With cities growing ever safer, more sanitized, more well behaved by the day, the financial hurdles of being able to afford these swelling citadels for the rich spiral ever upwards. American crime, or at least the violent type you hear about on the McNews, has been declining for decades since leaded gasoline was banned. In its place… Continue reading Can Bike Theft Promote True Affordable Housing?
Tag: tactical urbanism
The Life and Times of Clinton Street’s Guerrilla Diverters
Tactical urbanism, also known as guerrilla urbanism, is a practice that’s garnered increasing interest in recent years. Most of us are so used to authorities shaping the physical space in which we live. The idea of individuals altering streets and buildings to their own desire seems almost taboo. Some frustrated with this stagnation of bureaucracy have taken direct action. They’re redesigning… Continue reading The Life and Times of Clinton Street’s Guerrilla Diverters
How Can You Blog About Bikes at a Time Like This?
How anyone can blog about bikes these days astounds me. Obviously, bikes consume my life, as they should yours. If you live in the city, this city, then you know why. All bikes, all funs, at all times. The multiple cultures and avenues of the urban cycling multiverse know almost no bounds. While this blog has… Continue reading How Can You Blog About Bikes at a Time Like This?
‘Scorched Earth Urbanism’ and other Quasi-Satirical Street Vocabularies
When defining a new term, or redefining a marginalized term, it helps to define its converse. The word ‘sustainable’ has become such a meaningless marketing brand. If we’re going to take this one back from the PR firms we’ll need to draw a few lines. The opposite of ‘sustainable’ should be understood to be ‘terminal’.… Continue reading ‘Scorched Earth Urbanism’ and other Quasi-Satirical Street Vocabularies
PARK(ing) Day PDX Reclaims the Streets: VIDEO
Last Friday was a day in Portland a little unlike any other. PARK(ing) Day grew out of the actions of Rebar in San Francisco almost a decade ago as a way to inform and inspire what our urban streetscape can look and function like through direct action of engaged citizens. Each year on September 20th,… Continue reading PARK(ing) Day PDX Reclaims the Streets: VIDEO
PARK(ing) Day to Liberate PDX Streetscape
Cars kill. We all know this. Whether you’re a capital-driven transit oriented developer or an anarchist despising motor vehicles as technology raping the planet, the automobile is the most lethal killer outside of diet-induced illness in the United States. Even the NRA rightfully will agree on this point. Beyond the lethality of the automobile, cars kill… Continue reading PARK(ing) Day to Liberate PDX Streetscape