Stories About Urbanism, Adaptation, and Resilience
I’m fond of describing Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns as my de facto secular parish priest – my consigliere. But I find myself drifting away from the flock and feel an obligation to articulate why. Perhaps in describing my concerns I can either be persuaded to fold back in, or at least give Chuck something to chew on … Continue reading An Open Letter To Chuck Marohn
Last week I entertained friends from Ohio here in Northern California. The house itself is small and unremarkable, but the land and location are pretty sweet. The property is currently in between tenants so I’m busy cleaning, painting, and gardening while my guests are out exploring the countryside. My invitation to them was part of … Continue reading A Dry Run
I just enjoyed an adventure in Springfield, Massachusetts with Steve Shultis and his wife Liz of Rational Urbanism. Steve does a far better job of describing his town and his philosophy than I ever could, but my interpretation can be summed up with an analogy about an old college room mate. At the end of … Continue reading The Springfield Strategy
Every once in a while I stumble on a building and scratch my head. What were these people thinking when they built this place? When resources are scarce or people are under the yoke of oppressive circumstances it’s obvious. They make do. But a law firm in Massachusetts? In this case I think I understand … Continue reading The Woo
There’s a certain amount of nostalgia these days for 1950’s suburbs when men were men and ladies mopped linoleum floors in white pumps and pearls. I’m not entirely sure that world ever really existed precisely the way it was portrayed on black and white television, but we seem to want it to be true. Here … Continue reading The Ghost of Mamie Eisenhower
My friend Kirsten Dirksen at faircompanies.com just posted a new video about Water Valley, Mississippi. It demonstrates that there are plenty of great compact mixed use walkable neighborhoods out there that can be re-inhabited. Building anything of this kind from scratch is theoretically possible, but it almost never happens due to endless zoning regulations, building … Continue reading Re-inhabitation of Small Town America
Every once in a while I stumble on a gazebo. Let’s play a game I like to call, “This is Real and This is Fake.” Or if we’re to use the transect we could classify various gazebos as functioning in the correct context, or not functioning at all in the wrong environment. This gazebo is functional … Continue reading Gazeboland
