May 2016 in downtown Durham, North Carolina, was marked by two weekend music festivals, the Art of Cool and Moogfest, which were presented in the ...
Public Streets
In Public Streets, our urban observation series, writers reflect on spaces and places.
Editor: Abigail Struhl
Past Editor: Ellis Avery (1972–2019)
The American West from the Air
I recently found myself 1,500 feet above ground, traveling at 180 mph. When I wiped away the breath-mist from the window, I could see the American West …
Two Islands, Two Fates: Inishbofin and Inishark, Ireland
To get to Inishbofin, an island nine miles off the west coast of Ireland, you take a ...
Wading Through the Swamp: Nairobi, Kenya
Above the low traffic hum on Woodvale Grove, the main street running through Nairobi’s affluent neighborhood of Westlands, a woman in braided hair …
The Gowanus Overpass: Brooklyn, New York
In 2012, I moved into a Sunset Park apartment with a kitchen window nearly perpendicular to the Brooklyn Queens Expressway ...
Planning Happiness: A Postcard from Christianshavn, Copenhagen
This is the latest installment of Public Streets, an urban observations series curated by Ellis Avery. This street used to be quieter, just an occasional bike rattling over the cobblestones along a ...
The Best Wall in the History of Walls: New Yorkers, Post-Election
On November 8, 2016, 80 percent of New York City voters cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton. On November 9, Donald Trump’s victory ...
Benidorm After Brexit and the “Burbuja”
In the early 1950s, Mayor Pedro Zaragoza left Benidorm, the sleepy coastal town he governed, to make the 300-mile trip to Madrid by Vespa. He had an audience with General Franco ...
The Heartbeat of Chattahoochee Forest: Dahlonega, GA
This piece, marking the release of Bledsoe’s new novel, A Thin Bright Line, is the latest installment of Public Streets, a biweekly urban observations series curated by Ellis Avery. Urbanites joke ...
Walking the Venetian: Miami, FL
To get to Publix for supplies, walk east on the pink sidewalk of Venetian Way, which links five man-made islands between Miami and Miami Beach. Biscayne Bay glitters green ...
Taimani Alley, Kabul
Winters, before the paving of the neighborhood streets, when rain and snowmelt gathered in long puddles, or froze into broad ruts of broken ice and slush, the alley was a shortcut ...
The Church House on Cannaday School Road: Floyd, VA
This is the latest installment of Public Streets, a biweekly urban observations series curated by Ellis Avery. Floyd, VA, sits at the intersection of State Highway 221 and Route 8, in the southwest ...
The Art of the Communist Museum: The Leon Trotsky House in Coyoacán
This is the latest installment of Public Streets, a biweekly urban observations series curated by Ellis Avery. Villa Coyoacán, Mexico, home to El Museo Casa de Leon Trotsky, is now a posh ...
Public Streets Storymap
In each installment of Public Streets, our series dreamed up and curated by Ellis Avery, a writer reflects on a locale—a neighborhood, park, city, street—of personal importance ...
Underground Distractions, Shanghai
This is the latest installment of Public Streets, a biweekly urban observations series curated by Ellis Avery. Windows on trains and planes are equipped with shades: vertical or horizontal ...
Earnestine & Hazel’s in Memphis: A Place Known for its Dead
This is the latest installment of Public Streets, a biweekly urban observations series curated by Ellis Avery. On South Main, in the newly revived arts district of downtown Memphis, sits a ...
Placerita Canyon
This is the latest installment of Public Streets, a biweekly urban observations series curated by Ellis Avery. North of Los Angeles, there is a canyon. It was once occupied by Tataviam Native ...
Traveling the Camino de la Muerte: Floreana, Galápagos Islands
This is the latest installment of Public Streets, a biweekly urban observations series curated by Ellis Avery. There are only two roads in Floreana, Galápagos Islands. One goes along the coast for ...
Cheese in Your Bones: The Sheep and Shepherds of Pag
This is the latest installment of Public Streets, a biweekly urban observations series curated by Ellis Avery. The island of Pag, which protrudes into the Adriatic like an accusing finger, has more ...
Hirado, the End of the World
This is the latest installment of Public Streets, a biweekly urban observations series curated by Ellis Avery. The journey from Tokyo to the island of Hirado, just off the coast of Nagasaki ...