A streaming box screen saver exhibits better urbanism than many real-life cities.

Have you ever wanted to live in a screen saver? As Luke Winkie explains in a New York Times article, some users of Roku, a TV streaming device, are finding themselves wishing they could move into what fans are calling ‘Roku City,’ the hypnotic animated city that scrolls past on the Roku home screen.
If you let a Roku idle long enough, you will eventually be transported to a magenta cityscape beyond time and space. The screen slowly pans across cozy diners, gothic mansions and a sumptuous, moonlit lagoon, all sheathed in a groovy, ‘Blade Runner’-esque color palette.
Designed by artist Kyle Jones, ‘Roku City’ is meant to serve as a vehicle for advertisements embedded as ‘billboards’ in the animated metropolis. “The animation hit Roku servers without much fanfare in 2018, but its status slowly grew over the next few years.” During the early part of the pandemic, interest in the screen saver skyrocketed as fans began to tweet about the allure of the fictional city, and Roku itself got in on the urbanism joke.
Roku City is dynamic, too. “As the summer months left the calendar, a wash of auburn trees began to streak across a new district and a fresh set of spooky cafes — and the requisite filmic easter eggs — filled the city block.”
The attractive urbanism and perennial golden hour leaves one to wonder, how much does rent in Roku City cost?
FULL STORY: Pack Your Bags, We’re Moving to ‘Roku City’

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

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
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.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie