Category Archives: book

Bicycling, book, Heart, placemaking, Rail, urbanism, Wishes

My Placemaking Wishes for 2015

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Happy New Year folks! I’m posting this with about 12 hours to go on the East Coast, but I believe we’ll make it just in time. And as always at year’s end, I am here with a few things that I hope all of us placemakers and citizens can see in 2015:

Truly Open Streets

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Remember this picture of me? I was playing on a B-cycle demonstration bike on the street that I helped paint, to have an open streets event there. Yet, from then to now, not just in Greensboro, but in many other cities, the streets haven’t been so open. In fact, many have been hostile. My wish is that we can start looking at people on our streets, not as threats, not as people to shake money out of, not as places to speculate our real estate futures and to shoot to kill, but as places where we can celebrate our achievements and what it means to be human. I might be wishing this every year, but I’m going to get us started there. If we block the streets in 2015, I pray that it’s to have a party, be at peace and be better neighbors.

High-Speed Rail

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I’ve been on more trains and planes than I can count on my fingers this year. I’m reading Tom Zoellner’s Train. I’ve met  and mingled with so many of my transit nerd herd folks this year. Hold the though of mingling with people to my next wish. I want to put out there that it would be nice for at least the routes outlined in green above to get started this year. Thanks to the US High Speed Rail Association for putting the map above together. (Check out the interactive version). Congrats to the Texas Central Railway and California High Speed Rail Authority for breaking ground in 2014. Kudos to All Aboard Florida for setting a 2015 start date. Yes, high-speed rail is a sticky issue. However, it’s an issue that we need to resolve. Streetcars are nice. But a 90 minute trip between major cities like DC and New York would be even better.

Seeing More of You and Making Better Places Together

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As I mentioned above, I flew and rode trains more than I’ve ever done in my life this year and it was great! I gave my first solo keynote,which is pictured above and you can watch here.  I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at Transportation Camp  DC and festivities surrounding the Transportation Review Board Annual Meeting in a few weeks. North Carolina folks, namely those in and around Greensboro are invited to join me at Scuppernong Books at 7 p.m. on January 17th for a book event. I will read from A Black Urbanist and will sign any copies you have. A very limited number will be for sale. Go ahead and grab a print copy here. There will be a DC book event on January 11 at 7 p.m. during the TRB festivities. I’ll post more information in the next few days on both events. CNU, CCDA and New Partners for Smart Growth are also on the tentative agenda as well. And if you want to help me make this wish come true contact me here.

Again, Happy New Year! See you in 2015!

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book, placemaking, planning, urbanism

And Now, My Book, A Black Urbanist, Essays Vol. 1

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After several years of writing, two months of editing and final writing and several bouts of fear and confidence, my first blog-related, adult book, A Black Urbanist, is now available for your purchase.

It is available in the following formats:

Print— you want me to sign it and hold it in your hand. That privilege will cost more, so keep that in mind. The current link will take you to Blurb to order a non-signed copy. If you would like to order a signed copy, click here.

iBooks–The best of the digital editions, outside of the PDF, will be perfect for my fellow Apple heads, who may be reading on iPads and iPhones.

Kindle— for my folks who are stuck on their Kindles and like the mimicry of the book experience. However, I spent hours trying to get it just so and it still looks a bit wonky. Also, depending on the country, I get less royalties. However, for my international folks, this might be your best bet.

Gumroad—this is a nice protected PDF, with some color, and in a nice 8×10 paper size. You could print this if you wanted. I also get all the proceeds from these sales. Clicking on the photo of the book on my sidebar will always take you here first. Also, Gumroad has an app for iPhone and Android, that allows you to read it there. Search for it, it’s free.

The book is $10 on all digital formats and is $12.83 plus shipping in print and $25 pre-signed. All print prices include shipping and handling.

Once again, you can click here and get it instantly for $10 in a PDF format.

Also, if you are a fellow blogger, member of the traditional press, podcaster, TV person or anybody who is willing to either review or let me come on your blog/podcast/program to talk about the book, please fill out the form below  email me here and I’ll be back to you with a review copy in PDF format.

Thanks to all my family and friends and happy reading!

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Apartment Healing, book, nablopomo

This Little Ole Mountain House

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It’s been two years since I wrote about how much the North Carolina mountains moved me. Today, for my final Apartment Healing feature for November, I’m going to highlight a house that I’d love to have if I moved there.

This is Apartment Healing, the Saturday feature of the The Black Urbanist where I talk about my love of interior design. This month, I’ll be spotlighting a few of my favorite home tours from sites such as Apartment Therapy, AprhoChic and others that share my sense of simple, eclectic and transformative style, especially in spaces and places where its un-expected. Before we get back into the meat of the post, I’m releasing A Black Urbanist-Essays Vol. 1., this Monday. In honor of Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday and in solidarity with those calling for support for black businesses this holiday season, the ebook is only $5, if you enter the code blacksmallbiz. Head here to get your copy.

I’m going to put the disclaimer out now, that this is technically a house in a town, that just so happens to be in  a mountain valley. Still, any house where I can look out of the window and see mountain ranges, is a mountain house.

I’d like to highlight is in Franklin, North Carolina. Apartment Therapy has named it Elise’s Electic Cottage in the Mountains. I was immediately drawn in by her use of primary colors and this image of the sunroom/bedroom.

I love a good sunroom, especially when there’s more to it than patio furniture. This one has a full bed, and if you aren’t shy, you can sleep in what literally is the front of the house. The rest of the house has lots of blue, yellow, green and love pillows and florals. The article describes the house as having the effect of Dorothy walking into the world of color.

As a resident of an emerald city myself, I can appreciate that. Find out more about this house in the original article here.

This post is part of my participation in #NaBloPoMo, the time of the year when bloggers come together to pump out daily content and connect. Find out more about that project and how I’m participating, here and here.

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book, nablopomo, placemaking, urbanism

One Week Until A Black Urbanist

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For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been posting teasers about why I’m writing a book now. However, since we are one( that’s right, one) week from the book release, I wanted to really talk about why now.

There’s a part at the end of the book where I mention that I don’t have all the answers, that I don’t profess solutions, I just want to get a conversation started. In addition, I like telling somewhat serious stories, stories that are real, but have entertainment value. I’m also very concerns about several of the issues I’ve presented in the book.

Finally, so many of you have wanted to have something you could hold of mine! Some of you collect books just like me and would love to have something with my signature on it. Please express your gratitude this week (and every week) for that.

I’d like to thank everyone who’s offered to read and left feedback and shared my posts throughout this month, As I come to the end of my posting experiment, I must say that i’m not looking forward to rolling back and I’ll probably keep up my daily posts. Look for a survey about that soon.

Now, so I can have an awesome book launch day, here are some reasons why you should buy the book and share with as many people as you can.

  • It’s from a millennial perspective: Many people, especially in the real estate, economic development and placemaking sector, want to know what millennials actually want. Why do we want to rent instead of buy? Do we really like bars that much? Do we totally hate the mall? Will we buy all of our stuff on Amazon? Will we stop voting? I answer all these questions in my frame of a black woman millennial. Not the only perspective, but one and sometimes one perspective is all you need to get a sense of what people are doing and what you need to ask.
  • It brings a lot of my thoughts together: Even though it’s billed as  book of essays, a lot of my essays fall under general themes, so you get a better sense and a longer sense of how I feel about things. Also, there are things in the book, that are not on the blog, so you get a few bonus thoughts from me.
  • It’s in plain English: People know about the mall, Amazon, voting, IKEA heart pillows and trains. You won’t find too many mentions of adaptive reuse and I don’t think I use terms like fenestration at all. If you are in any place along the placemaking spectrum and your family has trouble understanding you, give them this book. I’m only one person, but at least they’ll get a dose of what you do daily, without all the heavy language.
  • You want to help me keep writing: If you buy this book on December 1, and if you buy the version here (it’s a simple PDF), then all the proceeds go back to me. If you wait until later get the Kindle/Nook/iBooks or print versions, less money goes to me, but if it’s in print, I can sign it, with a special note for you. Also, if you want to have me come to your local bookstore, or other place where you bring authors to talk, let me know by emailing me here. I can work with your budget and I might even be able to bring books with me.

Hopefully one of those reasons is enough for you to join the folks who’ve already pre-ordered and decided to make my book part of their bookshelf. Once again, here’s the link to the PDF e-book I’ll be back next week with information on pre-orders for print and Kindle/Nook versions. Happy reading!

book, nablopomo

“A Black Urbanist” Book Cover

Keeping it simple today for your Monday, I am debuting the book cover.

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Yes, it’s abstract. Yes, it’s bunch of white walls and black doors and ball lights hanging from the ceiling. I took the picture and I designed the cover myself. And it could change. However, if you purchase the book on December 1 as an e-book, this is the first page you will see. Say you haven’t pre-ordered the book, head on over to Gumroad and do it now.

Next week, I’ll be doing a Q&A about why a book, why now, why an e-book and I’ll be including a special project to take this book to the next level.

This post is part of my participation in #NaBloPoMo, the time of the year when bloggers come together to pump out daily content and connect. Find out more about that project and how I’m participating, here and here.