be there or be ...

I have a weird interest in traffic and civil planning (is that the phrase? City planning?) Having grown up on Omaha, all square aside from crazy Leavenworth St., and someone who enjoys walking in Manhattan (hello squares), this article piqued my interest. What more do you need then an economist, city/urban planning, and Burning Man? It reminded me of a once monthly visit/episode called "Shaping the City" that Kojo Nnamdi used to host with the architect Roger Lewis on WAMU in DC. I don't think the "Shaping" series is still ongoing but it was easily my favorite episode every month because Lewis had a way of talking about planning, architecture, memorial planning (it is DC, afterall), and all aspects of human economy. Having zero life experience how these things actually work I enjoyed reading how true experts understand and plan the human experience - obviously, some good and some bad.

The Burning Man event is human gathering that allows these folks to actually plan, create, inhabit, disassemble, and walk way every single year only to do it again in twelve months with added corporate (funny, right?) knowledge. Not only is this of interest for the caching of details for future city planners, but it should be of interest into how we can plan for tens of thousands of people needed immediate in disasters and migration (forced or otherwise).

Anyway, here's the article in the NYTimes. Enjoy.