The Problem of Time

Steve Mouzon, on the Problem of Time:

The bottom line is this: any system of thought, whether Modernism, historicism, or something else, that insists we use ideas only from restricted points in time is flat wrong because it deprives us of some (or even most) of the best solutions to a problem. Many have been working for years to figure out how to live sustainably today. We haven’t figured it out yet, so it’s obviously a big problem. To deprive a problem so large of any good ideas that might help solve it is insane. We must be allowed to use the things that work, whether they were invented now or at some other time!

As I previously posited, place is a much more important factor than time. The past is neither a blueprint to be copied nor a model to eschew but a platform to build upon. Likewise, the future is neither something to be feared nor does it hold all the answers. We should respect the past and anticipate the future.

Hidden On-Street Parking

Charlie Gardner, writing for his blog The Old Urbanist, reports on a study of the America’s hidden on street parking:

These spaces are the subject of a new study, Amenity or Necessity? Street Standards as Parking Policy, which examines the “hidden parking policy” implicit in the standards for street width established by many cities. The study calculates that these standards have produced somewhere between 740 million and 1.5 billion parking spaces along American residential streets – enough to host all of the passenger vehicles in the world – the vast majority of which are unmarked, unmetered and indeed unused. The authors estimate that the cost of construction of these spaces is in the trillions of dollars, with an annual maintenance cost in the tens of billions. These costs, the authors note, amount to approximately $1,000 annually per home.

Wow!

Consider also that many typical residential streets also include 2-car garages and space for an additional 2 cars in the driveway.

The 1000 Year House

Hope for Architecture:

This is the Adams House. Rising on a 40 acre plot outside Columbus, Georgia, this 3,000 square foot, original design is our first step towards answering a critical question: Can modern builders achieve affordable permanence through the practical application of structural masonry and timber frame construction?

So begins the story of a house out to prove that it’s possible “to build a timeless, durable, multi-century home at a price that everyday Americans can afford.” The mission is intriguing. The design is elegant in its simplicity. The process is well documented. It’s a truly amazing project.

Walk Score vs Walk Appeal

Sarah Goodyear, writing for The Atlantic Cities, chimes in on the Walk Appeal conversation:

That’s the hard truth about walking in America. It’s not just about the miles you need to cover, or even about the sidewalks or the length of the blocks. What Walk Score can’t capture, and doesn’t pretend to, is the on-the-ground texture of the pedestrian experience and the resulting pedestrian culture of a place…

Which is really what it comes down to in much of the country. You may well find yourself within walking distance of a store, or a movie theater, or some other amenity that is accounted for by Walk Score’s algorithms. There might even be a sidewalk that provides safe passage, and a button to push at the intersection to make the light change in your favor. But you usually will be walking alongside a river of cars, and the people in those cars will be thinking that you are strange. They will pity you. You will know this.

I think there are two interesting points here. First, Sarah provides a great example of how the quality of the walking environment is as much, if not more, important than the quantity of destinations. Unfortunately Walk Score only measures quantity and has no metric for the “Walk Appeal” of a place.

Second, Sarah touches on an interesting social and cultural factor in the acceptability of walking as a primary form of transportation. It is unfortunate that walking has a stigma attached. In most regions only the poor and teenagers who can’t drive are regular walkers. I have caught myself wondering “what those trouble making teenage boys are up to” when I see a group of kids walking down an unwalkable street. Part of the reason for the stigma is that the only people walking are at the margins of society.

Mr. Porter's Handwriting

Design group Underware on their custom font Mr. Porter created for men’s goods site MrPorter:

We tried to make him as human as possible, not only being different all the time, but also including obvious shortcomings. Funny enough it takes a highly intelligent font to have fully controlled imperfections. The result is a single typeface with a strong relation between the glyph set (which characters should be in the font) and the way these glyphs work together.

It’s a pretty cool human looking font with truly amazing attention to detail. Just look at the 12 different variations of the lowercase y!

via The Fox is Black

Shooting the Olympics

James Estrin, interviewing staff photographer Doug Mills for the New York Times about what it is like to shoot the Olympics:

Q. You did have a remote in the pool earlier this week when Michael Phelps was swimming.

A. No, It was through a window underneath the water.

Q. What?

A. Yeah, they have windows underneath the pool, and I was shooting through a four-inch piece of glass. It’s hot, humid and dark there.

The thing about shooting through that glass is that you have to study the window and where the swimmers are coming when they’re swimming at you because there’s a single sweet spot. Otherwise, you get distortion when you tilt your lens left to right, or up and down.

Check out the full interview for great pictures and an interesting behind the scenes perspective.

Parklets in Chicago

Blair Kamin, writing for the Chicago Tribune:

Does it make sense to turn on-street parking spaces into miniature urban parks and plazas where people can sit, eat, check their mobile phones, read a book, take a catnap or watch the world go by?

Chicago is about to find out. With the blessing of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the city now has two of these miniparks, called “parklets” elsewhere and dubbed “people spots” by officials here.

It’s an interesting idea but it isn’t a substitute for real, permanent parks and plazas. What I do like is this small scale exploration of ideas that doesn’t cost much. Enough small successes can add up to great progress.

The Full Moon Rises at the Tower Bridge

The full moon rises at the Tower Bridge

A once in a lifetime photographic opportunity seized beautifully by Luke MacGregor.

Hosting the Olympics

Andrew Zimbalist, writing for The Atlantic Cities, explores the notion that host cities benefit from the Olympics:

Of all the hype surrounding the Olympics, some of the biggest tends to be economic. The event is often billed as a boon to business for its host city - a two-week burst of tourism and valuable television time, as well as a spur for much needed infrastructure investment. But is it true? Do countries really gain from organizing the Olympic Games?

The answer is: It depends, but don’t count on it. There may be a few former hosts that experienced a long-term economic benefit, such as Barcelona, but scholarly research has found that any gains are difficult to identify.

I’ve been lax in my posts here mostly because of my interest in the Olympics. I always enjoy the competition, the stories of triumph, and the pageantry of the Olympics. It’s too bad that the host cities have such trouble getting value for their efforts.

Kids Unleashed

Will Doig, writing for Salon, has a great piece exploring our kids’ lack of independence:

So naturally, children can now be found romping unsupervised throughout our neighborhoods, acquiring the intuition, resourcefulness and sense of independence that such a childhood provides, right?

Actually, no. In the time since Skenazy walked off to kindergarten alone, the number of children that can be found in public without supervision has only diminished. In one survey, 85 percent of mothers said they allowed their kids outside unsupervised less frequently than they themselves were allowed. In Britain, the average age of children allowed to play outside adult-free has risen by more than a year since the ’70s, and 25 percent of 8- to 10-year-olds have never played outside without an adult. One study diagrammed the shrinking distances that four generations of one family’s kids were allowed to stray from home: six miles in 1919, one mile in 1950, half a mile in 1979, and 300 yards today.

I grew up with 30+ acres to explore, mostly without direct supervision, so the idea of unleashing our kids seems natural to me. There is much to be gained, for both kids and parents, by allowing kids to have an appropriate level of independence.

UPDATE: Also see how one family went from unsupervised kids walking 6 miles to 300 yards in 4 generations.