Midweek Takes #14

10/6's small thoughts and links.

I’ve been traveling and I sure have learned a lot.

Which is great for my soul, but not so great for my bank account and my energy meter. Both are…low, shall we say. It’s great to contextualize where I’ve been so I have a better understanding of what the work I do means for people. But it’s time to rest, recharge, and get back to it (after one last trip to Seattle).

Sklar in a car. Photo: R.J. Hartbeck

Last week, I landed at LaGuardia on a quick flight from St. Louis. Barely a coin flip from being a central hub like Chicago, St. Louis has a long, important history as a Midwestern manufacturing, industrial, and cultural hub, as the “Gateway to West,” and as a small city with great food, great people, and desperately in need of a thesis.

What does a city want to be?

This question is vital to future planning efforts. I’ve been asking myself this question in many forms since I learned what “urban planning” was, but more recently it’s become the question I think about when I see a new place, …