It’s been silent on here for a while. I’ve been busy with an ongoing study and working out the kinks with a new design research method (more on that later), and re-framing and expanding on some prior work for a book chapter (the book should be awesome! [no promises on the chapter {jk}]).
What’s more interesting is that I recently moved into the 1st floor of a house that boarded Nuns at the turn of the century in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood. Bloomfield is referred to as Pittsburgh ‘Little Italy’ (true but certainly a little little Italy). There’s more on Bloomfield in the wiki article; this in particular is a good description:
This character can perhaps best be described as earthy, gritty, close-knit, and proud; as local author Chris Potter puts it, “Bloomfield has always taken pride in its modest working-class aspirations and a lack of…upper-class trappings.” The local rowhouses, constructed mostly of wooden frames covered long ago by aluminum siding, have unpretentious exteriors that often conceal lovingly maintained interiors.
