Urbanism

Here’s last month’s clutch of signals of the future. I spot issues that might impact on how we build and live in cities in the future. …

Because circumstances have forced me to live in an awful LA suburb, these posts run the risk of being whiny in nature. The point of these essays isn’t to just bitch and moan (“it’s not?” Angel wonders). It’s to share my real-world experience doing something few brave people dare —…

New/old paper news: I’m very happy to have the lead article in this Urban Studies special issue on COVID-19 and cities. It’s open access! Many thanks to Scott Orford, Yingling Fan and Phil Hubbard for having me. This article is a time capsule. I first drafted these ideas, fast, as…

Good trivia team name, poor modern reality. — I wrote about this once before: THE URBAN DOOM LOOP!!! Great trivia name, and also a good description of the potential future of downtown cores.tedbauer.medium.com Basically, the “Urban Doom Loop” is the idea that remote and hybrid work arrangements will kill downtowns. …

Last month I wrote about the colonial impulse in my newsletter (you should subscribe! It’s irregular and always free!), which I summarized thusly: “everything is for me, and my interest/presence necessarily improves everything.” I am writing this from Cincinnati, where I grew up. I’m staying in the West End and…

bathroom is my safe space When I was growing up, bathrooms were the coziest place. They did not have a cozy interior with glass baubles and salmon pink wallpaper. Quite the contrary, it was this basic dark small room, with the latrine and bathing area together, just divided by half…

In one of my recent posts, I summarized a landmark report by US Surgeon General on America’s social isolation epidemic. Since then, I’ve received many messages from friends and readers who’ve expressed their shock, awe or sadness towards the social fabric of America. …

a little piece about existing in a public space So I was walking over to my old apartment to pick up some things the movers hadn’t gotten. With my friend Vi. I was loaded up with a matching toaster and kettle set, a pot of dried flowers and a bunch…

Here are some questions I posed in October of 2022. None of these have been sufficiently answered in my opinion for an effort that will be with us for fifty-plus years. Can we afford to extend the life of the failing 20th century city and its associated infrastructure that long…