Finding beauty, and questions, in the concrete.

David Gutman shares news and images of the work of Laura Hamje, who has spent two years creating beautiful paintings of the Alaskan Way Viaduct—which will close for good in a month.
You may have your own photos of the viaduct. Maybe you’ll get a piece of the rubble. But Hamje, 32, has spent the last two years creating a more durable, comprehensive memorial of the massive elevated highway that’s dominated Seattle’s waterfront since the middle of last century.
Hamje is showing 53 paintings of the soon-to-be-extinct viaduct, which loomed for 65 years before a tunnel boring machine named Bertha slowly cleared a new underground path for cars along the Seattle waterfront.
According to Gutman, Hamje's work captures the all of the many experiences of the viaduct, to wrestle with an ambivalence about the project.
She paints it, and the painting, in turn, inspires feelings in others. But after more than two years of incessant looking at, and thinking about, the viaduct, Hamje’s like a lot of us — still not sure how she feels about it.
It’s noisy, it’s polluting, it severs the waterfront. But it moves people — well over 100,000 a day. It’s got those views. And it’s just been a part of daily life for so long.
FULL STORY: ‘Time’s running out’: Seattle painter memorializes the soon-to-be-dismantled viaduct through art

The Unceremonious Death of a Freeway Expansion Project
The end of an Oregon freeway project didn't get much fanfare, but the victory is worth celebrating.

Converting Golf Courses to Housing Never as Easy as the Market Would Like
Thousands of golf courses have closed in recent years, but the obvious redevelopment opportunity represented by many defunct courses isn’t always easy to realize.

Houston To End Bike Share Program
Lacking the funding it needs to continue, Houston’s BCycle bike share system will end operations in the coming months.

Making Colorado’s Front Range Rail a Reality
Local leaders are scrambling to bring together the funding and political support to create new intercity rail service in the fast-growing region.

How College Campuses Fulfill an Urbanist Dream
Most college campuses in the United States are inherently walkable, mixing various uses with diverse housing options and transit networks.

Austin in Race Against Time to Secure Freeway Cap Funding
With a major freeway expansion project looming, the Texas capital is seeking federal funding to build several freeway ‘decks’ downtown.
Caltrans
Caltrans
Knoxville-Knox County Planning
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Washington University
Mpact: Mobility, Community, Possibility
Lassen County Planning and Building Services
City of San Carlos
National Capital Planning Commission
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.