MetaFilter posts tagged with city

City of Bikes

kliuless — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:55:36 -0800

Car-free cities: an idea with legs
Car-free neighbourhoods are no unrealistic utopia – they exist all over Europe.

We live in the city of dreams, We drive on the highway of fire

Toekneesan — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:59:08 -0800

David Byrne has just published a new book about bicycles called Bicycle Diaries. A long time rider, Byrne muses on how the world looks and works from the vantage point of a cyclist. It's getting pretty good reviews. To launch the book, Byrne is touring the US and arranging public forums. Each event features a civic leader, an urban theorist, a bicycle advocate, and Byrne himself speaking about bikes in cities. Here’s a schedule of the upcoming events. He’s also designed some bike racks for his hometown of New York City. Special Bonus Links! Byrne's review of Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities by Jeff Mapes A map of Byrne's Bike Racks. A three part tour of Byrne's New York studio. David Byrne on the perfect city. (Previously)

A Talking Head Dreams of a Perfect City

kliuless — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 09:41:37 -0800

David Byrne's Perfect City Osaka's robot-run parking lots mixed with the Minneapolis lakefront; a musician's fantasy metropolis BONUS -More Than a Tree Grows in Brooklyn Rooftop Farm [1,2] -Skyburbs: Bringing the Burbs to the City [1,2] -An Explosion of Ganjapreneurship [1,2] -The Power of the Poor [1,2] -The Currency Revolution [1,2] -The Dawn of Augmented Reality [1,2] -Where Did All the Flowers Come From? [1,2]

The Squares of the City

kliuless — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:11:34 -0800

Paul Romer: A Theory of History, with an Application - "His economic theory of history explains phenomena such as the constant improvement of the human standard of living by looking primarily at just two forms of innovative ideas: technology and rules." (previously, via) BONUS: UNDERSTANDING SOCIETY - What cities have in common [1,2,3,4,5] - Great structures? [1,2,3,4,5] - The new institutionalism [1,2,3,4,5] - Norms and deliberative rationality [1,2,3,4,5]

Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong

kliuless — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:44:18 -0800

Prelude to Federation - Like a neocolonial SEZ (or TAZ) Paul Romer, not to be confused with David, posits "less developed countries contract with capitalist nations to set up Hong Kong's for them... that we rethink sovereignty (respect borders, but maybe import administrative control); rethink citizenship (support residency, but maybe import voice in political affairs); and rethink scale (instead of focusing on nations, focus on cities—on city states like Hong Kong and Singapore)." cf. neocameralism [1, 2, 3] BONUS - New Urbanism - Taking Up Space

Pixel City

GuyZero — Fri, 15 May 2009 10:58:45 -0800

Pixel City is a procedurally generated cityscape by Shamus Young. Procedurally generated graphics have a long history of producing attractive results with extremely small amounts of code, like Elevated, which was generated by just 4K of code, automatically generated video game content (also, Spore) or the generation of realistic water flows. Note the last demo reel may have been the test for a new film mentioned previously.

The people who drive the Motor City

Oriole Adams — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 00:06:46 -0800

Can Detroit be saved? Its future is in their hands . Meet Detroit city council president Monica Conyers, whose children are chauffered to the pricey Cranbrook Schools in suburban Bloomfield Hills daily by on-duty cops, and who recerntly publicly rebuked a white Teamsters official for daring to speak the name of President Obama during a meeting. She also wasn't interested in the estimated 16,000 jobs that would be created by the proposed Cobo Hall expansion because most of those jobs would be filled by people who "don't look like her." Also on board is Barbara-Rose Collins, a bona fide queen ("with all the responsibilities and privileges afforded to royal family members,” according to her web page) who occasionally bursts into song during council meetings. Let's not forget Martha Reeves, who has a city-paid assistant accompany her after hours to the casino because she's afraid to go out in the city alone. How dire is the state of the city? Sam Riddle, former policital consultant to Conyers, has said that the only difference in terms of corruption between Detroit and a Third World nation is that Detroit doesn't have goats wandering the streets.

Crapping out

Joe Beese — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 12:53:07 -0800

Trump Entertainment is about to run out of the third extension of its debt payments. Station Casinos is offering its investors as little as 10 cents on the dollar in a pre-packaged bankruptcy. Wynn Resorts is cutting staff hours and bonuses to avoid layoffs. MGM Mirage may see a default rate of 30% on its City Center condominiums. Harrah's long-term debt has doubled. There are no more traffic jams on the Strip. Oh... and the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City had to settle a $70 million sexual harassment lawsuit brought by its beverage servers. In short: times are tough.

65 years ago, was to lift the blockade of Leningrad

zzazazz — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:42:07 -0800

Every day we go on to the streets, dying at his defenders who thought about us. About us, that they were not destined to see. But we can remember!

And imagine that the horror that the people was to survive.

WWII era Photographs, I assume, of Leningrad combined with current photographs. This era has also recently been portrayed effectively by David Benioff in his novel City of Thieves. Found the pictures via Warren Ellis who thinks the photographer may be Sergei Larenkov.

What's going on at Circuit City?

hypersloth — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:39:06 -0800

Circuit City: Founded in 1949 as the Wards Company, Circuit City is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. At the time of the liquidation announcement (January 16, 2009), the company operated 567 stores in 153 media. Ok bai.

Picture London without Londoners

Kattullus — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 22:24:17 -0800

Abandoned London is a Flickr set by photographer IanVisits of London on Christmas morning when the city is (almost) denuded of people. Very disorienting if you've been to London (or any major city, really). I got this via William Gibson's blog and I'll let him describe it in his inimitable way: "Christmas, particularly in the early morning, has always seemed so much more liminal to me than New Year's eve. Spectral, deeply in-between [...] something about the way in which traffic, pedestrian and vehicular, controls one's depth of field, fragmenting and animating the experience."

I walk the same streets. Why don't I notice these things?

grumblebee — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:30:46 -0800

I work as a film location scout in New York City. My day is basically spent combing the streets for interesting and unique locations for feature films. In my travels, I often stumble across some pretty incredible sights, most of which are ignored every day by thousands of New Yorkers in too much of a rush to pay attention. As it happens, it's my job to pay attention, and I've started this blog to keep a record of what I see.

homesick

four panels — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:18:23 -0800

"This is one of the greatest damn gifts you could ever give to anybody." The EDAR (Everyone Deserves a Roof) is a mobile sleeping shelter for the cold homeless in refrigerator boxes.

Meet you at the Circl-Serv!

Miko — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 06:26:57 -0800

"The plans for Victory City have evolved over a period of 38 years, nurtured by the vision and dedication of Victory City's inventor, Orville Simpson II [no relation]. Mr. Simpson conceived of the general idea of Victory City in 1936, when he was only 13 years old. Afraid of being ridiculed, Mr. Simpson kept his ideas about designing and building the City of the Future to himself … a secret vision he held in his mind... It wasn't until 1960 — after he had embarked on a lucrative career in real estate investing and apartment building management — that Mr. Simpson decided to make his ideas about Victory City known to the general public."

Tent Cities, USA

dejah420 — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:20:48 -0800

As forclosures rise, so do tent cities filled with Americans. Across the country, tent cities are rising everywhere. From California, where foreclosures are taking over 60,000 homes per month, to Vegas, where hungry children sleep in the glittered dust of the wealthy, to St. Petersburg, Florida where the cops are destroying the tents of the homeless to make them leave the city, to the suburbs, homelessness, hunger, and poverty are on the rise. The government's response? Change how "homeless" is defined, so that the numbers appear to be decreasing at the same time that tents are springing up all over the country. This is a tragedy of epic proportions, and figuring out how to help can be overwhelming. What can you do? Donate to a local shelter. Donate to a food bank. Volunteer at a local charity. Build a house. And always remember, that there but for the grace of something, go you. Treat the homeless with respect. Don't just ignore the problem.

Go OKC!

parmanparman — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:58:00 -0800

Goodbye Seattle! Hello Oklahoma! Get ready for the NBA's newest team, the Oklahoma City SuperSonics! Whither Seattle basketball? Methinks not.

Carrie Bradshaw knows good sex*

iamkimiam — Sat, 31 May 2008 23:35:46 -0800

It all started with a NYC writer wearing a tutu, getting splashed by a passing bus...
"It's really hard to walk in a single woman's shoes—that's why you sometimes need really special shoes." a 7-parter on the shoes that made the show... Then there was the necklace–an identity symbol, once lost, then found. The Cosmos, the Tartinis, and who could forget the Absolute Hunk? Click here for the inspiration) Follow Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda; a journey through the labels of love.

Coming Soon: A pink hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot spot

Miko — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:28:48 -0800

The [US] National Trust for Historic Preservation has released its 21st annual list of the nation's Most Endangered Historic Places. Among them: Sumner Elementary School in Topeka, Kansas, (where Linda Brown tried to register for school, resulting in Brown vs. Board of Education); New York City's Lower East Side; California's State Parks; Philadelphia's Boyd Theatre, and several others. The previous 20 years of Most Endangered Historic Places can be found in the Archive. The Trib weighs in on the inclusion of Chicago's Michigan Avenue Streetwall The Inky on Boyd Theater Topeka Capitol-Journal (CapJo?) on Sumner Elementary Times-Picayune on Charity Hospital SF Chronicle on the state's parks Lower East Side Endangered? So what else is new?asks the New York Times

Web 2.oh-no-you-don't

GuyZero — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:21:52 -0800

CityTV to apologize for photos stolen from Flickr. The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has issued a ruling that CityTV must make a rare on-air apology for broadcasting pictures taken from Flickr without crediting the photographer.

Skyscrapers or Souks?

Non Prosequitur — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 09:16:20 -0800

Two visions of the ideal city rise in the Persian Gulf: "Waterfront City will probably be where a lot of Middle Eastern investors will put their money—and where international architectural stars will build their putative landmarks—but if little Masdar develops successfully, it may hold much more important lessons for us all."

Spike Jones, master of the ... uhhh ... what is that he's playing, anyway?

not_on_display — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 22:53:09 -0800

40's-50's-Fun-Filter: glglglgl-prt-HIC! What soothing melodies do I hear? honk!honk!honk! Is it geese mating? Ibidi? Ibiduh. Ibidih? eauugh! No, it's Spike Jones and his City Slickers! Enjoy some anarcho-zany classics! · Cocktails for Two · Four songs: 1: The Man on the Flying Trapeze | 2: None But the Lonely Heart | 3: My Old Flame | 4: The Glow Worm · Der Führer's Face: recording | live | Donald Duck · The Sabre Dance · All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth · Clink, Clink, Another Drink · Pass the Biscuits, Mirandy! · 12th Street Rag (featuring collapsible trombone, Elvis's bottom half, and stereophonic bicycle pump) · The William Tell Overture (featuring Doodles Weaver) [see also Astro Zombie's previous thread] ...Fietlebauuuuum

The takedowns were for free whores.

griphus — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:17:03 -0800

New York's Governor Eliot Spitzer (Wiki) has been linked to a high-class prostitution ring.

And I thought I was busy

parmanparman — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 18:04:48 -0800

She works six days a week and has sold her husband - twice.

The Deuce!

nangsta — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:25:11 -0800

Sex, drugs and sleaze! Were the bad old days really the good old days? Native New Yorkers who remember the City in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, speak up! Was the Big Apple better off then or now?

Urban Agriculture...it's in our backyard

StrikeTheViol — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 21:21:17 -0800

City Farmer is a Vancouver-based organization that's been promoting urban agriculture since 1978. If you dig around their sprawling website, you can find everything from this feel-good news story, to a series of links leading to a nice deep free book. Alternatively, their new blog has cool pictures.