ISA Architects recently completed a project in North Philadelphia called Tiny Tower. It is a 6-level, 1,250 square foot single family home built on a small 12′ x 29′ lot. That’s about the footprint of two parking spaces. It feels like a house you might… Read More
Three years ago I wrote about how I was one step closer to not only going cashless — I had pretty much already done that — but also going walletless. (That’s one of the things about writing a daily blog — there’s a public record.)… Read More
Architect Robert Venturi died this week at his home in Philadelphia. He was 93. Here is his obituary from the New York Times. Robert Venturi was, along with his partner and wife Denise Scott Brown, a central figure in 20th century American architecture. He is… Read More
As part of the Amazon HQ2 bid process, a number of cities produced videos. I only discovered them today and so maybe some of you also missed them when they were released last fall. There are videos from Detroit, Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Dallas-Fort Worth, Las… Read More
This morning I stumbled upon an old (2013) post from Rebel Metropolis that documents urban American life through street photos taken before the automobile. Above is Little Italy, New York City, 1900. All of the photos in the post are from Shorpy. The photos are… Read More
City Observatory tracks something that they call “The Young and Restless.” It refers to the segment of the US population that is between 25-34 years old and has a bachelor’s degree or higher. We know that people in this age bracket tend to be relatively mobile… Read More
The latest data from the American Community Survey (2012 to 2016) has placed the suburban and exurban share of the US population (53 major metropolitan areas) at 85.5%. Back in 2000 this number was thought to be around 83.5%. Since 2010, automobile oriented suburbs and… Read More
When I lived in Philadelphia I survived on food truck food. My go-tos were an egg and cheese breakfast sandwich for $2.50, a bowl of spaghetti for $4.50, and a pretty substantial chicken burrito for somewhere around $5 or $6. The food was good. It… Read More
One of the small things that I liked about living in Philadelphia was the rational way in which street addresses tended to work. Here’s an example. Let’s say you wanted to go to Brooks Brothers in Center City and you discovered that the address was… Read More
I’m in Philly right now for a good friend’s wedding. I always feel nostalgic when I come back to this city. Some of my most memorable years were spent here. I grew a lot in those 3 years. I also think that Philly is a… Read More
