@foxyjewishmama Front lawns, though ugly, are for show. Mostly a show of wealth and prestige. Mid 20th century planners felt so strongly about it they embedded its requirement into the zoning code. Only now, nearly 8 decades later, it is beginning to fall out of favor.

#urbandesign #urbanhistory #urbanfailure

There's a purpose-built (as opposed to one necessitated by topography) ca. 1923 cul-de-sac in my city, with all of the modern suburban characteristics: ringed by high-end single family houses on large lots with driveways, designed for drive in/out access.

Who's got one that's older than 1923?

#UrbanHistory

#UrbanHistory
#HoustonHistory
#Hotels
#BoardingHouses
#Restaurants
#Antebellum
#Reconstruction

I am attempting my first thread on Mastodon. 1/

I updated the timeline for my book, Houston Lodging: Residential Hotels, Boarding Houses, and Restaurants, 1837-1877.

I included many citations to serve as a bibliography for 19th-c lodging houses.
https://bnjd.substack.com/p/houston-lodging-update

#HoustonHistory
#UrbanHistory
#FourthWard
#RiceUniversity

Below is a link to a lecture about Rice Institute when the trustees considered a location on Louisiana Street:
https://taskforce.rice.edu/events/houston-rice-and-race-history-fourth-ward

#AncientRome
#streets
#horses
#UrbanHistory
#TrafficRegulations

I vaguely recall reading secondary sources about a Roman imperial edict requiring equestrians to dismount in the city. I was only taking notes on the Republic and the Principate at the time.

Does anyone have any ideas about such a law or any other laws anywhere regulating equestrians in urban areas? Bridenbough treats this in colonial America (or in the Early Republic).

Part 2 of my psychogeographic exploration of the 18th century British portage route, a bypass of Niagara Falls to link Lake Ontario to Lake Erie. Walking from Queenston to Chippawa to see what place and landscape feel like on foot.

#psychogeography, #liminalspaces, #urbanplanning, #urbanwalking, #hauntology, #niagaraontario #landscape, #urbanexploration, #UrbanHistory, #urbanecology, #urbanism

https://link.medium.com/Ojfki2rfXub

Part 1 of a psychogeographic walk on the Niagara Peninsula, tracing the original British portage route - by-pass of Niagara Falls to connect Lake Ontario to Lake Erie - from Queenston to Chippawa.

https://link.medium.com/urhLLVYWMub

#psychogeography, #hauntology, #walking, #landscapes, #urbanhistory, #niagaraontario, #niagara,

#UrbanHistory
#SocialHistory
#FamilyHistory
#Transportation
#Neighborhoods
#CensusRecords