Pick-A-Day

March 2024
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Archives

Rolling up the bridge in London…

London’s Rolling Bridge.

When I was a kid my Mom used to tell me that late at night, when people went to bed, the sidewalks were rolled up.

I have no idea where this idea comes from, but it’s a vivid image for a 4 year old – and one that has stuck with […]

Liberalism as a threat to American Midwestern cities.

One of my friends posted a Tweet pointing to a fascinating op-ed piece, Liberalism Threatens Evansville, by Audrey Andress at the Independence Times, a blog that is “your source for news in Evansville and the surrounding area.” For those of you unfamiliar with Evansville, it is in the southwestern corner of Indiana and is the […]

20 Years On

If I had to guess, the buildings below were occupied and in decent shape 20 years ago, but post-wall neglect has resulted in a natural take over.

Abandoned Gated Street

See the guard house on the right!

The negelcted guardhouse

Tree growing from the top floor window..

Perk Hill

Today I took a short walk to a nearby coffee shop, Perk Hill.

The name of the coffee shop is a play on the neighborhood name, Park Hill. As coffee shops go, it is small and friendly–no overstuffed couches, no easy chairs–just tables with chairs. In other words, functional. The decaf coffee I had was […]

Gay Vancouver

Vancouver, without a doubt, exceeded my expectations.

I’d actually been a bit worried after reading their tourist guide because the offerings seemed a bit sparse, but in reality, the guide failed to capture the fact that Vancouver is a dynamic and alive city that appreciates diversity. While I was there I heard not just […]

Hastings

#10 Hastings

Originally uploaded by elmada.

So I lied. A couple of days ago I said I knew nothing about Vancouver before Jerry and John decided to move out here. In truth, I knew that 21 Jump Street was filmed here.

For those of you who’ve forgotten or are unaware for whatever reason, […]

Who am I

American Cities That Best Fit You: 75% Boston 75% Washington, DC 70% New York City 65% Chicago 60% Philadelphia Which American Cities Best Fit You? Your Linguistic Profile: 55% General American English 10% Dixie 10% Midwestern 10% Upper Midwestern 10% Yankee What Kind of American English Do You Speak? You Are 27% American America: […]

Weekend Summary

Friday: Work, Nap, Read, Download, Buffy

Saturday: TAR, Leipzig, Download, TAR

I will expand on Leipzig tomorrow, but here is a brief summary: Leipzig is the best city I have visited in Germany so far, hands down. It is most unfortunate that the Leipzig 2012 Olympics bid was derailed because I think this city has […]

City Dynamics

I often wonder what makes one particular city more livable than another—and what makes a city world class.

For a long time, I’ve kept a short list of five six US cities that I felt were as good as London, Prague, Budapest, and Madrid:

New York City San Francisco Chicago Boston Miami New Orleans (Reflecting […]

Urban UK Cities

Right now I’m in Swansea, which is the second largest city in Wales.

I ended up here because my pal Jay came here and I thought it would be brilliant to join him. Last night we spent five hours wandering Wales-grabbing food at a pub and then hanging out at two different gay bars and […]