Drive-in movie theaters are satisfying a need for public spaces that also allow some privacy.
"Sometimes you need to actually go somewhere, and some things are simply more fun in public. This might explain the unlikely revival of the drive-in - an experience that splits the difference between the public and the private. After eight years of decline, [Statistics Canada] reported that drive-in crowds spiked by 20 per cent in 2004-2005.
One of the ironies of the drive-in's return is that the very trends that helped kill it two decades ago now drive its revival. The VCR begat the DVD player, which is now a feature in many minivans, acclimatizing a new generation of auto-bound audiences. And while the Route 66 car culture of diners and drive-ins may have been supplanted by big chains, drive-thru services have only proliferated.
Despite its association with fast food drive-thru windows, the drive-in also offers respite from the cookie-cutter corporate multiplex. Drive-ins have a small-town community feel - and some are literally civic endeavours.
But this is the key: Viewers get a fuzzy feeling from watching [movies] with their friends and neighbours because they aren't impinging on their personal space."
Read the full story: Movie paradise by the dashboard light
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060
Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.
LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.
Dallas moves to overhaul its zoning code
The city's zoning reform will allow more multi-family and mixed-use developments.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority