Category: urban views

the rural landscape, through an urbanist lens

On By Chuck WolfeIn everyday urbanism, pedestrianism, placemaking, sustainability, urban views, urbanism without effortLeave a comment

Palouse_Barns_ChuckWolfe

My Facebook page usually caters to a distinctly urbanist clientele. But, the most “liked” photos on the page last week were far from urban, with subjects dramatically divorced from city life.

Almost all who clicked “like” are transit, bike or urban density proponents, leaving me pondering why my photographs attracted such sudden admiration of life “back on the farm”.

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I took four days off to photograph the Palouse region at the border of Washington State and Idaho with 14 others–an organized road trip led by online photo personality Steve Huff, and a Seattle Leica enthusiast, Dr. Ashwin Rao.

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Today’s post continues as an entry on Crosscut. For the remainder, click here.

Images composed by the author in Washington State and Idaho. Click on each image for more detail. © 2009-2013 myurbanist. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy.

For more information on the role of personal experience in understanding the changing city, see Urbanism Without Effort, an e-book from Island Press.

three simple methods to inspire urban change

On By Chuck WolfeIn everyday urbanism, infill development, pedestrianism, placemaking, sustainability, urban views, urbanism without effortLeave a comment

One of my favorite motivational scenes, that inspires city reinvention, is the one above.

The photo shows the first part of the Nice, France tramway—a city-center transit line which has helped change an automobile-oriented downtown. Experiencing this image in real-time, applying the full range of human senses, compelled my understanding of what is achievable amid the urban fabric of today.

Immersion in the real look and feel (and sometimes sound and smell) of a more compact and sustainable local experience can feed arguments for change, justify expenditures or tell how to cast a strategic election vote. Personal involvement is the most powerful and verifiable way to champion the city cause, over and above mere acceptance of empirical data, article prose and illustrations.

Unfortunately, when it comes to these far-away urban places, not all of us have real-time access to the inspirational modern projects served by transit, or the historic monuments, streets and squares that illustrate the potential of creative city life.
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Today’s post continues as an entry on The Huffington Post. For the remainder, click here.  For more information on the role of personal experience in understanding the changing city, see Urbanism Without Effort, an e-book from Island Press.

Image composed by the author.

understanding cities through urban diaries

On By Chuck WolfeIn everyday urbanism, placemaking, sustainability, urban views, urbanism without effortLeave a comment

LisbonDiary_chuckwolfe

“Reading the City,” the late 2012 column from urbanist Allison Arieff, is stuck in my head.

Arieff’s year-end piece for The New York Times described with style and subtle irony how she escaped a “smart city” conference in Barcelona, and explored the urban spaces around her, armed with only a conventional map. She ended her column with a recommended reading list of books that tell stories about cities. The kind of stories that happen outside of conference halls — experiential, first-hand stories.

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Today’s post continues as an exclusive entry at Crosscut. For the remainder, click here.

Image composed by the author.

 

Urbanism Without Effort, the first week

On By Chuck WolfeIn compact development, everyday urbanism, infill development, pedestrianism, placemaking, sustainability, urban views, urbanism without effort, vignettesLeave a comment

Thanks to Island Press, readers, colleagues and friends for the support during the first week of the Urbanism Without Effort launch.

The response through online vendors–especially Amazon rankings–suggests that a long-form version of the myurbanist approach has merit, and was, perhaps, long overdue.  And for those who have already downloaded, enhancements are coming, free of charge!

The Urbanism Without Effort web page is a one-stop venue about the book, related media and appearances. The summary below appears on the site’s Media page, and is current as of today.

The following 2013 articles and reviews reference Urbanism Without Effort:

Ronald Holden, “Chuck Wolfe’s urban manifesto“, Cornichon

ULI-Northwest Blog Entry on Book Launch Event (with downloadable Powerpoint presentation)

Roger Valdez. “Urbanism Without Effort? Let It Be!“, Seattle’s Land Use Code

Planetizen, “The Dynamic Potential of Urbanism Without Effort“, Planetizen

Miriam Axel-Lute. “Where Community is at Work Making Itself“, Shelterforce

Juan Carlos Garcia de los Reyes, “Urbanismo Sin Efuerzo“, La Cuidad Comprometida, Granada, Spain

Kaid Benfield, “How City Lights Change the Way We Experience Places“, NRDC Switchboard

 

The following representative 2013 articles by the Author reference Urbanism Without Effort:

“Alley Movie Nights: Can you say urbanism without effort?“, Crosscut

“The Dynamic Potential of Urbanism Without Effort“, The Atlantic Cities

“Picturing 10 Qualities Every City Should Have“, The Atlantic Cities

“Picturing 10 Urban Qualities Central to Every City“, Crosscut

“Reclaiming the Urban Memory“, Sustainable Cities Collective

“Movement and Settlement, Upside Down“, The Huffington Post

Urbanism Without Effort, now available

On By Chuck WolfeIn compact development, everyday urbanism, infill development, pedestrianism, placemaking, urban views, urbanism without effortLeave a comment

Cover

As many of you know, I’ve spent many exciting and rewarding years exploring and documenting cities around the world, as a land use/environmental attorney, as a writer, and for my own enjoyment. I am continually motivated when experiencing great cities firsthand, and learning from historic and diverse examples how to create authentic urban environments.

Through these explorations, I’ve come to the conclusion that before we can create workable, sustainable urban areas, we need to understand what happens naturally when people congregate in cities.

I’m very pleased to announce that Island Press has just published a short e-book sharing my photographs and observations of how city dwellers interact naturally with one another and the urban environment, and how these interactions can be more readily observed and adapted. Part of the Island Press E-ssentials program, Urbanism Without Effort (9781610914420/$3.99) argues that in our rush to engineer livable, connected places, we have lost sight of the fact that the best urban places are fluid, spontaneous, and human.

A short article based on the book appears today as an exclusive in The Atlantic Cities, here. For more information and testimonials, see the book’s press release, here, or go to urbanismwithouteffort.com.

I hope you find the book inspiring. Please share this information with your own contacts, both those steeped in cities, urban planning, design and regulation, as well as those whose interests stem from their own daily experience with urban environments. You can download the book atAmazon, Barnes & Noble, the Apple Store, Kobo and other electronic vendors.

If you’d like to submit a review for a publication or website, you can request a review copy at press@islandpress.org. If you have any questions or ideas for how to use Urbanism Without Effortin your own work, please get in touch.

P.S. For those of you in the Seattle area, the Urban Land Institute and Futurewise have been kind enough to host a book release event at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7, at the GGLO Space at the Steps. You can learn more and register here.