Humor

Annual Search Begins for UK's Ugliest Building

Oliver Wainwright solicits contenders for this year's Carbuncle Cup, Building Design magazine's annual search for the UK's worst "crimes against architecture".

May 21, 2013 - The Guardian

Frightful City Ranking of the Week: Most Dog Attacks

Who else but the U.S. Postal Service would be able to rank America's worst cities for dog attacks? Just in time for National Dog Bite Prevention Week, the USPS has released the "Fiscal Year 2012 U.S. Postal Service Dog Attack City Ranking."

May 18, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Seeing Eye People 2

Friday Funny: The Solution for Distracted Walking

New York City's DOT recently launched a pilot program to make city streets safer for those texting while walking. Well not really. But for some trusting New Yorkers, “Seeing Eye People” is a service worth utilizing.

May 17, 2013 - PSFK

An Ode to Biking in New York

BuzzFeed clearly knows its way around a New York City bike lane. A recent listicle of 44 insights into the pleasures and pains of biking in New York is sure to resonate with the city's growing cycling community.

May 16, 2013 - BuzzFeed

Changing the Water in the Fish Tank

David Foster Wallace's commencement speech, now a viral video, misses an essential truth.

May 13, 2013 - Tim Halbur

Friday Funny: The Best Best Cities List Ever

In a send-up of the inane nature of city listification, the satirical newspaper The Onion has compiled a list of the "Top 10 Best Cities To Move To Today." Check out the article to find out why Blarnard, ND and Clara Vista, CA are hot destinations.

May 10, 2013 - The Onion

Friday Facepalm: Ironic Bike Lane Block Edition

A couple of months ago we told you about a new bicycle safety campaign being run by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Apparently the memo didn't go out to Metro's bus drivers.

May 3, 2013 - LAist

Friday Funny: 15 Mid-Century Modern Death Traps

With their flexible open spaces, right angles, and expanses of glass, mid-century modern houses are coveted by those homeowners with a keen design sense. And, as Projectophile illustrates, it's best if those homeowners don't have children.

April 26, 2013 - Projectophile

Friday Funny: Train Junkies Start Young

Our ongoing efforts to identify the world's biggest transit freaks got a boost last week from The Onion, who documented the travails of 3-year-old train junkie Logan Gunter.

April 19, 2013 - The Onion

Atlanta Artist Paints Suburban Ennui

Today's suburbs have discarded the human-scaled patterns they once promised. This newly resurfaced series of paintings from Atlanta artist Meg Aubrey will leave you longing for the world we neglected to build.

April 16, 2013 - PlaceShakers

Feel Good Friday: London's Victoria Station Gets Irie

Camille Standen interviews the reason why Victoria Station may be the subway station with the most positive vibrations in the world. Jamaican-born train conductor Carl Downer assists passengers with their travels and brightening their day.

April 12, 2013 - Vice

Transportation Secretary on Spending Binge Before Leaving Office

Bus rapid transit projects, separated bike lanes and a collection of streetcar systems are being unexpectedly funded by outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who's relishing his final days in office with an unprecedented spending spree.

April 1, 2013 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

Broken Traffic Light

IBM Toughs Destroy Cleveland's Traffic Lights After City Pirates Smart City Technology

The tech giant discovered an illegally obtained version of its smart city application running in the beleaguered Ohio city, optimizing traffic signals. IBM's Enforcement Division responded immediately.

April 1, 2013 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

Crumbled Skyscrapers Found Floating in Chinese River

Just days after the carcasses of thousands of dead pigs were found floating down two different rivers in China, residents along the banks of the Pearl River are reporting huge chunks of crumbled skyscrapers floating downstream.

April 1, 2013 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

Traffic Jam in Bangkok

New Study Finds Asthmatic Children Cause Inner City Traffic Congestion

In the face of countless scientific studies showing that areas with large amounts of car congestion can lead to higher rates of asthma in children, a new study finds the correlation to be flipped: asthmatic kids are creating congestion in cities.

April 1, 2013 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

Hoping to Lure Natural Gas Industry Money, Pennsylvania Town Creates 'Fracking Zones'

Officials in the small town of Plainton, Pennsylvania are hoping that a new zoning designation and loosened permitting rules will convince energy companies to come search beneath their town for the new black gold: natural gas.

April 1, 2013 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

SimCity Imposes Congestion Pricing

Game developer Electronics Arts has implemented congestion pricing for playing the newly-released version of its popular city-building game SimCity.

April 1, 2013 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

Urban Issues Prioritized as Politicians' Children Come Out as City-Dwellers

In a week when the children of three separate members of congress revealed publicly that they are living in cities, lawmakers are shifting their ideologies about where federal resources should go and how to effectively target new policies.

April 1, 2013 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

APA Launches New Citizen Certification Program

Following the success of it's professional certification program called American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), the American Planning Association (APA) has announced a certification program for selected citizens as well.

April 1, 2013 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

Pope Bus

Transit-Riding Pope Mothballs Popemobile, Opts for Pope Bus

Eschewing the opulence and excess of more recent pontiffs, the newly elected Pope Francis has decided to decommission the bullet-proof single-passenger Popemobile in favor of a Pope Bus.

April 1, 2013 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

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