When a building in blighted Highland Park, Michigan was demolished, a painted advertisement on the adjacent building was revealed. Nearby, other ghost ads remain, "nearly as bright" as ever. Dan Berry reports on why we're so fascinated by them.
"Perhaps we see them as faded invitations to another time, asking us to imagine the everyday rhythms of life when their fresh-paint message first shouted from a brick facade. We study the typeface rarely used today, the phrasing of language that rings odd to the modern ear and, most of all, the names of companies and products once so vital and now no more.
'It's a reminder of our own timeline and how quickly things become obsolete,' said Frank Jump, a photographer and the author of 'Fading Ads of New York City,' (The History Press, 2011). 'One minute people had thriving businesses building buggies, and the next minute Henry Ford is pushing out automobiles on an assembly line and nobody wants horse and buggies anymore.'"
FULL STORY: In a City Fighting Blight, ‘Ghost Signs’ as Portals to a Bygone Era

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Defunct Pittsburgh Power Plant to Become Residential Tower
A decommissioned steam heat plant will be redeveloped into almost 100 affordable housing units.

Trump Prompts Restructuring of Transportation Research Board in “Unprecedented Overreach”
The TRB has eliminated more than half of its committees including those focused on climate, equity, and cities.

Amtrak Rolls Out New Orleans to Alabama “Mardi Gras” Train
The new service will operate morning and evening departures between Mobile and New Orleans.
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