I enjoyed creating my first-ever listicle article a few months ago; it was New Year’s Eve, and I didn’t feel like revving up my gray matter. And covering my most controversial blog posts was easy. This time, I’ve decide to delve into something a lot wonkier—a lot more number-crunchy. Sure, it’s just basic arithmetic, but
Though not a frequent flyer under normal conditions, I have, as of the date of this article, been a passenger on exactly eleven flights, including layovers, since much of the nation underwent varying degrees of lockdowns in response to the pandemic. I suspect this places my flight activity above average in terms of overall frequency,
Less than a month ago, I availed myself of a long-planned opportunity to travel from the mid-Atlantic to the Midwest, using a flight a purchased several weeks before the world’s reaction to the coronavirus pandemic had set the turbulent economic and social course for 2020. Obviously there are others before me—people who took this risk
As one of the busiest airports in the world—and numero uno for many years—Chicago’s O’Hare International (ORD) inevitably offers an array of amenities and services that places it well to the right of the distributional bell curve. But this feature comes as a bit of a surprise.I’m probably premature in asserting that we don’t typically
Whether we measure it in square miles or a single street corner, the average American downtown is enjoying an unprecedented new life. Century-old commercial buildings—underutilized at best, mothballed or abandoned at worst—have comprised the most visible beneficiaries of this revitalization, since investors have reassessed their value as critical signals to the municipality’s historic origins, determining
We’ve come to expect a certain iconography at our airports: restrooms, baggage claims, handicapped access, information centers, baby-changing stations, cabs. Less common: subways, light rail, prayer rooms, and, in this day and age, a smoker refuge. Perhaps I’m revealing my East Coast bias—or at least my tendency to orient myself in terms of where I
A topic as prominent as teardowns deserves a vigorous analysis, which I’m prepared to offer at some point in the near future. In the meantime, I hope to whet the appetite through this brief montage, to help familiarize those who otherwise don’t understand the context for this relatively recent phenomenon. But what is a teardown,
In the world’s most overbuilt nation for retail space, any outside influence can induce an infinitesimal change that nonetheless completely transforms the landscape for commerce. The retailers who continue to succeed in this economy—particularly impressive given the growing portent of online shopping’s eventual dominance—help shed light on what type of structures/milieus they are seeking to
I’ve documented evolving retail trends with a keen eye over the past few years. Regardless of the size of the community, certain similar features have emerged that very well may augur a monumental shift in typology, akin to what transpired in the 1950s and 60s when pedestrian-scaled downtowns lost all their commerce to suburban strip
When zipping across a rural landscape on a limited access highway, the visual impact of the interstate exit ramps (and the various goods or services that they access) begin to erode. To those unfamiliar with the landscape, these exits often all look alike. Even for those motorists who know their precise surroundings, it would be
I enjoyed creating my first-ever listicle article a few months ago; it was New Year’s Eve, and I didn’t feel like revving up my gray matter. And covering my most controversial blog posts
Though not a frequent flyer under normal conditions, I have, as of the date of this article, been a passenger on exactly eleven flights, including layovers, since much of the nation underwent varying
Less than a month ago, I availed myself of a long-planned opportunity to travel from the mid-Atlantic to the Midwest, using a flight a purchased several weeks before the world’s reaction to the
As one of the busiest airports in the world—and numero uno for many years—Chicago’s O’Hare International (ORD) inevitably offers an array of amenities and services that places it well to the right of
Whether we measure it in square miles or a single street corner, the average American downtown is enjoying an unprecedented new life. Century-old commercial buildings—underutilized at best, mothballed or abandoned at worst—have comprised
We’ve come to expect a certain iconography at our airports: restrooms, baggage claims, handicapped access, information centers, baby-changing stations, cabs. Less common: subways, light rail, prayer rooms, and, in this day and age,
A topic as prominent as teardowns deserves a vigorous analysis, which I’m prepared to offer at some point in the near future. In the meantime, I hope to whet the appetite through this
In the world’s most overbuilt nation for retail space, any outside influence can induce an infinitesimal change that nonetheless completely transforms the landscape for commerce. The retailers who continue to succeed in this
I’ve documented evolving retail trends with a keen eye over the past few years. Regardless of the size of the community, certain similar features have emerged that very well may augur a monumental
When zipping across a rural landscape on a limited access highway, the visual impact of the interstate exit ramps (and the various goods or services that they access) begin to erode. To those