Culture

Close-up of pink cherry blossoms with red Lunar New Year banner.

Parks and Gardens as Spaces to Celebrate Lunar New Year

Parks and gardens serve as communal spaces that bring people together. As such, there are good reasons for them to host events and activities that celebrate Lunar New Year, an important festival deeply rooted in Asian cultures.

February 4, 2024 - National Recreation and Park Association Open Space Blog

Expositoin park enrtance sign in Los Angeles, California with tall palm tree in background.

The Importance of LA's Exposition Park

Centrally located in Los Angeles, Exposition Park is a 160-acre urban park that is home to key recreational, cultural, educational, and athletic institutions and facilities. Learn more about the park from its general manager Andrea Ambriz.

January 29, 2024 - California Natural Resources Agency

Signpost with signs for archery, jousting, privies, etc at Renaissance faire

The Geekiest Cities in America

Which cities have the most comic book shops, D&D meetups, and LARPing groups?

July 14, 2023 - Lawn Love

Black and white photo of Pike Place Market entrance in Seattle with "PUBLIC MARKET" and "Meet the producer" signs

Revisiting ‘Third Places’ as a Pandemic Recovery Tool

In Chuck Wolfe's latest piece on downtown recovery for GeekWire, he proposes revisiting a multifaceted ‘third place’ agenda as a focus for downtown recovery.

June 22, 2023 - GeekWire

Crowd Sourcing

Are Your Yelp Reviews Causing Gentrification?

As "foodies" venture into new territory in search of exciting food experiences, they contribute to the transformation of urban foodscapes that have been built by people of color.

September 22, 2021 - Next City

West Hollywood, California

Independent Music Venues Face a Tough Road Ahead

Where have all the venues gone?

May 14, 2020 - Los Angeles Times

Produce Aisle

'Food Deserts' May Not Be Biggest Factor in Nutrition Discrepancies

According to one recent study, regional culture plays a major part in how healthily people eat. Supply may be less of a factor than demand.

February 19, 2018 - The Washington Post

From Caracas to Remote Villages, One Family's Search for Venezuela

Like his father and great-uncle before him, 37-year-old Caracas native Guillermo Lares is using Venezuela's rural traditions to help himself and his contemporaries reflect on the country's current reality.

April 27, 2017 - Soft City

Chicago Cultural Center

How Chicago Got its Cultural Center

The history of the Chicago Cultural Center, "the nation's first and most comprehensive free municipal cultural venue," offers insight into the shifting relationships between culture, politics, and money in the third-largest city in the United States.

January 17, 2017 - Soft City

Cincinnati welcomes artists leaving the coasts

For the founders of young art center Wave Pool, Cincinnati offers opportunities unmatched by the coastal cultural meccas.

November 29, 2016 - Soft City

Texas State Capitol building

Op-Ed: Why Uber Wasn't Welcome in Austin

In the spirit of civic self-congratulation, Austin resident Richard Parker writes about how the transportation network company giants canceled service after losing a referendum vote. He ascribes this victory to the city's enduring contrarian streak.

May 25, 2016 - The New York Times

London, Nightlife

London's New Mayor Finds Culture and Heritage in City's Nightlife

London's new Mayor Sadiq Khan joins a growing list of mayors who have become ardent advocates for their city's nightclubs.

May 16, 2016 - Thump

Tampa Skyline

'Normal America' According to Demographics

The common perception of everyday America as a land of small towns and white faces doesn't reflect the current reality. Demographic analysis reveals "normal America" in cities like New Haven and Tampa.

May 1, 2016 - FiveThirtyEight

Chinatown Residents Create Their Own Plan to Prevent Displacement

In a city looking to land use regulations for answers to an affordable housing crisis, one collection of community groups attempted to create a plan of their own.

March 7, 2016 - The Architect's Newspaper

Syracuse Highway

America's Infrastructural Reckoning

Through the lens of Henry Petroski's new book, Tom Vanderbilt discusses why infrastructure, as we have come to define it, is such a fraught topic in American life.

February 27, 2016 - The New Republic

An Appreciation of the 'Edgy Outskirts'

Long abused by those who favor more urban settings, the suburbs of major metropolitan areas should receive more credit for their cultural capital, according to this article written for Zócalo Public Square.

January 26, 2016 - Zocalo Public Square

Keep Portland Weird

How Cities Derive Their Identities

While visiting Paris, San Diego landscape architect David McCullough pondered his own new world city's identity and concluded, counter-intuitively, his city's (and all cities') identity is defined by its diversity.

August 13, 2015 - UrbDeZine

Rethinking Culture and Community in New York City

Caron Atlas has spent decades working to understand and improve the relationship between cities and the arts. As co-director of Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts New York, she advocates for the recognition of artistic activity throughout NYC.

August 3, 2015 - Satellite Magazine

Medical Marijuana Sign

Op-Ed: Regulation Has Urban Progressives Confused

According to Aaron M. Renn, left-leaning urbanists chafe against a regulatory culture their ideology supports. Favoring "regulation for thee but not for me," they want to bend the rules, but only for enterprises they like.

June 1, 2015 - City Journal

Shot by Shot, Brooklyn Histories Revealed

To build ties to its neighbors, a young arts organization embarked on a sprawling multimedia project exploring the past and present of Williamsburg's Latino community.

February 20, 2015 - Satellite Magazine

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