As if it weren’t obvious already, I’m fascinated by architectural oddities—aesthetic efforts that don’t quite come together as intended, or fail to mesh with their surroundings. Plenty of people feel much the same, as evidenced by the numerous blogging initiatives on the subject, though many bloggers are more vituperative than I intend to be. (Then
Coming on the heels of an article where I unexpectedly concluded that the best decision might be to save a strip mall in College Park, Maryland, I now view more or less the same subject through a different lens. Leaping across the Potomac River to Virginia, the state might change but the metro area is
Sure, there’s a big canvas tarpaulin-like thing covering the kiosk here on the sidewalk, so it may not be entirely clear what’s underneath. But an assessment of the surrounding area should make it obvious: it’s a parking meter, and this town uses seasonal meters. And it’s late September. The town in question is Rehoboth Beach,
Seen a flick at a single-screen theater lately? Ever seen a movie at a single-screen theater at all? Odds are strong—for any American over the age of 35 who grew up an urban cluster (basically any community over 5,000 people, per the Census’s revised definition—the answer is probably “no”. Some very remote small towns have
Bear with me. This article is almost too dinky for a mini-post. Really more of a Tweet (what do they call those now, after the renaming?), so I’m stretching the content to its limits, inversely, by posting fewer words than just about ever. But the previous article on the Durham Can Opener took me way
I have seen some ridiculous site selection decisions for Starbucks over the years. The concentration of Starbucks seems to surpass McDonald’s, Subway, 7-Eleven, or other seemingly ubiquitous chains, even though every one of the aforementioned has a larger US presence than Starbucks. But Starbucks proximity—one location’s placement near another—is notorious wherever Starbucks thrives, which is
“Fast food with style.” That’s the motto that I, coming of age in the late 80s and early 90s, associate the most with Rax Roast Beef. But let’s face it: when this formerly thriving restaurant began floundering, the slogans shifted with the seasons. Thirty years later, it’s hard to say which marketing campaign is the
Municipal governance offers the closest most constituents will ever get to direct democracy. Yet it amazingly falls short of achieving what I believe most people would agree is its full potential: to offer a precise reflection of the regulatory environment that constituents seek from the government, and the public services that this government delivers within
This blog is long overdue for a listicle, and at last I’ve found a subject that has preoccupied me for quite some time: all of America’s Washingtons. And by Washingtons I mean municipalities named “Washington”. Having lived for a few years in the largest of these—our nation’s capital—I had no real idea how many other
I’ll confess: a part of me wanted to feature The Hangar at Emerson Pointe apartment complex simply because I took such an amazing photo, completely unintentionally. I mean, look at that beauty! Doesn’t it look like the sort of professional rendering that marketing firm—or the marketing arm of a development company—might use to promote their
As if it weren’t obvious already, I’m fascinated by architectural oddities—aesthetic efforts that don’t quite come together as intended, or fail to mesh with their surroundings. Plenty of people feel much the same,
Coming on the heels of an article where I unexpectedly concluded that the best decision might be to save a strip mall in College Park, Maryland, I now view more or less the
Sure, there’s a big canvas tarpaulin-like thing covering the kiosk here on the sidewalk, so it may not be entirely clear what’s underneath. But an assessment of the surrounding area should make it
Seen a flick at a single-screen theater lately? Ever seen a movie at a single-screen theater at all? Odds are strong—for any American over the age of 35 who grew up an urban
Bear with me. This article is almost too dinky for a mini-post. Really more of a Tweet (what do they call those now, after the renaming?), so I’m stretching the content to its
I have seen some ridiculous site selection decisions for Starbucks over the years. The concentration of Starbucks seems to surpass McDonald’s, Subway, 7-Eleven, or other seemingly ubiquitous chains, even though every one of
“Fast food with style.” That’s the motto that I, coming of age in the late 80s and early 90s, associate the most with Rax Roast Beef. But let’s face it: when this formerly
Municipal governance offers the closest most constituents will ever get to direct democracy. Yet it amazingly falls short of achieving what I believe most people would agree is its full potential: to offer
This blog is long overdue for a listicle, and at last I’ve found a subject that has preoccupied me for quite some time: all of America’s Washingtons. And by Washingtons I mean municipalities
I’ll confess: a part of me wanted to feature The Hangar at Emerson Pointe apartment complex simply because I took such an amazing photo, completely unintentionally. I mean, look at that beauty! Doesn’t