My Resume (PDF)
Who I am
Native of Columbus, Ohio; former resident of Chicago; former resident of Ithaca, New York; Regional (Urban) Planning graduate from Cornell; current resident of Anchorage, Alaska.
I like things tightly-woven, in colorful complex patterns.
Loose ends fray me at the edges, unravelling, undone.
I thrive on projects, on tasks, on the acts of cultivation and care.
I tend to tend to things, and would like to be tended too.
Why This Blog Exists
I transitioned from studying modern British history to cubicle work to an urban planning program to being a community-minded consultant, but I’ve always been interested in cities and how things work. (Not to mention a renewed LEGO enthusiasm!) This blog was a place to get some thoughts in order, post some pretty pictures, and share them with whoever happens to wander by.
Areas of interest
[Under construction]
Industry, how we lost it, and where we’ve managed to keep it. Old places and keeping them safe. Working with businesses. Understanding where our food comes from. Public education about cities. Walking more, driving less. Bus bunching and how to stop it. Smaller cars. Nicer parks. Getting people to actually want (and demand) what’s good for them. Emergent properties. Absurdity, all forms. Re-learning what we forgot in the post-WW2 building spree. LEGOs as a creative outlet, learning tool, experimental medium. Systems and their limitations. Patterns. The creation, analysis, flow, and storage of information. Understanding how people feel about where they live.
Technical Specs
System: Windows Vista
Browser: Firefox
RSS: Google Reader
Phone: Verizon, LG
Camera: Nikon D40 D-SLR, basic 18-55mm lens (VR), standard flash
Software: Adobe Photoshop CS3
Places I’ve lived
Columbus, Ohio – old semi-city neighborhood north of Ohio State campus
Phoenix, Arizona (very briefly) – desert sprawl in a relatively fertile valley
Hilliard, Ohio – farmland sprawl, cookie-cutter development, chain stores
Iron Mountain/Kingsford, Michigan – small town in the Upper Peninsula woods
Granville, Ohio – “New England charm” on a beautiful hill between aging malls and a brand-new mall
Oxford, England – centuries-old market and university town, surrounded by ring roads of sprawl developed in the south Midlands
Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois – old university neighborhood with equal parts “character” and “characters”
Oak Park, Illinois – semi-urban, semi-suburban, with old money and Frank Lloyd Wright’s studio
Wicker Park, Chicago, Illinois – rows of grey three-flats and new condos, hipster central
Cayuga Heights, Ithaca, New York – between Cornell and the malls, “rural with money”-style neighborhood with a deer problem
Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois – high-rise condos separate the lake from mid-century apartments and the sleepy far north side
West Slope, Ithaca, New York – a straight incline up to yet another hill, with apartments perched precariously above deer grazing lands
Anchorage, Alaska – in a neighborhood about as urban as it gets up here; the biggest city for at least 1000 miles around, and there the similarity to NYC ends
See my other blogs
Stan and Ergo
– webcomic for venting former work frustrations
Loose ends fray me at the edges, unravelling, undone.
I thrive on projects, on tasks, on the acts of cultivation and care.
I tend to tend to things, and would like to be tended too.
City Forward 