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“Calm on the surface, paddling furiously underneath.” Back in 2009, when I wrote my first article on wildlife tunnels in an outer suburb of Boston, I figured this might be the first of many features about animal accommodations—slight modifications to the infrastructure that better integrate the human-built environment with the natural world so that animals ...Read more... The post Animal accommodations: in the Reflecting Pool, everything is (fiscally) ducky. appeared first on American...| American Dirt.
I had visited this little shopping center just south of Alexandria, Virginia more than a few times before I ever noticed this bizarre little sign about flying projectiles. It didn’t occur to me during any previous visit, since I normally sat indoors to avoid the scorching summer sun, but apparently some people opt to eat ...Read more... The post Flying projectiles and French pastries: not exactly a familiar pairing! appeared first on American Dirt..| American Dirt.
Continuing the spirit of the previous blog post—surveying big buildings and extolling those that look good from all angles—I migrate this time for a brief look at a building in my hometown that has always captivated me and certainly achieves minor landmark status. Most other visitors to Indianapolis who have lingered in this neighborhood have ...Read more... The post Good from all angles? Why the Murat Temple (Old National) in Indy gets a pass. appeared first on American Dirt..| American Dirt.
Many municipalities in northern Appalachia—which I consider to include Western Pennsylvania, much of Upstate New York, Western Maryland, Western Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and pretty much all of West Virginia—look bigger than they are. If one drives past them on a freeway, the density of buildings that form a skyline makes them look quite large, but, ...Read more... The post Back entrance: why some big buildings beautify their butts. appeared first on American Dirt..| American Dirt.
The historic, eponymous main street of Columbia, South Carolina offers an abundance of smartly preserved three-story buildings, some of which no doubt reflect an effort to preserve the character and details from their post-Civil War time of construction. Most of them look great, and vacancy rates, while far from perfect, are certainly better than a ...Read more... The post Fake façades on Columbia’s Main Street: is modern now retro, or vice versa? appeared first on American Dirt..| American Dirt.
Vienna, an incorporated town in northern Virginia, doesn’t have much in the way of a conspicuous downtown—or at least it didn’t until recently. Little by little, it’s getting one, through higher-density infill development. Until recently, the main drag, Maple Avenue (State Route 123), consisted of a mix of small strip malls, repurposed auto-oriented outparcel buildings, ...Read more... The post Mid-block mastery: how a surging Northern Virginia suburb stanches the flow on country ...| American Dirt.
In a move that was probably a huge shock to about four dozen people, World of Beer (WoB), the craft beer aficionado’s dream chain, closed its Indianapolis location shortly after New Year’s Day 2024. Due in no small part to the devastating effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on the restaurant industry, World of Beer is one ...Read more... The post World of Beer: a declining restaurant chain wasn’t up to the “hip downtown” challenge. appeared first on American Dirt..| American Dirt.
Life at the top can be lonely and bleak…even more if one lives that life on the upper level of a seemingly completely empty parking deck, even while the businesses below it are abuzz. Take the example in this suburban shopping node: The node in question? Springfield, Virginia, which everyone in metro Washington DC knows ...Read more... The post Empty parking deck: do they EVER have a shortage of spaces out in the burbs? first appeared on American Dirt.. The post Empty parking deck: do t...| American Dirt.
Belfield, a city (per the legal definition) in southwest North Dakota just a brief drive from one of the state’s biggest attractions, has seemingly bucked the trend of similarly sized communities throughout the Great Plains. Specifically, it isn’t dwindling to nothing. Instead of experiencing dramatic population loss, Belfield has largely hovered around 1,000 persons for ...Read more... The post Religious enclave in rural America: even the Great Plains can perplex. first appeared on A...| American Dirt.
I know next to nothing about the food sold at Sunshine Spice Café and did not patronize it during my three-day stay in Boise earlier this year. So it would be entirely unfair to carp on petty considerations like operating hours. This brief post, therefore, isn’t a criticism; just an observation. Operating hours often are ...Read more... The post Operating hours: pasting them on a door can create a sticky situation. first appeared on American Dirt.. The post Operating hours: pasting t...| American Dirt.
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Cute little dog! A French bulldog, it seems? It's got those bat ears. Are they still both the most popular and most expensive dog breed in the country? Doesn’t matter. I wrote a feature about regulating animals in privately owned businesses barely a month ago; I don’t usually return to a topic that quickly. And| American Dirt. - Observations of Contemporary Landscapes: An Amateur Lens and...
It’s been a long time coming. But only within the last few weeks, after encountering a big sign at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), did I achieve full awareness of a condition that has crept across the American social domain: indoor dogs everywhere. Here was my indicator: If it’s not immediately obvious, the overhead| American Dirt. - Observations of Contemporary Landscapes: An Amateur Lens and...
As I fine-tune and finish up a much longer blog post, I wanted to fill this dry spell with some amusing content that serves as a follow-up to an unexpectedly popular blog post from about a year ago. I noted last spring the strange, recent proliferation of bumper stickers (magnets in actuality) alerting passers-by of| American Dirt. - Observations of Contemporary Landscapes: An Amateur Lens and...
Therapy dogs: stop crafting loopholes to fair, reasonable laws! (I’m watching you.) | American Dirt.
Several months ago, I did something I rarely do and took a hard line on a polarizing topic: allowing dogs (or other pets) into private businesses. I believed, and continue to believe, that dogs should not be permitted in coffee shops, gyms, hardware stores, grocery stores, or (God forbid) restaurants, unless they are a licensed| American Dirt. - Observations of Contemporary Landscapes: An Amateur Lens and...
