"Detroit is the Paris of the Widwest", "Oakland is the Newark of the West Coast", "Chattanooga is the Cleveland of the Southeast" - a new website uses a navigable map of the world to catalog the many "X is the Y of Z" analogies found on Twitter.
Emily Badger profiles Chris Reade's inventive website - metropho.rs - that captures the (mostly odd, but occasionally inightful) ways in which people attempt to communicate the character of one place by referencing another with "that ubiquitous formula, 'X is the Y of Z.'"
"Reade built the site using a Yahoo! tool called Placemaker, which is able to identify and geographically index place names in a block of text. He uses it to troll Twitter for metaphors in a format like 'Paris is the… of' or 'is the Paris of…' Once Paris is compared to Detroit, Detroit gets sucked into the search, too. In that way, the tool is constantly expanding and now searches for about 1,200 place names all over the world."
"As a sociological exercise, there's something to be said for the way Reade's whimsical site reflects how we think about the meaning of place," observes Badger. "'Compton' quickly becomes the shortest way to say that somewhere is dangerous, or 'Portland' that it’s got bikes and vegetarians and wheat-grass bars. The most frequently cited places essentially have the strongest identities. And that makes them more difficult to analogize themselves."
FULL STORY: 'Oakland Is the Newark of the West Coast'
Google Maps' Digital Erasure Highlights Issues of Community Identity in Buffalo, NY
In the face of displacement and gentrification, residents of the Fruit Belt neighborhood of Buffalo, NY point to tech-giant Google's map service as one among many possible causes.
How Setting Makes a Place: A Seattle Retrospective
Chuck Wolfe reflects on his rapidly changing hometown, arguing that Seattle’s signature location and setting—however rearranged by the regrades of the past, Freeway Park, or a pending James Corner-led waterfront remake—remains for all to see.
New Orleans Public Markets Make a Comeback
Plagued by supermarket chains and natural disasters, the public markets of New Orleans could help revive community identity. Here are some of the ways they're getting back in business.
Florida Considers Legalizing ADUs
Current state law allows — but doesn’t require — cities to permit accessory dwelling units in single-family residential neighborhoods.
San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.
HUD Announces Plan to Build Housing on Public Lands
The agency will identify federally owned parcels appropriate for housing development and streamline the regulatory process to lease or transfer land to housing authorities and nonprofit developers.
Surf’s Upcycling: Hawai‘i’s Latest Green Building Material is Recycled Surf Boards
“Surf Blocks” are fire-resistant, termite-proof, and close the loop on mountains of waste from the state’s beloved sport.
Building Age-Friendly Homes
Designing for the unique needs of elderly people can help them maintain social connections and mental acuity.
Nightlife and the 15-Minute City
Plans for compact, walkable cities often don’t address nighttime concerns like transportation and lighting, which can make neighborhoods more vibrant and safe around the clock.
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.
Florida Atlantic University
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service