Few people truly appreciated it until it was (nearly) gone. And now it celebrates its centennial. Across nearly 2,450 miles, Route 66 linked two of the nation’s largest cities, allowing uninterrupted automobile travel across the nation’s sparsely populated western interior for the first time ever. Prior to April 30, 1926, the date the American Association
Cleveland Park in Washington DC is, by almost all metrics, a superlatively walkable neighborhood. Just 2.5 miles northwest of the National Mall and DC’s vast downtown, the neighborhood features finely wrought detached, semi-detached, and multifamily housing, all surrounding a commercial node at the intersection of Connecticut Avenue NW and Ordway Avenue NW. It is one
It’s not my custom to feature two articles in a row with a short video, but what can I say? With these two, I can think of no better way to capture a scenario defined by motion. And, far removed from the desert metropolis of my previous animated article, this one teleports the reader to
I’ve professed my love for mid-century signage multiple times on this blog. Whether it’s understated modernism, lingering neon, or the overt space-age wonderland of Googie, it all evokes the dawn of the motor era—that point in time, shortly after World War II, when almost every household either owned a vehicle or had easy access to
It was inevitable…eventually. But it’s still a shame. The bold, celestial blue panels of the Kaufman’s Building in downtown Wheeling, West Virginia are coming down. They looked great as recently as December 2024, when I covered the building as an architectural novelty. Truth be told, it’s really more of a façade novelty, because the original
I usually visit the south-side suburb of Greenwood annually, upon returning to my hometown of Indianapolis over the holidays. It’s the next town over. Unsurprisingly, I cover it every year or two through an article, devoting considerable attention to the small but mostly intact Old Town neighborhood, where West Main Street intersects Madison Avenue. I’ve
The spooky season is among us! And though I’ve now lived in the DC metro for more than eight years, only at the end of October 2025 have I finally embarked on a journey to this famous flight of stairs. I’m not sure they achieve quite the memetic lore as the Rocky steps—the climb up
It’s hard to find an old single-screen move theater that’s thriving, even in affluent urban areas. When it comes to those walkable, revitalizing main street districts—where people collectively demonstrate their affection for old architecture by refurbishing and repurposing old buildings for niche businesses—the vintage movie theaters from the Golden Age of Cinema should ride the
This is a slight subject—or, rather, two subjects—which I am somewhat forcibly conflating. But it’s not an unfamiliar topic for this blog, and I keep coming back to it because it’s so rich with semantic potential: specifically, it’s the organization and branding of public restrooms. The only major reason this cluster of photos gets bunched
Continuing the spirit of the previous blog post—surveying big buildings and extolling those that look good from all angles—I migrate this time for a brief look at a building in my hometown that has always captivated me and certainly achieves minor landmark status. Most other visitors to Indianapolis who have lingered in this neighborhood have
Few people truly appreciated it until it was (nearly) gone. And now it celebrates its centennial. Across nearly 2,450 miles, Route 66 linked two of the nation’s largest cities, allowing uninterrupted automobile travel
Cleveland Park in Washington DC is, by almost all metrics, a superlatively walkable neighborhood. Just 2.5 miles northwest of the National Mall and DC’s vast downtown, the neighborhood features finely wrought detached, semi-detached,
It’s not my custom to feature two articles in a row with a short video, but what can I say? With these two, I can think of no better way to capture a
I’ve professed my love for mid-century signage multiple times on this blog. Whether it’s understated modernism, lingering neon, or the overt space-age wonderland of Googie, it all evokes the dawn of the motor
It was inevitable…eventually. But it’s still a shame. The bold, celestial blue panels of the Kaufman’s Building in downtown Wheeling, West Virginia are coming down. They looked great as recently as December 2024,
I usually visit the south-side suburb of Greenwood annually, upon returning to my hometown of Indianapolis over the holidays. It’s the next town over. Unsurprisingly, I cover it every year or two through
The spooky season is among us! And though I’ve now lived in the DC metro for more than eight years, only at the end of October 2025 have I finally embarked on a
It’s hard to find an old single-screen move theater that’s thriving, even in affluent urban areas. When it comes to those walkable, revitalizing main street districts—where people collectively demonstrate their affection for old
This is a slight subject—or, rather, two subjects—which I am somewhat forcibly conflating. But it’s not an unfamiliar topic for this blog, and I keep coming back to it because it’s so rich
Continuing the spirit of the previous blog post—surveying big buildings and extolling those that look good from all angles—I migrate this time for a brief look at a building in my hometown that