Tag: History
-
The Role of Immigration in American Family Histories
I have been thinking a lot this week about my ancestry and where I came from. A while back I did the Ancestry DNA test to determine where I came from. I knew from tracing the lineage that I was Irish on my father’s side, but really had no idea on my moms. I heard…
Written by
·
-
The Past and Future City
Book Review Places bring people together and relate our history. While preservation is thought of primarily as ornate and important buildings, it is often the ordinary buildings and neighborhoods that are imbued with meaning through stories and memories. Our sense of self is defined by places, where we are from and what we have learned…
Written by
·
-
The New Urban Crisis
Book Review The new urban crisis does not have a simple definition. According to Florida, it encompasses the gap between superstar cities and all other cities where success of superstar cities creates high housing costs and inequity, pushing out the working and service class. The growing inequality, segregation and sorting in all metro areas creates…
Written by
·
-
The Color of Law
Book Review When I started reading The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein I already knew about FHA’s discriminatory practices in lending and redlining from previous research for creating a local historic district in Lincoln, Nebraska. This is also how I found out about restrictive covenants that prohibited people from living in a house based…
Written by
·
-
The Legacy of World’s Fairs: Evolution Through Time
In today’s world we race to build enough structures to accommodate the Olympic Games every four years, but back in the 1800’s, cities raced to build buildings for the World’s Fair. The first World’s Fair on record took place in 1851 at the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London. Subsequent cities to host the fair…
Written by
·
-
Minnesota 1918: When Flu, Fire, and War Ravaged the State
Book Review When I began reading Minnesota 1918: When Flue, Fire, and War Ravaged the State I thought it would be merely an interesting historical account of events. Early into the book I realized how closely tied to city planning the historical account was. The effects of the fall 1918 fires devastated the northeast portion of the…
Written by
·
-
The Art of Building Cities
Book Review My family has come to know that I love to read books, especially if they are related to planning. So this past Christmas, my sister-in-law gave me the Art of Building Cities by Camillo Sitte. I am surprised I have yet to come across this book, especially when I was conducting research for…
Written by
·
-
Route 66
Book Review Anytime I hear the name Route 66 I immediately think of the animated movie Cars. Little did I know that those cartoon vehicles were based on real people and the town is a compilation of real cities along the highway that stretches from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California. Route 66 was established…
Written by
·
-
Divided Highways
Book Review No single act of congress has so drastically changed the American landscape like the 1956 Federal Aid Highway Act signed by President Eisenhower. Originally expected to cost $25 billion and take 12 years to create the Interstate System, it was not completed until 1992 at a cost of $114 billion. It is easy…
Written by
·
-
Exploring Gruen’s Vision for Car-Free Downtowns
A recent newspaper article about the ABC parking ramps in downtown Minneapolis made reference to the Gruen Plan in Fort Worth, Texas. The brief description outlined Gruen’s proposed ban on all cars from downtown Fort Worth to provide a better pedestrian experience and revitalize the area. Having lived in Texas for a few years, I…
Written by
·
The Planning Lady 