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
Vienna, an incorporated town in northern Virginia, doesn’t have much in the way of a conspicuous downtown—or at least it didn’t until recently. Little by little, it’s getting one, through higher-density infill development. Until recently, the main drag, Maple Avenue (State Route 123), consisted of a mix of small strip malls, repurposed auto-oriented outparcel buildings,
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
Returning back to my home turf after some time away—combined with other academic obligations—has forced me to rush through some briefer-than-usual blog articles so that I can still meet my May quota. Having become too dependent on greater Washington DC for inspiration, it’s a refreshing change to cover content outside of Maryland and Virginia. Therefore,
The vehicular turn radius might seem like a simple feature, but its impact on the urban environment is akin to a pebble plunked into a pond. And that simile carries extra weight because the pebble-in-a-pond’s impact is a series of concentric rings outward—basically another incarnation of the radii of varying sizes. Traffic engineers have long
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
The term “stub street” rarely comes up in conversation, yet enough people have a mental image of what it entails that it would be almost patronizing to explain what it means. However, those cognitive apparitions vary so greatly that I’m going to go right ahead and patronize. After all, a consistent definition of a stub
Wake Forest, North Carolina isn’t exactly obscure. But it’s better known as the name for a university than for the town that (formerly) called the school home. This might not be the case much longer. It’s the suburb immediately north of the capital to the Tarheel State, and while Raleigh itself has enjoyed tremendous growth
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
As one urban advocacy campaign sunsets, another rises. I’ve written multiple times—mostly before 2015—about the complete streets initiative: an effort to encourage municipal public works departments to design urban streets for all different tiers of users. In short, a “complete street” does not just feature vehicular lanes; it offers distinct bike lanes or grade-separated cycle
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
Vienna, an incorporated town in northern Virginia, doesn’t have much in the way of a conspicuous downtown—or at least it didn’t until recently. Little by little, it’s getting one, through higher-density infill development.
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
Returning back to my home turf after some time away—combined with other academic obligations—has forced me to rush through some briefer-than-usual blog articles so that I can still meet my May quota. Having
The vehicular turn radius might seem like a simple feature, but its impact on the urban environment is akin to a pebble plunked into a pond. And that simile carries extra weight because
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?
The term “stub street” rarely comes up in conversation, yet enough people have a mental image of what it entails that it would be almost patronizing to explain what it means. However, those
Wake Forest, North Carolina isn’t exactly obscure. But it’s better known as the name for a university than for the town that (formerly) called the school home. This might not be the case
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
As one urban advocacy campaign sunsets, another rises. I’ve written multiple times—mostly before 2015—about the complete streets initiative: an effort to encourage municipal public works departments to design urban streets for all different