Urban Hayride

autumn. cycle.

via: urban cycling

 

 

Cycling Style (via Rumors in Richmond)

I ran across this article (via Rumors) while browsing RVA Blogs.  Good stuff; check out the links to some similar pages from around the world.

 

We Americans put gorgeous women on top of cars; Italians are putting gorgeous women on bikes. Dig.

*Brian Jones Jazz - Tuesday Night

Never seen John D'Earth on stage?  Don't know who I'm talking about?  What about Brian Jones?  Man, you are lame. 

D'Earth will be joining Jones along with JC Kuhl (sax) and Randall Pharr (bass) tomorrow night at The Camel - 1621 West Broad Street.  You need to be there.

 

Cycling blurb

From a 2007 article in Britain's New Statesman:

...a certain class of young male who will slow down his car as he passes any cyclist, and laugh derisively. When this happens to me, I try to tell myself that I am the future and these young men are the past. It’s a strategy that will work eventually, I believe.

I'd be lying if I said this hasn't crossed my mind on several occasions.  At least now I'm not the only one.

The Last Laggard, II

Regarding intra- and inter-city rail systems (from CityRailways):

Many Asian systems are expanding rapidly, especially in China. Shanghai, which had no subway until 1995, now boasts 141 route-miles. That puts it in front of Paris for 7th place, but further extensions could put the system above 300 miles by 2010.

Note the bold portion of the statement.  Just sayin'.

New $outh University

In the midst of the national debate surrounding health care, I want to talk about an indirectly related subject. I have an aversion to for-profit educational institutions, especially when it comes to the liberal arts. Interests are not properly aligned when an institution must achieve a profit, which is just the opposite regarding almost every other industry, in my opinion.  This is true for several reasons, but for now I'm keeping this an anecdotal argument.

First, very few if any courses taken at most for-profit "universities" successfully transfer to most traditional four-year institutions.  Academicians ostracizing such institutions due to their inescapable elitism?  I disagree.  There is reason that the academy does not give as much weight to credits attained at such institutions, and you know, I just don't have the energy to discuss it further.  Disagree?  Give me something and I'll fight back.

Given this reliance on profit, what happens when you become an alumnus of a failed "university"?  That doesn't look good, does it?

The rise and continual dissemination of for-profit educational institutions is one more sign that state money is not being spent efficiently, or properly.  The programs that are apparently in such high-demand should be expanded at regional community colleges.  In addition, some programs being offered by these "universities" are simply adding to the glut of degree-holders in particular fields (business?), of which these grads will be at the bottom of the pile.

For-profit institutions should stay out of the liberal arts and, if anything should award certificates for particular skill sets.  Don't equate this type of degree with that of traditional universities, it's just not the case and not fair to the student receiving it as such.  Honestly, regarding the programs with which these institutions prove to be the most successful, the student could have probably learned the same skills with experience, arguably better.

This is not to say that problems - big ones do not exist at traditional four-year state and private institutions, there are many.  Some state and private universities "profit" off of undergraduates that end up dropping out, simply to feed their graduate programs, and other needs.  That is a problem and can undermine the quality of that school's degree. 

For perspective, I am the product of an excellent public university, James Madison, but certainly not among the most prestigious institutions in America.  Just laying that out there; I don't think I fall into the category of an academic elitist.

So, all of this being said:

Headline: New South University Celebrates First Day of Classes in Short Pump [!!!]

I'm not surprised that South University has opened in Short Pump of all places.  Should Short Pump be proud?  You can decide, I think my opinion is clear.

Urbanist from the Start

During my journey home from DC this afternoon I pondered a question that I have thought about in the past: where are my roots as an urbanist and why do I have an insatiable desire for the human energy and stimulation delivered by such urban activity.  Why am I so highly stimulated by any and all things anecdotally classified as "urban".  Well, I didn't answer that question, but I did come to the conclusion that not much as changed over the years.

The Busy World of Richard Scarry was absolutely my favorite TV series while growing up.  There wasn't much competition.  I specifically remember the feeling I would get when I watched this animated series - it is precisely the feeling I had sitting in the Metro Station this weekend.  I get that same rush of energy when I walk down a crowded sidewalk, sit outside a cafe or restaurant in Richmond . London, Barcelona, New York, along with other similar activities.  Why?  Just like the song says, everything is something new...

the Sharp Comfort - in Studio

On September 26, the Sharp Comfort began its recording sessions for its first EP printing.  in color:

Thanks to Patrick Moran for snapping these pics; the rest of the shots are here.  Since Mike spent most of the day in a dark hole in the wall - he's noticeably absent from the album.

The Last Laggard

...last laggard of the high-speed age: the United States

NYT reports on Russia's entrance into the high-speed arena. 

I'm set to take Amtrak from Richmond to DC Thursday morning.  It's the first time its actually made sense for me to do so.  I'm excited, but it's kind of sad that this is the first time the benefit of taking the train north has outweighed the cost.  And actually - it's a close one. 

one day.

Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King: The Review

Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King: The Review

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Traunches

From The National Interest (via Richard Florida):

For economists in business schools the answer is straightforward. Business schools see themselves as suppliers of inputs to business. Just as General Motors provides its suppliers with specifications for the cold-rolled sheet it needs for fabricating auto bodies, J. P. Morgan makes clear the kind of financial engineers it requires, and business schools deem to provide. In the wake of the 1987 stock-market crash, Morgan’s chairman, Dennis Weatherstone, started calling for a daily “4:15 Report” summarizing how much his firm would lose if tomorrow turned out to be a bad day. His counterparts at other firms then adopted the practice. Soon after, business schools jumped to supply graduates to write those reports. Value at Risk, as that number and the process for calculating it came to be known, quickly gained a place in the business-school curriculum.

As graduate of an undergraduate business school, this statement brought back some memories.  I cannot claim to be the smartest and/or brightest person in my undergraduate class, or my current graduate class for that matter, but I'm not lying when I say I saw something wrong with, similar to the scenario detailed above, the most recent financial fad - structured finance.

At a upper middle-tier (is that a stretch?) school such as James Madison, I-banking recruiters were not banging down the career center doors.  JMU grads have to fight, hard to get a job on Wall Street.  That being the case, this explosion of newly-created financial instruments offered up an amazing opportunity for schools like Madison.  Enter the trauch.

A seminar in structured finance - "this is how you will split up mortgages and create traunches divided by risk that will then be grouped and sold as one mortgage-backed security", virtually mitigating the risk of the low-quality (sub-prime) mortgages. 

BAM, enter the financial "crisis".  So, yes, Dr. Eichengreen makes a valid point here.

It's not that JMU wasn't turning out excellent graduates, most, I would say, better than many of the "top-tier" schools.  In fact, the top-notch graduates that have landed on Wall Street are still achieving great success.  But on a whole, this observation is relevant. 

Also, it's 1:38am  - I've been in my usual seat in the graduate reading room since 4pm.  ---  this might not make any sense at all, and I'm not proofreading. 

Boombox

Made obvious by its name, this blog is supposed to present urban topics.  There is nothing more urban than the boombox.

I owned a boombox.  I wasn't much of a hipster when I was 12; my boombox was playing Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Yours?

NPR reports on the death of the boombox.

Boombox

Made obvious by its name, this blog is supposed to present urban topics.  There is nothing more urban than the boombox.

I owned a boombox.  I wasn't much of a hipster when I was 12; my boombox was playing Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Yours?

NPR reports on the death of the boombox.

Individualism

Its main principle is that no man or group of men should have power to decide what another man's status ought to be, and it regards this as a condition of freedom so essential that it must not be sacrificed to the gratification of our sense of justice or of our envy.
-F.A. Hayek

Hayek is an economist of the Austrian School and a classic liberal. 

This may seem unrelated to my usual urbanist musings, but at the core it's really very much connected.  Individual property rights often cause quite a headache for planners that simply want to see their plan implemented.  Obviously the most successful planners are the ones that learn to work the system efficiently and effectively. 

Also, that being said, I'm not sure what the classic liberal, or present-day libertarian's view is on planning; it is important to note that planning and a free-market society are not opposing theories.

On Second Thought

I take that back; I don't want to end my internal struggle.  That would be boring.