Category Archives: Urban

Chicago gets a “slow street,” sort of

Posted on June 4, 2020 by Christopher Winters

Overcrowded sidewalks—a bad idea in a time of social distancing—have led many American cities to start a “slow streets” program, in which pedestrians and cyclists are encouraged to use the roadways of certain streets. Chicago came to this movement rather … Continue reading →

Posted in Transportation, Urban | 2 Comments

The resilience of commercial streets in walkable urban neighborhoods

Posted on June 4, 2020 by Christopher Winters

It’s been suggested that the Coronavirus Pandemic will turn out to be a disaster for stores on commercial streets in walkable neighborhoods. Most of these stores have had to close or at least to limit their operations during a lockdown … Continue reading →

Posted in Urban | Leave a comment

Another book “superstore” closes

Posted on June 2, 2020 by Christopher Winters

                          I was a little shocked to discover in the course of a walk further south than I’d been for two months that the Barnes & Noble at … Continue reading →

Posted in Urban | Leave a comment

Change in population by “race” and Hispanic/Latinx status, Chicago area, 2010-2014/2018

Posted on May 26, 2020 by Christopher Winters

The Census Bureau released the 2014/2018 American Community Survey (ACS) tract-level data last December, and I’m afraid I’ve been a little slow to download and analyze any of the numbers. One reason is that I didn’t think that there would … Continue reading →

Posted in Urban | Leave a comment

Pedestrian life in Chicago during the Coronavirus Pandemic

Posted on May 1, 2020 by Christopher Winters

There have been hundreds of newspaper stories describing the emptiness of American cities during the Coronavirus Pandemic. This view doesn’t jibe with what I’ve observed at all. I’ll gladly admit that my experience during six weeks of “lockdown” (ever since March … Continue reading →

Posted in Transportation, Urban | Leave a comment

Miami Beach Walk comes close to being finished

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Christopher Winters

I recently spent a week in Miami Beach, where I was delighted to discover that, since my last visit there two years ago, what is now known at Miami Beach Walk had been more or less completed. This is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Transportation, Urban | Leave a comment

Bangkok keeps building rail lines outward

Posted on March 6, 2020 by Christopher Winters

I rode three new rail transit lines while in Bangkok last month: the extension of the MRT Blue Line west to Lak Song; the MRT Blue Line connection between Tao Poon and Tha Phra; and the BTS Light Green Line … Continue reading →

Posted in Transportation, Urban | Leave a comment

Doha tries to become more “sustainable”

Posted on February 4, 2020 by Christopher Winters

I spent the third week of January in Doha, Qatar. I’d been there only once before, on a one-day trip from Dubai in 2010. On the earlier trip, I’d been extremely impressed by the Corniche—and wasn’t much taken by anything … Continue reading →

Posted in Transportation, Urban | Leave a comment

Hong Kong creates a little more parkland

Posted on January 14, 2020 by Christopher Winters

Hong Kong is (famously) not a very democratic place, but, when it comes to things that do not matter very much to the government in Beijing, there can be a considerable amount of public discussion. A case in point is … Continue reading →

Posted in Urban | Leave a comment

Was Chicago still building “too much” in 2018?

Posted on January 14, 2020 by Christopher Winters

I’ve put up three previous posts1 in which I pointed out that, given Chicago’s continued population losses, there was an enormous amount of residential building in the Chicago urban area, or at least an enormous amount of residential-building permit-filing. This … Continue reading →

Posted in Urban | Leave a comment