The American Dream has been defined for several generations now as an idyllic home in the suburbs, with a car to get you everywhere you need to go. But that dream appears to be something more of a nightmare, with Americans' dependence on automobiles leading to increased rates of a variety of ailments, "all of which can impair the quality and length of life," writes Jane E. Brody at nytimes.com.
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Collegiate brutal: Why brutalist-style buildings are so common on American college campuses
Were brutalist-style academic buildings really designed to thwart student riots and counterculture? Probably not, writes Slate's J. Bryan Lowder. The more likely reason: because they were cheap. University administrators were looking after the bottom line a little more than they were looking to quell student aspirations. Though, as any student who has taken classes in a cold, colorless, concrete brutalist building may tell you, they may have succeeded in doing that, too.
A transit leader gets even better
Salt Lake City, a relatively small metro area in the heart of the Rocky Mountains that is also the capital of one of the most conservative states in the country, shows that you don't have to be a large, top-tier global city to have great, visionary transit.
And the full survey results are in …
Completing the full, 140-question version of the Dialect Quiz and Survey gave me an equally surprising—and very different—result.
I speak most like people in …
I'm a little surprised to learn that the U.S. city where people speak most like me is one I've never even been to.
I ♥ maps
Forty maps that might not explain the world, but they're still pretty fascinating.
The bottom line: cities are safer
People move to the suburbs and cul-de-sacs because they perceive them as being safer. But are they really?
1,776 feet: a symbolic letdown
I've mentioned to my wife several times that I think the new One World Trade Center should have been built taller, and Slate's Brian Palmer agrees.
Has Los Angeles’s love affair with the car come to an end?
Los Angeles, the city that embodies America's love affair with the car (and auto-centric suburban development), may be kicking cars to the curb, reports Bloomberg News (via The Boston Globe). A cultural shift is underway in L.A., changing how Angelinos get around their city, with massive investment expanding subway, light-rail, and bus lines and doubling bike lanes.
What the MTA can do to improve riders’ experiences during necessary shutdowns
The MTA is shutting down a section of the G train for 12 consecutive weekends starting Saturday, 6 July, to carry out necessary repairs. While I applaud the MTA's efforts, I offer some suggestions on what the agency can do to mitigate inconvenience to riders during this time.
Dustin Tyler Joyce 