Community Engagement Kiosk

One of the more enjoyable projects we did last year was this kiosk for the Roaring Fork Branch USGBC’s Climate Action Summit. The event brought together representatives from a variety of communities in the valley to discuss their individual climate action plans.

As a bit of an icebreaker we created an interactive display that showed the region and highlighted the communities participating in the event and some targets that their plans hope to reach. This side of the display also showcase the supporters of the event and gave individuals not represented an opportunity to share their information.

roadside: Arcosanti

Arcosanti is an anomaly in the high desert of Arizona. On a trip through the southwest, traveling between Sedona and Phoenix, it appeared out of nowhere. Remembering the name from studies of urban design theory I made a last minute decision to pull of the interstate and down a nondescript gravel road.

Elsewhere

I started this blog almost exactly 7 years ago! Since then, I’ve published roughly 2,000 posts — 1,000 about Cincinnati and 600 specifically on our neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine. A lot has changed since then, and this blog has changed as well. More changes are in store this year.

Elsewhere

Happy Friday! No links today because, when we weren’t busy packing and shipping orders these last few weeks, we were running out, doing our own holiday shopping, not reading articles online. We’ll return to our regularly scheduled programming on Monday with a look back at this year’s highlights. In the mean time, check out my favorite experiences from previous years: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.

Elsewhere

The Things We Want to Give (Our 2014 Gift Guide): The Wire Cutter likes our 10 Seed Bombs with Slinger.

Zula Owner Opening New Concept in Over-the-Rhine: your moment of LOL for today is “a nod to the iconic New York bar CBGB.”

‘Rebirth of Over-the Rhine’ Film in Works: I’m already looking forward to watching this and suspending judgment until I do.

Finding Vivian Maier: speaking of documentaries, a reminder to myself to seek out the Vivian Maier documentary one of these days.

Enter the 1966 Subway System, through Photographer Danny Lyon’s Lens: ancient NYC subway history!

The Fight to Preserve a Model Public Housing Project: just that, in Chicago.

California Screaming: “The tech industry made the Bay Area rich. Why do so many residents hate it?”

Elsewhere

Gift Guide For: The Kids: our 10 Seed Bombs with Slinger gets some love from Ivanka Trump herself!

Gifts That Give Back: more love from The Citizenry.

Cincinnati Gift Guide // A Few Of My Favorite Things…: plus, Cincinnati love from VB.

Northside Photo Show: worth checking out in Cincinnati tomorrow at Chicken Lays an Egg in Northside.

How to Make Transit Succeed in a Sprawling City: Calgary versus Dallas.

Urbanists Need to Face the Full Implications of Peak Car: on traffic levels in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

Detroit by Air: crazy photos.

Elsewhere

Host/Hostess Gifts: check out VL products on Fox 19, courtesy of Carolyn, owner of our favorite Over-the-Rhine boutique, MiCA 12/v!

Shop Small This Christmas: Cincinnati Favorites: an awesome round-up of local stores and makers, including yours truly.

An Indie Guide to Cincinnati During the Holidays: tons of pop-up markets and special events in OTR and downtown Cincy this month.

‘Ghost Signs’ Haunt Clarksville: a town in Tennessee is considering restoring or preserving its ghost sign history.

Las Vegas: The Once and Future Downtown Project: thwarted urban revitalization ambitions in Vegas.

A Horrible Brooklyn Love Story: involving secret tunnels and ghosts.

Saving Neon Signs One Flash at a Time: in Sacramento and beyond, an effort to preserve old neon signs.

Elsewhere

Let’s face it: today’s for shopping, not reading random urbanism articles on the Internet. If you’re going to participate in Black Friday, support the small businesses in your neighborhood!

If you need some suggestions, check out the list of stores that stock our work, in Cincinnati and beyond.

Tomorrow, we’ll have a booth at Crafty Supermarket in the ballroom at Music Hall in Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati.

Also tomorrow, our work will be featured in a trunk show hosted by Two Little Buds Florist in Hamilton, OH.

If you prefer to shop online, check out these fun and thoughtful gift guides put together by Five Dot Design, which include our 10 Seed Bombs with Slinger.

On Monday, we’ll publish our annual gift guide, which always includes a bunch of friends, neighbors and talented peeps whose work we admire. In the mean time, check out the 2013 gift guide.

Elsewhere

Cincinnati Design Disaster Awards: in case you missed this last week.

14 Amazing Images of Cincinnati’s Inner City Neighborhoods: just that.

Back to Vlasic: on normcore and uncool cities chasing trends.

Don’t Call It Gentrification: what’s been going on in San Francisco.

Gentrification Is a Natural Evolution: and how to anticipate what’s happening in London.

How Hungary’s Painted Homes Rebelled Against the Socialist System: amazing public art.

Norway’s New Passport — Already a Design Classic?: a gorgeous passport design manages to capture a sense of place.

Elsewhere

Then & Now: An Interactive Look at Downtown Cincinnati’s Past: coolness.

RR Interviews: Zan McQuade of the Cincinnati AnthologyPt. 1 and Pt. 2: an informative, two-part interview about this book, which includes a contribution by yours truly.

Rare Neon Signs on Display at the History Museum at the Castle: an awesome exhibit opened this week in Appleton, WI.

Malls Fill Vacant Stores with Server Rooms: creative reuse in places like Fort Wayne, IN and Jackson, MS.

Taylor Swift Explaining New York Vocabulary Is Beyond Cringeworthy: T-Swift was recently named the NYC Ambassador, and this is her latest foray into “realness.”

Rome’s Rebel Lake Is a Parable of the Contemporary Commons: a long read, but a great story of grassroots urbanism.

Shopfront Elegy: photos of ghost signs and storefronts, in London and beyond.