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
Several months ago, I did something I rarely do and took a hard line on a polarizing topic: allowing dogs (or other pets) into private businesses. I believed, and continue to believe, that dogs should not be permitted in coffee shops, gyms, hardware stores, grocery stores, or (God forbid) restaurants, unless they are a licensed
Washington National Cathedral, among the highest-profile religious institutions in the country and certainly in the capital city, has long attracted visitors (pilgrims?) not just for its harrowing Neo-Gothic architecture, or its frequently filmed interior (the site of many presidential funerals), but also for the celebrated green space, which together occupy a hilltop plot measuring 57
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
About eighteen months ago, when I first noticed Fillmore Street in Arlington County, Virginia, I thought it was an odd but clever striping for diverting traffic away from a busy and confusing intersection. I couldn’t recall any other example where a road switched from two-way to one-way in the middle of a block, or, what
I’m breaking all of my own rules these days. Averse as I am to including two analysis-free montages in a row, now I’m taking the violations a step further by featuring two consecutive articles that a) offer very timely content (likely to seem irrelevant in a few days) and b) carry heavily political undertones, though
Seen a flick at a single-screen theater lately? Ever seen a movie at a single-screen theater at all? Odds are strong—for any American over the age of 35 who grew up an urban cluster (basically any community over 5,000 people, per the Census’s revised definition—the answer is probably “no”. Some very remote small towns have
I have seen some ridiculous site selection decisions for Starbucks over the years. The concentration of Starbucks seems to surpass McDonald’s, Subway, 7-Eleven, or other seemingly ubiquitous chains, even though every one of the aforementioned has a larger US presence than Starbucks. But Starbucks proximity—one location’s placement near another—is notorious wherever Starbucks thrives, which is
It’s been almost two years exactly since I featured various metal rods, rings, and ridges carefully positioned at select locations in various parks and civic plazas in Oakland and San Francisco. Aside from alliteration, these rods, rings, and ridges shared one ambition: to prevent people from engaging in certain undesirable activities at these public gathering
The principle of Occam’s Razor likely applies in design just as often as it would in philosophy, physics, criminology, or military strategy. But that doesn’t mean designers will necessarily abide by it: that is, designers do not always elect for the simplest solution. Popular architectural movements such as Baroque and Art Nouveau deliberately eschewed the
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
Several months ago, I did something I rarely do and took a hard line on a polarizing topic: allowing dogs (or other pets) into private businesses. I believed, and continue to believe, that
Washington National Cathedral, among the highest-profile religious institutions in the country and certainly in the capital city, has long attracted visitors (pilgrims?) not just for its harrowing Neo-Gothic architecture, or its frequently filmed
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
About eighteen months ago, when I first noticed Fillmore Street in Arlington County, Virginia, I thought it was an odd but clever striping for diverting traffic away from a busy and confusing intersection.
I’m breaking all of my own rules these days. Averse as I am to including two analysis-free montages in a row, now I’m taking the violations a step further by featuring two consecutive
Seen a flick at a single-screen theater lately? Ever seen a movie at a single-screen theater at all? Odds are strong—for any American over the age of 35 who grew up an urban
I have seen some ridiculous site selection decisions for Starbucks over the years. The concentration of Starbucks seems to surpass McDonald’s, Subway, 7-Eleven, or other seemingly ubiquitous chains, even though every one of
It’s been almost two years exactly since I featured various metal rods, rings, and ridges carefully positioned at select locations in various parks and civic plazas in Oakland and San Francisco. Aside from
The principle of Occam’s Razor likely applies in design just as often as it would in philosophy, physics, criminology, or military strategy. But that doesn’t mean designers will necessarily abide by it: that