The Best Sentences of the Week (Volume 3)

By no means authoritative or comprehensive, here's a collection of noteworthy phrases, paragraphs, commentaries, observations, and more from the recent week in the planning and urbanism discussion.

3 minute read

October 26, 2014, 1:00 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Banksy Graffiti

Jeremy Reddington / Shutterstock

"In this world we are living in, 98 percent of everything that is built and designed today is pure shit. There's no sense of design, no respect for humanity or for anything else. They are damn buildings and that's it." Spoken by Frank Gehry at a press conference, as reported by Gizmodo.

"Ronan grasped two things before most people did. First, he understood that transit was the future, not the past," and, "Nearly 50 years after Ronan inaugurated the MTA, though, it looks like he was right—and his vision helped save New York." From "Savior of the Subways," by Nicole Gelinas for City Journal.

"This photo pretty much says everything that needs to be said about the absurdity of the flying car….I wouldn’t even bring it up except a flying car salesman was the man of the hour at an otherwise (mostly, er, somewhat) serious daylong forum on transportation issues yesterday sponsored by the Washington Post. The flying car in question was parked outside the building, blocking a bike lane on 14th Street." From "Someone Has Built the Ultimate 1950s Fantasy Vehicle All Over Again," by Tanya Snyder for Streetsblog USA.

"Everyone else, on the other hand, treats placemaking much like spell-check does. They look at that word and mentally underline it with little squiggly lines of red. 'What is that?'…How can you have a movement that doesn’t pass the spell-check test? From "Why I’m Hopeful We Can Create Better Places," by Matt Carmichael for Livability.

"The flat top was the Los Angeles hallmark, and a squandered opportunity for distinction and unusual architecture; the spire is an invitation to ascend toward a different kind of bland, gleaming sameness, toward false heights and largely unremarkable stunt architecture. But maybe that suits LA just fine." From "The Tall, Skinny, Shining Skyline That L.A. Deserves," by Matt Buchanan for The Awl.

"In other words, there is no escape. If anything, the idea of the normal, through its rejection of the possibility of an avant-garde, denies the possibility that we might design our way out of our current predicament. Instead of showing us a way out, it simply freezes us in an eternal present." From "No more normcore," by Sam Jacob for ArtReview.

"These border-crossing connections are my favorite thing about what we’re building at Instagram. You see those connections everywhere, in amazing accounts like @everydayafrica, to a gathering of 900 Instagrammers (known as an Instameet) in Jakarta, to an independent illustrator or photographer who is building a following through sheer talent. It’s this time- and space-travel that I’m most excited about continuing to build…" From "Why Instagram Worked," by Mike Krieger for Medium.

"To my amazement, the 9/11 Memorial Museum is a place of memory and meaning as powerful as anything this country has produced since the Vietnam Memorial. It works because there is almost nothing there. Its emptiness is what impresses and weighs on you." From "Aaron Betsky Goes Back to Ground Zero," By Aaron Betsky for Architect.

Sweeping view of Portland, Oregon with Mt. Hood in background against sunset sky.

Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary

Cities have a one-time chance to acquire new land for development in a bid to increase housing supply and affordability.

March 12, 2024 - Housing Wire

Aerial view of green roofs with plants in Sydney, Australia.

Where Urban Design Is Headed in 2024

A forecast of likely trends in urban design and architecture.

March 10, 2024 - Daily Journal of Commerce

Cobblestone street with streetcar line, row of vintage streetlights on left, and colorful restaurant and shop awnings on right on River Street in Savannah, Georgia.

Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts

From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.

March 12, 2024 - Strong Towns

Aerial View of Chuckanut Drive and the Blanchard Bridge in the Skagit Valley.

Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding

The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.

March 18 - The Seattle Times

Historic buildings in downtown Los Angeles with large "Pan American Lofts" sign on side of building.

Adaptive Reuse Bills Introduced in California Assembly

The legislation would expand eligibility for economic incentives and let cities loosen regulations to allow for more building conversions.

March 18 - Beverly Press

View from above of swan-shaped paddleboats with lights on around artesian fountain in Echo Park Lake with downtown Los Angeles skylien in background at twilight.

LA's Top Parks, Ranked

TimeOut just released its list of the top 26 parks in the L.A. area, which is home to some of the best green spaces around.

March 18 - TimeOut

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