In this volume we have an entry from Avery’s Journey, media we are consuming, a deeper dive into the Washington Metro, and how slow listening has brought people together in Silverton, CO.
All posts by Randy
009 Sam Starr – cargo bikes
In this episode we speak with Sam Starr, a cargo bike expert about what our cities might look like if we shift some (or a substantial amount) of our in-city freight traffic from giant potential trucks to cargo bikes.
Expeditions in Research vol. 2
Expeditions in Research vol. 2: Big Dig, Boston Government Service Center, and Farnsworth House
008 Colin Kelly – Better Bin
Colin Kelly is one part of the NYC-based design firm Group Project, who won the competition for the new Better Bin, to replace the ubiquitous green wire mesh litter bins around New York City. We speak about the state of waste collection in NYC, the design ideas and the prototype process behind Better Bin, and what happens when a group of friends suddenly need to become a real company when they become finalists for a massive design competition.
007 Shaun Mosley – Research is Caring
Shaun Mosley is a researcher and designer who works on public sector tools, and reminds us that research is all about caring. Shaun looks for ways to change the way we think and see the world. It’s not Android and iOS that gets him excited, but crafting the tool that saves his coworkers countless hours. Shaun has experience in designing and developing for mobile and desktop based platforms, in addition to working on tangible products that take the experience beyond the screen of the smart device.
Expeditions in Research
I’ve been thinking a lot about content for the pamphlet and podcast, and how this intersects with my day job of building design capacity at big organizations. So I wanted to share three areas of research, which may or may not become an article or podcast.
006 Sandra Rothbard – freight matters
In this episode we speak with freight expert Sandra Rothbard, who is an urban planner specializing in freight transportation. After working for public agencies in NYC on city logistics, disaster preparedness and solid waste management, she now supports public, private and non-profit organizations around the world as an independent consultant. She focuses on building sustainable, resilient and safe streets, healthy communities and efficient and economic supply chains.
005 Graham Rossmore – Curbs for People
In this episode we speak with parking expert Graham Rossmore, who helped Los Angeles shift their temporary outdoor dining program to a permanent feature, allowing a greater use of curb and parking space than just car storage. His work found that areas with Al Fresco dining generated an increase of $12 million in gross sales in 2022 compared to 2019. We also speak about new ways to use the city, which just so happens to be how we used to use the city before cars became the dominant form of transportation.
004 Karen Kubey – Cities of Imagination
Architecture professor Karen Kubey speaks about housing justice, how we need to design for abundance, we don’t live in policy, and how housing supply is part of a larger toolbox to provide housing for all.
003 Joanne Cheung – Cities Book of Play
Cities are sites of aspirations and identities, and ‘play’ can be a means for fostering community engagement. Architect and urbanist Joanne Cheung critiques the prevailing forms of community engagement, suggesting that they are often paternalistic and fail to adequately consider the agency of individuals and communities. Joanne further discuss the implications of power imbalances, the need for co-creation, and how play can act as a ‘scaffolding’ for discussing democratic representation. Play has often become commodified causing an unequal power dynamics in society. Joanne suggests the Cities for Play is but a scaffold in tackling very hard problems democratically, and calls for meaningful engagement through more community-oriented spaces for collective action and creativity.