Category: Urban Planning
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San Francisco Crosswalks
You immediately realize living in San Francisco how the pedestrian is valued above all modes of transportation. Not only is the city adept at taking down freeways and making parking impossible, it enjoys pitting pedestrians against at-grade Muni trains and streetcars. Watching enormous Google buses agonizingly wait to turn against hordes of pedestrians is another…
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A Planner’s Personal Statement
I believe every planner needs to periodically do self-assessments in regards to their approach and reasons for pursuing the profession. As a “non-traditional” planner myself in the tech field, I find it ever important to ground and focus oneself in the tech industry’s sharknado of change. I recently found my graduate school application essay buried in…
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Nicollet Mall is Not the Destination
The announcement of architect James Corner to work on the Nicollet Mall redesign finally signals the city’s movement on upgrading the aging city centerpiece. Minneapolis has discussed replacing Nicollet Mall for quite some time mostly due to its crumbling condition. The rectangular fountains which I once enjoyed as a child are no longer. The colorful…
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Hong Kong’s Hyperdensity
Having returned from a month-long stay with family in Hong Kong, I was intrigued to find Proto City writing about the city. Writer Adam Nowek praises Hong Kong’s dense urban infrastructure in Hyperdense: High-Density Architecture in Hong Kong. From a Western outsider view, Hong Kong seems to be the pinnacle of urbanist pursuits of lively,…
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The Future of Power in Cities
Reflections on the Tour of the Riverside Power Plant in Northeast Minneapolis The initial impression of the factory was a feeling of doom. As we passed Suzy’s I thought the last time I was here I was up to no good with a bunch of friends. I had no idea a few blocks down coal…