Robert Burke 🏳️‍🌈🚲🪴
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bobbyboy.bsky.social
Robert Burke 🏳️‍🌈🚲🪴
@bobbyboy.bsky.social
43 followers 47 following 77 posts
Urban planner and geographer with GIS chops. Free time: biker, gardener, concert attender, local historian. Views mine! he/him
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bobbyboy.bsky.social
enshittification reaching new dimensions
The proposal also relies $26 million from an “augmented reality” advertising licensing program that would allow companies to impose videos and other content on city properties like Millennium Park or the Riverwalk that can be seen through a smartphone, virtual reality glasses or tablet, according to the proposal.
December 11, 2025 at 4:25 AM
bobbyboy.bsky.social
they are literally running ads that link straight to the unhelpful line pages??? if they need help with storytelling and communications i am available
December 8, 2025 at 7:18 AM
bobbyboy.bsky.social
i have mental illinois
December 4, 2025 at 5:12 AM
bobbyboy.bsky.social
Forever in my heart, and home!
Paul Norton watercolor painting of Abbey Station in Rock Island, IL
November 25, 2025 at 9:47 PM
bobbyboy.bsky.social
Not to be confused, ofc, with the Davenport Sky *Bridge*, which has enjoyed an extremely liminal decade herself marked by record flooding. Once connecting *checks notes* a parking garage with a riverboat casino, she will soon connect said garage with a flood control system disguised as a park.
At a height of 20.68 feet, the Mississippi River reached its first crest of the season on April 8, 2019. It later reached 22.70 feet on May 2--the highest crest on record. In this picture facing west from the southern tip of the skybridge, waters reach the Figge Art Museum. This photo was taken as the Canadian Pacific Railroad (now part of CPKC) was preparing to permanently elevate its tracks, disrupting riverfront access until the city could regrade the crossings after the flood. Skybridge and the former parking lots/boarding area of Rhythm City casino, 2021. Rhythm City moved onto land in northern Davenport in 2016 and its former parking and boarding areas were temporarily replanted with grass as the city developed new plans for the riverfront. Squonk, a musical act featuring multistory mechanical hands, waves goodbye to some lingering fans during Alternating Currents 2022. Mississippi River flooding of River Drive in Davenport during April 2023, facing east from the steps of the Figge Art Museum.
October 13, 2025 at 5:47 AM
bobbyboy.bsky.social
I never had much of a reason to use it when I lived there, but the skywalk in Davenport, Iowa encourages anthropologists everywhere to consider whether their favorite liminal spaces could ever be as liminal as the #QuadCities.
"Sky walk inside" graphic stickers on a glass door inside the RiverCenter parking garage--in a postmodern design that is as 1993 as it gets. As part of the multi-block skywalk, a jelly-bean brick painted partition separates pedestrians from cars inside a parking garage, which was constructed on the former Perry Street right-of-way between 2nd and 3rd Street in Davenport, Iowa The most updated portion of the skywalk connecting the RiverCenter/MidAmerican garage to the former Radisson (now DoubleTree) includes a drop ceiling and vinyl flooring. The lobby of the DoubleTree (formerly the Radisson) -- yes, you'll end up in a hotel if you're not careful. Enjoy the fountain and public restrooms on the first floor.
October 13, 2025 at 5:10 AM
bobbyboy.bsky.social
the david rumsey map collection has fallen to the clankers :-(
screenshot of the media information panel on a david rumsey map collection record, containing a heading titled "AI-Generated Summary." the summary begins "The work is titled "Rand, McNally & Co.'s indexed atlas of the world railway terminal map of Chicago," created by Rand McNally and Company in 1897. It is a color map with dimensions of 49 cm by 67 cm, part of an atlas published by Rand McNally. The map is included in a collection known as the Ru..." before being truncated. A small portion of the map with a yellow background is visible.
September 3, 2025 at 3:24 AM
bobbyboy.bsky.social
it’s also more like 2 spaces because the divvy station extends through the former no parking zone. it also helps daylight the intersection!
street view of divvy site from 11 months ago showing two vehicles parked (yes, a Lexus and a Volkswagen, how did you know?) and a 20-ft signed no parking zone abutting the intersection at Armitage
August 28, 2025 at 1:50 PM
bobbyboy.bsky.social
F the chicago handshake, show me your chicago scalebar
October 20, 2024 at 3:18 AM