Urban Issues

Thoughts on “The Slumless City”

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Ryan Pucyzki, publisher of the City of Yes Substack newsletter, published an excellent (and timely) article yesterday about New Haven, CT’s attempt to reinvent itself  read more »

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Why God Came Back

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Nearly 60 years ago, Time magazine, then an important publication, posed a discomfiting question on its cover: “Is God Dead?” Yet today, a spiritual hunger grips America  read more »

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Haunted Facades and Fragile Trust: On Michael Vahrenwald’s The People’s Trust

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A few weekends ago, my son and I attended the Institute for Contemporary Photography’s (ICP) annual Photobook Fair in New York City.  read more »

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August Transit Ridership Falls Below 78% of 2019

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Due to the shutdown of non-essential government services, web sites for the Census Bureau, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, and other statistical agencies all say that postings of new data will be delayed.  read more »

The Two Americas

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The late Charlie Kirk may have been best known for his conservative politics, but those politics also resonated with traditional values, religious faith, and family life — one side of a critical divide in our society.  read more »

The Far-Left are Destroying Portland and Seattle, and Voters Couldn't Care Less

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As recently as a decade ago, Portland was widely seen as a model American city, a European wannabe built around dense apartments, mass transit and every conceivable form of political correctness.  read more »

LA Failures Are Killing Its Tourism Industry

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For much of the past century, Los Angeles has been a magnet for migrants seeking a better life and tourists eager to see Hollywood up close. Yet the picture now looks very different.  read more »

Theodore Waddell and the Urgency of the Real

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In an art world drunk on theory and spectacle, a Montana painter insists on snow, cattle, and weather—and on the discipline of seeing.  read more »

Pause in the Rush: Rediscovering the Majesty of New York Through Mikko Takkunen's Lens

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New York rarely stops moving. The rhythm of the subway, the honk of impatient horns, the relentless press of footsteps on concrete - the city demands motion.  read more »

Rauschenberg’s New York and the Problem of Seeing Only Surfaces

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New York has always been a city of images. From the iconic skyline to the endless stream of photos on Instagram, what we see of the city often stands apart from what it truly is.  read more »