Archives /// Hilary Best

Urban Planet: Street Vendors’ Guide

Urban Planet is a daily roundup of  blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. New York City's 10,000 street vendors face myriad rules and regulations. Add to that many first languages other than English and it becomes easy to see how cart owners could face steep penalties for simple infractions. To address this issue and empower the city's ...

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Urban Planet: Detroit’s 40 Square Miles of Vacant Land

Urban Planet is a daily roundup of  blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. It's well known that Detroit has experienced a large population decline leaving large swaths of land abandoned. The oft cited number is 40 square miles. But as Kate Davidson at Changing Gears reports, nobody is quite sure where that number came from. New ...

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Urban Planet: Unique Hydro Pylons

Urban Planet is a daily roundup of  blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. Hydro pylons can be a bit of an eyesore. In response, Russian creative collective Design Depot has proposed a set of creative approaches to beautify this challenging piece of infrastructure. Spacing asks: is there potential to use these modified pylons in the urban environment? ...

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Urban Planet: Cracking Down on Chicago’s Food Trucks

Urban Planet is a daily roundup of  blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. “You can’t get me for premeditated selling of a cupcake,” says Chicago truck vendor Lupita Kuri. A police officer noted her intended location from a Facebook post and ticked her for parking in a loading zone. Food trucks are very popular in the windy ...

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Urban Planet: Dumpster Camera

Urban Planet is a daily roundup of  blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. Colossal reports on the artistic exploits of a group of garbagemen in Hamburg, Germany. By drilling a hole and suspending a sheet of photo paper inside, this group has turned dumpsters into pinhole cameras. The results are incredible - check them out at ...

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Urban Planet: Scoring Walk Score

Urban Planet is a daily roundup of  blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. Launched in 2007, Walk Score is a popular website for evaluating the walkability of a particular address or neighbourhood. Embraced (for the most part) by both the planning and real estate communities, Walk Score provides a single number which translates a variety of complex ...

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Urban Planet: Old Maps Online

Urban Planet is a daily roundup of  blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. Google Maps has revolutionized the way we approach cartography, but really old specimens have a je ne sais quoi that is tough to replicate in digital form. Old Maps Online, an initiative of the The Great Britain Historical GIS Project and ...

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Urban Planet: Remarkable Parking Garages

Urban Planet is a daily roundup of  blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. The classic brick and limestone building pictured above is a beautiful feature of Michigan State University’s campus. But would you believe that this gem is actually a 730 car parking facility? Rana Florida of the Creative Class Group catalogues some architectural beauties that serve ...

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Urban Planet: Comparing Transit in Toronto, Montreal and Los Angeles

Urban Planet is a daily roundup of  blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. What happens when a Los Angeleno rides Toronto's TTC and Montreal's Metro? Blogger Tim Adams did just that and his discovered some interesting contrasts between the three transit systems. Adams take-aways include: Canadian politicians don't take transit; our subways are graffiti-free; our stations leave ...

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Urban Planet: Ikea Neighbourhood

Urban Planet is a daily roundup of  blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. Move over Ektorp and Lack - Ikea is moving out of the living room and into the world of urban planning. The furniture giant's land development arm, LandProp, is developing a series of all-rental private neighbourhoods. The first, Strand East, will be located in ...

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