Bad Design: The Redevelopment Zone Hotel Tube
The hotel tube tells would-be users that it is an exclusive place for hotel guests that bypasses the public space of the sidewalk Continue reading Bad Design: The Redevelopment Zone Hotel Tube
Tag: urbanism
Bikes: Essential Nuisance
What is it about bikes at MSU? Here’s a look at the relation between people, bikes, and the environment they inhabit – and create – at MSU. LINK –> Essential Nuisance (iPad optimized PDF document) Continue reading Bikes: Essential Nuisance
Better pedestrian walkways at MSU
If you have ever been nearly hit by a texting driver that is drag-racing around Circle Drive, you might get to breathe a little easier when you walk around the MSU campus from now on.
After tearing up Beal Street and Circle Drive for improvements to the campus-wide steam heating system, construction crews have made a few major changes to the roads and sidewalks. Most notably, the sidewalk which runs on the south side of Beal Street, high above a bank on the Red Cedar River, now only extends from the IM Circle building to the intersection with Circle Drive. Probably a good idea to remove that sidewalk, as it was slowly sliding down the bank towards the river. The new sidewalk now gives a pedestrian crosswalk to the north side of the street. Note to MSU, it would be good to install a traffic sign for eastbound traffic on Beal Street at this crossing.
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Broad Art Museum irks many, but adds to the landscape
If there is one thing to be said for the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum ( Web | Twitter ) nearing completion in East Lansing, it is that everyone seems to have an opinion on it. Buildings in East Lansing have a few different feelings, ranging from depression-era projects, cheap glass and steel ventures from the boom years of the 1950s, and a few structures pre-dating World War I. The Broad Museum, a project of Zaha Hadid Architects, sticks in your eye, which is exactly why I like it so much. Not every building on a college campus should look the same. The new design helps to give the Michigan State University campus a more timeless feel – suggesting that the university has lived through more than one time period. It shakes up the routine of college buildings that are nice to look at, but predictable.
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My view of The States (Andy Driska) « msubotswana2012
Here’s my entry for a photo-blog for an upcoming trip to Botswana with the MSU College of Education. I’ve got five photos to encapsulate five elements of culture and geography in the USA. Want to guess what I chose for a landscape? It’s a landscape only a few would choose. My view of The States (Andy Driska) « msubotswana2012. Continue reading My view of The States (Andy Driska) « msubotswana2012
Abandoned Detroit: "Ruin Porn"
Michigan Radio recently ran a story on The Cost of Creativity, a think piece designed to show the importance of arts funding to a state with a huge budget deficit. The story included a segment that discussed photographers “parachuting in” to Detroit, taking pictures of the numerous architectural landmarks that are now in ruins, then leaving to tell a “cliche” story of urban decay. One Vice Magazine column categorized the obsession with decayed landmarks as “ruin porn,” (I found myself thinking, “that’s a good point,” then questioning the source as I glanced at the widget next to the article that … Continue reading Abandoned Detroit: "Ruin Porn"
Does where we live make us happy?
I stumbled upon this index of “Happiest American Cities” and it got me to thinking about just what exactly makes me happy to live where I live. East Lansing, Michigan, is not the kind of place I brag about living. It’s not “where it’s at,” but for me, it has what I need: I walk to work each day, I enjoy my job and my education at Michigan State, and I have been satisfied by the relationships I have formed with the many people I have met in the past half-year. It doesn’t have the vibrancy and diversity a huge … Continue reading Does where we live make us happy?
Stats Video
Thanks to my brother Brian for this link. Wonder what America’s stats would look like if you broke out regions, populations, etc. Continue reading Stats Video
From the Daily Show – Revenue Crunch for States
Main St. Anytown U.S.A. http://www.thedailyshow.com http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:371595 Most states (47 of 50) are out of money and looking for ways to generate revenue without increasing taxes or changing tax structures. The fear seems to be that if taxes are increased, businesses and people with higher incomes will leave the state and relocate to other states where taxes are lower. I think this argument is too simple. It’s impossible to have low taxes and a high standard of living. A high standard of living means good schools, affordable health care, transportation infrastructure, clean and safe neighborhoods. That has a cost. It’s a … Continue reading From the Daily Show – Revenue Crunch for States
Andy Driska 
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