Blog

A few weeks ago, my husband and I pulled away from our driveway in Waco, Texas, and pointed the car north, toward I-35. It was around 10:00 a.m. and we… Read more: How to Spot Ecosystem Collapse, Three Signs

Lined with trees, a historic movie theater, and a handful of small businesses, Austin Avenue is one of the prettiest streets in downtown Waco. Unfortunately, it’s also jammed-packed with cars.… Read more: Context Is King

For three weeks out of the month of July, my husband and I worked as dog sitters in West Lake Hills, a small suburban city six miles from downtown Austin,… Read more: 3 Takeaways From Ivan Illich’s Critique of Cars

Recently, I was listening to a podcast where the guest lamented efforts to take away cars and “force people to depend on public transit.” This sentiment runs deep in some… Read more: Don’t Ban Cars; Ban the Car Monopoly

A few weeks ago, I piled into a car with two girlfriends from church. We strapped my son Levi into his car seat and headed for I-35. We were on… Read more: The Drip Effect: A Small Change Can Be Powerful, Too

You know what they say about hindsight: it’s 20-20. I definitely felt this recently as I walked in the hot summer sun back to my car. I had just spent… Read more: 3 Questions To Ask Your Council Member as a Strong Towns Advocate

I recently married my boyfriend Rob and moved ten minutes from my home in Sanger Heights into a garage flat belonging to a couple from our church. Rob had been… Read more: Designing for Resilience: Policies Are Great, but Design Is What Will Change Your Life

Few things provide a lesson in urban banality like driving from one Texas city to another along Interstate 35. Over the past two months, I’ve found myself resigned to this… Read more: What Ever Happened to Beauty?

My first summer of living in Waco, Texas, I sat up late one night journaling. It had been about 10 months since leaving Brooklyn. What did I miss, exactly, I… Read more: Social Infrastructure: The Real Investment Our Cities Need

During our honeymoon last month, my newly minted husband and I ventured from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Albuquerque in search of a burrito from Sadie’s, an infamous, 60-plus-year-old, family-run… Read more: Don’t Just Add Trains, Sidewalks, and Bike Lanes to Your City

I originally thought this email newsletter would be about interesting trends, articles and podcasts related to cities. It might grow into that, but for now, I’d like to take a more… Read more: Part 5: Visions of Livability

I originally thought this email newsletter would be about interesting trends, articles and podcasts related to cities. It might grow into that, but for now, I’d like to take a more… Read more: Part 4: The Power of Proximity

This is Part 3 in an email newsletter series about my move from Brooklyn, NY to Waco, Texas. Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here. My first year in Waco,… Read more: Part 3: Rhythms of Life

This is Part 2 in an email newsletter series about my move from Brooklyn, NY to Waco, Texas. Read Part 1 here. My first day in Waco, I went on… Read more: Part Two: Grieving

I originally thought this email newsletter would be about interesting trends, articles and podcasts related to cities. It might grow into that, but for now, I’d like to take a… Read more: Part One: A Surprising Detour

A few weeks ago, my boyfriend Rob and I were driving back after a long hike in Waco’s beautiful Cameron Park when we spotted a locally owned baked-goods truck a… Read more: In Hospitable Cities, You’re Welcomed by Design

This article originally ran for Strong Towns. Nearly a year ago, just after moving to Waco, Texas, I found myself huddled on the couch with my roommate, wearing every possible… Read more: Snow Day: Can Your City Pass The “Winter Test”?

This article originally ran for Strong Towns I first fell in love with cities from reading Jane Jacobs’ book The Death and Life of Great American Cities. I especially resonated… Read more: Building Your Engagement Ladder: Five Practices to Start Advocating for Resilience

As more Americans receive COVID-19 vaccines, “getting back to normal” has become the phrase du jour. But when it comes to the design of our cities and neighborhoods, some city leaders are… Read more: Rethinking Normal: Five Ways to Explore Your City Without a Car

This essay originally appeared in Verily Magazine in October, 2021 Roughly a year ago (13 months to be exact), I found myself sitting in the passenger’s seat of a friend’s… Read more: The Importance of Proximity in Community

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I lived in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. As August rolled around, I made a spontaneous move and have spent the… Read more: Three ways cars disrupt our sense of place

We’ve all seen them on our Instagram feed: older people photographed in classy outfits, reading a newspaper, sipping a coffee, or walking with their hands folded behind their back. It… Read more: Cities Are for Older People, Too

Last Christmas, I had a lengthy and interesting debate with my mom about car dependence and the value of living in walkable places. Given her age and various health challenges,… Read more: The Hidden Inequity of Car-Based Design

I’ve written previously about why it probably sucks to walk around your city. But I still think you should do it if you really want to understand the built environment… Read more: Three Questions to Ask While Walking Your City

The processes that drive community engagement in our cities are broken, so most of us avoid them. They take up a lot of time, involve a dizzying amount of coordination,… Read more: Getting Involved in Your City is Tough…But Good for You (3 Reasons)

One of the basic realities about cities is that they change. They change because humans change and keeping pace with this reality is at the heart of urban resilience. Resilient… Read more: The Cost of Adaptation is Too Damn High

As a traveling journalist, I have walked dozens of cities. I’ve walked the streets of Paris and Rome, the streets of forgotten small towns in the American South. I’ve walked… Read more: 5 Reasons Why Walking Your City (Most Likely) Sucks

The events of 2020 have made it obvious the role that proximity plays in how we experience our cities. The lockdowns of COVID-19 trapped many Americans in their suburban neighborhoods.… Read more: Why proximity matters

One of the most well-known Christian parables is the story of the Good Samaritan. When a law expert asks Jesus how to inherit eternal life, Jesus reminds him to keep… Read more: The relationship between urban design and charity

Setbacks are one of those design principles that are so obvious in our cities that we don’t even see them. They are a design requirement that forces developers to leave… Read more: Reading Guide: Setbacks