A great xtranormal animation from Joshua Abrams of Planning Collaborative on the predictability of NIMBYs. While Joushua programmed this robot for Berkeley, there are clones in just about every city.
(via Planetizen)
Tag Archives: Video
Jeremy Messersmith performs Light Rail (Weekend Watch)
A fun song about riding the light rail by Jeremy Messersmith. It is based on his experience riding the light rail in his home town of Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Performed at at The Cabin at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on September 25, 2009. The song is the last track on the 2008 album, The Silver City.
The Social Harms of Traffic (Weekend Watch)
The 6 minute video from StreetsFilms is inspired by Donald Appleyard‘s work examining the role automobile traffic has on neighborhood connectedness, more specifically the interpersonal connections of the street, A compelling video that uses beautifully designed graphics to make its point, as well as an interview with his son, Bruce Appleyard.
As Sarah Goodyear noted in her review on Grist, the video is:
…more than a tribute to an under recognized urbanist. It’s a reminder of how much still needs to be done to make our streets livable.
Stretched to the Limits: The Unexpected Costs of Sprawl (Weekend Watch)
As part of their Blueprint America series PBS visited Queen Creek (a suburb of Phoenix) to profile a family living through the recession in a new suburb:
As they post-mortem the housing crisis, policy makers are increasingly putting transportation costs under the microscope. Blueprint America visits the car-dependent suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona to learn about how transportation costs are making it harder for families to hold on to the American Dream.
Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.
From the transcript:
“First stop: 25 minutes to Mesa, to unload the boys at grandma’s house
20 minutes later, they reach Scottsdale, where Laura lets Tony off in time for his six AM shift as a security guard in a hospital.
“It’s another 15 minutes to Tempe, where Laura works in administration at Arizona State University . After a full day’s work, they’ll do the whole thing in reverse in the afternoon…round trip that’s about 120 miles a day . . .”
“. . .it’s at least about two and a half, two hours. Depending on traffic and stuff.”
HT to Kaid Benfield
Cities in Focus | New York City (Weekend Watch)
A great video on what Mayor Michael Bloomberg and city staff are doing to make the Big Apple the “greatest, greenest big city in the world.” Efforts include enhancing bicycle infrastructure across the city, introducing bus rapid transit to the Bronx, and pedestrianized Times Square, among other bold transportation initiatives.
It’s a must watch for anybody interested in improving our urban quality.
Via: Urbanophile and Greater Greater Washington
Explore Your Own Suburban Wilderness, Courtesy of Arcade Fire
- Screenshot
Canadian based rock band Arcade Fire is one of those indie bands that has buck the trend instead of selling out or watering down as they get bigger they just keeps getting better. This week they introduced a revolutionary new music video format.
The Wilderness Downtown uses a mashup of Google’s Street View, HTML5 video and some impressive overlays to create a multimedia viewing experience. All you need to do is input the address you grew up in and it will build an immersive film by director Chris Milk with Arcade Fire‘s “We Used To Wait” around it.
I recommend watching it as soon as possible. While it is not perfect (few pioneering experiments are), it is an extremely cool idea put into action.
Screenshot via designboom.com
The video is especially powerful for me, as the move I grew up in, is the home I watched my first music video in and this memory is only strengthened by the nostalgic atmosphere of the video.
Caveat: The clip requires Google Chrome (or a fully HTML5 Compliant browser). If you aren’t already using it, you really should be, so use this opportunity to download it! Also, for best results, close as many running programs as possible, all the interactive goodness taxes even the speediest processors.
We Used to Wait is found on Arcade Fire’s latest album, The Suburbs. The entire album has an urban planning theme, which makes it all the more awesome. Canadian, interactive AND urbanist, what more could I want!?!
Jane’s Walk Phoenix featured on RalLife.com
My friend, Nick Bastien, who participated in last years Walk, wrote this great post on this year’s Jane’s Walk, complete with a short video interview. Enjoy, and be sure to check out the original at RailLife.com
Jane’s Walk is back in Phoenix for a second annual stroll through the city. This year, the walk will focus on the Warehouse District just south of downtown and we’ll be learning a lot of cool things about the history of these buildings, the area, and what might be next for this part of town. I personally think the warehouse district has a TON of potential for some great things and am excited to learn more from Yuri about the neighborhood. This past week, I caught up with Yuri to talk about Jane’s Walk. Check out this video, straight from the horse’s mouth!
What: Jane’s Walk Phoenix
Date: Saturday, May 1, 2010
Time: 9:00am – 11:00am
Location: Meet at amenZone in the Warehouse District 106 E. Buchanan St
You can register for Jane’s Walk on Facebook and follow their updates on Twitter.
I can tell ya’ that we had a lot of fun at last year’s Jane’s Walk and I know this one will be pretty darn cool, as well.
Below, you will find a map of the area we will be covering on Saturday. Depending on which direction you are traveling from, there are a couple of different light rail stations for you to use. From the north or west, use Central/1st Ave or Jefferson/3rd St. From the east, exit Washington/3rd and head south a few blocks. Yeah, I guess you could drive, but what’s the fun in that?
View Jane’s Walk Phx 2010 in a larger map
To learn more about Jane’s Walk, feel free to check out their site. The best way to learn is to participate, so I hope to see you there…
These are some photos from last years walk…
If you want to learn more about life along Phoenix light rail system, be sure to check out RailLife.com. it’s filled with great information!
David Owen on Great American Cities
A short video (2:23) of author and New Yorker writer David Owen on how Jane Jacobs‘ book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities
About Yuri
Through his Yurbanism brand, Yuri Artibise explores the ‘Y’ of urbanism by sharing ways to make our cities more livable, community-oriented places one block at a time.
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