Moving forward, new posts will appear on my Substack site Heartland Intelligence. So please click over and subscribe if you aren't already on the list. I will continue to post free content, like my new piece about the Economist's special section on the Midwest. Premium subscribers will also received access to my monthly research briefing, as well as other special content you won't want to miss. If you aren't already following me on Substack, check it out now, because you won't want to miss a thing. Cover Photo Credit: Miyin2 CC … [Read more...]
Archives for July 2020
Design Minded in Indianapolis
Earlier this year I recorded two podcasts for the community radio program Design Minded in Indianapolis with Lee Alig and Steve Mannheimer, former architecture critic of the Indianapolis Star. We talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of architecture and design in the city. Here's the first episode. If the player doesn't display for you, click over to listen on Mixcloud. Here's the second episode. If the player doesn't display for you, click over to listen on Mixcloud. Cover image credit: Miyin2 CC BY-SA 4.0 … [Read more...]
Bi-State Showdown in Kansas City
The Kansas City metro area is surely one of America's most unusual. Among large metro areas spanning multiple states, it has the highest percentage of its population living in the state that does not contain its central city (apart from the perhaps even more anomalous case of Washington, DC). There are two municipalities called Kansas City, one in Missouri and one in Kansas, with the regional central city being the one in Missouri. And Kansas City is essentially the only large metro area in the country in which the "favored quarter" affluent … [Read more...]
The Story of Cities
My latest piece is a long essay in the current edition of Comment magazine. It's called "Storied Cities" and is about the myths, histories, cultures, and rituals that make cities unique. Here is an excerpt: How is this history, and thus so much of the identity, culture, and economy of a place, understood and communicated? Despite the importance of understanding local history and culture, especially that of the founding generations of cities, it is often little studied and little known. Thus so many cities struggle to even understand who they … [Read more...]