You know it when you see it, “Anywhere USA.” Towns that should have their own character and sense of place; but instead are confused by a reckless abundance of asphalt parking lots, big box stores, and grids of housing.
What are these communities thinking? – That’s what The Orton Family Foundation asked themselves when they decided [...]

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Summer is here again with the start of the Portland Downtown District’s Alive At Five Concert Series. Kicking off the live music series was As Fast As and the Pete Kilpatrick Band.

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Yes, that’s Mr. Kevin Donoghue, Portland City Councilor learning first hand the business of taxi service. Kevin is a car-free resident, bike-advocate and Portland’s youngest elected city official. Since taking office in 2007 Kevin has been leading the charge of re-connecting street grids and expanding public transportation options for greater Portland.
Sally snapped this photo of [...]

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I was in New Orleans over the weekend as part of a convening of grantees of the Andy Warhol Foundation. Walking around the Warehouse/Arts District I spotted this urban infill project.

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Seen at the Porch in the Seventh Ward in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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Peter and I are staying for a few days at Meg and Dave’s lovely new home in Bartlett NH. They built the house from scratch over the last year or so, from 100% non-toxic materials (no plywood, glues, formaldehyde’s, etc)– many of our regular readers are familiar with the house already.
Curious enough to come to [...]

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Outside the Cincinnati Art Museum.

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The St. Lawrence Arts and Community Center in Portland has begun deconstructing its sanctuary. The historic Congregational Church on Congress Street began its transformation into a community arts center in 1998. The first phase of the project included the renovation of a small 100-seat theatre that is now used for theatre performance, music, church worship, [...]

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Four crews swept Baltimore streets from all compass directions last time we were in town. We noticed the giant broom sculpture earlier in the day and caught up with some sweeper after our visit the Map Through Time And Space show at the Walters Art Museum. The broom sculpture turned out the be a giant [...]

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Smart or not, we climbed the scaffolding at American Brewery in Baltimore’s East Side to get a view of the skyline. (wicked) The scaffolding kept going to the peak but Sally and I stayed put while Bill checked it all out. Notice the girds of row homes, especially in the third image. Baltimore is filled [...]

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While we were in Baltimore last weekend for Bill’s birthday party we were able to schedule a last minute tour with organizers of Community Greens, a back alley park project. Sally will post more about Community Greens later. I posted these photos because one of Bill’s early projects involved the renovation of row-homes up [...]

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Heading to the train station while we were in Baltimore last weekend we passed by what looked to be a new community bike shop. On return we caught a flock of bikers locking up shop. Great opportunity for a follow up…
At Velocipede’s cooperative bicycle shop, people can buy ready to ride second-hand bikes, claim and [...]

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“Technology that only takes one architect to install…” Rick Renner

Our friend Rick Renner recently completed Portland, Maine’s first LEED Platinum project. It was the renovation of a two story brick building into a first floor office for his architecture firm and a second floor apartment for himself. Rick is a principal of Rick Renner [...]

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I always seem to find a new hidden gem while driving through Baltimore, probably because I am usually a passenger. The City is sprinkled with spray paint graffiti, stickers, stencils, vacant storefront paintings, and temporary public art. The stencils in this post remind me of Chris Stain. Chris has images posted on his blog of [...]

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Daniel from Sumner Farms in Sumner, Maine wins the prize (bragging rights) for the first farmer at the Wednesday’s Farmers Market for a second year running.
I do have to point out that Simone from Thirty Acre Farms, and Daniel from Freedom Farm have been making bi-weekly deliveries all winter. So they definitely win the year [...]

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This Thursday at 2pm at Maine Green Building Supply, the City of Portland will hold a press event regarding the release of the Sustainable Portland Taskforce Report and Brochure (Port City Studios did the editing and design for the brochure). From the Press Advisory:
This Thursday, the Sustainable Portland Taskforce will release its Sustainable Portland Report. [...]

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Just in case the excitement about the potential monthly Pong Night at our new storefront hasn’t hit the newsstands yet, I will refer you to our new organizer – Cneal.
Cneal (of: Vigorous North & Rights of Way) posted an amazingly hilarious, but attention grabbing comment about our new space. He suggested finding a free ping [...]

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Over a hundred people attended a recent transportation planning session organized by the City of Portland’s Transportation Committee. The committee recently launched a Peninsula Transit Study to evaluate potential methods and benefits of expanding and optimizing a transportation system for the Portland Peninsula that emphasizes public and human powered transit as a preferred feasible alternative [...]

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The Snowman Adventure Race, sponsored by Portland Trails and Casco Bay Sports takes place this Saturday, March 1st on the Eastern Promenade of Portland. This is a two-person Bike, Run, Sled event. 4.5 miles of snow-biking, 2.75 miles of winter running, and a grueling sled finish down the eastern prom. Hold on, condition are always [...]

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