Don’t let the naysayers sway you. Historic preservation aspirations can harmonize with the private sector. In fact, it’s happening now more than ever, and it’s depending far less on pubic sector intervention than ever before. With increasing frequency, entrepreneurs are mobilizing to salvage buildings or prominent features deemed under threat, either from redevelopment or decay
If there’s any question at this point whether the shopping conventions of the 1970s and 1980s are still viable, all you need is to type “dead” followed by the desired retail type into your preferred search engine, and let it do its thing. Suburban mall, downtown mall, strip mall, lifestyle center, factory outlet, plaza. You
Considering that our landscapes are replete with signifiers, why is it that we typically only notice the big, garish ones? It doesn’t take a brain surgeon—or a semiotician—to answer that question: big symbols tend to dwarf little ones, so they nearly always get an upper hand in their ability to convey a message. If this
All of us are guilty from time to time with finding a brand and latching onto it. It fosters exactly the sort of customer loyalty that the producers want. My own brand fascination has less to do with the product—I was hardly hooked on it—but more in how it could have gotten so big and
For my first blog post in America’s largest city, I introduce a topic that is incredibly small: really nothing more than a label. But it also fits perfectly within its milieu. Strolling down an almost exclusively residential block in the Chelsea neighborhood recently, I came across an apartment building with a huge promotional flag, featuring
“Heritage tourism” has slowly—in some respects, glacially slowly—crept into the mainstream as a viable part of the economic development lexicon. It can serve as a legitimate lure to outside visitors seeking something that they perceive as old, historically significant, authentic or distinctive. As a definition of heritage tourism, the previous sentence contains several key adjectives
“Heritage tourism” has slowly—in some respects, glacially slowly—crept into the mainstream as a viable part of the economic development lexicon. It can serve as a legitimate lure to outside visitors seeking something that they perceive as old, historically significant, authentic or distinctive. As a definition of heritage tourism, the previous sentence contains several key adjectives
One of my lengthiest blog posts from last year, Can the Pipes Prevail? just got picked up by another online publication: The Episcopal Café. The new article is here. Though significantly reduced in size from the 10,000+ word original, this version that I edited for Episcopal Café is, in many respects, more appropriate for American
The second of my two-part series on theatre organs just went to press at Huffington Post. This one continues the interview of celebrated theatre organists in Indianapolis’ robust scene, as well as offering a host of differing perspectives on what should be done at the performance level to expand or at least retain an audience
My latest article, featured in The Huffington Post, doesn’t really fit with the vein of American Dirt, but it won’t be foreign to those who follow me closely, particularly in regards to coverage of the culture of pipe organs. In contrast with an article series on classical organs from a few months ago, this time around, I’m looking
Don’t let the naysayers sway you. Historic preservation aspirations can harmonize with the private sector. In fact, it’s happening now more than ever, and it’s depending far less on pubic sector intervention than
If there’s any question at this point whether the shopping conventions of the 1970s and 1980s are still viable, all you need is to type “dead” followed by the desired retail type into
Considering that our landscapes are replete with signifiers, why is it that we typically only notice the big, garish ones? It doesn’t take a brain surgeon—or a semiotician—to answer that question: big symbols
All of us are guilty from time to time with finding a brand and latching onto it. It fosters exactly the sort of customer loyalty that the producers want. My own brand fascination
For my first blog post in America’s largest city, I introduce a topic that is incredibly small: really nothing more than a label. But it also fits perfectly within its milieu. Strolling down
“Heritage tourism” has slowly—in some respects, glacially slowly—crept into the mainstream as a viable part of the economic development lexicon. It can serve as a legitimate lure to outside visitors seeking something that
“Heritage tourism” has slowly—in some respects, glacially slowly—crept into the mainstream as a viable part of the economic development lexicon. It can serve as a legitimate lure to outside visitors seeking something that
One of my lengthiest blog posts from last year, Can the Pipes Prevail? just got picked up by another online publication: The Episcopal Café. The new article is here. Though significantly reduced in
The second of my two-part series on theatre organs just went to press at Huffington Post. This one continues the interview of celebrated theatre organists in Indianapolis’ robust scene, as well as offering
My latest article, featured in The Huffington Post, doesn’t really fit with the vein of American Dirt, but it won’t be foreign to those who follow me closely, particularly in regards to coverage of the culture