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Mobility and Kiev
Posted by Chris DeWolf on 5 April, 2000 - Back to the top
I've been pointed towards the Kiev Photo Gallery which has quite a few nice photos of Kiev, capital of Ukraine. It's not exactly the most photographed (or photogenic) city, so that makes this page even more special. Another thing I wanted to share with you guys was the German game Mobility, which is a sort of transportation-oriented SimCity. I haven't played it myself, but various sources have given it praise. Chris Szabla, UPP's associate editors, complains that the game focuses too much on automobile transit (then again, it is sponsored by DaimlerChrysler). I guess you'll have to download it and see for yourself!

Newsletters
Posted by Chris DeWolf on 4 April, 2000 - Back to the top
Looking for some good email newsletters? Well, I've got a couple suggestions. There's the obvious choice, UPP's own - Urbanite - which is being mailed out tomorrow, so today's your last chance to subscribe if you want to recieve the April edition of the magazine! Other good newsletters include the Architecture Hate Page Newsletter, which keeps you in touch with the page that spits on bad architecture. An even better way of keeping current is Sprawl Watch, which can also be read online. On a side note, now that we're getting a few more visitors than earlier this year, I'm thinking of reinstating the discussion forum. Thoughts on this? Oh, and don't forget to fill out our survey if you haven't already.

In regard to "Unseen Calgary"
Posted by Chris DeWolf on 2 April, 2000 - Back to the top
I have been notified by a staff member of viewcalgary.com  that I did not give them due credit to the images I linked to in last week's post "Unseen Calgary". I apologise for this error and remind all my visitors that the Victoria Park images I mentioned were property of View Calgary.

Come on, be active!
Posted by Chris DeWolf on 1 April, 2000 - Back to the top
This is a cry for help. I need your participation! What would be really cool of you guys is if you'd submit some of your own personal urban photos of a specific city, to be displayed in the Miscellaneous Cities section. It'd be a great help. Also, the survey is already telling me lots of stuff about the things you, as a visitor to UPP, want. For instance, it seems that you guys like the photos best; thus, I'll try and get off my lazy ass and scan some new images. Coming soon: Nanaimo, Charlottetown and Victoria! How soon is up to how many of you participate in the survey (how's that for incentive?). Anyway, here's a nice photo gallery of Warsaw, and this is the great Architecture of Fort Worth homepage. Lots of nice pictures of beautiful old buildings; check it out. NYC Roads and some interesting photos of New York and helps shed light on the history of the urban expressway. Unfortunately, the site is something of a shrine to Robert Moses, not a good thing in my eyes.

Back from Edmonton
Posted by Chris DeWolf on 31 March, 2000 - Back to the top
Well, I'm back from a two-day trip to Edmonton. I managed to take quite a few photos, but until I get some money to put them on a PhotoCD, I'm afraid you might not see them for awhile. Of course, you can always go to Amazon.com and buy lots of books; that way, we'll get a percentage of the profit and it might even be enough to fund the development of the photos. Help! Anyhow, you can find more about Edmonton at www.discoveredmonton.com, it's a really nice city. By the way, please take some time to fill out our quick and easy survey. Cheers!

Beautiful Santiago
Posted by Chris DeWolf on 27 March, 2000 - Back to the top
Santiago, Chile - what do you know about it? If you're an average middle class North American, probably not a lot. Most people have preconcieved notions about it being a festering third-world city full of ugly cast-concrete apartment towers (think Caracas). Much to my surprise, and probably yours as well, Santiago is a beautiful, European-style city. Need proof? Check out some of these photos! This photo is of the Londres Hotel in the Barrio Paris-Londres. This is a typical building in the Calle Dieciocho quarter. Again in the Calle Dieociocho, this is the beautiful Military Club. This photo is the Palacio Larrain in the Barrio Brasil. The more modern heart of Santiago is shown in this photo of Alameda Avenue. And finally, reeking of London is the Paseo Ahumada, a lovely little square. All these and more can be found at the amazing Santiago Information Centre. By the way, I've moved all of last week's news items, including the Tokyo photos and Venice editorial, to the News Archives.

The Urban Photo Page is devoted to urbanity. With our photos, for which we were orginally acclaimed, we express the joy of urban exploration through images. In our urban affairs section, we bring awareness to you about sprawl, cities and current development. The following two people have dedicated their time and effort to maintaining this site:

• Chris DeWolf, Calgary
• Chris Szabla, Boston

The photo sections are designed for the armchair traveller or "urban connoisseur" more than anyone else. Our articles are designed not only to give the average person an insight on how cities work and what they do, but also to express this Urban Photo Page's opinion on certain matters. For the record, the editors here at UPP - that is to say, Chris Szabla, Chris DeWolf and Mark Grotkiewicz - are both fans of the city or trained in urban design and sociology (in Grotkiewicz's case). We hope you enjoy the Urban Photo Page and both it's photos and articles.

• Lonely Planet - This TV series, made by the same people who publish the acclaimed guidebooks, is worth watching not only for it's excellent urban episodes but also it's adventurous treks into the wild. The filmography is top-notch. Plays on Outdoor Life Network in Canada, and the Travel Channel in the US. Check local listings for times.

Be sure to check the links to your right in "Other Sites of Interest". Here are a few other city-related, non-photo page links: Back to the top.

• City.net - Excite Travel's page has over 5000 destinations in it's databanks. Type in the name of the city you're looking for, and it'll spew out all sorts of information, as well as links. This is a great starting point for the online urban explorer; be sure to check it out.
  
• Lonely Planet Online - The online version of the great TV show (see above) and guidebooks, LP Online offers a full online version of it's guides to world cities, as well as featured articles.
  
• Carfree Cities - J.H. Crawford presents a convincing argument on why our cities should be car-free and oriented towards the pedestrian. In his comprehensive site, he draws up plans of what a car-free city might look like, and he uses Venice and various other cities as an example that pedestrian-oriented cities can work.
  
• OTRF Urban Links - A page chock-full of urban-related links. Some turn out to be duds, but others are golden. Worth a look.
  
• Sierra Club Sprawl Report - A wonderful site dealing with the urban sprawl that affects our cities. Includes articles, links, and a list of the American cities that have the worst sprawl.
  
• Planning and Design Institute - A comprehensive and wonderful site chock-full of interesting architectural and urban designs. There are some great plans here. Thanks go out to markgro@csd.uwm.edu for recommending this site.
  
• Rough Guides Online - Uncompromising and honest-to-the-bone guides to hundreds upon hundreds of cities around the globe. A great reference source.
  

Click on the title of each book to go to it's Amazon.com page. We are an Amazon.com Associate, so any book you buy via these links will help support our site. Back to the top.

• The Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jabobs. (1961). 451 pages. A classic that changed the way we see our cities. Sometimes the writing can be long and redundant, but overall, it's a must-read for anyone remotely interested in cities and how they work.
  
• City Life, by Witold Rybczynski. (1996). Unknown pages. An engaging and interesting book that explains why North American cities are the way they are. What really got me about this book was how easy it was to read - it's made for the layman.
  
• Cityscapes of Boston: An American City Through Time, by Robert Campbell, photographs by Peter Vanderwarker. (1992). 219 pages. Composed of "before and after" photos of city scenes in Boston, with intelligent and often witty commentary by Robert Campbell. A great book.
  
• Central Square, by George Packer. (1998). Unknown pages. Okay, okay, so this is fiction - but I heartily recommend you all read it. It really gives you an insight into the lives of the average urban dweller, in this case the ones in the gritty but lively Central Square neighborhood of Cambridge, Mass.
  
• The City Reader, edited by Richard T. Legates and Frederic Stout. (1996). 532 pages. This is a collection of essays by various acclaimed urban writers, ranging from Le Corbusier to Frank Lloyd Wright to Jane Jacobs. Each essay is prefaced by a summary and an editor's introduction; in essence, this is a miniature library and a great resource for all those interested in the city.
  
• Home Town, by Tracy Kidder. (1999). 349 pages. An interesting look into the life of a rather unusual small town - Northampton, Massachusetts, with one of the largest gay populations in the US - and it's two faces. One is the wild and liberal side, revolving around yuppified Main Street, and the other is the traditional conservative town. Reads like a fiction novel even though it's entirely factual.

If you have something to recommend, give us a shout.

Urban Photo Page © 1999 Chris DeWolf; All rights reserved. No portion of this website may be reproduced without the written consent of the webmaster.

A note about the art on this page: the painting featured in the title graphic is Nighthawks, by Robert Hopper.

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