“The economics of city rebuilding do not rest soundly on reasoned investment of public tax subsidies, as urban renewal theory proclaims, but also on vast, involuntary subsidies wrung out of helpless site victims.”
—Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities

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My first ode to rent control and dense urban fabric is a list of what I can find within a couple blocks of my house:
Chinese restaurant, lamp store, playground, Consulate of Benin, animal crematory, Italian restaurant, Indian restaurant (4), sports betting, tattoo parlor, kebab (2), schnitzel restaurant (2), Beisl (pub) (lots), Real estate office, cafe [...]

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Walking home from the U-Bahn today, I was thinking about how most American cities are now attempts at small town living in an urban environment. It seems like this is what people want—distance, space, a yard, a garage. I’m not knocking it, either. The way I see it, if it makes people happy, they should [...]

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Power Commuting: navigating the minefields of poodle turds in Vienna, and meeting my Maker in Atlanta.

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