Yet Another Geographer

The disappointing finitude of screens

One thing I’ve started to realize over lockdown, as I have restricted access to books, printers… physical media, is that the new paradigm of touch heavy full screen apps is fundamentally opposed to the “physical” mode of interaction that the desktop computing metaphor tried to mimic. Concerns about skeumorphism aside, the main idea of physical desktops that the desktop computing metaphor matches is that you can arrange documents/windows into stacks within a work area.

Boomeranging: It's all coming back to us

I’ve been getting very interested in the concept of the “boomerang generation” and the tension that broader social trend has with ideas around Cottagecore. They’re two very strong forces acting on the middle class… returning to intergenerational houses, folks can afford to live in the city. But, if the young increasingly don’t want to live in cities due to changing tastes and preferences, then we get another wave of suburbanization. Given my own short stint “boomeranging” to the countryside during the COVID-19 lockdown,1 I’ve been very intrigued by the intersection of the “return of the multi-generational” household and (possible) change in the tastes and preferences of young, house-buying people.

Gunnar Olsson and the Counterfactual Imagination in Geography

I suppose I’m writing this as an act of defiance against the lethargy of the Great Stall, or maybe just a way to process some feelings, but I’ve really tried to branch out across the full set of geography recently. I’ve been reading so much more than I used to, especially across the breadth of human geography. It’s been enlightening. For instance, after finishing the excellent piece on the discontinuing of the Univeristy of Michigan department of geography by Huntley and Rosenblum, I found myself working back through some of Olsson’s work.

Spatial Modelling 2 Lectures: Topics in Advanced Spatial Modelling

For an intro & discussion of some of the fundamental ideas in spatial statistics, we’ll cover a few main topics. Logistics Courses start at 11AM on the date listed. The “Join Remotely” links will work at 10AM for students to check their AV equipment. The remote sessions will be open from 11AM, through both practical sessions (1-3PM, 4-6PM). Plotting & spatial relationships in R (notebook) This practical/component will cover some of the fundamental concepts in quantitative geography, such as:

CUSP London, Exeter, and ASU

Man, it’s been a busy start to 2020. I’ve had such a great time talking to folks about new ideas on cities, spatial statistics, and machine learning. Back in late January, I gave a talk on our now-published paper on social boundaries in cities at CUSP London (slides), invited by my gracious and wonderful host, Jon Reades. Then, I went off to western Ireland for some short R&R, catching gale force winds at the Cliffs of Moher & some nice evenings in Dingle, Co.