Lmst

https://www.ipsnews.net/2025/12/ungas-long-drawn-revitalization-efforts-need-a-meaningful-outcome-not-another-repetitive-regularity-of-an-omnibus-of-redundancy/#google_vignette
#UN #GeneralAssembly #Revitalization

New publication!

The Tatar Language in Finland: Sociolinguistic Perspectives and Audiovisual Archival Resources

Authors: Ainur Elmgren and Orsolya Sild

Journal of Finnish Studies (2025) 28 (1): 8–31.

The Author Link provides free access to the article for three months after it is posted online.

#tatarlanguage #revitalization #minoritylanguages #languagerevitalization #minoritiesinthearchives

https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/jfs/article/28/1/8/403101/The-Tatar-Language-in-Finland-Sociolinguistic?guestAccessKey=75aa730f-32f5-415c-9188-7d0f5df32a37

City selects engineering firms, shows designs for Johnston Street revitalization

Sidewalks, a bike path and trees providing shade on hot summer days: on a newly created webpage, Lafayette Consolidated Government is now showcasing renderings for the ambitious Johnston Street and Louisiana Avenue revitalization project.

The revamp is a signature project for M-P Monique Boulet that is also one of her most expensive. She argues it’s long overdue.

“It’s time to revitalize it as we continue to grow and mature,” said M-P Monique Boulet in a press release. “Johnston Street has been a cornerstone of Lafayette’s history and economy.” The project, Boulet points out, will cover several core areas of Lafayette, including Downtown, UL Lafayette’s campus and Moncus Park.

Published:June 266:54 pm At the intersection of Johnston and Bertrand, M-P Boulet and bike advocates collide

While optimistic about the overall project, Lafayette’s bike and pedestrian committee members feel as if their priorities and fears over road design are going unanswered.

Currently, the $28.5 million project is designed to cover 8.5 miles of road total, with the first section set to cover the stretch of Johnston Street between the Evangeline Thruway and Doucet Road. This includes burying utility lines, adding drainage capacity under the road and improving walkability along the corridor.

This week, Lafayette also announced another important step in the life of the project, the selection of engineering firms: Mader Engineering, Neel-Schaffer, Stantec and Southeast Engineering.

Those interested in notifications on the ongoing project can sign up on the new website.

Mader Engineering is owned by the family of The Current editor Christiaan Mader. To avoid a conflict of interest, he did not review this story before publication.

A quotation from Ray Bradbury

So while our art cannot, as we wish it could, save us from wars, privation, envy, greed, old age, or death, it can revitalize us amidst it all.

Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) American writer, futurist, fabulist
Zen in the Art of Writing, Preface (1994)

More info about this quote: wist.info/bradbury-ray/79865/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #raybradbury #art #artist #composing #creation #creativity #music #revitalization #selfactualization #selfaffirmation #selfcare #selfexpression #selfpreservation #writing

An alleyway of hope towards community healing

Sadly in the United States, racism and bigotry are hardly a new thing. No matter how much we want to deny it, this country was largely born of racism and far too many of our fellow citizens continue to practice it on a daily basis.

Alley before – Source: patronicity.com Ohki Alley now Source: patronicity.com

That’s why it was so refreshing and rewarding to recently stumble upon a revitalized alleyway in small Indiana town that is attempting to right a terrible past wrong, while also adding walkable placemaking feature for the community.

Source: indianahistory.org

The Ohki Alley in downtown Columbia City, Indiana is located directly across from the Whitley County Courthouse. This narrow alley honors Shinzo Ohki, a Japanese immigrant to the area who built a thriving soy sauce business (Show-You Sauce), but who also felt the sting of bigotry during World War II (see below).

“A Kind and Gentle Man”
“I first met Shinzo Ohki in the early summer of 1942. My family had moved to 203 Brownwood Avenue in Columbia City and the Ohki’s were neighbors. I was about 9 years old at the time.
My brother, Harrison, and I developed a neighborhood business of mowing lawns, doing yard work and general odd jobs as needed. We had a good summer business of about eight or nine customers for walk and driveway snow shoveling, plus stacking wood. In those days, many home owners burned wood in the dwelling heating system. The truck from Morsches Lumber Company would dump a load of wood at the curb and it was the property owners responsibility to handle it. Our job was to toss the wood, one piece at a time, in the basement window and then stack it neatly near the furnace. It was hard work but also steady work and good exercise.
As I became better acquainted with Mr. Ohki, I also got to know his wife and daughter. They were all soft spoken and gentle people. They also were very interested in you and your welfare.
Mr. Ohki’s daughter, Grace, was in college at the time and a talented musician and world-class clarinet player. I remember her as Paid Advertisement
a beautiful young lady who was always asking me about school and any plans I had.
Here we must remember the time frame. It was the early 1940s and World War II was just getting going.
My brother and I were very much enjoying our relationship with the Ohki family. Shinzo always talked with us and always overpaid us.
One summer day, after we had finished our work, Mr. Ohki came and paid us $10.00 each the usual amount for the weekly job was about $1.00 a piece. He was very soft-spoken, as usual, but not so cheerful that day. He said “You boys won’t be able to work for me anymore. It will be bad for you and your family if you do. I want you to tell your mother and dad everything I say and they will explain it.” He turned and quietly and quickly left. I think he was crying.
We started to cry as we walked home, thinking we had been fired from our job. We did as Shinzo had asked and told our folks everything he had said. They explained that others in our small town might bring grief to us for associating with a Japanese family a mystery to me at the time but well understood in later years.
True to his nature, Mr. Ohki was more concerned for our welfare than for his own.
My memory of him has not changed or dimmed over these past almost eighty years. He was indeed a kind and gentle man.”
Source: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=228160

The alley is adorned with tables and chairs, flowers, lighting, murals, and several historic markers about Mr. Ohki’s life. There is even a tiny ice cream shop (Alley Scoops) tucked into a doorway pocket along the corridor. The alley revitalization project was completed in 2020.

In today’s cantankerous environment, this little alleyway of hope is a charming breath of fresh air, both as a symbol of how to heal past sins, but also as a method for knitting the community back together physically with a wonderful placemaking featuring in the heart of downtown. And whenever you can successfully achieve two goals with a single project, that’s certainly a win-win situation. Kudos to a job well done, Columbia City.

Peace!

p.s. On this 80 anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan (today), this post about healing seems particularly appropriate. May humanity find lasting peace so that such brutal consequences of war never happen again.

#alley #cities #ColumbiaCity #food #fun #history #iceCream #Indiana #Japan #landUse #OhkiAlley #planning #preservation #revitalization #ThirdPlaces #tourism #travel

Tampa fine dining legend Mise en Place gets in on Ybor with move to Casa Gomez

Tampa fine dining institution Mise en Place is on the move this fall, leaving its longtime location across Kennedy Boulevard from the U…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Dining #CasaGomez #DarrylShaw #KennedyBoulevard #MartyBlitz #MaryannFerenc #miseenplace #restaurant #revitalization #tampa #yborcity
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2194119/tampa-fine-dining-legend-mise-en-place-gets-in-on-ybor-with-move-to-casa-gomez/

President Lee pledges to make renewed economic growth South Korea's foremost national priority, signaling a focus on revitalizing the country's economy.
#YonhapInfomax #PresidentLee #EconomicGrowth #SouthKorea #NationalPriority #Revitalization #Economics #FinancialMarkets #Banking #Securities #Bonds #StockMarket
https://en.infomaxai.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=70535

🚗💻 HP's brave new world: a #CarFax for computers! 🚫 Just what everyone needs—an error-laden 403 #saga to accompany their used laptop purchase. 🙄 Because nothing screams "revitalization" like a #cache server #meltdown. 🔥
https://spectrum.ieee.org/carmax-used-pcs #HP #Computers #Error #Revitalization #HackerNews #ngated

🔓 An inter-pandemic project that has *finally* appeared! We propose a community-based model of digital #language #revitalization for #Francoprovençal that can be applied to other minoritized contexts. #edusky #langsky muse-jhu-edu.uow.idm.oclc.org/pub/24/artic... @languageonthemove.bsky.social R/T!

The RSD13 presentation of Symphony of the Everyday - Sunset Sonata is now available online. -- Experience a small courtyard inhabited by four families in Haiyan village, Kunming, China and the objects and materials that make a village household’s everyday tangible in its aesthetic dimension.

https://rsdsymposium.org/symphony-of-the-everyday/

#publicart #interactive #art #systemicdesign #China #rural #revitalization

Is Windsor's downtown plan working?
CBC's Jennifer La Grassa speaks with architect and urban designer Dorian Moore about Windsor's downtown revitalization plan one year after it was endorsed by council.
#cityplanning #urbandesign #architecture #revitalization #Windsor
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/9.6759308?cmp=rss

City reveals new plan for downtown Edmonton as part of revitalization efforts
The Downtown Action Plan outlines eight actions that the city believes will boost growth and experience in the downtown core, but it comes with a price tag of about $553 million.
#city #planning #revitalization #economy #Edmonton #Politics
https://globalnews.ca/news/11178741/edmonton-downtown-action-plan-revitalization/

Downtown Calgary revitalization report optimistic as safety concerns persist
Despite the city's claim that progress is being made in revitalizing Calgary's downtown core, one business owner tells Global News that she hasn't seen much improvement.
#revitalization #safety #business #city #Calgary #DowntownCalgary
https://globalnews.ca/news/11143533/reports-state-of-calgary-downtown-core/

Five cities where the “then” tallest building was leveled by choice – UPDATED

Identified below are five American cities where the tallest skyscraper was demolished (imploded) by choice versus being destroyed by and act of war, storms, earthquake, terrorism, or other tragic event. Though there is a caveat to that summary. A corporate bankruptcy led to the loss of one of these towers and two hurricanes damaged another one beyond repair and restoration. Both of those are tragic events, as well — they just happened to take longer to have an permanent impact on the building’s viability versus a sudden event.

These other three buildings were eventually lost due to time and deterioration after being vacant for an extended period. And as time passed, the cost-effectiveness of rehabilitating them became prohibitive.

With three of the cases, new developments have replaced or will soon replace the lost skyscraper with new uses on the properties. In Lake Charles, the city has purchased the property and will be developing and lakefront amphitheater on the site. An adjacent hotel is also planned. The Flint site is now a park and green space.

Fortunately for four of these cities, the loss of a signature skyscraper has had a silver lining, as new developments are already revitalizing three of the sites, and exciting plans have been developed for the other. Once completed, it is hoped all four redevelopments will find long-term success and lead to further investments in the surrounding vicinity.

Peace!

*Added Flint, MI on 4/26/25

——-

Bethlehem, PA – Martin Tower (1972-2019) = 332 feet/21 stories

Vacated entirely by 2007 after Bethlehem Steel bankruptcy several years earlier. A recent master plan for the site is provided below.

Source: en.wikipedia.org Source: lehighvalleylive.com

——-

Evansville, IN – Old National Bank Tower/a.k.a. 420 Main (1970-2021) = 248 feet/18 stories

Vacant after ONB moved its headquarters to the riverfront in 2004. A new mixed-use development (424 Main) is under development on the site (see second image below).

Source: renacentinc.com Source: news.wnin.com

——-

Added on 4/26/25:

Flint, MI – Genesee Towers (1968-2013) = 250 feet/19 stories – only one building despite the name being plural

Poor maintenance and loss of its occupants. Currently a park and green space.

Source: wcrz.com Park site where Genesee Towers once stood – Source: mlive.com

Frankfort, KY – Capital Plaza Office Tower (1972-2018) = 338 feet/28 stories

Vacated due to poor structural condition in 2016. Portions of the site were redeveloped with the Mayo-Underwood Building and parking garage (see second image below).

Source: uknews.yahoo.com Mayo-Underwood Building – Source: reddrawdev.com

——-

Lake Charles, LA – Capital One/Hertz Tower (1982-2024) = 314 feet (not including antenna)/22 stories

Badly damaged by Hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020. A lakefront amphitheater and hotel will be developed on the site.

Source: newsplus21.com New Lake Charles lakefront amphitheater – Source: facebook.com

SOURCES:

#buildings #cities #demolition #history #implosions #landUse #mixedUses #planning #redevelopment #revitalization #skylines #skyscrapers

Prince George’s County has the chance to take the lead in transit-oriented #revitalization—ditching #sprawl for a lively, connected future. Dive into the details here:

https://www.gchic.org/post/more-sprawl-not-the-solution

#PrinceGeorgesCounty #TransitOriented #TOD #Development