13 Awesome Gifts for City Lovers & Data Geeks
And bonus - SIX organizations you should give to This #GivingTuesday and throughout the holiday season
It’s BAAACK! Our FOURTH annual edition of our ultimate gift guide for all the planners, builders, data geeks, and city-lovers in your life (including the itty-bitty and budding ones)! Check out these hand-picked, State of Place team-approved gift ideas ideas, guaranteed to WOW your very own urbanist(a) for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Three Kings Day (Los Reyes Magos), Festivus or whatever other holiday you're celebrating this season. Check them out below, and if you need even more ideas, check out our previous guides: 2018, 2017 and 2016.
Sidenote: If you're a citymaker struggling to pull together case studies and anecdotes to get others to buy-in to your vision to plan, deliver, or invest in awesome places, but getting nowhere OR you plain don’t know where to even start to make your community more walkable OR you know you need to get on the data bandwagon to drive upside, well, perhaps State of Place is your perfect holiday gift! ;) So treat yo’ self! Our urban data & predictive analytics software quantifies what people love about cities (what makes them walkable, livable, sustainable) and automatically recommends ways to make them better - while maximizing ROI and making the investment case for great places. We love helping citymakers use data to make their lives easier, convince those pesky naysayers, cut costs while boosting value, and have fun (we’ve been told State of Place is like using SimCity in real life!). So please accept our gift to you - get a free demo with one street block of your choice! Just sign up by 12/20 :) More details below.
I’ve been following Kristen Jeffers (aka, @blackurbanist) for several years, and have really enjoyed the perspective she brings to urbanism as an African-American woman. Her story about how growing up in North Carolina - both in urban and suburban contexts - and the lack of connectivity she experienced in both contexts shaped her view of urbanism rings true to my own “Miami story.” While kicking around on the internet looking for some gift inspiration for this blog, I discovered “The Black Urbanist” the book! Admittedly, I haven’t had time to dig into it yet, but holiday goals! Given the unique and thought-provoking perspective she shares via Twitter though, there’s no doubt this will make for a great - and needed - read! And for a great review of the book, check out this wonderful summary and interview of Jeffers by our friends over at Modacity!
For the old-skool and budding urbanist alike
Jane Jacob’s The Death & Life of Great American Cities
Buy local at Indiebound.com; Recommended by Minah, one of our newest sales & marketing interns
What can we say, this is an urban planning classic for a reason. Jacob’s observations about what makes cities great not only ring ever true today, her lessons may even be more relevant today than nearly 60 years ago when she first penned this time-tested tome. If you haven’t read it in a while - or since school - pick it back up this holiday season and get some inspiration for the new decade ahead. And if you know someone who’s expressed interest in how cities tick, this would make an awesome gift for them!
You gotta love Etsy for its endless supply of unique, custom gifts. And when it comes to the urban department, it doesn’t disappoint (guess there are a lot of not-so-closeted city lovers out there! YAY!). This super cute, customizable bracelet made from vintage maps caught my eye! ;) And the best thing is you can choose from pretty much any city - in the US and internationally! I may have to order one with all “my cities” - Miami, the OC, LA, DC, NYC, Boston, and Shanghai! Maybe we should make these mandatory for urban planning conferences - I know this introvert would love it as a networking icebreaker! ;)
Another great find from Etsy, this time for those of us who are torn between two loves - cities and food! (ahem, you’d know that if you were following me on twitter! … @cityfoodlover). But seriously, how cool is this urban cutting board! I think I may have to get this for myself too!
For the Serious Place-oholics in Your Life!
Urban Soul Design Etsy Store
From $10 and up; Great find by Kelliann, our Business Development Director
Oh wow, we’ve hit the urban motherload! Get customized phone covers, those little thingys you put on the backs of phones so you don’t drop it when taking those selfies!, t-shirts, mousepads (though not sure who uses those any more?!), and wall art. Go check it out. You’re sure to find something your citylover friend or family will absolutely love.
For your urban home
Happy Wall City Mural
About $47; Recommended by Kaustubh, our Machine Learning Scientist
These city wall murals are both beautiful and inspiring. Whether you’re pinning away for your long lost city or favorite urban haunt or hoping to one day visit a city on your bucket list, these murals transport you there - and you don’t even have to leave home (that’s one way to cut down on your carbon footprint!). Get lost city-dreaming this holiday season. :)
An Urban Experience!
Recommended by Andy, our CTO
Give the gift of a show downtown this year! Support both the arts and walkable city centers by giving your city-loving loved one tickets to a concert, a dance performance, or a show. I was lucky enough to go to shows in New York City, New Orleans, Nashville, and Jacksonville in the last few weeks. There’s nothing like taking transit downtown, having some food and drinks, and then seeing a show. Help your friends and family “walk the walk” of a sustainable urban lifestyle. And if you haven’t already checked it out, go see If/Then on Broadway - the first urban planning themed musical!
Perfect for citylovers with kids (or the young at heart - you know you never truly outgrow legos!!), you want to inspire a new generation of urbanist(as), LEGO’s City and Architecture Sets are the perfect gift! They have sets for many different cities, but I’m partial to London, where I’m spending an amazing semester abroad. As young and emerging placemakers, it’s good to practice and visualize how great places work and are built — with LEGOs! Just don’t step on them! ;)
We’re clearly doubling down on Etsy this holiday season - buy hey, it’s definitely a type of localism! This time, we found a store that combines vintage vinyl records with cityscapes. How cool is that? Love this Chi’town version in particular!
For the Datageek
Code Academy Data Science Series
Free for basic plan, $20/mo for pro; Recommended by the whole State of Place Team
Want to dip your toes in the urban data water? Look no further than Code Academy to get a little taste of how data science can be applied to solve urban issues and take one small step - and one giant leap - toward the data geekdom! They have all sorts of fun, easy course you can take to learn just enough to hang with the cool geeks, or go your full-on geek yourself! Of course, you could just rely on us here at State of Place if you prefer to remain data-adjacent!
To get kiddos into coding
Bitsbox Subscription
From $25/mo; Recommended by our resident urban mom, our COO, Michelle
Some say coding is the language of the future. Well, it’s either that or Mandarin! ;) So why not jump on the subscription crave with something that can help your kid thrive in the new age? Bonus, learning code can be useful to building cities too - case in point: State of Place! I’m particularly excited about the potential to get my girls into coding as a way to build confidence and strength!
Serious bike navigation system built by cyclists for cyclists. These guys mean business. This is a bit of a splurge, but more biking enthusiasts, it’s totally worth it.
For the Urban Visionist
Never Built New York and Never Built Los Angeles
From $17; Recommended by Mariela
So I’m biased because I know - and really like - one of the authors, Sam Lubell. But seriously, this is SO SO cool! Sam and his coauthor, Greg Goldin, have compiled a list of nearly 200 visions for new buildings, bridges, green spaces, public transit, “new rivers,” master plans, entertainment areas, and even new airports (which would have been nice, both in LA and NYC!), They even show actual proposed plans that would have altered iconic places like Central Park, the Lincoln Center, and MoMA. Take a walk down non-memory lane!
And finally, our list of VERY give-worth urban organizations you should donate to on #GivingTuesday and beyond!
1) Smart Growth America - because they’re also love data and are passionate about creating safe, accessible, green, - and EQUITABLE cities for everyone. (And because their CEO, Calvin Gladney is like one of my (Mariela) favorite humans and MC’d my wedding!)
2) Center for Neighborhood Technology - because they’re ALSO obsessed with data and tech (before that was a “thing!”) and have been advocating for more equitable access to housing and transportation forever!
3) Project for Public Spaces - because they’re my peeps and are the original placemakers (and placelovers) and are also getting more and more into data (and hence forging a partnership with us!)
4) Atlas: DIY - a Brooklyn-based cooperative empowerment center focused on offering free legal aid, mental health workshops, leadership training, and life skills for the most vulnerable of NYC’s youth populations: immigrants. After working with a similar organization called South of Market Community Action Network (SOMCAN) in San Francisco, Minah believes it’s important to support the communities that are most impacted by mass urbanization and globalization!
5) Impact NV - Kelliann urges you to donate to this org focused on advocating for more sustainable, inclusive development throughout the Las Vegas region that fits the needs of a diverse community.
6) Your local downtown museum or performing arts center - Andy believes these are essential placemakers that need our help to flourish and strengthen our downtowns!
Want even more?!? Didn’t find what you were looking for? Check out our previous guides:
2018 16 Awesome Gifts for Citymakers
2017 Our Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide for City-Lovers
2016 12 Amazing Last Minute Gifts for Urban Planners and Data Geeks!
OR just get yourself the gift of YOUR data and redeem our offer to demo a block of your choice by Dec 20th! This is the PERFECT gift for you if you’re wasting good time and money figuring out how in the heck to dig up data (that doesn’t exist) to convince the “powers that be” (or just those telling you NO like all the time!) that your vision deserves to be approved, funded, or is deserved of support. Likewise, this is the perfect “self-care” gift if you’re looking for new ways to get a cutting edge on your competitors or simply boost your bottom line(s) (economic, social, and environmental) and are interested in learning how data can help you do that! Get in touch! We’d love to be your (secular) Santa! Request your demo and reference this blog! Wanna know more before digging in? See how it all works here.