Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas
Casey Newton • What social networks can learn from public spaces
All of these thinkers opposed bigness and prescribed a greater humility about one’s unavoidable ignorance. No one could fully understand all the facts of the dynamic market any more than one could weigh the true costs of introducing a vast new flow of traffic through neighborhoods like New York’s SoHo and West Village, which had developed organical
... See moreTim Wu • The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires (Vintage)
When buildings are narrow, the street length is shortened, the walking distances are reduced, and street life is enhanced. (Competition project for the extension of Rørås, Norway.) Narrow street frontages mean short distances between entrances – and entrances are where the majority of events nearly always take place.
Jan Gehl • Life Between Buildings: Using Public Space
The fourth quality of a well-tempered city is community—social networks made of well-tempered people.
Jonathan F. P. Rose • The Well-Tempered City: What Modern Science, Ancient Civilizations, and Human Nature Teach Us About the Future of Urban Life
The Atlantic • Cities Aren’t Built for Kids
He subsequently conducted similar studies in New York and Los Angeles, and found the data tracking along almost identical curves. In each case, increasing density from two units per acre to twenty units per acre resulted in about the same savings as the increase from twenty to two hundred.22 To students of urban form, these outcomes are not that su
... See moreJeff Speck • Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time
For people to choose to walk, the walk must serve some purpose. In planning terms, that goal is achieved through mixed use or, more accurately, placing the proper balance of activities within walking distance of each other. While there are exceptions, most downtowns have an imbalance of uses that can be overcome only by increasing the housing suppl
... See moreJeff Speck • Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time
Imagine a downtown area with small-scale parks, nice shops, clean and safe streets, and signage that encourages exercise. This is the kind of place where a family wants to bring kids, where retirees and college students alike want to socialize, and where street entertainers naturally gravitate to perform and get paid. These places exist in many cit
... See moreJohn MacDonald • Changing Places: The Science and Art of New Urban Planning
Walkable neighborhoods where an intergenerational mix of community members can bump into each other while they carry out the most frequent journeys of daily life (work, school, play, food, etc.) are the best way for people to see each other.