The Urbanist

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Sun, 28 Apr 2013 22:25:19 -0400

eyeseedepths: Day 2: Abundance. Lately I have seen an abundance...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:11:37 -0400

Day 2: Abundance.

Lately I have seen an abundance of large Televisions lying facedown on median strips - and imagine the abundance of new flat screen TVs which are rapidly populating so many houses now. Pondering the level of abundance which we have here that causes such turnover of resources that even a 5-6 year old TV is obsolete, and carelessly discarded.

“Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.” Epicurus

"Let it be granted then that as a rule, workman and employer should make free agreements and in..."

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 17:42:11 -0500

“Let it be granted then that as a rule, workman and employer should make free agreements and in particular should freely agree as to wages; nevertheless, there is a dictate of nature more imperious and more ancient than any bargain between man and man, that the remuneration must be enough to support the wage earner in reasonable and frugal comfort. If through necessity or the fear of a worse evil the workman accepts harder conditions because an employer or contractor will give him no better, he is the victim of force and injustice.”

- Pope Leo X, in his Encyclical Rerum Novarum.

VIA: The Epic, Surprisingly Sexist Fight That Brought the Minimum Wage to America - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic

(via ideaswerelikekittens)

"So, Son, instead of crying, be strong, so as to be able to comfort your mother … take her for..."

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 21:36:22 -0500

“So, Son, instead of crying, be strong, so as to be able to comfort your mother … take her for a long walk in the quiet country, gathering wild flowers here and there… . But remember always, Dante, in the play of happiness, don’t you use all for yourself only… . help the persecuted and the victim because they are your better friends… . In this struggle of life you will find more and love and you will be loved.”

- Nicola Sacco’s (of Sacco & Vanzetti) message to his son, after being sentenced to death for alleged armed robbery. Was more likely framed because he was an anarchist and foreign. (1927)

A People’s History of the United States: 1492 to Present

by Howard Zinn

It’s amazing how things come back around. I’m also...

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 12:48:44 -0500

It’s amazing how things come back around. I’m also reading old essays by noted urbanist Lewis Mumford, and he complains about food, coffee, and culture as if he was part of the vanguard of hipsters in early 2000’s Williamsburg. He says:

“Every grocer’s boasted a row of black lacquered bins holding tea and coffee in bulk, which were identified by their place of origin. One bought coffees––Santos, Rio, Maracaibo, Java, Mocha—knowing their special flavors and gauging the quality against a wide range of prices… Nothing so well indicates to me the difference between my own generation and the present one as the fact that I do not, without a certain inner resistance and resentment, accept a system of marketing in which all the decisions have been taken out of the hands of both the shopkeeper and the customer and put under the remote control of the market researcher and the packaging expert, the advertising agency and the wholesale distributor. Those who have grown up in this packaged world accept such external controls and compulsions as normal: their loss of choice, their loss of fast, they do not even notice, for they have never known anything different. We have now exchanged autonomy for automation.” (“A Child of the City,” from Sketches from Life by Lewis Mumford. © 1982)

And yet in spite of that, I spent this morning in Downtown Durham, NC sipping an excellent single origin coffee from a brand new coffee shop, Cocoa Cinnamon, and paying a premium to do it. The shop was packed, and the couple who opened the shop began as a roving tricycle, and eventually used Kickstarter to raise the funds for a brick and mortar shop.

The slow food movement, the local food movement, the revitalization of a number of urban areas have been slowly building for decades. I am optimistic that these forces will continue to mount in cities of all sizes, and we will continue to increase the number of choices we have. I hope that the stories of our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents will inspire us to become more connected again, and search out unique joys, to build our local communities, and create more sustainable economic models.

This is asking a lot, but I get hopeful while drinking single origin Costa Rican coffee.

"Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends."

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 22:48:41 -0500

“Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends.”

- – Lewis Mumford, My Work and Days (New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, 1979).

"If the liberty of myself or my class or my nation depends on the misery of a number of other human..."

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 13:19:53 -0500

“If the liberty of myself or my class or my nation depends on the misery of a number of other human beings, the system which promotes this is unjust and immoral.”

- Isaiah Berlin, “Two Concepts of Liberty”

William H. Whyte: The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces - The...

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 20:07:14 -0500

William H. Whyte: The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces - The Street Corner

I recently visited family and friends in Philadelphia and had many great conversations about urban spaces. William Whyte of course was brought up, and it made me search out this video. Lucky for me, someone uploaded it to Vimeo with a CC license. Please watch and enjoy, William Whyte is the reason the Carrie Bradshaw, et al, ate lunch in Bryant Park. Watch the video and find out why.

Wonderland.

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 17:16:50 -0400

Wonderland.

Our butterfly bush is working. (Taken with Instagram)

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 14:12:38 -0400

Our butterfly bush is working. (Taken with Instagram)

So Tumblr is awesome to share things, but it sucks when someone...

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 11:25:43 -0400

So Tumblr is awesome to share things, but it sucks when someone doesn’t bother to reblog and steals something from you. This is my tattoo and I posted it on Tumblr and no one reblogged it from me.

Don’t steal bro.

http://theurbanist.tumblr.com/image/237495048

cartophile:

I want to know: 1) what city this is; 2) if his shirt says “PLANNING”; 3) if he’s going to amend the tattoo when they tear up city streets for an interstate.

(via kimberlybozeman-deactivated2012)

Street art in Durham!

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 11:31:40 -0400

Street art in Durham!

I’ve only owned a car for two years of my life, and that...

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 18:23:52 -0500

I’ve only owned a car for two years of my life, and that was about 7 years ago. I have no interest in owning a car again, but this is a great ad, and I’m glad to see Chrysler taking some pride in the Motor City.

The “ruins porn” of old cities like Detroit was important for a time to help remind people of the history that was being lost in cities like Detroit and Buffalo, but now it’s time to start showcasing how these cities have been rebuilding over the past ten years. (Initial numbers from the American Communities Survey from 2005-2009 conducted by the Census shows that many districts in cities have been improving since the year 2000.)

People are moving back to these cities and reclaiming parts of our American cultural heritage, it isn’t everyone, but it is significant and it is making a difference.

http://on.wsj.com/e4FP2u

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 19:07:43 -0500

http://on.wsj.com/e4FP2u:

88% of millennials want to live in cities. The next 50 years of American history could be very interesting.

"The richest 1 percent of Americans possess over 1/3 of the country’s wealth, more than the..."

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 10:58:24 -0500

“The richest 1 percent of Americans possess over 1/3 of the country’s wealth, more than the combined wealth of the bottom 90 percent of American families.”

- The State of Working America 2006/2007: An Economic Policy Institute Book

"The dependence on personal transportation in this country, outside of major urban areas, is still..."

Sat, 06 Nov 2010 09:18:54 -0400

““The dependence on personal transportation in this country, outside of major urban areas, is still pretty profound, so there’s really no alternative,” he said.”

- Dave Cole, chairman emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39970363/ns/business-autos/

Braddock, PA is a somewhat typical, small Rust Belt town where...

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 23:56:27 -0400

Braddock, PA is a somewhat typical, small Rust Belt town where the industry has all left. But Braddock has been getting a lot of press over the past seven years or so because of Mayor John Fetterman and all the good work he’s doing there. There a tons of great interviews with him, so google him if you’re interested.

I have a lot of respect for the work he’s doing, and this ad really connects with me and why I want to work on revitalizing these rust belt cities. They’re all opportunity.

Hit someone at 40mph, 70% chance they’ll die. Hit someone...

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 16:53:10 -0400

Hit someone at 40mph, 70% chance they’ll die.

Hit someone at 30mph, 80% chance they’ll live.

via: www.streetsblog.com

Video

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:36:23 -0400

This is Part 1 of an excellent 4 part web documentary looking at...

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 11:54:20 -0400

This is Part 1 of an excellent 4 part web documentary looking at the revitalization of Detroit, and looking past the negative news stories to point out the amazing things happening. And it’s a tour led by Johnny Knoxville.

This makes me seriously homesick for Buffalo, NY. Go check out the other 3 parts on the Palladium Boots website. And Palladium Boots, if you’re listening, you should go do an urban exploration of Buffalo next. It’s a fantastic city with great people, and a lot of the same revitalization is going on there too.