. In the same way water stops being water at precisely 32°F when … Continue reading Phase Change: Portland’s Alberta Arts District
In my travels I enjoy seeking out especially beautiful streets lined with artful buildings filled with pedestrians and little cafes and shops. In North America they can be hard to find since that’s really not our strong suit. We tend to build generic functional tract homes and shopping centers that provide people with “what … Continue reading The Ugliest Building in Portland
Here’s what a tradition street grid looks like from Google Earth. This is how most towns in America were organized until about 1945. Kids walked to school. Families walked to church on Sunday. People could easily get to work and access the local bakery, hardware store, library, etc. without a car. This was Norman Rockwell’s … Continue reading Paved to Death
I have an Australian friend who works on an oil drilling platform off the coast of Tasmania. He sent these photos from his phone. Pretty cool, huh? These photos got me thinking about the Peak Oil meme. For the uninitiated there are two camps on the subject. One camp says there’s an unlimited amount of … Continue reading Peak Oil, Yes and No
Granola Shotgun 