Many municipalities in northern Appalachia—which I consider to include Western Pennsylvania, much of Upstate New York, Western Maryland, Western Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and pretty much all of West Virginia—look bigger than they are. If one drives past them on a freeway, the density of buildings that form a skyline makes them look quite large, but,
The historic, eponymous main street of Columbia, South Carolina offers an abundance of smartly preserved three-story buildings, some of which no doubt reflect an effort to preserve the character and details from their post-Civil War time of construction. Most of them look great, and vacancy rates, while far from perfect, are certainly better than a
Despite some glum predictions on the long-term economic health of college towns, most of the ones that harbor flagship universities still look pretty vibrant, at least if Bozeman, home of Montana State University (largest university in the state), is any example. As recently as 1970, Bozeman was a fairly obscure town that hosted the state’s
An incredibly busy time of year forces me to crank out a few analysis-shy “throwaway” posts so that I can still meet my monthly quota. This time around, it’s a familiar subject as well: the cherry blossom season around the Tidal Basin in Washington DC. By this point in April, the blossoms are typically all
Though my articles rarely reflect a hot-off-the-presses event, here’s another exception to that rule, which I feel compelled to publish now (instead of three months from now) because, I fear, waiting that long will cause its significance to fade from collective memory. The event to which I refer is obvious from the title: the demise
The building featured in this final elegy has probably served as the thumbnail photo more than any other structure, in my nearly sixteen years of writing for this blog. I’m talking about none other than Sanctuary on Penn, FKA First Lutheran Church, FKA Mount Pisgah. The late Gothic building, on the National Register of Historic
Every little bit of construction counts! And, in smaller municipalities, what might pass as no big deal instantly seems momentous. Case in point: the multifamily development in the photos below would seem unremarkable and barely worthy of mention in a city the size of, say, Indianapolis. (Or even the suburb of Greenwood just to the
Hot on the heels of the previous article, in which I explored how an Iraqi bakery (temporarily) replaced an old Quiznos, this time I touch on internationalism with a much, much larger retail footprint—an entire mall. The mall in question is Security Square, a few miles to the west of Baltimore city limits, at a
The downtown of Wheeling, West Virginia is quiet on Christmas Day, as one might expect. Over the years, I’ve frequently passed through this battered but sturdy little city, wedged between the Ohio River and a hill that shares the city’s name. It has the architectural bones—and, thus, the appearance—of a city much larger than 27,000,
First Lutheran Church in the St. Joseph neighborhood of downtown Indianapolis is no more. It suffered catastrophic losses early in the morning of Christmas Eve due to a fire, and while the firefighting crew battled the blaze formidably, it was not able to prevent the roof from caving in, or most of the doors and
Many municipalities in northern Appalachia—which I consider to include Western Pennsylvania, much of Upstate New York, Western Maryland, Western Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and pretty much all of West Virginia—look bigger than they are.
The historic, eponymous main street of Columbia, South Carolina offers an abundance of smartly preserved three-story buildings, some of which no doubt reflect an effort to preserve the character and details from their
Despite some glum predictions on the long-term economic health of college towns, most of the ones that harbor flagship universities still look pretty vibrant, at least if Bozeman, home of Montana State University
An incredibly busy time of year forces me to crank out a few analysis-shy “throwaway” posts so that I can still meet my monthly quota. This time around, it’s a familiar subject as
Though my articles rarely reflect a hot-off-the-presses event, here’s another exception to that rule, which I feel compelled to publish now (instead of three months from now) because, I fear, waiting that long
The building featured in this final elegy has probably served as the thumbnail photo more than any other structure, in my nearly sixteen years of writing for this blog. I’m talking about none
Every little bit of construction counts! And, in smaller municipalities, what might pass as no big deal instantly seems momentous. Case in point: the multifamily development in the photos below would seem unremarkable
Hot on the heels of the previous article, in which I explored how an Iraqi bakery (temporarily) replaced an old Quiznos, this time I touch on internationalism with a much, much larger retail
The downtown of Wheeling, West Virginia is quiet on Christmas Day, as one might expect. Over the years, I’ve frequently passed through this battered but sturdy little city, wedged between the Ohio River
First Lutheran Church in the St. Joseph neighborhood of downtown Indianapolis is no more. It suffered catastrophic losses early in the morning of Christmas Eve due to a fire, and while the firefighting