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"If you want a more just and equitable world, it would be insane to continue doing the sorts of things that delivered this one. Let’s try something different. Let’s try and see if that HDTV will fit in my trunk."

Charles Davis, giving advice for The New Inquiry.

No matter what your politics are, you will have fun reading this. I promise.

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These Are the Books You Must Read About Maps

So happy to come across this link. Which title is more salivating, A History of the World in Twelve Maps or The Power of Maps? Nom.

If you haven't read The Ghost Map, that's a great place to start.

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Here’s a thought experiment: imagine if the federal government financed schools but the local government supported the retired and elderly. In that scenario, localities wouldn’t encourage the elderly to move in, because that would cost the local government money. Currently, we have the opposite system: the elderly are supported by Social Security and schools are supported locally. That’s why many suburbs are shaping their development priorities to discourage families with kids, because they cost money, whereas the elderly are “free.” If you flip who’s paying for what in the background legal system, priorities change.

-Gerald Furg in an interview at Urban Omnibus ("The Underlying Structure")

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Remaking Cities Congress will convene in Pittsburgh this October

I am excited. That is all.

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When Is It OK To Wear Headphones In Public?

Stephen Thompson, writing for All Songs Considered:

"The gray areas are places where courtesy dictates that you be available to engage with and/or listen to others."

This is one of my favorite debates, and I don't think this guy gets it right. Or, at least, he doesn't acknowledge the grayness of most places. The line at a convenience store in my opinion, is a place where you should be "on-call" in your ability engage with others. Standing room only on the bus or train is the same thing.

Implications for public spaces, no matter where you stand.

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Hong Kong Timelapse, via Aaron Renn at The Urbanophile.

I don't want to say cityscape timelapses are totally blasé, but they are becoming a dime-a-dozen. This one elevates the game though. Not your grandpa's timelapse.

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Above: Parking catastrophe in Washington, D.C., the result of a 1974 bus strike. Part of a great collection of Documerica photos from The Atlantic.

The EPA has an interesting "Then and Now" flickr page that compares recent photos against the "visual environmental baseline" photos taken by Documerica photographers.  Sort of ironic, after the program had its funding slashed only a year after it was commissioned, that "Then and Now" is just now fulfilling a small part of the project's goal.

For more information on Documeria, see my previous post.

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Great photo essay: "Greenland: A Global Warming Laboratory," by Joe Raedle (via The Atlantic)