The Goodspeed Update

This from a friend:
FREE KIAN TAJBAKHSH
On May 11th 2007, Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh, 45, an urban planning expert and senior research fellow at the New School in New York, was arrested at his home in Tehran by the Iranian security services. He has since been detained in the notorious Evin prison and has not seen a […]

Like many urban residents, I am frequently blasted with diesel fumes from buses and trucks as I navigate city streets. Over the past four years living in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Washington, D.C., I have cleaned black film off the windows of my apartments. This pollution no doubt caused mostly from diesel exhaust. (In fact, […]

For too long, I’ve begrudgingly accepted online inconvenience, relying on Google and bookmarks to find what I was looking for. I’ve rationalized about the size and complexity of the job, assuming it would get better soon. I was wrong. I feel compelled to say it:
Washingtonpost.com is a poorly designed website.
Here’s ten reasons, in no particular […]

I completed this essay for the final assignment for my urban design class. The assignment was to conduct an analysis of this block adjacent the Ballston Metro Station in Arlington County, Virginia. My study area is part of the “Ballston-Rosslyn Corridor,” a nationally-known example of smart growth. Along the corridor, the county has added roughly […]

During the Civil War, the U.S. government built 68 forts around Washington to protect the capital from Confederate invasion. Although little-known today, remains from these forts can be found throughout the city.
Here’s a short history of the “fort circle,” from the National Park Service:
When the Civil War began, only one fortification existed for the capital’s […]

If you’re like me, you’ve probably seen images like the one above before and chalked it up to a neat photoshop effect. However, a lot more than that separates Trey Ratcliff’s take on the Capitol Columns at the National Arboretum from my attempts. The image was produced through a process called High Dynamic Range Imaging. […]

Not many Washington, D.C. area residents are familiar with Berkeley County, West Virginia. Over a 100 mile drive from downtown Washington, the county isn’t even served by a highway that reaches the city — residents must take I-81 north to I-70, or south to I-66, to get to the District. However, they may be surprised […]