About

Hey, thanks for stopping by.

I’m Bryan. This site is where I write short posts about whatever has been occupying my brain lately. Sometimes that’s cities and architecture. Sometimes it’s photos from a walk. Sometimes a book, a piece of music, or a stray observation that felt worth writing down.

By profession I’m an urban planner. I spend a lot of time thinking about how places work and how they could work better. Transit, public space, architecture, and landscape design have a way of sneaking into how I see everything else.

Outside of work I mostly like making things. Writing, photography, gardening, music, cooking experiments, tinkering with personal websites. The internet used to be full of small strange personal sites and I still believe that’s one of its best forms.

I grew up in the Great Lakes region and still miss it a lot. These days I live in the Pacific Northwest with my family, where everything is greener, the forests are mossy, and the tomatoes in my yard get a little out of control by August.

Part of the reason I keep a site like this is that the internet can feel pretty mean and exhausting these days. I wanted a small corner that feels more personal and more enjoyable to return to. I’m still working on it, but that’s the idea.

Interests

urban designlandscape architecturetransit mapssubway systemsDetroitTorontoNew YorkPhiladelphiawandering neighborhoodswandering cities at duskmossy Pacific Northwest forestscedar smell after rainphotography walksmaps of places I haven’t been yetdark satirepsychological character studiesunconventional love storiesconcert ticket stubsboxes of old letters and photographsPolaroidspost-it noteshomemade cardslettersgardeningtomatoes that take over the yard by Augustcooking experimentsbuilding and fixing thingssmall personal websitesRSS feedsstrange corners of the internetsoda watercaramelpotato pancakesMidwest nostalgiaItalian genealogy rabbit holespastoral punk dystopiasthe strange landscapes of American suburbiaanti-sprawlMies van der Rohemodernismdesert mid century modernismCharles and Ray EamesFrank Gehrytypographyindustrial designTom FordIKEACezannepost-ImpressionismwatercolorsMurakamiVonnegutDostoevskyRay NaylerErnest HemingwayVirginia WoolfMitskiJapanese BreakfastAngel OlsenLiz PhairDeep Sea DiverCate Le BonSt. VincentLucy DacusPavementInterpolDavid BowieNew OrderJoy DivisionTalking HeadsThe SmithsThe Modern LoversThe BeatlesNeil YoungGord Downie