Last minute urban related holiday gifts

Metrocard holiday ornament
Originally uploaded by rllayman

Sadly, I don't know of any WMATA holiday ornaments, but there are a couple available relating to the New York City Transit system, available from Gracious Home in NYC.

The Cityscape stamp set from Yellow Owl workshop looks fun too.


A heavy duty shopping bag made from recycled rubber tires is a good gift for someone who won't be wanting to pay 5 cents per bag, once DC starts charging for shopping bags starting in January.

Joining a local membership group like the Washington Area Bicyclist Association or the Sierra Club (Sierra Club is a national organization but with active local chapters, including the DC chapter which is a leading advocacy group for sustainable transportation policy in the city) or Action Committee for Transit in Montgomery County, the stalwart group that has pushed for the Purple Line and other transit improvements for more than 20 years! Or DC Preservation League or a local neighborhood preservation group--ideally one that hasn't released a position statement against streetcars (so that eliminates, sadly, the Capitol Hill Restoration Society).

Other cities have comparably important groups to join too. E.g., in New York City there is the Municipal Arts Society, Transportation Alternatives, or the Citizens Union Foundation (publisher of Gotham Gazette), or the Center for an Urban Future (which until this month was the stalwart publisher of City Limits).

I am a big fan of subscribing to limited circulation provocative magazines such as Spacing, the journal published out of Toronto, Momentum, the magazine that promotes the bicycling lifestyle, or City Limits, which mostly focuses on New York City, or the Chicago Reporter. (More popular magazines in this realm would include Metropolis or Dwell.)

Or why not subscribe to Old House Journal, Old House Interiors, American Bungalow, or This Old House if you live in a house that is either designated or should be designated. Or maybe join the National Trust for Historic Preservation, or a statewide equivalent such as Preservation Maryland.

And what about National Geographic Traveler which mixes travel and culture or regional magazines that do the same such as Southern Living or Sunset and in the DC region, Maryland Life?

Of course, books are always good too, such as Wrestling with Moses by Anthony Flint or Nimby Wars.

In the DC region, the National Building Museum is a good place to look for books and other fun items. In other cities, usually the local chapter of the American Institute for Architects runs a bookstore which can be counted on for some good books.

Museum gift shops generally are a good place to go...

For the bicyclist, besides that membership in a local bicycling advocacy organization, how about fenders (article-slideshow from the New York Times), or a membership in the Better World Club bicycle road service program? Not only does the latter include two road service calls/year, but membership in the League of American Bicyclists and a subscription to Bicycling Magazine (which isn't focused much on urban riding as it is on racing and trail riding, but still has a few articles worth reading each month).

Happy Holidays!

Closeup of a wood fender. Photo: Stuart Isett for The New York Times.