In an essay from the past, I shamelessly stretched the definition of the term “land banking” to suit my own purposes. How? By showing two examples of the deliberate assembly of contiguous parcels with the purpose of building something new, but the problem is, neither attempt at parcel assembly consisted of vacant land, as is
Three years ago, I surveyed the Indianapolis City Market through this blog, in an exhaustive three-part series. The venerable old building was in decent enough condition. But judging from the activity inside, the place was languishing, with less than 50% occupancy, persistent mechanical problems, and a frequently shifting leadership structure. Through my written analysis and
Across the country—but particularly in the heavily industrialized Northeast and Midwest—smaller cities have confronted the grim realities of the unflattering “Rust Belt” moniker, and all of its associated characteristics, with varying degrees of success. With an aging work force, difficulty in retaining college graduates, and a frequently decaying building stock, the challenges they face are
In the large American cities that lack a robust public transportation system—which is most of them—we justifiably celebrate every minor victory toward shifting development away from auto-centrism. Mid-sized cities in the Midwest and South seem to be among the most susceptible: most of them have a “Midtown” district that predates the automobile. The most basic
I had hoped to get one more lengthy blog post published by the end of the month, but I’m unfortunately getting bogged down due to a persistent problem I have: the photos for the essay I have prepared are not sufficient, nor is the quality good enough, to get my point across. Hopefully I will
My latest is available now on UrbanIndy.com–about the possible loss of terrific retail space at the Barnes and Thornburg building. Though it’s probably only of local interest, I’ll mention it because of its opportunities for great photographs (provided I had a good camera and was a good photographer). Here’s the outside of this historic building:
Just last night my latest article posted on Urban Indy, and apparently it also earned a mention on Streetsblog. I’m not going to double-post, so allow me to paraphrase here. An often-overlooked opportunity for infill development is a ubiquitous land use across disinvested inner cities: the mom-and-pop, unlicensed used car dealership. We’ve all seen them
I have chronicled the tireless migration of retail across metropolitan landscapes several times in the past; it formed the central topic of one of my earliest blog posts. Unfortunately, most of my posts have focused on the blight left by outdated retail typologies: the dead malls, exsanguinated big boxes, pockmarked parking lots, blighted strip malls,
As much as street-level engagement for large projects in city centers should, by this point, seem like a foregone conclusion, it continues to amaze how many big ticket items—in cities of widely varying size—either engage in terpsichorean negotiations around it or neglect it completely. When developers confront a zoning ordinance or design guideline that insists
When navigating through an unfamiliar place, either urban or rural, we tend to seek visual points of reference to aid us in further wayfinding. It is as instinctual of an action as folding the corner of a book to keep our place in lieu of a bookmark. Across the countryside, visual cues assume a variety
In an essay from the past, I shamelessly stretched the definition of the term “land banking” to suit my own purposes. How? By showing two examples of the deliberate assembly of contiguous parcels
Three years ago, I surveyed the Indianapolis City Market through this blog, in an exhaustive three-part series. The venerable old building was in decent enough condition. But judging from the activity inside, the
Across the country—but particularly in the heavily industrialized Northeast and Midwest—smaller cities have confronted the grim realities of the unflattering “Rust Belt” moniker, and all of its associated characteristics, with varying degrees of
In the large American cities that lack a robust public transportation system—which is most of them—we justifiably celebrate every minor victory toward shifting development away from auto-centrism. Mid-sized cities in the Midwest and
I had hoped to get one more lengthy blog post published by the end of the month, but I’m unfortunately getting bogged down due to a persistent problem I have: the photos for
My latest is available now on UrbanIndy.com–about the possible loss of terrific retail space at the Barnes and Thornburg building. Though it’s probably only of local interest, I’ll mention it because of its
Just last night my latest article posted on Urban Indy, and apparently it also earned a mention on Streetsblog. I’m not going to double-post, so allow me to paraphrase here. An often-overlooked opportunity
I have chronicled the tireless migration of retail across metropolitan landscapes several times in the past; it formed the central topic of one of my earliest blog posts. Unfortunately, most of my posts
As much as street-level engagement for large projects in city centers should, by this point, seem like a foregone conclusion, it continues to amaze how many big ticket items—in cities of widely varying
When navigating through an unfamiliar place, either urban or rural, we tend to seek visual points of reference to aid us in further wayfinding. It is as instinctual of an action as folding