Your 6th Annual Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide For CityLovers & DataGeeks!
Wow! We cannot believe this is our SIXTH edition of this fabulously fun gift guide for the urbanists and data enthusiasts in your life! This year, to spice things up a bit, we’re not only bringing you gift ideas from our dear State of Place team but also from some of our extended State of Place family, including some of our most favorite customers and partners! Check out these amazing gifts that are sure to delight, excite, and/or energize all the urbanist(a)s in your life! We’ve also included links to the five previous editions of our gift guides in case you need even more inspiration (or if you’re looking for gifts for those budding citylovers).
Deck Your Walls With All Things Urban!
Cartoonify Your Favorite Planner!
Brought to you by yours truly (Mariela), this seriously got my nerdy juices flowing! This is SO freaking cool! I SO want one…ahem. I can’t imagine any urbanist could resist!
Urban Art Poster
Also a Mariela selection - For a slightly more abstract homage to our profession, consider this lovely, pastel colored wall art of some of your favorite monuments.
INCLUDING SOME DUELING WALL ART…
Birch-based Wooden City Maps
Suggested by our resident machine learning scientist, Kaustubh (who we’ve clearly turned into a citylover), this beautiful birch map is sure to delight!
Layered Wooden City Maps
Great minds think alike - brought to you by Chelsea Collier of DigiCity (one of our FAVORITE co-conspirators and soon-to-be official partner), consider these customizable, more affordable option.
…OR THE GIFT OF “THYME?”
Beautiful , Intricate Work of Time
Another gift option brought to you by yours truly, albeit this is a bit of a splurge, it’s absolutely stunning and there are MANY cities available!
Sustainable, Edible Art
This sleek and functional indoor garden is our data science intern, Jay’s brilliant suggestion for all of us foodie, techie, planet lovers!
DIY IT - INDOORS, OUTDOORS, NO DOORS, WHATEVER
DIY Pallet Bench
This brilliant, very on brand urbanist suggestion is brought to you by one of my fave dynamic duos, Jim Walker & Bronwen Thornton of Walk21, our longtime partners!: “Don’t wait till your dead to gift a bench to your local neighbourhood!”
Turf Wars?
This super cool idea is brought to you by Mitchell Reardon, of Happy City, who we’ve been conspiring with on some awesome partnerships that will hopefully come to life next year! In the meantime, Mitchell suggests this cool astroturf - perfect for lockdown or tactical urbanism (and we think goes very well with that pallet bench!)
Wearable Urbanism! X 2
13th Century Map Scarf
Another gem brought to you by the Walk21 duo: “An artists take of the 13th Century map, showing the history, geography and destiny of humanity as it was understood in Europe 700 years ago. What would you change for todays’ version?”
Artistic City Map Scarves
Brought to you by the formidable Hilary Nixon (my friend and colleague of 20+ years!), director to the Mineta Transportation Institute (with whom we collaborated with on a study on VMT, equity, & urban design for CalTrans this year. along with Serena Alexander), check out ALL the city scarves. Just gorgeous.
Plannerd Socks Galore!
Another amazing find from Mitchell at Happy Cities, check out this treasure trove of terrifically nerdy urban planning themed socks!
The Umby!
This one’s brought to you by Marisa Denker of Connect the Dots, another one of our budding partners (you might remember her from our post-2020 Citymaker quiz). This umbrella is exactly what urbanists need for exploring cites across the globe no matter the weather. And their backstory is totally on-brand too!
Functional Urbanism!
Custom City Glasses
Mitchell of Happy City clearly knows how to make urbanists happy - these custom city glasses are perfect for imbibing and relaxing after a hard day or urbanizing! ;) I especially chose to highlight this Austin as a shout out to one of our newest customers, the Downtown Austin Alliance!
Skyline Key Holders
Ok, this is one might be inspired by my absent-minded professor tendencies (I mean, I once frantically asked - where’s my phone while TALKING on said phone - but I digress). This fun key holder will keep your urbanist’s mind a bit more sane!
Actionable Urbanism!
City Transit Pass
From our resident transit aficionado and CTO, Andy, he suggests giving the gift that keeps on giving, to your fave urbanist and their city: a monthly or yearly transit pass! Help get your city's transit agency - and your friend - get back on their feet! I couldn’t resist to link to Miami’s pass - LOVE their slogan!
Urbanist Coupons!
Oh my goodness, what a throwback. I remember making a version of these for my mom when I was a kid - thank you Marisa for suggesting these! They are so awesome! Get them! And they are FREE!!
SGA’s 2nd Annual Equity Summit
Start the new year off right and register your fave urbanist striving for spatial justice for this marquee equity conference hosted by our friends over at Smart Growth America! Not only did I attend last year, I’ve used many of its webinars as required reading in my NYU urban design classes!
Local Love
This year, we’ve spent a LOT of time working with, thinking with, loving the very City of LOVE, Philly, where we quantified how urban design impacts EVERY critical aspect of people’s lives - from Covid to crime, from heat waves to heart disease. This year, show Philly - or your own city - some local love targeted at historically marginalized communities. Some Philly ideas include Black-owned bookstores, ArtStar, & Open House Living, courtesy of Emily Yates, Philly’s Smart City Director and one of our fave customers!
Readable Urbanism!
Equitable by Design
Another one of my picks, full disclosure, I haven’t read this (YET) but it is super well-reviewed and they had me at “evidence-based!” The book “examines the possibilities for building more equitable, culturally informed, and evidence-based partnerships among Black families, communities, and schools.”
Recast Your City
I can say…I knew Ilana Preuss way back when! ;) It’s been amazing to watch Ilana grow her firm, Recast City, and it’s SO amazing to see the success of her book launch. It’s such an interesting, unique, needed take on revitalization - and sure to make a great gift!
Transport for Humans
One last pick from the Walk21 crew - a book that helps us “remember to value the joy not just the time savings of travel!”
The Lost Art of Reading Nature Signs
From our very own Kelliann, my doer of everything - she suggests this sweet gift for a walker, or aspiring walker. The NYT bestselling author shares his guidance on how to read the forgotten signs of nature, our greatest resource. It's heartening and encourages a reconnection we all need in the digital age.
A Special Tribute to a Dear Friend & Urbanist
Blue Metros, Red States
This year, we lost Dr. Robert Lang - our (my and Kelliann’s) dear friend and mentor. It’s still so very hard to believe he is gone, but I cannot think of a better way to honor him and Karen, his adoring wife (and also friend and colleague) than to suggest this, his last book (whom he co-authored with Karen). Rob was not only a brilliant urban planning mind, he was political junkie - in the BEST possible way. I owe my now full-fledged political devotee status to the many hours we spent together discussing the nexus of urbanism and politics, among many other nerdy topics. That’s why I know you will love this book. May Rob’s memory be a blessing to us all.
I hope you find something special for your loved urbanist - or yourself while you’re at it. But if you’re still searching for that just right gift, please see our previous gift guides below. And if you want to learn more about State of Place - or want to gift the gift of data and evidence to create more livable, equitable, and sustainable places, feel free to book a time to chat with us and find out how we might help you in 2022 and beyond!