Looking for West North Machine Works?
Looking for WESTNORTH Studio in Baltimore?

I use this blog to collect and organize my thoughts on various topics, mostly in the realm of urban affairs. I often go back and refine things long after the fact, so feel free to explore further using the category listings at right.

If you’re looking for photos, chances are you’ll find it at my Flickr page. The new cover photo was taken from the Booth Street Steps, overlooking the Milwaukee River.

The name “West North” refers to the gently oxymoronic name of a street I lived on for several years, West North Avenue in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. The posts are by “paytonc” because that’s my WordPress.com username, adopted when I found out (way back in 1995 or so) that “payton” had already been taken at NYTimes.com.

Anything you want to know about me can probably be found on one of the many social-networking profiles listed under “Site News” to the right; that includes a CV over on LinkedIn. If you want to drop a line, send an email using the form below.

On comments: due to spam, first-time commenters here will get moderated; please wait a few hours. Old friends here can post away. My one content rule, to paraphrase your mother: “if you don’t have something constructive to say, don’t say anything at all.” (Oh, and also on comments: for spam reasons, the machine blacklists several words related to gambling and pharmaceuticals. Sorry if you legitimately need to discuss said topics, but I hope you understand.)

Now, do what a good urbanite does: go explore.

These pages also have contact forms, so fill in the box to email me.