Tucked away in Fairfax County, Virginia’s extensive park network is one by the name of Brookfield. Fairfax Park Authority maintains an abundance of green space that shields this urbanized county from a state of near 100% buildout. With 43,000 acres managed by either the County, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the regional system (NOVA Parks), or
My latest article is available at the Columbus Republic, the newspaper of record for Columbus, Indiana. I’ve featured this atypically design-focused small city only one time in my blogging history—many, many years ago—so it was no small privilege when AIM Media asked me to cover a major revitalization initiative for the city typically rated :
“Calm on the surface, paddling furiously underneath.” Back in 2009, when I wrote my first article on wildlife tunnels in an outer suburb of Boston, I figured this might be the first of many features about animal accommodations—slight modifications to the infrastructure that better integrate the human-built environment with the natural world so that animals
An intense month so far has kept me from the usual pace of blog articles, and a forthcoming 10-day period of travel will further impede me. But, at the end of the journey, I hope to have some amazing fodder in some states that have received little or no representation so far. Until then, I
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
To the average observer, this just looks like a shallow creek threading through a lightly urbanized area. Nothing special at all. Kind of drab, even. But to the locals, this riverfront image is probably quickly recognizable: the architecture of the buildings, though distant and none too striking, gives it away. Or maybe it’s the bridge
Almost three weeks have come and gone since the tragic crash of American Eagle Flight 5342 with a Blackhawk UH-60 near Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport (DCA), right above the Potomac River, sending the two aircraft and their 67 passengers plunging into the icy water. I visited the George Washington Memorial Parkway, about as close
I could always begin this article with, “Normally I don’t like to write about events right as they unfold”. Needless to say, like much “Breaking News” reporting, they intuitively avoid a deep analysis because any such analysis won’t age well. And I prefer thoughtful analysis over coming out with the latest scoop. Then again, I
I strive to research my critiques of confusing public infrastructure as much as possible, so that these articles don’t assume the tone and tenor of a rant. Everyone at some point has encountered a situation in an unfamiliar city (whether big or small) that confuses and probably irritates him or her. It’s understandable to sound
Biking along the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) in the final days of summer yielded some unexpected opportunities for leaf-peeping. The GAP, a massive rail-trail conversion linking downtown Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland, allows uninterrupted bike/pedestrian access from the Steel City to Washington DC, by means of a transfer onto the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal Towpath
Tucked away in Fairfax County, Virginia’s extensive park network is one by the name of Brookfield. Fairfax Park Authority maintains an abundance of green space that shields this urbanized county from a state
My latest article is available at the Columbus Republic, the newspaper of record for Columbus, Indiana. I’ve featured this atypically design-focused small city only one time in my blogging history—many, many years ago—so
“Calm on the surface, paddling furiously underneath.” Back in 2009, when I wrote my first article on wildlife tunnels in an outer suburb of Boston, I figured this might be the first of
An intense month so far has kept me from the usual pace of blog articles, and a forthcoming 10-day period of travel will further impede me. But, at the end of the journey,
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
To the average observer, this just looks like a shallow creek threading through a lightly urbanized area. Nothing special at all. Kind of drab, even. But to the locals, this riverfront image is
Almost three weeks have come and gone since the tragic crash of American Eagle Flight 5342 with a Blackhawk UH-60 near Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport (DCA), right above the Potomac River, sending
I could always begin this article with, “Normally I don’t like to write about events right as they unfold”. Needless to say, like much “Breaking News” reporting, they intuitively avoid a deep analysis
I strive to research my critiques of confusing public infrastructure as much as possible, so that these articles don’t assume the tone and tenor of a rant. Everyone at some point has encountered
Biking along the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) in the final days of summer yielded some unexpected opportunities for leaf-peeping. The GAP, a massive rail-trail conversion linking downtown Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland, allows uninterrupted