Abandoned subway stations have long been the playgrounds of squatters and urban explorers alike, but one French politician has higher hopes. Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, a candidate for mayor of Paris, wants to turn them into awesome entertainment and sports venues.
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Road salt is one of those city services that we take for granted, an invisible network infrastructure with a murky provenance. But though you may not know it, the salt on your roads might come from a sprawling, century-old mine right below your feet.
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Do you hate rats? If so, you’re not going to like what Dr. Jan Zalasiewicz, a University of Leicester paleobiologist, has to say about the future of Earth. This week, Dr. Zalasiewicz reported on the heartiness—and ambitiousness—of rats, explaining how our rapidly changing planet is soon going to be filled with gigantic, super-evolved rodents. And, like most things that go wrong around here, it’s all our fault.
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In the abandoned mansions of Bishops Avenue—London’s second most expensive street—ferns poke through staircases, water runs down walls, and animal skeletons litter the carpets. How is decay blooming amid such valuable property? In fact, it’s blooming because of it.
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We were all taught how to cross a street: Look both ways. But, in some cities, you’ll also have to ask permission by pressing a tiny button and waiting your turn. Those little buttons on walk signals have been nicknamed "beg buttons"—because walkers are pretty much begging to be able to cross.
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What do you do with a bomb shelter when you’re no longer getting Blitzed by the Nazis? For decades, Londoners have searched for ways to make use of old bomb shelters lurking deep underground. They’ve become data centers, dusty storage rooms, and, now, the first underground urban farm—thanks to a couple of foodie entrepreneurs and a Michelin-star chef.
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Oh, bus stop ads: so often a target for vandals and bored commuters. But here’s a clever ad that invites you to deface it. Underneath an unassuming black-and-white ad for a museum exhibition is a whole world of hidden art.
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Joel Huerta, wearing his brother’s NYPD Auxiliary vest, heads back to his own apartment after clearing the local florist’s walk; there, he will continue to clear a path in what has become one of New York City’s more snow-filled winters. Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
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How the Super Bowl failed its transit-riding attendees, an L.A. museum that collects houses, and why Monarch butterflies are dying (spoiler: because of us). Plus a McDonald’s in Queens, Millennials in St. Louis, and biking in Las Vegas. It’s time for your weekly Urban Reads.
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The announcement last year that Los Angeles would be replacing its high-pressure sodium streetlights—known for their distinctive yellow hue—with new, blue-tinted LEDs might have a profound effect on at least one local industry. All of those LEDs, with their new urban color scheme, will dramatically change how the city appears on camera, thus giving Los Angeles a brand new look in the age of digital filmmaking. As Dave Kendricken writes for No Film School, "Hollywood will never look the same."
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