PigBoy

Apart from passing through once by car and once on Amtrak, I hadn't been to Cleveland in over four years, so it seemed necessary to stop there on the way home for Thanksgiving. The weather was lousy, there wasn't much time, and this doesn't do justice to, well, anything, but here are a few shots anyway. First I hung out here for 45 minutes while on a conference call. And I do mean standing under this thing after it started to rain. Then, as appetizing as this unopened package of bench kippers looked (and smelled)... ...I didn't stray from the better idea of lunch at the West Side Market. Then I just walked toward downtown. This woman was seeking photo-glory, and a dollar. The tangled foreground seemed appropriate enough for a generally gloomy scene. Actually I was starting to enjoy the feel of such a gray day in the great infrastructure playground that is this vicinity. Okay, made it downtown. All I did was walk down Euclid Ave a bit, taking only a few photos. It wasn't the most inspiring of days, and there wasn't much time anyway. What's this building's story? Still a bit of green! Back over the bridge. A shutter speed that made the train slightly blurry, but not blurry enough to look good. One last shot, downward. Some day I will pay a proper visit to Cleveland! But at this rate, maybe in 2014.

Wow!

These are fabulous, billboard and all! Cleveland's looking good here. I'm hoping to make a very brief stop there this coming week... the weather had better not suck!

Awesome.

Not altogether the happiest-looking place, but thanks so much for the tour! Don't think I've ever really seen this neighborhood.

Evergrey, love that cemetery shot! Here's a photo from yesterday. A gondola seemed like an unusual sight around here.

I don't remember what the whole thread was about, but Rich listed some of the Google search terms that had led people here, and one of them was "party girls urbana ohio".

Five years later and still no sign of those Urbana party girls. Five years wasted.

You all sound like you're too warm. Here's an early taste of winter from last weekend. Big rowing races on the Charles River around Harvard in really crappy weather. (It's the Head of the Charles Regatta, which I know and frankly care very little about, but it's pretty much right outside my house so I might as well look.) A persistent chilly rain began to be accompanied by big fat snowflakes, the kind that show up rather well in photographs. It was sunny and very pleasant today, for what it's worth.

And my current subway stop! (That entrance in particular.) Great shots in great weather and lighting! I'm tired of putting my perspective (that of a new 1-year Cambridge resident) into the race relations/Boston sucks/blah blah blah discussion every time a Boston thread comes up, so I'm gonna leave it there. Move back to Beavercreek so you don't have to hear it anylonger. This sounds like a trap...

And my current subway stop! (That entrance in particular.) Great shots in great weather and lighting! I'm tired of putting my perspective (that of a new 1-year Cambridge resident) into the race relations/Boston sucks/blah blah blah discussion every time a Boston thread comes up, so I'm gonna leave it there.

I have nothing substantive to add here, but wanted to mention that last night I was on a flight that followed the southwest Ohio-born map/geography nerd's dream route right past Cincinnati and Dayton. And even knowing what I know about the region, I was quite surprised at how connected Cincinnati and Dayton look from 30,000 feet at night. Wish I'd had my good camera accessible to try to get a picture.

Nice-looking town! I can't believe I never checked it out during my time in not-so-far-away Delaware, or else totally forgot what it looked like. Is "uptown" simply Westerville's version of a downtown, or does it actually refer to some geographical distinction?

Ocean City occupies a barrier island on the Jersey Shore just south of Atlantic City (and its neighboring towns). It's got seven or eight miles of beaches, a 2.5 mile boardwalk, and lots of houses and businesses. It bills itself as something like "America's Greatest Family Resort" and the "family" part is because this is a dry town and always has been. What fascinates me about this town is that it's a beach vacation place, but in the summer it has the population density of a major city. The permanent population is around 15,000 but the population increases by 100,000 or more in the peak season. There is mile upon mile of residential blocks, most typically consisting of two-unit houses which are rented on a weekly basis. During the day, the boardwalk swarms with bicycles and surrey carriages and crossing from one side to the other is a dangerous sport. At night, the boardwalk remains swamped with pedestrians. It's the kind of vacation place that can be hard to appreciate if you didn't grow up with it. My family has been coming here in the summer for several generations, so I've grown up with that appreciation. Unfortunately the weather generally sucked while I was there this year, so I didn't manage to get around town and take a lot of photos, but here are some shots that I did get. First, a view from the boardwalk in the evening. At the northern end of the boardwalk businesses is Gillian's Wonderland Pier, one of two little amusement parks on the boardwalk. Wonderland has been around for something like 80 years. It has a decent-sized Ferris Wheel, among other things. Rides The other amusement park is Playland (I don't remember "Castaway Cove" always being part of the name), which as you can see has "over 30 exciting rides"! It also has a Ferris Wheel which is smaller but more colorful. Indoors, Skee-Ball! And now just some boardwalk scenes. Former theater, now a sort of indoor mall Not a tradition for me, but apparently it is for one of my cousins, so we ate here one night. French fries are a common boardwalk food, along with the pizza, ice cream, fudge, and taffy that you may have seen in the previous photos. There are lots of miniature golf options. This place has been a favorite of my cousin, my sister, and me. Blur This is the southern end of the boardwalk businesses. A week later, and a couple of miles to the south, I took a few photos on an ugly day at the beach. It was cold and windy, and the water was rough. Hence, the beach was pretty desolate. The Atlantic Ocean My uncle and I are reflected in all those bubbles. The previous night and day it rained something like 4 inches. The town basically consists of marsh and beach, so it doesn't handle large amounts of rain too well and some streets are flooded somewhat often. Not the best day to use the bike lane. Around here the water was about thigh-deep. Naturally, a boat is the way to go. The guy on the left is dressed for it, though. This poor sucker didn't move his car in time. And the doors didn't keep the water out. Epilogue: The flooding was apparently worse than usual, but even so by the next morning it was reduced to puddles.

Super awesome. New York is an almost incomprehensibly huge city to me, and air photos like this certainly reinforce that perception.

That's pretty nice, in a very tame way. Interesting how it uses the center of this building as a corner in its street scene, rather than just decorating the facade to make it look like something is happening along what is actually a blank wall (an illusion that totally does tend to work on my brain, by the way).

That's pretty much what I thought to myself while making this. But I think I narrowly escaped with my sanity.

Oh, hello UrbanOhioans. Ordinarily I am not in the habit of promoting my stupid cartography work anywhere besides my own site or that of my business, but seeing as how this is about Ohio and is not real work anyway, I thought perhaps some of this crowd might be interested. So I've been thinking for a while that something needs to be made of the coincidence that Ohio has 88 counties and a piano has 88 keys. As a Map Guy, to me that means making some kind of crazy musical-geo-data visualization. A month or so ago, I finished such an attempt. It's kind of fun, if usually unpleasant to the ears, to mess around with Ohio county data as piano notes. I called it, rather definitively, Ohio is a piano. And yes, the pre-programmed songs (particularly the excerpt of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony) might sound a little off, but that's the music I found, and when I'm coding every single note by hand, I've little motivation to look for something better!

Yes.

Couple of nights ago

Indeed, it's just recently been in the news that $29 million has been set aside for designing this connection even though there will be no money to build it within the next 20 years (link). It'd be nice to have, though I don't know enough to comment on budget priorities and all that. Meanwhile, I thought I've heard that the Bowdoin station is slated to be closed for good (instead of just outside peak hours) one of these days, but maybe that's old info.

Thanks for that Green Line info. I knew that it was recently converted from elevated to subway in this area, but I didn't know exactly where it ran, or never bothered to check. I was going to ask you a question or two more, but I just realized that the Google Earth historical orthophoto layers are perfect for this. As for the Abbey Lounge, it's not something I experienced (apart from noticing it), but I do recall hearing some dismay regarding its closure. It was shortly before or after I moved to town, I think.

Very nice; Columbus is looking good here!

Only slightly off the beaten path indeed. Nothing here is out of the way or hidden; it's just a little different from the usual highlights. And a good chunk of it totally is on the beaten path that everybody has seen. Most of this is from wandering this past weekend. Apologies for what seem like kind of large file sizes. I begin in Inman Square, Cambridge. Inman Square, around the intersection of Cambridge and Hampshire Streets, is a nice little business district near the Somerville line, kind of near Harvard and kind of not, partially yuppie-ish in its businesses and restaurants. I realize now that this is an odd-looking corner, with those two trees obscuring the building. I don't know exactly what Ryles is, but I like that its facade is adorned with a giant saxophone. For some reason I was very hasty in snapping this shot and didn't capture the entirety of the mural that was the reason for taking the picture in the first place. It's on the side of a fire station, as the subject would suggest. Also hasty in taking this picture of the front of the firehouse, but that's because of passing traffic. No experience with East Coast Grill, but I highly recommend Bukowski, at least their other location in the Back Bay. The names aren't so visible here, but two more recommended establishments: the All Star Sandwich Bar on the corner and Christina's ice cream next door. Moving on down Cambridge Street away from Inman Square now. Cambridge Street is a fairly long commercial corridor from Inman Square through the Wellington-Harrington and East Cambridge neighborhoods to the Charles River and the border with Boston. For the most part it is a working-class sort of area, which for some reason seems to mean lots of fish markets. I think this mural is on a school, though I have always neglected to verify that. Yum Residential side street Lechmere (said "LEECH-meer") station is the not-particularly-glorious northern terminus of the Green Line light rail, at least for a few more years before an extension of the line is slated to be built. Across the street, some newer development. On the left is the CambridgeSide Galleria, a shopping mall. The Prudential Center in the Back Bay is in the background. Lechmere station again The Green Line trolleys travel over a viaduct shortly past Lechmere. And over New Jersey tourism billboards. This is the only elevated section of the Green Line. Not the most attractive view, but here are the Charles River Dam Bridge and Lechmere Viaduct (nearly 100 years old) as they enter Boston. Ahead, the drawbridge has been raised. On this dam is the Museum of Science. On the other side of the river, under the viaduct, looking back toward Cambridge. One more viaduct shot. Following the river toward the Lenny Zakim Bridge The raised drawbridges carry Amtrak and commuter rail to and from North Station, just out of frame to the right. Judging by the size of the boats that came through, this bridge must have to open for practically anything to pass. Inland a bit because there is no passage along the river past the rail lines. This lonely little building is perhaps the only survivor of the razing of the West End neighborhood. Toward downtown. I caught the foreground guy in a ridiculous stage of his gait, it seems. I'm not really sure what neighborhood this area is said to belong to. It's a section of several blocks adjacent to North Station and the TD Garden (Boston Garden) that hasn't been destroyed by some sort of urban renewal. On this day there was more foot traffic here than I usually see, due to a skateboarding event or something, but in general I imagine the area comes alive whenever there is a Celtics or Bruins game. I effing love these dilapidated old warehouse buildings. I have seen something about it being renovated and turned into condos, but I don't know the status of that project. Up close. Across to Charlestown and the Bunker Hill monument. Out-of-place insertion from a totally different date: the view from said monument. In the North End. Definitely one of those "on the beaten path" shots, as this is taken from in front of the Old North Church ("one if by land, two if by sea..."). The "Skinny House," presumed the narrowest parcel in Boston, at a mere 10.4 feet wide. Copp's Hill Burying Ground, again a place well-worn by tourists. Always wondered about this view from a parking garage. It turns out to be reasonably satisfying. Charter Street, North End The pedestrians in the middle of the street have to do with the the Feast of the St. Joseph Society occurring behind me. I like that on any random walk in the summer, I seem to run into something like this. This particular event had what appeared to be the most fantastic collection of street food I've yet seen. The banner is advertising a different event next weekend, which sounds like it will be pretty similar. Next time I'm coming with more than two dollars in my wallet so that I can stuff my face with all kinds of delicious things. Alley/tiny street in the North End. After walking along the harbor for a while, the Custom House Tower. Into the Financial District. It's very dead on a weekend. A lovely little park at Post Office Square. It's actually privately owned and sits atop a parking garage. Washington Street in the Downtown Crossing vicinity, a busy shopping district. And finally to the Boston Common. This is a photo of the Frog Pond on a different occasion, but I promise it's where I did end up after the walk documented above. Looking toward the Public Garden. Lots of foot traffic, a good chunk of it tourists. As long as I'm here, time for miscellany! Longfellow Bridge with a Red Line train. It's a nice view from the train as it passes over this bridge. A few of Beacon Hill. I hope I didn't already post these, but I don't remember doing so. Statehouse Downtown Crossing Commonwealth Ave and the John Hancock tower (Back Bay) Back Bay Chinatown. Another little street fair. At the Common again Harvard Bridge (Mass Ave) and Beacon Hill behind And this

Nicely done! I'm especially enjoying the first couple of shots, with the rail and the bridge and the dome and the buildings and all the, well, stuff.