Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with urban

Teach em how to fish and they'll give us better cities, or something

stormygrey — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:34:01 -0800

Calling all planners, public admin. types, adult education gurus and other smarty pants: I need to develop a training program or at least a strategy for developing a training program for further planning on the local level, put the hard parts. Our office is charged with further the planning efforts of local (state and county) governments. We laid out the elements needed to successfully developing and implementing a comprehensive plan and then audited it to analyze our gaps. Then we looked at other agencies and they have similar gaps.

How can we train people in the areas of administrative capacity and what we are generally calling "community will" (political will, advocacy, etc.)?

Like, how to read a site plan submitted by developers, how should staff and appointed/elected officals communicate effectively, can a circuit rider type planner work, how would you develop a program like that, how do you do code enforcement with out a dedicated staff member. For the last one, its things like making politically difficult decsions, gaining consensus, or just plain how to implement your plan (what ever that may mean).

I know I am putting a lot of info out there, I don't want to box in the answers here. So have you attended or created training on items similar to these? Are you aware of awesome (perferably free) web based training/podcasts that touch on these issues. Feel free to throw in any new ideas that you see staff or officials messing up all the time. Thank you!

Parvovirus: odds of a puppy getting it?

zippy — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:34:45 -0800

I understand the danger parvovirus poses to puppies, but what are the odds of a puppy contracting the disease in the US (specifically Alameda County, California)? I have been reading about parvovirus in dogs (including this discussion), and understand how serious the illness is.

What I can't seem to find is any indication of risk or prevalance. What are the odds a dog will get parvo, and how many cases of it are there a year in my area?

The more mathematical and bounded the answer, the better. I know I can't be assured to the fifth decimal place about anything, but I want to know: Parvo, this terrible disease, are the odds 1%, 10%, or 100%?

More details below, in the hope that they may allow more exact bounding of the answer.

My dog is five weeks old. He was one of the larger dogs in the litter (with two or three brothers and a sister), which I understand tends to confer longer maternal immunity. I intend to start him on a full vaccine series for parvo.

He's 3/4 Australian Cattle Dog, 1/4 Fox Terrier. He was born in a remote rural area of Humboldt County, California, and as of a few days ago now lives in a semi-urban area in Alameda County.

I keep him mostly indoors, with trips to the back and front yard for exercise. I understand that completely preventing exposure to parvo is impossible (as the virus hardy and survives for long periods in the soil), but also that minimizing exposure to parvo greatly reduces the chances for infection.

I would like to know:

How common is parvo in Humbolt County and in Alameda County? Or, if these specific numbers aren't available, then whatever numbers are available for California or the US. A link to numbers of cases per year would be ideal.

What are the odds of a puppy getting parvo between the ages of 5 and 16 weeks if he's allowed to socialize with a: known dogs (with shots), or b: occasionally visit parks and meet other non-wild dogs.

Links to scholarly papers are fine, and links to the dog equivalent to the CDC would also appreciated.

If this is too specific, or if there isn't enough information, please let me know. Also, I do know how bad the illness itself is.

A priest and his own stolen plates. Folklore?

leticia — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:05:54 -0800

Have heard a story told to me as a "true" story that someone supposedly has personal knowledge of, but I could swear I've heard this before, either as urban legend, or maybe from the plot of a movie or book. Does anyone recognize this story? It's been a while since I heard the story, but here it is in broad strokes:

A good-hearted priest goes to work in a poor community. Everyone tells him to beware of this community because they are beggars and thieves, but he brushes off the warnings, and goes ahead to work with them and live among them. He embraces them and does not judge them harshly, and treats them very well. One day the community decide to have a party for him, to thank him for all the good and kind things he's done for them. He goes to the party, and they serve him a cake they have made in his honor, but they serve the cake to him on his own plates -- which they have stolen from him.

When this was told to me, it just felt so familiar. I am almost sure this is either something from a story or fable, or just an urban legend that might be told about any looked-down-upon community in any culture. However, I don't have the first idea how I could possibly search for this online.

Does this story sound at all familiar to anyone?

Thanks in advance!

The City That Confuses The Hell Out Of Me

Juliet Banana — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:54:44 -0800

If you've ever lived in or visited Chicago and had a good time without getting hopelessly lost, you are cordially invited to post in this thread. Needed: an explanation of the grid system, tips and tricks on navigation, and recommendations for how to find the underground music scene, awesome beers, weird things to explore, and the best Chicago-focused blogs. THE GRID SYSTEM: Whenever someone explains this to me I hear "It starts at State and Madison and blah blah blah blah blah and then you'll know exactly where you are!" Pretend I am a five-year old who was dropped on my tender infant cranium.

HACKS: I bought the Moleskine city notebook which is really helpful because I can pour over maps on the El without looking like a total tourist. I'm also thinking of buying a small cheap compass because I have no sense of direction and I'm too shy to ask the classic question "Which way is the lake?" My boyfriend is getting handed a dollar so he can get one of the CTA Tracker apps for his iPhone. Any other recommendations?

BLOGS: A focus on music, especially local/weird/electronic, is nice, and so are blogs that categorize/tag posts by neighborhood. I'm currently reading Cream Team, Chicagoist, The Chicago Weekly (I really like the focus on non-mainstream arts&music, and neighborhood catagorization), and Gaper's Block. Is There a Cubs Game Today? is a single-serving site, not a blog, but invaluable for a Wrigleyville resident like myself.

PLACES TO CHECK OUT: Metafilter let me know that Hopleaf existed, so I'm sure there's lots of wisdom to be shared.

BACKROUND: I've spent time in Chicago but never lived here, I live spitting distance from Wrigley Field, I will likely work in The Loop, yes I will be at the meet-ups, I like booze and electronica and lowbrow art and limited-run/old/obscure movies, I really liked this previous question though I am 21+, I do not drive and hence will be reliant on the CTA, I am kind of nervous about not knowing anything about the local underground music scene and how to penetrate it.

Help find Wendell Berry writing about urban biases toward rural America

jeffmshaw — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 07:52:49 -0800

I am looking for an essay by Wendell Berry where he talks about urban America's dismissive biases toward rural America, and critiques this attitude. I believe I read this in the updated version of The Unsettling of America, but I'm not at all sure. I'm sure he's made the argument elsewhere, and that would be fine too.

The point is, I'm far from a library and need to find passages where Berry makes this argument as soon as possible. Can anyone help?

If you know of good progressive critiques along the same lines as Berry's, please feel free to post those too. Thanks!

Could a large influx of culturally-similar refugees help save Detroit?

jjjjjjjijjjjjjj — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:58:55 -0800

St. Louis, Missouri lost over half its population from 1950-1990. Since the mid-1990s, 80,000 Bosnian immigrants (coming to represent over 20% of the city's population) have established communities that have saved large areas of housing stock from decay. In which other instances have large, permanent groups of non-migrant, non-domestically employed immigrants been settled en masse helping to shore-up a city that is losing population but otherwise has the infrastructure to accommodate more? Has there been any debate or discussion about hypothetical proposals to encourage something similar in Detroit? To clarify: I'm looking for "pull" factors, not "push" factors. (In other words: not "there are a lot of Irish in Boston because of the Irish potato famine".) Not (just) "[specific group]'s needs for X caused them to come here", but "our [individual city]'s desire to stave-off atrophy caused us to incentivize large numbers of [specific group] relocating here." And specifically: examples where a city with waning population is to be rejuvenated, not where a booming city is to be expanded

Additionally, because my curiosity is specifically in its applicability/inapplicability for the problems in Detroit, I'm less interested in things that have brought only certain types of professionals over (Southern Asian medical personnel would be one example of many), or things that've brought populations of people to fill (semi-)rural labor-intensive industries (Latin-American workers in Midwest meat-packing CAFOs, early-20th century Appalachian coal-mining, or Chinese rail workers would be examples).

Have people proposed, discussed, or debated the applicability of encouraging similar things? Where are these proposals or debates?

As always, thanks for your ideas and your expertise. I am not a professional in this field, but I am willing to read challenging things.

"I can't believe I got the whole thing!"

GJSchaller — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:00:32 -0800

Graffiti Filter: Looking for a photo or confirmation of a myth of an epic and humorous piece of graffiti. A friend recounted the tale of someone unlocking a train yard one morning, only to find a (previously) clean multi-car train tagged with "I can't believe I got the whole thing!" sprayed the entire length of the train.

Google-Fu has failed me, images comes up with the ever popular "ate the whole thing," and text comes back with a large amount of NSFW fiction involving things fitting places they shouldn't...

Please, please stop Standing By Me.

YoungAmerican — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 13:49:05 -0800

How can I get my neighbor to stop playing Stand By Me on repeat at ear-splitting volumes? I live in a crowded urban neighborhood in Los Angeles. Picture "Do the Right Thing" or "Westside Story" or something.

the windows of my apartment face an alley, and every Sunday afternoon, someone in one of the adjacent apartments plays the song "Stand By Me" on repeat for several hours at what I would describe as "block party" volume levels. The person is clearly pressing the track buttons on their stereo, not actually setting it to repeat -- once in a while they go back in the middle of the song or shortly after the next song (a Liberace-ish piano ballad - Yanni?) starts.

This has been going on for months now.

It is July in LA, and closing the windows isn't really an option (and doesn't help that much, honestly, it's really loud).

I don't know exactly what apartment it's coming from (several buildings face mine directly and the alley is smallish , so the source of sound is tough to judge).

What can I do?

I have lived in an urban environment like this my whole life -- I am used to the sounds of the city. This, though, is insane. I actually think that the person is mentally ill or something. But it's SO LOUD! And my poor wife is trying to study for the bar, and has to wear earplugs.

I've yelled out the window already, so we know that doesn't work :).

How do I grow food in my shady apartment?

Lord_Pall — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:03:13 -0800

How do I grow food and be more sustainable in a shady city apartment? So we live in a ground floor apartment in Marina Del Rey. We're near the water so the temperature is pretty stable.

We're ground floor, facing a courtyard. We have a sizeable outdoor area that backs up on a shared courtyard. Figure 15X10 worth of usable floor space.

We get VERY little sun. Like an hour or 2 max in summer. Due to sprinklers and the location, it's quite humid too.

I can't do much or any growing inside since we have voracious cats who will eat all they can get their paws on.

Outside we've got tomatoes growing, but they're not too happy. They're growing out into the courtyard to try to find sun.. Herbs sorta grow as well in containers.

So how do I successfully grow vegetables or other foods?

I'm thinking about getting some grow-lights to supplant the low sun content. Downside is that most grow-lights dont work outside, plus the energy consumption is batshit insane if it's not a cfl or led.

Is this a good idea? Should I keep the plants out on the patio and use a grow-light during the day to help? Move it inside when it's done?

Should I convert the outdoor closet into a mini grow-room where I can blast out the light as needed?

Do the energy costs with running grow-lights defeat the idea of sustainability?

I'm less concerned about the footprint, and more concerned about raw cost.. heh

Any pointers or ideas on how to turn this shady space into a food-generating or more self sufficient space?

How do I act tough on the street?

wastelands — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:10:05 -0800

How do I reduce the amount I'm threatened on the street in an urban environment? I am a tall, young male, but about one a month on average, I get hassled by people on the street. No one has outright attacked me, but enough people "test" me by blocking my way, lunging at me (pretending to attack), yell at me and challenge me, etc. that it bothers me and makes me nervous.

I'm not so much interested in "how to defend my self"; there's plenty of that kind of material out there. I'm interested in how to not look so weak and nervous -- how to head off attacks before they even begin by projecting a tougher attitude.

For me personally:

* I definitely have some agoraphobia; I feel uneasy when first going out, especially after being cooped up for awhile. I tend to be a hermit on weekends and evenings unless I have something social planned or the weather's especially nice
* I wear glasses (i.e. nerd association)
* I dress nicely, yet sometimes walk through areas that have street people who probably resent the fact that I have money
* I enjoy walking fast, just naturally, but maybe that can be interpreted as being afraid.
* I'm bad at making eye contact

But I hope this thread is useful for people in general who live in rough areas, so please, any general tips are great too.

Things I'm doing or plan to do:

* I am trying to not look down at the ground so much, trying to look straight ahead more
* I really want to get into better shape and join an MMA gym (not just for self-defense, but because martial arts is fun for me, just haven't done it in ages)
* I'm trying to stand up taller and not slouch or hunch my shoulders so much
* Eventually want to get contacts, to look less nerdy and just because glasses are a PITA sometimes

Thanks!

Design me a cost-no-object urban bike.

Joe Beese — Sat, 23 May 2009 07:01:43 -0800

Specify me a cost-no-object urban bike. Intended use: Short to medium distance city errands. (Grocery hauling ability essential.)

Criteria: Ruggedness over lightweight. Comfort over speed. "Cost-no-object" meaning "top quality always a bargain" - not $500 volume knobs.

Any brand recommendations for wheels, brakes, lights, panniers, pumps, etc. are welcome.

Urban Planning Remixed

lunalaguna — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:44:42 -0800

Experimental and radical urban planning: Where are the interesting multidisciplinary graduate programs in the U.S.? I'm interested in a lot of things, but one subject that's held my interest for a long time is urban planning and design. I'm ready for a career change and want to pursue a master's degree in urban planning.

However, based on my experience working for government agencies and my participation in citizen planning initiatives, I'm pretty sure I'd go crazy actually practicing urban planning. I'm looking for master's programs that provide a strong foundation of urban planning and design theory so I can eventually work in research or policy analysis.

More importantly, I'm looking for programs that are potentially interdisciplinary, that might let me take classes in history and science, and that give me the option of pursuing a self-defined specialization.

I'm influenced by the work of artists Christian Nold and Andrea Zittel. I'm most interested in psychogeography and transit, the sociology of mega-events like the Olympics, and the kind of work the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture and SENSEable City Laboratory at MIT are doing.

Any thoughts? School recommendations? Professors to contact?

I wanna be a mechanical vagrant!

TheNewWazoo — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 09:27:07 -0800

I love renting a house in urban Atlanta! I hate renting a house in urban Atlanta! Can anyone help me find a place to fix my car... myself? So as much as I love living ~150yds from a MARTA station, and as little as I drive my car in town, and as nifty as my urban garden is, my car occasionally needs repair. I'm quite handy and would love to do minor stuff myself, but my steeply-sloped driveway and busy street precludes home repair. Can anyone help me find a public or co-op garage east-side ITP where I can work for a day or two?

Where can I find International Urban Planning Jobs?

pawlyk — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:54:40 -0800

Where can I find International Urban Planning Jobs? Hi there,

I have recently finished my master's in urban planning and am looking for work. Not really a good time for the development industry but there has to be something out there.

I would like to work overseas (I am currently in Canada). New Zealand or Australia would be potential stops but I am interested in Southeast Asia or India. Basically I wouldn't rule out anywhere but North America as I am looking for different perspectives in the planning field.

So I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about where I should start looking. I've tried big engineering firms, Allen and York, Aecom, gone through respective countries institute of planners websites etc

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

pawlyk

What's new in No Fun City?

Gortuk — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:57:31 -0800

What are the biggest changes in Vancouver (BC) over the last seven years? Seven years ago I moved away from Vancouver to the flat and gray environs of southern Ontario. I haven't been back since then (mostly out of fear that if I went back for a visit, I would have to be physically dragged back home).

I'm planning a trip back for this spring, and wondering how the city has changed in my absence.When I left, the second SkyTrain line was still a work in progress, Main St. wasn't a hip shopping destination, and the Winter Olympics were just a far-off dream.

For those of you still there, what have been the biggest/most significant changes to the urban landscape over the last 7 years? What are the hip new neighbourhoods, what places have taken a turn for the worse? What is the significant new architecture and what beloved buildings have been torn down to put them up? Has East Hastings become gentrified yet, and if so where have the junkies moved to?

I'd also like to hear about where the indie kids hang out these days if not at the Starfish Room, Sugar Refinery, or Blinding Light (all RIP as far as I know).

I want my 40 acres to bring in some cash to the older me

reenum — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:13:29 -0800

Are there techniques or methods to determine how a city will grow and in what direction it will grow? I want to buy some unimproved land with an eye to selling it in the future. I'd like my investment to be something that appreciates, rather than declining or simply remaining stable.

I'm looking for tools, books, websites, or other resources that help one gain the knowledge to try and figure out what patterns a city's growth is taking, and where growth will occur over the next 10-20 years.

Thanks!

How can I raise money to build a playground for inner-city kids?

peetle — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 09:13:50 -0800

How can I raise money to build a playground for inner-city kids? I am a senior in college at Brown University. I have been involved with a mentoring program (a kind of big brother, big sister kind of thing) since I came to school there at a community center in inner-city Providence, Rhode Island. I came to coordinate the program and would like to, in order to leave something lasting, build a new playground for the community center. The previous playground is decrepit (due to vandalism) and was poorly built and cheap.

I am trying to think of how I can raise a decent amount of money to build a durable, safe playground for the community center. I think we could get free labor in the form of students and parents to build it. Centrally, the cost would be materials. I imagine that I will try and pursue some kind of playground kit. I don't know how much this would cost. I don't know how common this kind of approach is but I have definitely seen it done before.

I am about to start trying to develop partnerships and get the ball rolling on this project. I have a good number of personal connections at the community center through my 4 years volunteering there. These individuals like the idea and want to be involved. I am somewhat well connected with pertinent groups at Brown. I am also a leader in Engineers without Borders at Brown, but don't think it is a good idea to have a student group design this playground as it will already take enough effort just to fundraise for it.

I was wondering if anyone has done anything similar or has suggestions for me. This is definitely a first time fundraiser experience. What sort of grants could I pursue? Who should I be talking to?

Hey, the grafitti on the rooftop of 111 S. Anderson, is the most creative in town!

sixcolors — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 12:10:14 -0800

What are some places "off the beaten path", I can explore in urban environments? For photography, and my own amusement. I know the term "off the beaten path" is usually associated rural or more remote places. That's not really my interest right now, especially that it is 20 degrees outside.

I am interested in finding places in a city that are hard to access and/or places that few people know about. If it helps, I am in southern Illinois, so the two largest cities I am near are St. Louis and Chicago. But, suggestions from any city would be fine, because I can probably find something similar here or I can keep those suggestions in mind when I travel to other parts of the country.

It can be buildings, special rooms/areas in buildings, alleys, tunnels, whatever. Occupied or vacant. A general place (I heard that NYC has several secret bars) or something specific (the St. Louis City Library has an area where the floor is made of glass).

Urban exploration, in the form of exploring tunnels and abandoned warehouses are out. I did those things in college, and now I'm looking for something new.

Exploring the "Dog Park" set.

wfrgms — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:31:44 -0800

Are "Dog Parks" a new indicator of urban gentrification? In the sense that the users of urban dog parks (dog friendly parks, where dogs can play leash-free) maybe more affluent, service workers, and participants in neighborhood revitalization.

I'm doing research on gentrification in Chicago, and I'm interested in novel indicators, or predictors of neighborhood change. (Starbucks has been done to death.)

Not really looking for anecdotes, but does anyone have any go-to links, news stories, and the like (citeable sources a plus) that I can examine? Any narrative would be useful.

I'm familiar with gentrifying parts of Chicago, but fuzzy on what neighborhoods in other cities are changing.

Where can I start looking for grants for "going green"?

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:51:41 -0800

GreeningGrantFilter: I'm a volunteer at a soup kitchen who recently got asked to look for sources of funding for a "green" initiative. I have lots of experience chopping vegetables and coming up with ideas in the past, but on this issue of financing....none at all. A large (physically, and in terms of client base) urban soup kitchen is looking for grant aid (other type of assistance welcome too, in terms of consulting, etc.) to "go green" in its operations....not just because it's the right thing to do, but also because they're spending nearly $2000 per month in paper goods and associated trash costs--overwhelming for a place that's virtually running on a month-to-month basis given the current need and economic crunch.

This is one of the largest soup kitchens in our region (and serves 6 nights a week) and unique in other ways as well (consistent efforts to use fresh produce, salads at every meal, meals cooked from scratch--not dumped from cans--whenever possible, etc., (even as they serve 150+ per night), meeting restaurant standards of serving and presentation and cleanliness, etc.), so it might make an attractive cause and serve as a nice test case for an environmental group.

We currently need to retrofit an existing dishwasher on site to be operational and to bring it up to code, as well as buy all associated supplies for the switch (trays, cups, plates, etc.) so there is a definite plan in place. Donors in past years have been local and regional (financial institutions, churches, fraternal organizations, etc.) and I'm wondering if there's a directory or short list of donors on a national level who are interested in environmental issues whom I could be researching and contacting regarding this.

I have access to some online databases through a university, obviously the internet, etc. What I don't have is any grant research experience, or much connection to environmental organizations/foundations at this point.

Throwaway address is greensoupkitchen@gmail.com

On an Urban Photo Safari in T.O.

nathaole — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:29:56 -0800

Aside from landmark buildings and tourist architecture, where can I take my out-of-town friend (an amateur photographer) to capture unique shots in Toronto this weekend? I haven't explored every nook and cranny of the city, but am looking for special places that would provide him with great souvenirs of his trip to Toronto. Examples of things similar to what I'm looking for might include the back alleys near Queen/Bathurst (amazing grafitti) and Kensington Market. Did the secret swing disappear long ago?

I'd like to avoid the CNE.

Thanks!

Help my Bedroom Community Survive

IndigoSkye — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:34:49 -0800

Help me with this Urban Planning problem. I live in your typical bedroom community on the perimeter of a large metropolitan area. We have about 30,000 residents and a lot going for us in terms of community and location. We're going to get hooked up on the regions new commuter rail system, but it's on the far side of the community and I don't see it getting much use without a feeder system of some kind. Our regional mass transit system sucks otherwise; so we're on our own to develop an intra-community system that will keep our community vibrant, green, and support commuter rail. With cities everywhere turning inside out bedroom communities will become a thing of the past. Ours has a lot going for it, so I hope it survives, and it's getting a commuter rail, which might provide a lifeline. But I don't think that will be enough. I think it will need an internal mass transit system to move people around cheaply and efficiently and connect to the commuter rail.

We have about 30,000 residents and aren't likely to grow much soon. So I'm looking for examples of communities of about the same size that have great mass transit systems. How do they work? How are they funded? What could they do better? How would you design a system that works for a community of that size?

Some things about our community that constrain what type of system would work the best.

One, it would have to be covered as we get lots of rain and bad weather.

Two, it has to come close to breaking even as there will be little or no government subsidy.

Three, it has to be timely. You can get across the community by car in 10-15 minutes. Therefore no one is going to wait more than 10 minutes to get somewhere or they might as well have done it themselves. But you can drive from the center of the community to the edge in 10 minutes.

The community is set up with the commerce located mostly in the middle, apartments nearby and then small self contained single-family dwelling neighborhoods radiating out from there. There are two commerce centers, so picture a venn-diagram and you have our community.

There is a small possibility that we could get the speed limit lowered to 35 MPH throughout the community and encourage everyone to use NEVs when driving locally. This would be greener, but not exactly mass transit.

I'm putting together a proposal for the local board, so anything you suggest is helpful. Thanks

What's left of the old Whitby Psychiatric Ward?

Joseppi — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:42:36 -0800

What's left of the old Whitby Psychiatric Ward? I heard a lot of it has been torn down so I wanted to make sure there was still something there before I spend the money on gas to get there. I've seen shots that people have taken there and I've always wanted to go. I remember reading somewhere that most, if not all, of the buildings have been torn down. Is this true or are there still some buildings standing that you can get to?

Owning a dog in the city? What do I need to know?

doppleradar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:46:31 -0800

Owning a dog in the city? What do I need to know? It's been almost a year since my dog passed away and I've been thinking about getting another. I've had dogs my whole life, and volunteer at shelters when I can so I know about the basics of dog ownership, training, etc...

What's new to me is living in a smaller apt (and not having a yard) since I moved to Boston in January. I wouldn't adopt for another 6 months or so, but in the meantime I need to get educated on what it's like to be a dog-owner in a super-urban environment.

Do you get used to picking up the poop? Are dog parks only for purse-dogs? Is it even fair to get a dog if I'll be working most of the day? What am i not thinking of, and what tips/hints/resources/advice do you have for being a responsible pet owner in the city?

Help me find urban decoration

edmz — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:38:12 -0800

I'm looking for "urban" decoration and posters. A friend of mine has a pizzeria that has an urban ambiance. And by "urban" I mean an old looking brick wall with a small tag, some posters by Obey Giant, a couple of photograps of Banksy stuff and stickers from indie record labels.

He asked me for help searching for more stuff like that. Where can I find more stuff similar to what he has now? Allposters.com sites seem to have corny or classy stuff, but I'm looking more for independent/small artists.

thanks for any help.