The Places of Sense Chronicles

Writings

  • Flaneuring – MacArthur Park, Little Rock, Arkansas

    Flaneuring – MacArthur Park, Little Rock, Arkansas

    I promised in my 2023 end-of-the-year post that I would write more about my recent travels to the MacArthur Park neighborhood in Little Rock, Arkansas.  As with my recent post on Van Buren, Arkansas – where a well-worn but well-cared-for downtown exudes a high level of meaning and character – MacArthur Park is another example Read more

  • A Year in Pictures and Travels – 2023

    A Year in Pictures and Travels – 2023

    It has been a busy year indeed.  Travels for work assignments in 2023 took me to many different communities and destinations. Read more

  • Van Buren, Arkansas, and the Crawford County Bank Building

    Van Buren, Arkansas, and the Crawford County Bank Building

    A new assignment with a work colleague to prepare a set of design guidelines for a National Register-listed downtown district led me to Van Buren, Arkansas this past week.  Van Buren, a community of just over 23,000 people, is the seat of Crawford County and features a linear but compact and walkable downtown lined with Read more

  • Cumberland, Maryland, and a Curious Case of Morris Lapidus

    Cumberland, Maryland, and a Curious Case of Morris Lapidus

    Recently, I had the privilege of working in Cumberland, Maryland this past year.  Cumberland is not just any place – it has a history extending to the French and Indian War, where a young George Washington made a name for himself as an officer in the British army.  Nestled in the Appalachian Mountains in the Read more

  • Readings – Killing Greektown

    Readings – Killing Greektown

    A month ago, or so, I missed out on participating in a work-related book club discussion session organized by one of my colleagues – as usual, I had a project deadline to meet.  I hated to miss it since the subject of discussion was the book, How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Read more

  • Flaneuring – Uptown Public Art

    Flaneuring – Uptown Public Art

    I visit lots of places around the country – most often as a peripatetic consultant under the constraints and pressures of a work assignment.  A work assignment puts you on a strict schedule without much time for some necessary extras – like actually walking around an old downtown or neighborhood, trying to seep its patina Read more