“Route 85 in California now inspires dread. Some of us remember when it was a vision of the future.”
urban design
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Disappearance of the Public Bench
“Benches are microcosms of an expansive debate about who belongs in urban public spaces. When they are removed or made uninviting, we lose more than just a place to rest.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Waymo Money, Waymo Problems
“Robots take to the roads—and clog the sidewalks.”
Posted inCurrent Events, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
How Covid-19 Could Reshape Urban Life
Cities were vibrant, culturally rich places to live before the pandemic. We can only speculate about how cities will be after.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books, Nonfiction, Story
Los Angeles Plays Itself
In this land of constant reinvention, a longtime resident walks the streets to understand what the city was and what it’s becoming.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes, Science & Nature
The Death and Birth of the Los Angeles River
The authors describe the river as a “postindustrial terra incognita,” a place “of discarded things and marginalized people”. Can the city change that?
Posted inBusiness, Nonfiction, Quotes
Dorm Living for Adults
The new Common co-living company isn’t as communal is it pretends.
Posted inCurrent Events, Nonfiction, Quotes
New York City’s Final Frontier: Underground
What lays beneath New York City affects life above ground. One team is mapping the city’s below-ground infrastructure.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
Back in the USSR: A Reading List
Six stories that examine the complicated heritage of the fall of the Soviet Union.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes, Uncategorized
Every Kiss Begins with Kay… And Strategic Placement in Your Suburban Shopping Mall
In “Kay, Zales, and Marketing Diamonds to the Middle-Class Man”—a recent feature for Racked—Chavie Lieber wrote about Signet Jewelers, the parent company that owns such household names as Kay Jewelers, Jared, and Zales. Signet became the largest specialty jewelry company in America by targeting the midmarket jewelry segment, knowing their customer base, and doing some serious marketing. Trust also plays […]