A while back - in this post - I created a contest for the best t-shirt inspired by Oklahoma's sustainable roots. I have been meaning to promote it more, but have just been tied up doing other stuff. So here is a reminder that designs are due November 30th and the winner will walk away with at least $100.

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So you might remember that back in August I travelled to Bratislava, Slovakia to do site visits for a research workshop I am participating in here at MIT. Here is some of the stuff we have been working on since...

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In the course of my thesis research I have tracked down a copy of the 1910 plan prepared for the Oklahoma City Parks Commission by W.H. Dunn, a landscape architect from Kansas City. The book is entitled: Oklahoma City: A report on its plan for an Outer Parkway and a plan for an Interior System of parks and boulevards. Looking through this plan that contains some of the earliest ideas that helped shape Oklahoma City has certainly been a pleasure for me and I hope you enjoy them as well.

Continue reading to see much more...

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So, one of things I am required to do to graduate from the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) is write a thesis. Typically the thesis research takes up some of your 3rd semester and almost all of your final semester. Finished papers are between 50-150pg and the finished product is intended to be a complete work carried out on a fairly high level. The first thing you have to do is pick the topic and for me that time has come. I have been keeping track of thesis ideas for the past year and have a nice little list from which to choose. Here they are with my thoughts on each.

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Okay, technical issues are resolved and I will get a new post up later today. Sorry for the delay - Blair

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Read on to see more on the Lips in the Times and also some exciting news for the OKC music scene...

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1986: "A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself a failure."
-- Margaret Thatcher

2008: The Mayor in London proudly sent their red Buses to Beijing to receive the flag for the 2012 Olympics.

It appears to have shifted in London and many other major metropolises throughout the world. One can only speculate as to how perceptions are changing in OKC, as the current level of transit service is so poor that perceptions cannot be said to affect ridership.

So what do you think? If service was better would "successful" people - however you define it - be found riding public transit in Oklahoma City?

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Richard Florida has been preaching about the importance of shaping cities that attract the young creatives since his 2003 release The Rise of the Creative Class. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in creating great cities. Actually, lets make it a must-own, because my copy has waited patiently on the bookshelf for two years and I have yet to read it, but so it goes. Anyway, recently Florida gave a lecture in Larvik and based on that lecture Norway artist Torhild Eide Torgersen was able to create this beautiful graphic diagram to summarize Florida's ideas on Why Place Matters!

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Aaron Koblin produces some amazing data visualizations that blur the line between data and art. One of my favorites is Flight Patterns where he visualizes the flight traffic data for the United States to create a time lapse video that tells an amazing visual story.

Click on the picture to go to the time lapse video...

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