Not every city of 160,000 people commissions a nationally-recognized architect for its library, unless it’s the state capitol or largest city. Within the Commonwealth of Virginia, Alexandria is neither of these, but its proximity to the nation’s capital, its popularity among tourists, its historical importance, and—there can be no denying—its affluence have helped ensure that
It’s impossible to deny a sad truth for anyone who has used transit regularly in the last few years: the shameful act of turnstile jumping has reached epidemic levels in most cities where turnstiles serve as a primary means of fare collection. And this includes almost any American city with light- or heavy-rail transit. I
I’d imagine most Americans who possess a drivers license have had at least one sub-par experience in an enclosed parking garage. Maybe it didn’t amount to an actual accident, but no doubt a dinged bumper or some seriously close call. In my many years of driving, I’ve had exactly one fender-bender that was my fault,
The designers of the Wilkes Street Tunnel surely didn’t expect that its novelty would someday elevate it into a tourist attraction. For over a century, it was functional infrastructure. But in 2025, what more could anyone call it? After all, it contributed to the economy of Alexandria, Virginia as a segment within an early railway,
The last ten days have involved a hiatus from this blog that’s lasted longer than just about any lapse since my Afghanistan days. I have been overseas—and still am—with even more limited Wi-Fi access than I expected, and I didn’t expect much. Therefore, the lapse hasn’t just involved posts, it has included comments, consolidation of
I know next to nothing about the food sold at Sunshine Spice Café and did not patronize it during my three-day stay in Boise earlier this year. So it would be entirely unfair to carp on petty considerations like operating hours. This brief post, therefore, isn’t a criticism; just an observation. Operating hours often are
Scrambling to meet my monthly quota, I offer this micro-post of an amusing observation I encountered on the road not so long ago. It’s not my first time covering unusual license plates or even license plate clichés, but I’ll concede this is my first coverage where the feature of greatest interest was the method the
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
As I plug away at a larger research initiative that is taking more time than I expect, I must scramble to reach my usual quota of articles for the month. So, while I continue to plow through that bigger article, I offer this mini-post as sort of a follow-up from a post I wrote a
As if it weren’t obvious already, I’m fascinated by architectural oddities—aesthetic efforts that don’t quite come together as intended, or fail to mesh with their surroundings. Plenty of people feel much the same, as evidenced by the numerous blogging initiatives on the subject, though many bloggers are more vituperative than I intend to be. (Then
Not every city of 160,000 people commissions a nationally-recognized architect for its library, unless it’s the state capitol or largest city. Within the Commonwealth of Virginia, Alexandria is neither of these, but its
It’s impossible to deny a sad truth for anyone who has used transit regularly in the last few years: the shameful act of turnstile jumping has reached epidemic levels in most cities where
I’d imagine most Americans who possess a drivers license have had at least one sub-par experience in an enclosed parking garage. Maybe it didn’t amount to an actual accident, but no doubt a
The designers of the Wilkes Street Tunnel surely didn’t expect that its novelty would someday elevate it into a tourist attraction. For over a century, it was functional infrastructure. But in 2025, what
The last ten days have involved a hiatus from this blog that’s lasted longer than just about any lapse since my Afghanistan days. I have been overseas—and still am—with even more limited Wi-Fi
I know next to nothing about the food sold at Sunshine Spice Café and did not patronize it during my three-day stay in Boise earlier this year. So it would be entirely unfair
Scrambling to meet my monthly quota, I offer this micro-post of an amusing observation I encountered on the road not so long ago. It’s not my first time covering unusual license plates or
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
As I plug away at a larger research initiative that is taking more time than I expect, I must scramble to reach my usual quota of articles for the month. So, while I
As if it weren’t obvious already, I’m fascinated by architectural oddities—aesthetic efforts that don’t quite come together as intended, or fail to mesh with their surroundings. Plenty of people feel much the same,