"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.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Vehicle-related Deaths Drop 29% in Richmond, VA
The seventh year of the city's Vision Zero strategy also cut the number of people killed in alcohol-related crashes by half.
As Trump Phases Out FEMA, Is It Time to Flee the Floodplains?
With less federal funding available for disaster relief efforts, the need to relocate at-risk communities is more urgent than ever.
SEPTA Budget Slashes Service by 45 Percent
The Philadelphia-area transit agency is legally tasked with maintaining a balanced budget. Officials hope the state will come to the rescue with additional funding.
Connecticut Governor Vetoes Housing Bill
Gov. Lamont reversed his view on a controversial affordable housing bill that would have required municipalities to zone for set amounts of affordable housing to receive state funding.
NJ Transit Trains Delayed by Extreme Heat
Breakdowns in the subway network’s HVAC system caused dangerously high temperatures on platforms, while heat-induced track expansion forced trains to slow down.
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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)