First of all, I hope everyone has had a chance to read the love letter I wrote for Greensboro. I really wanted to set the record straight, especially as I move into a next chapter (details TBA) on this site and in life period. Plus, we’ve been doing a series on love here on the… Continue reading Placebook: The Scribbled Love Note To Your Hometown
Month: February 2014
Greensboro, A Love Letter
Dear Greensboro, Hey, it’s Kristen. How are you? Wait, yeah, I know there’s a lot of you to go around, but in my head, the sum of your whole is the skyline buildings and the trains and scrubby trees that I see right outside my window. To be honest, it’s always been like that. When… Continue reading Greensboro, A Love Letter
Placebook: To City, With Love
As we celebrate the concept of love today, I figured it would be as good of time as any to talk about what it is I love about cities. There are things I like about all versions of the built environment and I do actually love my hometown. More on those things later. So what… Continue reading Placebook: To City, With Love
Placebook: Snow and Everything Else
I am thankful for the decision to work remotely, to stock up on my favorite foods and to write this post to warn folks of weird weather times. Of course, I saw a lot of the last point on that list yesterday. This is a special snow and sleet-covered edition of Placebook, live from the… Continue reading Placebook: Snow and Everything Else
Placebook: Neighborhood Stores Can Be and Should Be Our Friends
So as I welcome more of the white stuff, my thoughts have drifted to what it means to have a decent neighborhood store. I’ve written on this topic before. What I wanted to address is the idea that it does matter who owns the store, because of the character of the business and the commitment… Continue reading Placebook: Neighborhood Stores Can Be and Should Be Our Friends
Placebook: You Moved Away, but I Didn’t Move You Out of My Heart
So what brought me to the neighborhood doppelgänger over the weekend was the chance to hang out with some old college friends. Just a few years ago, we all lived in the same complex of buildings, then we all spread out to either the campus apartments, or stayed put in the old buildings (me). I… Continue reading Placebook: You Moved Away, but I Didn’t Move You Out of My Heart
Placebook: Neighborhood Dopplegangers
Photo Credit: Flickr user Paukus. We talk a lot about how many neighborhoods look exactly alike. If we want to be honest, it happens in big cities with blocks of condo towers and post-World War II suburbs. Critics of new urbanism say that the homes look too much like a certain style as well. The… Continue reading Placebook: Neighborhood Dopplegangers
Placebook: Promises from America?
Last night I watched American Promise, the documentary created by two parents who believed their son would be destined for greatness, all because of getting into one of the top private schools in the country. They then decided to film their son and a few of their classmates in-depth (although only one student remained in… Continue reading Placebook: Promises from America?
Placebook: Celebration Town?
I’ve just started reading this memoir of the two journalists who moved their family to Celebration, FL, one of the famous “new town” settlements of the late 1990s. I’m very interested in hearing what it’s really like for people who are not architecture and planning nerds to move into a town like this, especially right… Continue reading Placebook: Celebration Town?
Placebook: City with a Chance of Rain
I’m usually not a fan of the rain. However, there’s something about seeing the rain come down on a city street, while people continue to scurry about and everything’s just close enough that you might be able to slide into the next bar or coffeeshop (or now bookstore) without using your umbrella. Of course, there’s… Continue reading Placebook: City with a Chance of Rain