We had a great response to last week’s sidewalk challenge, which featured a hard-to-identify historic sidewalk. Congratulations to barturtle, Jim Williams, Rick Bell, and Ben Overton (via our Facebook page) for correctly identifying the view as Fourth Street looking north toward the Ohio River where the Galt House sits today.
The scene shows a the Ohio River flood cycle from 1924 and clearly shows the city’s old elevated train transit system, which we previously covered here and here. One reader astutely pointed out that this section of Fourth was once called Wall Street.
Up top is your next sidewalk ready to be identified in the comments below. And now for your weekly roundup of the top urbanism stories in the news:
The vast majority of poor neighborhoods aren’t gentrifying. They’re stuck in poverty. Although as full of logic errors as it is words, this article does point directly at the problem of the ‘gentrification’ debate of today. Next City
Placemaking News Roundup: Protesting in Public Space. An interesting take on activating public space as sites of protest. Who’s right to public space is primary, protestors or everyday users of those places? Project for Public Places
This Is What Your City Would Look Like If All The World’s Ice Sheets Melt. Curious about whether or not climate change will make your front/back yard into beachfront property anytime soon? Adele Peters takes a look at the effects of rising coastal waters on cities due to the worlds melting ice sheets. Fast Co-Exist
Modern Public Libraries Might Help Renters Afford NYC. In an attempt to rethink a changing public institution, Marble Fairbanks Architecture, is looking at some really interesting ‘mixed use’ remedies. Next City
How a Land Trust Property Went Viral. Defy Media created a Prank It Fwd video that has received over 5 million YouTube views. What those viewers didn’t know was that the house given away in the video is part of a land trust from Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland. Planetizen
Matt Tomasulo is out to change the way you see your city. If you haven’t heard of Matt Tomasulo, maker of industrial-cool maps and urban-pedestrian advocate, just wait. He probably has plans for your city on his to-do list. Urbanful
Invisible City Life: The Urban Microbiome. Marina Alberti considers the most miniscule of urban residents. Sustainable Cities Collective
Opinion: Louisville needs more than bike lanes to achieve real cycling progress. Chris Glasser offers a little constructive criticism about Louisville’s ‘actual’ progress in the area of cycling infrastructure. Insider Louisville
Ikea’s refugee housing is “unusually sensitive and intelligent” says Alice Rawsthorn. Ikea‘s flat-pack refugee shelters, which have now been tested in Ethiopia and Iraq, have been described by design critic Alice Rawsthorn as being part of “one of the most important design developments of the past decade.” dezeen
What’s Good about Being an Urban Planner? Citing examples like, “collaborative relationships with constituents, vastly improving public transit infrastructure, and indispensable tools like GIS,” Planetizen gives hope to the platonic idea of being a Planner. Planetizen
Declining Cities, Declining Unions: Urban Sprawl and U.S. Inequality. A brilliant piece on the parallels between urban decline and union decline by Colin Gordon, professor of History at the University of Iowa. Dissent Magazine
That’s a broken sidewalk on Franklin St in Butchertown.
What Joshua said. Franklin looking east behind the floodwall. Ahead is the property MSD is selling to Swift. The city recently installed a new street name sign a block back (west) but, based on where they placed it, the block number is wrong. This is a long-standing pet peeve of mine. We have lots of incorrect signs, especially as they relate to block numbers. Two of them are at two of the busiest intersections in downtown Louisville. I could go on but won’t. I’ve been complaining since the mid 1980s on some.