Cool links about NYC and urban life in general
One of the aspects of the Web which I particularly enjoy is that it provides an easily accessable medium for interesting people to share their interests and hobbies. Almost all the links below point to web sites constructed by interesting individuals -- not profit-hungry media corporations -- who are avid fans of some aspect of modern life, be it roads, subways, cities, buildings, or something else. I hope you also enjoy these sites as I have. Please check back here occasionally, since I will update this page periodically as I discover more cool sites built by people who have interesting thoughts to share.
Cool New York City links
The New York City roads site -- a wonderful collection of road history and engineering information.
NYCSubway.org -- The New York City subway enthusiasts site. This is an excellent gathering of subway information by and for subway geeks and their friends. The site includes a fun message board for discussions relating to New York City's subway system.
Forgotton New York -- A cool site with photos of all kinds of New York atavisms. This excellent site is a labor of love. An outstanding collection of overlooked bits of yesteryear in the midst of the gargantuan city.
The JoeKorNer -- An avid subway maven and fan of splashy HTML, the page author Joe Korman has a lot of unique subway information at this site.
Old NYC -- Another railfan site. Includes many cool virtual tours of rail lines in the NYC area.
The Washington Heights and Inwood web page -- a neighborhood web page with links to "The Report", the Washington Heights and Inwood community newspaper, as well as other features.
Bronx pictures -- a personal look at the Bronx by an avid amateur photographer.
New York Skyscrapers -- very cool site devoted to NYC skyscrapers, but with lots of other architectural information too.
Daniel's Manhattan Architecture -- Another excellet site by an architecture buff. This site has lots of photos of skyscrapers, as well as virutal tours of several structures.
Urban links from futher afield
The fabulous ruins of Detriot -- an awe-inspiring web site about the decay of a once beautiful city. This is one of the coolest web sites I have ever seen. Totally awesome!
The National Road web site -- The National Road (US40) was the first public infrastructure project undertaken by the newborn United States of America. Authorized in 1806, the road was undertaken to link Cumberland, MD to the then frontier territories of Ohio, Indiand, and Illinois, and thereby facilitate settlement of the west. The road is dotted with cool little towns throughout Ohio and Indiana, many of which are redolent of a distant, more leisurely, past.
Roadside Magazine -- Roadside Magazine is devoted to preserving and celebrating the American Diner. Their credo is "Recipe for an American Renaissance: Eat in diners, ride trains, shop on main street, put a porch on your house, live in a walkable community". I couldn't say it any better.
The Wormtonian -- Created by the same people who created Roadside Magazine, The Wormtonian is a wonderful personal web site created by somebody who cares deeply about city life, understands how bad development has destroyed our cities, and sees many possibilities for revitalization. This site is devoted to discussing urban life and development in Worcester, Massachusetts (Wormtown). At first glance, Worcester is a grimy, decaying mill town. However, closer inspection reveals lots of vibrant, interesting neighborhoods teeming with urban life. As the page author says, "You'd never know it from driving through it, but Worcester, Massachusetts is New England's second largest city. And like many older northeastern mill towns, it suffers from an image problem. Sometimes, this attitude is warranted. Other times, it is not."
Please send your questions, comments, or reactions about this web page to Stuart Brorson.