Cool Sites on Design, Cities, Environment

Metrophile is an interesting offering on Wired’s blog network. It covers trends and fashion and art, the urban snackage that makes living in the metropolitan space a more inviting existence for growing numbers of Americans, young and retired. 

The International Herald Tribune launched its Business of Green blog last month, and it’s alreadys one of the savviest forums for global business and environmental trends on the Internet. The New York Times carries the blog on the page it’s hidden deep in the bowels of NYTimes.com that feature some of the best reporting on the site.  

Metropolis Magazine, a national monthly published in New York, has consistently been one of the most perceptive places to read about metropolitan design trends.  Metropolis editors have always been interested in the relationship between urban culture, politics, governing, and design. The book’s reporting covers architecture, interior design, product design, graphic design, crafts, planning, and preservation. I visited late last year with Martin Pedersen, the executive editor, in the magazine’s crowded hive of a fourth floor office on w. 23rd Street and found him personable, approachable, and very sharp.

I’ll be writing a piece for Metropolis later this year out of St. Louis that describes how four convening organizations shaped the landscape, economy, and quality of life there.  The region’s light rail system, historic neighborhood development, park expansion and repair, and recreational trail network became realities in large part because of the role convening organizations played in encouraging unlikely allies to work together.

Another place to follow urban design and social trends is Dwell Magazine. The magazine’s Web site has gotten much more accessible in recent months, as has its archive. Robert Sullivan, a regular Dwell contributor, visited us in Michigan last year to report on progress we’re making to help the state’s cities be  better places to live.  A link to the article is under Articles and Appearances on the right sidebar to this page.