Before he led the country across a five-year struggle that freed the slaves and reunited the union, and before he was even elected President, Abraham Lincoln helped fuel the growth of the heartland. He also helped bridge an economic divide that closed a cultural chasm,...

MLB's bullying response to a Congressional statement defending small communities may be the worst, most callous, and most anti-baseball fan thing to come from the office of Commissioner Rob Manfred. And amid the many failings of his awful tenure as baseball commissione...

When Penn State fans chant “We Are…”, you might as well fill in the back end of the statement with “the Astros”. Based on this week’s events, the similarities between the attitudes of the Astros in 2020 and the attitudes of rioting Penn State fans in 2011 regarding the...

In 1999 at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, the two titans of contemporary urban planning had an epic debate: New Urbanism vs. Delirious New York. The videos are below.

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Housing affordability continues to be one of the chief drivers of economic growth in America, with a lower cost of housing freeing up more capital to legions of Americans. By multiple measures, America retains the most affordable, largest, and most luxurious housing in...

If you've never stopped on your way out of the airport to notice the direction the luggage carousels are spinning, you're in luck. A British group called the Dull Men's Club has spent years building a database of this useful information. Detailed reports are available...

Holiday fatigue is real. Moving forward America could benefit from a more considered approach to which holidays we celebrate, and how often we celebrate them.

Currently, there are 18 holidays celebrated by some degree by a significant share of workplaces. Eight holidays...

With a carefully curated collection of artistic mishaps, the Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) may be the world's best monument to artistic failure, and possibly my favorite overlooked "museum" in the world. 

While we've all sketched a spiky-haired stick figure or cringed at the...

Saudi Arabia is democratizing. In 2019 for the first time ever women are driving, the cinemas are open, and young people are mixing in the streets and in restaurants. The Kingdom is investing like never before in broadening its economy and establishing a private sector...

The National Mall Sketchbook is a collection of pieces I've been developing throughout the summer of 2019, each focused on an element of the National Mall. Each piece is a ~1 to ~2 hour sketch using a #2 HB pencil. This gallery will continue to be updated. It includes...

Like a front line of untuned and misshapen trumpets, a chorus of discordant pessimism blares negativity about humanity’s future. David Attenborough, through his recent article for the UK’s Telegraph, has taken first chair, but competition is fierce. From spit valves to...

Photos from my trip to Africa, May 2018

While New York City may symbolize the American Dream, Norman Rockwell and the American small town still epitomizes the country’s spirit. Two years removed from a bitter cultural stalemate that put the future of the country’s small town backbone at the forefront of an e...

In 2008, when Chicago inked a deal to privatize its parking meters, a chorus of groans ensued. To say that the deal was widely panned is putting it mildly. Its detractors say the city accepted too little in exchange for turning over the operations of its parking meters...

Originally published October 2013

One of the most contentious under-the-radar mayoral races heated up in Cincinnati on September 10th, with former city council representative John Cranley surging to a huge 55%-37% primary victory over previously presumed frontrunner Vic...