From transit planner Jarrett Walker, Public Transit and the Postal Service Have the Same Problem. Postal and transit services have the same problem. We want them to attract high usage and we want them to go everywhere, but those goals imply opposite kinds of service. Pursuing either goal will cause outcomes that look like failure […]
Author Archives: Andy McMillan
Under Central Park
From earlier this year, Vox producer Ranjani Chakraborty shares the story of Seneca Village, the Black neighborhood that was razed to provide land for the construction of New York’s Central Park.
It’s Rain in Games
My pal Jez Burrows put together a 30 minute long supercut of rain in videogames. Related: his previous effort to collect every time the McElroy Brothers say “boy” in the first 420 episodes of My Brother, My Brother, and Me.
Appeayl 2 U
After almost 10 years of silence, indie supergroup Gayngs have reappeared with a new song titled Appeayl 2 U. A project of producer Ryan Olson, Gayngs members have included Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Doomtree’s P.O.S and Dessa, Har Mar Superstar, and members of Megafaun, Digitata, and The Rosebuds. Although I’ve never been especially enamored with […]
The Mail
Motherboard just announced a weekly newsletter about the United States Postal Service called The Mail, written by senior staff writer Aaron Gordon. You can subscribe to the email version for free, or pay $30 to receive a monthly zine, rather appropriately, in the mail. The USPS is often confused as a private business that the […]
The Steel Bridge
As work continues to upgrade the Steel Bridge this summer, TriMet have produced a short video on its history. Related: this very satisfying time-lapse of the recent construction work.
Residential Infill Project
Earlier this week, Portland City Council passed historic housing reform known as the Residential Infill Project, which re-legalizes middle housing like triplexes and fourplexes and incentivizes building more dense and affordable housing throughout the city. The ordinance also makes the construction of driveways optional and removes on-site parking requirements, essentially removing mandated parking minimums city-wide. […]
Transit Class
The City of Portland has just announced that they’ll be offering their annual Portland Traffic & Transportation course as an online class this year. The course, co-founded in 1991 by everyone’s favorite bespectacled cycling enthusiast (and Oregon Congressman) Earl Blumenauer, has been offered free of charge to any Portland resident interested in learning more about […]
Bound for Mars
Meet the three spacecraft heading to Mars this summer.
Defunctland on the ’64 World’s Fair
Defunctland, a YouTube channel that usually focusses on producing video essays about discontinued amusement park attractions, has been branching out a bit lately. Their latest video is about the 1964 New York World’s Fair, and the collaboration between New York city planner Robert Moses and Walt Disney. Related: Defunctland’s video on the the invention of […]