Essays

Essays on the deeper patterns shaping cities, culture, and civic life. Written for those who know there’s more at stake than policy and planning alone.

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Pedestrians wait at a Boise crosswalk as traffic moves through a busy intersection, illustrating the tension between human movement and civic coordination.

The Crosswalk Theory of Civilization

The Crossing Standing on the curb of a road like Myrtle Street...

View from the Boise foothills showing a dirt trail in the foreground and the city below in autumn

Why Here

Spend enough time listening to how people talk here and a pattern...

Pedestrian street with outdoor café seating and historic buildings in a European town square.

Why We Vacation in the Places We Refuse to Build

The Great American Irony Every year, millions of Americans perform a strange...

Drone view of a large multi-lane commercial intersection in the Treasure Valley surrounded by parking lots and retail buildings, illustrating suburban sprawl.

Why Sprawl Feels Like Sickness

Take a drive down Fairview Avenue or the long stretches of Eagle...

Early morning industrial building with interior lights on and a person welding inside.

The Backbone Beneath the Noise

The Misleading Picture of the City If you only looked at Boise...

Historic black-and-white photograph of a large early 20th-century home on Harrison Boulevard in Boise, lined with leafless trees and covered in fresh snow, circa 1915–1920.

The Unfinished Work

In May 1903, Theodore Roosevelt stood in Boise and offered a perspective...

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