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This series of drawings was inspired by the idea that physical communities have enabled nearly every human advancement since the dawn of history. Communities are hubs where people protect themselves, trade, specialize, and share collective memory...
See how pre-Revolutionary War structures compare to Walmart.
“We know what the appliance is….
now we need to find plugs to connect it to the existing power grids.”
Christopher Alexander
This drawing offers a lot of information for the maintenance of healthy street trees, which are critical to urbanism. A rule of thumb is that tree roots will not penetrate soils compacted to greater than 85 percent. Most concrete sidewalk specs call...
This is the front porch view for the Jacob's Pocket Court neighborhood, a new extension of the Village of Cheshire in Black Mountain North Carolina. The 10-foot deep porch on this cottage faces a small oval–shaped green. The watercolor rendering...
As an inexperienced cyclist, I was not aware of the danger that tram tracks pose to bicyclists. While on a tour of the regeneration efforts along an historic industrial canal, my front wheel suddenly lodged in the cavity of a tram track. The jolt...
As I read about plans to reduce the US Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by two-thirds, I am reminded of my travel to Beijing in 2014.
Since the 1940s, the six-mile Route 710—proposed through parts of Pasadena, South Pasadena, Alhambra, and Los Angeles—has been stopped by the public many times. Each time, California's Department of Transportation (Caltrans) waits several years and...
So many rural places have been incrementally destroyed by rural sprawl. You see it on the outskirts of metro areas and off of Interstates and other highways from coast to coast. Most communities don't see it happening until it is too late. To help...
New rail and bus rapid transit routes are being built in virtually every large metropolitan area in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Almost 800 route-miles of new transit infrastructure–most of it with dedicated lanes–is now under construction, at a...
About thirty years ago, someone told me that “The best transportation plan for a city is a good land use plan.” Over the years, the more I thought about it, the more sense this idea made to me. I realized that the potential for land use changes to...
When it comes to achieving a "Smart City," the qualities that make up the very lifeblood of urban living take priority over technocratic solutions.