60 Minutes ran a segment last week called "Falling Apart" that was another alarmist take on the state of American infrastructure. I'll embed here but if it doesn't display for you, click to CBS News to watch (autoplay link). We've seen this story before. America's infrastructure is falling apart and we need to spend many billions on upgrades, but politicians won't agree because they are too craven. There's some truth to this point of view. The problem is that it's oversold using the worst examples. It also gives short shrift to the many … [Read more...]
Archives for November 2014
The Three Generations of Black Mayors in America
[ This week is the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, so I'll be away and enjoying it for the rest of the week. As a holiday long read for you, I'm posting this very important piece about the three generations of black mayors in America and how the timing of the election of the first black mayor affected the trajectory of those cities, with implications even today. Pete is the best writer on urbanism and race that I know and you can read his writings about this and more on his site Corner Side Yard - Aaron. ] The Monument to Joe Louis, … [Read more...]
Two Chicagos, Defined
[ Here's another nice piece of analysis about Chicago from Pete Saunders. He originally did this earlier this year - Aaron. ] Chicago skyline. Source: wikipedia.org Years ago, when I first started working as a planner for the City of Chicago, my primary responsibility was working with community organizations that received Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for commercial revitalization activities. This being CDBG funding, our work was constrained to areas of the city where 51% or more of households earned less than the … [Read more...]
Back to Vlasic
Image via OC Mini MarketEarlier this year a trend called "normcore" got a lot of press. Normcore is a fashion idea based on wearing boring, undistinguished clothing such as that from the Gap. Jerry Seinfeld is a normcore fashion icon. While normcore was at least in part a joke, I think it illustrates why trend chasing by uncool cities will never make them cool. So you live in some place which isn't on everyone's list of the coolest cities. You read all about what's happening in places like Brooklyn with micro-roasters, micro-breweries, … [Read more...]
Global Cities Don’t Just Take, They Give
This post originally ran on April 28, 2013. Creativity for the world or for your city gives something back — Charles LandryI had an interesting conversation about Washington, DC with Richard Layman a few months back. One of his observations, rooted in Charles Landry’s, was that great global cities don’t just take, they give. To the extent that Washington wants to be a truly great city, it needs to contribute things to the world, not just rake in prosperity from it. Affecting the world, often for good but unfortunately sometimes for bad, … [Read more...]
Building the Responsive City
The Responsive City: Engaging Communities Through Data Smart Governance by Stephen Goldsmith and Susan Crawford Technology, and especially the use of data and analytics, has been transforming the way cities manage service delivery. Former Indianapolis mayor New York City deputy mayor Steve Goldsmith, and his colleague at Harvard Susan Crawford, recently wrote a book called "The Responsive City" looking at this technology revolution. I recently read the book and posted some thoughts in a review posted at City Journal. Here's an excerpt: The … [Read more...]
The Urbanophile Interview: Portland Mayor Charlie Hales
I was out in Portland, Oregon last week and while there I sat down for an interview with Mayor Charlie Hales. We talked about the real Portland vs. the idea of Portland, the city's industrial base, retrofitting suburban infrastructure, and a lot more. If the audio doesn't display for you, click over to Soundcloud. Mayor Charlie Hales. Image via Wikipedia Here are some edited highlights of our conversation. For those who prefer reading to listening, a complete transcript is available. Mayor Hales rejects the idea that we will have to … [Read more...]