Thomas Bayrle, $, 1980

As I mentioned in a previous post I have been reading Michael Sorkin’s All Over the Map and I just finished Sorkin’s essay the Jungle Urban:Welcome to Petropolis. I am also reading Rethinking a Lot The Design and Culture of Parking by Eran Ben-Joseph on the side. While both of these are thought provoking, I have become overwhelmed with the facts and maybe even depressed. Both are critical of an auto-centric society and the negative impact the infrastructures (pipeline or parking lots in particular) have on the environmental:  oil spills, toxic land, air pollution, unfiltered storm water runoff and increasing daytime temperatures in cities. Automobiles and their infrastructures have played a role in shaping our natural and built environment and they have contributed to the decentralization of urban areas and urban sprawl. Both books have reconfirm my commitment as to why I will never own a…