Dolphin House revisited: they’re turning it into apartments!
Two articles in a row that resuscitate topics from less than a year ago…am I losing my edge? Maybe. But when you’ve been hacking away at this for twelve years while using little more than social media to promote yourself (but swearing off Twitter and Patreon and Youtube), it’s hard to say what constitutes an
The last Sears in Maryland: a final sympathy visit while in hospice care.
This is probably beating a dead horse: it’s Sears article. Again. I’ve featured the declining department store many times on the blog; back in the early 2010s, it was still a ubiquitous presence in American malls. And I last covered Sears just six months ago, when I found an operating store in Francis Scott Key
Most controversial blog posts: a truculent top five (plus one).
With another year coming to a close, and ushering in what will be the start of my fifteenth year at this blogging venture, I decided to attempt something that is mostly good for a laugh: a ranking list. A listicle, if you will. Since this is a blog whose most loyal followers are relatively few
Crown Hill’s slippery steep slope: better just to close it off altogether?
My home city of Indianapolis is not, in most respects, a city of great topographic variation. This should not come as a surprise to anyone who has either spent time in Indiana or who forms conclusions about the Hoosier State from its representation in popular culture. It’s a state of primarily fertile land. Corn. Soybeans.
Rural strip mall: why struggle for tenants, when there’s nothing else around?
When it comes to human-conceived implements—tools—the maxim “form follows function” usually applies. Whether it be a saw, a trowel, a baster, or a protractor, the object in question has evolved to fit the best intersection of ergonomics (most conducive to the human hand) and its capacity to achieve a desired result as a certain implement:
Family-run fiascos: small business as a coronavirus casualty deserves a post-mortem.
As the end of 2022 approaches, it’s essentially a truism that coronavirus-inspired closures devastated many small businesses. For a brief period, the unemployment rate was as high as 14.4% (the rate in April 2020), a condition on par with the peak of the Great Recession, but it got there much more quickly this time around.
Newspaper vending machines repurposed: a Fourth Estate sale that goes to charity.
Walking along a sidewalk I’ve trod upon many times before, in front of a cemetery I even featured not so long ago, I came upon a little painted landmark that I had not previously noticed. From a distance I thought it was a power box indicative of buried cables in the area, since it’s increasingly
Takeover ad space on construction barriers: bringing wolves back to the henhouse?
Take a look at the eyesore there in the center-left of the photo, there with the “FOR LEASE” sign draped across the third floor. Such a humble, ugly little building…and what a contrast to everything else around it! I first explored this derelict structure over five years ago, in the terminally transitional Columbia Heights neighborhood
Adult-oriented businesses in the burbs: a veritable lion’s den for innocent impalas.
Several years ago, a perfectly ordinary drive-thru Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) in Indianapolis flourished, collecting business both from locals in the area (near the south side enclave of Southport), and, most likely, people passing through the city along Interstate 65, for which there was an exit ramp from Southport Road just a few hundred feet
Cumberland MD: where ancient Americana rolls out a welcome mat to trendy townhomes.
There was probably a point in history when virtually every American had heard of Cumberland, Maryland. Not only that, it’s reasonable to surmise that a significant proportion of Americans had passed through it. Aside from the fact that, for most of Maryland’s history, it was the state’s second largest city (its “Queen City” behind Lord/King
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Dolphin House revisited: they’re turning it into apartments!
Two articles in a row that resuscitate topics from less than a year ago…am I losing my edge? Maybe. But when you’ve been hacking away at this for twelve years while using little
The last Sears in Maryland: a final sympathy visit while in hospice care.
This is probably beating a dead horse: it’s Sears article. Again. I’ve featured the declining department store many times on the blog; back in the early 2010s, it was still a ubiquitous presence
Most controversial blog posts: a truculent top five (plus one).
With another year coming to a close, and ushering in what will be the start of my fifteenth year at this blogging venture, I decided to attempt something that is mostly good for
Crown Hill’s slippery steep slope: better just to close it off altogether?
My home city of Indianapolis is not, in most respects, a city of great topographic variation. This should not come as a surprise to anyone who has either spent time in Indiana or
Rural strip mall: why struggle for tenants, when there’s nothing else around?
When it comes to human-conceived implements—tools—the maxim “form follows function” usually applies. Whether it be a saw, a trowel, a baster, or a protractor, the object in question has evolved to fit the
Family-run fiascos: small business as a coronavirus casualty deserves a post-mortem.
As the end of 2022 approaches, it’s essentially a truism that coronavirus-inspired closures devastated many small businesses. For a brief period, the unemployment rate was as high as 14.4% (the rate in April
Newspaper vending machines repurposed: a Fourth Estate sale that goes to charity.
Walking along a sidewalk I’ve trod upon many times before, in front of a cemetery I even featured not so long ago, I came upon a little painted landmark that I had not
Takeover ad space on construction barriers: bringing wolves back to the henhouse?
Take a look at the eyesore there in the center-left of the photo, there with the “FOR LEASE” sign draped across the third floor. Such a humble, ugly little building…and what a contrast
Adult-oriented businesses in the burbs: a veritable lion’s den for innocent impalas.
Several years ago, a perfectly ordinary drive-thru Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) in Indianapolis flourished, collecting business both from locals in the area (near the south side enclave of Southport), and, most likely, people
Cumberland MD: where ancient Americana rolls out a welcome mat to trendy townhomes.
There was probably a point in history when virtually every American had heard of Cumberland, Maryland. Not only that, it’s reasonable to surmise that a significant proportion of Americans had passed through it.
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- on Closed bank building, but with a twist: can it thrive with robo-tellers?: “Indeed, and how much longer will the “handing out cash” be applicable? Don’t get me wrong–there will always be a…” Mar 19, 20:54
- on Student Driver subterfuge: are they really new and inexperienced, or merely incompetent?: “I notice this proliferation as well especially on new cars. I think it’s these experienced drivers who want people to…” Mar 18, 15:29
- on Closed bank building, but with a twist: can it thrive with robo-tellers?: “Fantastic ending, “… for misanthropes!” ❤️” Mar 18, 03:51
- on Closed bank building, but with a twist: can it thrive with robo-tellers?: “Welcome to 21st Century banking! An ATM in the lobby with few tellers, if any. Gone are the days of…” Mar 17, 14:54
- on Student ghetto: West Virginia’s contender for #1 party school delivers a triumphantly trashy microcosm.: “I took these photos in Morgantown a little over a year ago, and back then it seemed pretty gross. But…” Mar 15, 19:52
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