Uncategorized – Rolf Pendall

A good 2022, part 1

2022 was a good year for me, and I hope it was for you too. In the next few weeks I’ll post about some of the things that made my year. Portugal My wife (Leda) and I met up with my sister Elise and her husband Gary in Portugal in late May for one of…… Continue reading A good 2022, part 1

Overstory/understory // Downcuts

To cross the suburban death moat (aka Good Luck (sucker) Road) into Greenbelt Park, I walked far enough along the road that the drivers and I could see each other and take enough precautions to avoid (for them) excessive deceleration or unsightly dents on their hoods or (for me) severe injury/death. In less than a…… Continue reading Overstory/understory // Downcuts

Greenbelt Park at my doorstep

Early last week I drove up to Greenbelt (National*) Park to take a walk. It’s close to the house where Leda and I live in East Riverdale, MD, when I’m not back in Champaign during the school year. The park spreads out over 1100 acres of woods and streams between us and Greenbelt, the most…… Continue reading Greenbelt Park at my doorstep

We pay too much attention to migration.

Imagine Ohio Stadium filled every 2 months for the next 3 decades with babies and their carers. That's about how many babies will be born in the six Great Lakes states.

In 2016, I was in the middle of a project at the Urban Institute for the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation when the election results came in. The foundation had asked Urban to provide the context for its next strategic plan, charting and projecting the past and possible future trends in the population and economies of the…… Continue reading We pay too much attention to migration.