A short video of author and New Yorker writer David Owen on “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” influenced his writing of “Green Metropolis.”
Category: Urbanism
Posts related to cities and urban areas, their geography, economies, politics, social characteristics, as well as the effects on, and caused by, the built environment.
Jane Jacobs: Parting Words
Jane Jacobs: Parting Words (2007) from Kevin Balmer on Vimeo.This longer (20 min) video captures Jane Jacobs in one of her last public appearances in Portland Oregon. On tour to promote her book, Dark Age Ahead (2004), Jacobs discusses the imperative for culturally diverse and innovative cities, among many other issues. I was lucky enough…
Urbanist’s Dictionary: Commute
Somewhat ironically—given our current dependance on the car to ‘commute’ to work—the term originated during the early days of rail transit.
Friday Five: my favorite reads from the past week
Lots of great material to choose from this week. Here are five of the best:
Cars ≠ Freedom
Car companies sell freedom and mobility, but in fact offer only gridlock, poor land use, health problems, and global warming.
A Mallrat Repents
Malls R Us is a provocative documentary that looks at North America’s love affair will the mall.
Suicide Lanes Kill Communities
This is the text of a letter to the editor I wrote in June 2008.
Opportunity Mirage
Phoenix doesn’t need another marketing campaign or branding effort. We need live up to our name and rise from the ashes of our past bad decisions.
CityScape: Suburbanizing Downtown Phoenix
In Phoenix’s desperate attempt to attract suburban tourists downtown, the city is morphing downtown into a suburb itself.
Urban Savoir-Faire
How do we take advantage of the benefits of the networked city, while keeping the concept of urban savoir-faire alive?