It has been a long time since this blog has included a fundamentally photo-driven article, so this one is long overdue. It’s a novelty in a few other ways as well: my first article in the State of New York, and the first since Afghanistan where I was entrenched in a community where I was
While it may seem self-evident that unusual, off-kilter, visually distinctive environments are the most fertile grounds for experimentation, this isn’t always the case. Take this one: In most respects, it’s a pretty run-of-the-mill shopping center—a “Power Center”, to use the correct retail brokerage lingo—called Fairlane Green, in the western suburb of Detroit known as Allen
In many American cities, the most prominent murals emerge on the blank sidewalls of old buildings, often through months (if not years) of well-calibrated civic collaboration. Philadelphia, the national—and perhaps the global—leader in this art form has its own long-established Mural Arts Program, a well-staffed organization that not only vets the content and creators of
When it comes to particular quirks that appear in an otherwise relentlessly average landscape, the devil is often in the details. Something odd is always there, even if it’s hidden in plain view. A home for sale in the suburban outreaches of Indianapolis shouldn’t raise any red flags; a “for sale” sign really wouldn’t elicit
In a nation where the supply of potential retail space is so excessive that it hobbles the commercial landscape it intends to serve, a vacant storefront often remains vacant for a very long time. Only in the healthiest, most sought-after retail districts does the leasable space absorb quickly. In larger structures with the capacity for
Baby Boomers remain the largest generation by volume of any recorded in the history of the United States. This label, part of common parlance from coast to coast, imposes artificial bookends upon a group of people whose only real commonality is that they were conceived in the years following World War II—a spike in the
Travel any reasonable distance in this country, across multiple political boundaries, and you will inevitably discover a variety practices in handling traffic. We see it everywhere: speed limit differences, right turns on red (or not), the size and generosity of the turn radius at an intersection, the style and design (or even the very existence)
While the interplay between the built and natural environments occupies the bulk of my ruminations, every now and then I can’t help but indulge myself. And I step fully into the world of pure imagination. The aisles of a Meijer discount hypermarket store might not be exactly what Roald Dahl had in mind through his
Some businesses just fail to quit, though it’s not necessarily from lack of trying. And if all the negatives in that sentence dilute the denotation, that might be the whole point…at least when the businesses in question are former retail leviathans like Kmart and Sears. I’ve written about both chains many times in the past
Seven months after the announcement, it still seems like the largest municipal bankruptcy filing (at least up to this point) is the stuff of legend—the culminating event, after successive blunders. The apex. Or the nadir. No doubt those of us living here are guilty of a degree of chauvinism as we experience how it plays
It has been a long time since this blog has included a fundamentally photo-driven article, so this one is long overdue. It’s a novelty in a few other ways as well: my first
While it may seem self-evident that unusual, off-kilter, visually distinctive environments are the most fertile grounds for experimentation, this isn’t always the case. Take this one: In most respects, it’s a pretty run-of-the-mill
In many American cities, the most prominent murals emerge on the blank sidewalls of old buildings, often through months (if not years) of well-calibrated civic collaboration. Philadelphia, the national—and perhaps the global—leader in
When it comes to particular quirks that appear in an otherwise relentlessly average landscape, the devil is often in the details. Something odd is always there, even if it’s hidden in plain view.
In a nation where the supply of potential retail space is so excessive that it hobbles the commercial landscape it intends to serve, a vacant storefront often remains vacant for a very long
Baby Boomers remain the largest generation by volume of any recorded in the history of the United States. This label, part of common parlance from coast to coast, imposes artificial bookends upon a
Travel any reasonable distance in this country, across multiple political boundaries, and you will inevitably discover a variety practices in handling traffic. We see it everywhere: speed limit differences, right turns on red
While the interplay between the built and natural environments occupies the bulk of my ruminations, every now and then I can’t help but indulge myself. And I step fully into the world of
Some businesses just fail to quit, though it’s not necessarily from lack of trying. And if all the negatives in that sentence dilute the denotation, that might be the whole point…at least when
Seven months after the announcement, it still seems like the largest municipal bankruptcy filing (at least up to this point) is the stuff of legend—the culminating event, after successive blunders. The apex. Or