NPR Report on Sprawl in Houston

Steve Inskeep, one of the hosts of NPR's Morning Edition, has traveled to Houston to spotlight hopw the nation's fourth largest city "grapples with diversity and sprawl." I think you'll find his report and article, as well as the Google map of his visit useful as you think about topics for your own projects.

Map

View Houston: Managing Growth in a larger map

Adding a Map to Your Blog

Ok, everyone: I want you to each a Google map to your blog. The map will allow you to see and compare where you're colleagues have been and what they're writing about.

To do create the map and load it into the blog, follow these easy steps:

1. Go to http://maps.google.com.
2. Sign in with the dummy Google account you created for your blog.
3. Enter a street address for the area or community that you'll be assessing for your project. If you don't know a street address, try a street name or the name of a landmark.
4. Once you get an approximate location, a word balloon will appear on the map. Click "save to my maps."
5. You should have only once choice: "Create a New Map." Do this.
6. On the left side of the page, you'll be prompted to save the map. Use your blog title and offer a brief description.
7. On the map, save the specific location and name it with this form: "Place (Last Name, Date)." You'll also be able to write a brief description or upload an image. Do so, if you want to.
8. Save everything again.
9. Now, on the top right corner of the map, click "LINK." Code will appear. You may click "customize" if you'd like. Otherwise, copy the coding from the second line ("Paste HTML to embed in website")
10. In a new window or tab, open your blog.
11. Click "Customize," then choose "Layout."
12. At the bottom of your blog, choose "add a gadget." Click "Add HTML/Java Script"
13. Name the gadget "(GROUP NAME)'s Map" and paste the code.
14. Save it, and you'll be done!

Good catch, Ahmed!

Ahmed from section A3 found this great blog, Sprawled Out: the Search for Community in the American Suburb. I'm posting a link here and on the side....

If anyone else finds resources like this, please send them to me. I'll post them here, and you'll receive recognition in the form of participation points.

Topic for Friday

I would like you to introduce the neighborhood you'll be assessing to your group. Explain where it is and some of the defining characteristics of it. Then, address how it fits with the criteria you brought to the observation and how you might revise the criteria after spending time there. On Friday, you're going to create a google map for your group, which will show where each of you have been.

Topic for Next Blog Assignment

Last week, I asked you to review one of the blogs or web resources to which this blog links...This week, I'd like you to focus on one of the blogs about the Atlanta area. Review it and get a sense of its focus, the topics it addresses, the tone its author employs, and the ways s/he make use of the multimedia capabilities of the blog. Then, try to answer this: why is this blogger compelled to writer about his/her community?

After you've thought about these things, compose a posting in which you introduce the blog andexplain what you've seen, and reflect on why you think this blogger and others focus their writing on their communities? What do you think this person and others like him/her hope to accomplish?

Photo Essay/Slide Show on Forest Hills Garden

Slate magazine posted this slide show on Saturday....relevant to our topic, certainly, but it also provides us with a useful text to which we compare Suburban Nation. Think about how this photo essay uses different modes of argument to offer and support a claim that is very similar to the book's.

Placecasting

This blog--Placecasting--is potentially interesting....The author describes it as:

A notepad for exploring the idea of "placecasting"...making relevant audio available to people based on WHERE they are. People curious about the world around them should be able to find that information while they're standing in that world.

I'm adding this to the lineup; let me know what you think.