Click the image below to view more pictures:

Even though this subject has been heavily researched, I am surprised that little efforts have been made to change the way food distribution and food accessibility are monitored. The Center for Urban Pedagogy has made a great video that sheds light on some of the social, economic, and consumer forces that combine to create the foodscape of South Bronx. This half-hour video is a must see for anyone interested in learning about the factors involved in deciding what food is distributed in urban areas.

Sorry, I was unable to embed the video, but you can watch Bodega Down Bronx here.

First, click here and download Winter Mix, Volume, 1.

Now look at you! You’re in the 21st Century of Christmas. For optimal enjoyment, I suggest you listen to the entire mix all the way through. If you’re at work, put on some good headphones and enjoy 38 minutes of Winter tunes.

1) Run Run Rudolph - Chuck Berry
2) Baby Please Come Home For Christmas - Dion
3) The Christmas Waltz - Nancy Wilson
4) Christmas Kisses - Ray Anthony
5) Jingle Bell Rock - Wayne Newton
6) Little Jack Frost Get Lost - Frankie Carle & His Orchestra
7) Winter Wonderland - Peggy Lee
8)Snowfall / Snowfall Cha-Cha (Medley) - George Shearing/Billy May
9) Jingle Bells - Johnny Mercer
10) I’ll Be Home For Christmas - Bob Dylan
11) I Bought You Violets - Renzo Cesana
12) Just Like Christmas - Low
13) Baby It’s Cold Outside/I’ll Be Home For Christmas - Jackie Gleason And Jack Marshall
14) The Christmas Song - Ella Fitzgerlad
15) The Merriest - June Christy
16) Auld Lang Syne - Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians

Have you ever wondered what one of the most impoverished cities in America looks like? Now you can. Rocky Mount, NC was recently named one of America’s top 10 impoverished cities by Forbes Magazine and as someone who is familiar with the area, this is not surprising.

According to Forbes,

Poverty may once have been worst in the Deep South. And cities on the border with Mexico are plagued with poverty. But the recession — and the decline of American manufacturing — has left Rust Belt cities with comparable levels of poverty. The problem is concentrated in these three regions. All 10 cities on our list are southern cities, border cities or declining manufacturing centers.

The bottom fifth in Rocky Mount earn less than in other southern cities on this list Macon or Albany. Unemployment for 2008, even before the worst of the recession, was already elevated. It has since risen further to 13.8%.

Obviously Rocky Mount was not always this bad. None of the cities listed in the Forbes list have always been in poverty. In fact most of these cities were once leading manufacturing cities and places of interest.

Geographically, Rocky Mount is in an ideal location. Developed right along the Tar River, Rocky Mount is located just between the Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions of North Carolina. The Coastal Plain transitions to the Piedmont region along the fall line, a line which marks the elevation at which waterfalls first appear on streams and rivers.  Historically, being on a fall line has been crucial for development. The point at which ships were forced out of a river due to rapids, rocks, or change in elevation created a perfect scenario for settlement. Since a fall line creates physical features such as rapids and waterfalls used for water power, early manufacturing settlements often developed along this line.

Rocky Mount’s most notorious industry was the Rocky Mount Cotton Mills, build right on the bank of the Tar River. The cotton mills here were one of the first constructed in the state of North Carolina, dating back to 1816. As the cotton industry grew after the Civil War, the cotton mill experienced rapid growth and as a result, Rocky Mount became a leading manufacturing city in the south. As a side note, the cotton mills also supported a residential village for employees, which is still around.

The Wilmington and Weldon Railroad was built about 2 miles east of the mill in 1845 and became the main connection for Rocky Mount to the outside world.

The advent of the railroad did not cause an immediate boom for Rocky Mount. One important innovation it produced, however, was the establishment of Rocky Mount as a point of departure for travelers from the north and south. The Raleigh-Tarboro stage route (roughly highways 95 and 64) passed just below Rocky Mount which became the logical debarking point for railroad travelers wishing to proceed east or west. [Via]

I’m not a photographer. Apologies to all.

Streets have a need for mixed primary uses, and Jane Jacobs says that “most blocks must be short; that is, streets and opportunities to turn corners must be frequent.” This makes walking through a city easier and faster. It also helps isolated neighborhoods, which are apt to be socially abandoned. Isolated blocks or neighborhoods will have a negative social, physical, and economic impact on the city. In The Life and Death of Great American Cities, Jacobs presents a detailed analysis of the blocks in New York City, of which I will spare you the details. Jacobs summarizes by saying:

I bring up this problem not merely to berate the anomalies of project planning again, but to indicate that frequent streets and short blocks are valuable because of the fabric of intricate cross-use that they permit among the users of a city neighborhood. Frequent streets are not an end in themselves. They are a means towards an end… Like mixtures of primary use, frequent streets are effective in helping to generate diversity only because of the way they perform.

So the means by which short blocks and frequent streets work (bringing together a mixture of users) and the results they accomplish (growth of diversity) are inseparable. As Jacobs says, the relationship is reciprocal. Here are some pictures of shorter city blocks created by alleyways and frequent streets in Philadelphia. The result is appealing aesthetically  and also appealing functionally. I spent hours walking through these neighborhoods. Enjoy.

Oh, also I found via Bricoleurbanism a visual of urban form/fabric drawings in 9 cities, which does a great job of visualizing the fabric of the different street networks.

There are dozens of these neat alleyways which create smaller and very walkable city blocks. Unfortunately I was only able to take a few pictures, but I have plenty of pictures of urban vernacular architecture in Philly that I plan on posting very soon.

Elizabeth and I have started a new ritual for Sundays that we are basing off of the Shabbat, which is the Jewish observance of the Sabbath. Instead of resting on Saturday, like the Shabbat, we are going to rest on Sunday. And by rest, I mean really rest. There will be no cleaning, very limited electricity, and no traveling. After researching this, I was surprised to find that almost every religion and many secular groups observe some form of the sabbath.

I need more relaxation and more time to reflect. I’m realistic about the limitations of living completely free from transportation, communication, and work even if it is only for one day. I know that it will be hard to do this correctly, but we are going to give it our best shot.

With that said, this Sunday I will be traveling to Philadelphia. It’s a shame but it’s something I can’t control. Tickets were bought long ago and it’s the only day available. Oh well… Once I arrive to the hotel, my day of rest will begin!

The next location of my abandoned spaces project seems to be state owned property of the NCDOT. This entire block of Campbell St. in Wilmington is lined with mostly charming buildings that are full of character. It also looks like the state boards up their forgone buildings really well. How am I supposed to get inside these? Suggestions?

Here are some images from an abandoned building that was a shipping center. It is huge, spanning the entire block of North Front Street and Brunswick Street down to Nutt Street. I can’t imagine how valuable this land must be.

Here are some images of a very interesting building on the corner of 16th and Queen St. I spoke with a nice gentleman who is leasing the building next door and he told me that this building use to be a military hangar and the arched section in the back was once twice as long, extending into what is now a parking area. I’m not sure when the hangar area was shortened to its current length. I will have a lot more to say on these places later, as I am currently writing an essay on the value of public space and the effects of abandoned places in an urban environment.

Here are some images from part 1 of my abandoned spaces adventures. I am in the process of writing a much longer essay on the issues of urban spaces and abandoned urban areas. Before I’m done with it I hope to have visited and taken pictures of several more spots similar to this one in downtown Wilmington. I’ve done a lot of research on this area and I’ve learned a lot, but if you know anything about the area around 800 Surrey St. just south of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, let me know.

The Cape Fear Skyway is a proposed 9.5 mile roadway/ 165-187 foot cable-stayed bridge that would connect New Hanover and Brunswick Counties. It would also be the region’s first toll roadway.

This project has already gone through countless changes, but as I understand it now, the Skyway would connect U.S. 17 in Brunswick County to the intersection of Carolina Beach Road and Independence Boulevard in Wilmington. The precise route will be determined later in the planning process. According to news station WWAY, “Previous plans for the bridge would cut directly into the Brunswick County subdivision, Snee Farm. Wednesday, two new ideas were proposed. They would bypass residential areas, and go north of the Brunswick Forest subdivision. Brunswick County officials are generally in favor of those plans.”

The need for newer and improved transportation in this area is crucial. The project is intended to relieve congestion on the aging Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, which is apparently considered functionally obsolete by the North Carolina Department of Transportation, and offer an alternative for commuters between New Hanover and Brunswick counties. If you don’t see a need for improved transportation in this area or replacing a functionally obsolete bridge, I’m sorry. I really don’t think this is an issue that needs defending or justification.

I’m fascinated with how big this project is suppose to be. Currently, the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge is about 65 feet above the water and the proposed bridge would be 165-187… that’s a big bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge is only 135 ft above the water and the Golden Gate Bridge is 220. Granted, the Skyway will not compare to the total span of either of these bridge. According to the Star News, “Earlier proposals called for a 225-foot high-rise bridge, but consultants said their research indicated that a lower bridge might be able to accommodate the cargo and cruise ships that would use the river in the future.”

The purpose of me writing is to encourage Wilmington residents to write the planners and council members (of both New Hanover and Brunswick County) to encourage them to act quickly and effectively on this project. We’ve all seen what can happen when projects sit for too long… i.e. the “convention center” - yes, it’s in quotes because it is not worthy of the title; it is nothing more than a high-school gym or a church function hall. In 3 years, Wilmington will have outgrown this hideous, bland piece of architecture and the problems will be multiplied. I’m fed up with all the bickering and ignorance regarding growth in a city. If you want to live in a dying city where you will not have to deal with issues like convention centers, hotels, and bridges connecting adjoining counties, please move to Idaho. (On a side note, I would really love to visit Idaho and I have nothing against it. I’ve heard it’s a beautiful state with incredible natural beauty.)

There is a meeting on the matter on October 28 at Wilmington City Hall.

For people just starting their careers, the damage may be deep and long-lasting, potentially creating a kind of “lost generation.” Studies suggest that an extended period of youthful joblessness can significantly depress lifetime income as people get stuck in jobs that are beneath their capabilities, or come to be seen by employers as damaged goods.