Crossing the Occoquan River from Prince William County to southern Fairfax County in Northern Virginia doesn’t yield a lot of surprises. Regardless of the county, it’s all suburbia, albeit a lot less dense and urbanized than Arlington County or other parts of Fairfax that are closer to Alexandria and, of course, Washington DC. But, while
I had visited this little shopping center just south of Alexandria, Virginia more than a few times before I ever noticed this bizarre little sign about flying projectiles. It didn’t occur to me during any previous visit, since I normally sat indoors to avoid the scorching summer sun, but apparently some people opt to eat
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
Midway through The Year of our Lord 2025, conventional retail continues its unrelenting retreat from the array of preferred American leisure activities. Simply put, fewer and fewer Americans “go shopping” for fun, at least when it comes to the time-tested paradigm of bricks-and-mortar malls and big boxes. The proof is in the pudding: more and
An intense month so far has kept me from the usual pace of blog articles, and a forthcoming 10-day period of travel will further impede me. But, at the end of the journey, I hope to have some amazing fodder in some states that have received little or no representation so far. Until then, I
In this nation of abundant strip malls, it should come as no surprise that quite a few of them look pretty drab, underinvested, and plagued with low occupancy. Why expect anything else? As I’ve noted countless times before, America grapples with a glut of retail-oriented real estate: a supply that accommodates the demand almost
As I plug away at a larger research initiative that is taking more time than I expect, I must scramble to reach my usual quota of articles for the month. So, while I continue to plow through that bigger article, I offer this mini-post as sort of a follow-up from a post I wrote a
To the average observer, this just looks like a shallow creek threading through a lightly urbanized area. Nothing special at all. Kind of drab, even. But to the locals, this riverfront image is probably quickly recognizable: the architecture of the buildings, though distant and none too striking, gives it away. Or maybe it’s the bridge
Almost three weeks have come and gone since the tragic crash of American Eagle Flight 5342 with a Blackhawk UH-60 near Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport (DCA), right above the Potomac River, sending the two aircraft and their 67 passengers plunging into the icy water. I visited the George Washington Memorial Parkway, about as close
Several months ago, I stumbled into a restaurant cluster called The Block in Annandale, a somewhat distinctive suburban district in the overwhelmingly suburban Fairfax County, Virginia, just south of Washington DC. The unassuming exterior (which I’ll review shortly) betrayed a lively, hip interior that managed to generate at least medium buzz after 9pm in this
Crossing the Occoquan River from Prince William County to southern Fairfax County in Northern Virginia doesn’t yield a lot of surprises. Regardless of the county, it’s all suburbia, albeit a lot less dense
I had visited this little shopping center just south of Alexandria, Virginia more than a few times before I ever noticed this bizarre little sign about flying projectiles. It didn’t occur to me
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
Midway through The Year of our Lord 2025, conventional retail continues its unrelenting retreat from the array of preferred American leisure activities. Simply put, fewer and fewer Americans “go shopping” for fun, at
An intense month so far has kept me from the usual pace of blog articles, and a forthcoming 10-day period of travel will further impede me. But, at the end of the journey,
In this nation of abundant strip malls, it should come as no surprise that quite a few of them look pretty drab, underinvested, and plagued with low occupancy. Why expect anything else?
As I plug away at a larger research initiative that is taking more time than I expect, I must scramble to reach my usual quota of articles for the month. So, while I
To the average observer, this just looks like a shallow creek threading through a lightly urbanized area. Nothing special at all. Kind of drab, even. But to the locals, this riverfront image is
Almost three weeks have come and gone since the tragic crash of American Eagle Flight 5342 with a Blackhawk UH-60 near Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport (DCA), right above the Potomac River, sending
Several months ago, I stumbled into a restaurant cluster called The Block in Annandale, a somewhat distinctive suburban district in the overwhelmingly suburban Fairfax County, Virginia, just south of Washington DC. The unassuming