Author: Chuck Wolfe

Charles R. (Chuck) Wolfe, M.R.P., J.D. provides a unique perspective about cities as both a long time writer about urbanism worldwide and an attorney in Seattle, where he focuses on land use and environmental law and permitting. In particular, his work involves the use of sustainable development techniques and innovative land use regulatory tools on behalf of both the private and public sectors. He is also an Affiliate Associate Professor in the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington, where he teaches land use law at the graduate level. He contributes regularly to several publications including Planetizen, CityLab/The Atlantic Cities, The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, Grist, seattlepi.com, and Crosscut.com. He blogs at myurbanist.com.

watching the dance of density

On By Chuck WolfeIn compact development, everyday urbanism, pedestrianism, placemaking2 Comments

For those parts of the city where compactness breeds activity, moments in time show the potential of human interaction.

Here, we have no sense of context, and we do not know what will come next.

Will the protagonists of this photograph interact as friends or relatives, or are they strangers passing by? Is this a parking meter transaction, with surrounding pedestrians, or a social gathering soon to be underway?

Countless scenes like this one weave together the urban story, for the most part safely and without incident. For the careful observer, patterns can yield answers and lessons about the fundamental elements of naturally-occurring city life.

Image composed by the author.

what urban locks tell us as passers-by

On By Chuck WolfeIn everyday urbanism, infrastructure2 Comments

By day and night, traditional gateways create barriers between public and private spaces.

Sometimes more symbolic than secure, the urban lock speaks to tradition and reality. The skillful can break through, but most will respect the craftsmanship as a sign to be honored.

It does not take long to see the diverse forms of urban locks, sometimes almost comically layered to fend off the feared.

Sometimes, the lock as symbol is apparently an insufficient bar, and the passerby sees a second layer of signage. suggesting the sound of the urban alarm.

All images composed by the author.

displaying a survival kit of urbanism

On By Chuck WolfeIn compact development, everyday urbanism, placemaking, sustainability2 Comments

In one way or another, as city-dwellers, we all have our urbanist survival kits—our daily tools of transport and leisure. They are often clustered in a front hall or front porch, usually in a private space.

Yet. increasingly, I’ve seen them shown for public display, or even stored in the public realm, perhaps evidence of a humanizing urban trend.

Here, on the street side of a fence on a city sidewalk, someone shows us a survival kit for walking, riding, playing, and getting protection from the rain.

Image composed by the author.

when a building smiles in the city

On By Chuck WolfeIn everyday urbanism, placemaking, urban views3 Comments

In early evening, through color and form, a building speaks and smiles.

Image composed by the author.

towards a more visual measure of people and place

On By Chuck WolfeIn everyday urbanism, placemaking, sustainability, urban views7 Comments

In cities, people and place mix seamlessly, as inhabitants interact both with each other and the locations where they live, work or play. These “people and place transactions” are relationships worthy of further study as visual manifestations of organic urban life.

In this context, “employment” in the modern sense gives way to a range of underlying roles, such as observer, thinker, vendor or helper. Sometimes alone and forlorn, sometimes passive, inquisitive and in motion, such roles define the day-to-day urban landscape.

The images below present selected examples compiled over a recent three-hour period. No matter what the currency and measure of profit, each has worth in depicting the vernacular. Surely in our own contexts, most of us have played these illustrated roles of contemplation, education, shopkeeping—even feeding pigeons—at the intersection of the public and private domains.

Accordingly, in the changing city, shouldn’t we better design for who we really are?

All images composed by the author. Click on each image for more detail.