NYC Boulder Blog

Boulders available by the pound! This correspondent has always wondered about the boulder trade and was pleased to discover that boulders could be purchased. This delightful specimen can be acquired at Lud's Landscaping on Buffalo's West Side.

Omg Boulder fans, correspondent Jesse spotted this amazing opportunity on craigslist. Two sizable boulders are available for the taking to the first lucky enthusiast who can haul them away. I'd definitely think about it for my yard if they weren't so far away. Hopefully one of you will grab them and share your story and photos here.

Spotted on Potomac Street in Buffalo's Elmwood Village, a rare sidewalk Boulder! And even more exciting to this correspondent's eyes were the baby boulders perched lovingly atop this magnificent specimen. Oh new Buffalo, if more boulders is part of your renaissance, I might be all for it!

Apparently boulders are the new it design item, as displayed here at the new CartoDB headquarters in Bushwick. We're not sure how boulders relate to mapping and data visualization, but we still like the boulders. Perhaps, Carto can help update and maintain the Boulder Blog map?

While this blog generally does not feature boulders in their more traditional and "natural" settings, this correspondent was so captivated by this overgrown boulder in the El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rick that it had to be included. I mean, seriously, there's a tree growing on a boulder!

Boulder blog correspondent Janice shared this boulder from San Francisco. It features the head of the transportation agency (Ed Reiskin) and a local city politician (Jane Kim) celebrating the first versions of sidewalk extensions. To deter vehicles from entering, they added this boulder. We're not really surprised to learn that the boulders were later phased out. As we have learned from our long years of boulder observation, while most boulders seem random, without some logic to their placement they just don't work - like a pig in the parlor, a good thing sometimes but a nuisance when in the wrong place. So SF - we're excited about the potential for boulders in traffic calming, and we hope your next effort meets with greater success!

A small boulder grows like a tiny weed behind the old library at 271 Grant Street. Boulder Blog correspondent Rahwa alerted us to this one that had sprung up one day, as if yearning to be free from beneath the mighty building's foundations.

In Portland, they don't just leave their boulders on the sidewalk, they give them shallow, depaved areas in which to sit - allowing it to be both truly urban and natural. Perhaps, this boulder is part of one of the green infrastructure installations for which Portland is famous? Human figure is included in photo for scale.

Boulder Blog fans, this correspondent cannot go anywhere without finding a boulder. It's AMAZING. And so, despite a long absence, Boulder Blog will be returning, or at least appearing occasionally in your feed. But back to the boulder, because, really, that's why we're here. Isn't it lovely, just sitting there, waiting for its selfie? Brooklyn always seemed so full of boulders, and a recent trip to Williamsburg didn't disappoint with this beauty on Havemeyer off of Grand. It's hopeful to know that even with all of its gentrification, there's still a place for majestic, rough around the edges, boulders in this great borough.

Back in Brooklyn only a matter of hours, this correspondent was ecstatic to discover a boulder she had never seen before on the streets of Williamsburg. After two years in generally-boulderless Buffalo, it was truly thrilling to come upon this no-nonsense piece of granite. In other cities, boulders are parts of monuments, boulders hold plaques, boulders prevent cars from driving on your lot to dump tires. In Brooklyn, they're just boulders.

As many of you boulder blog fans have probably come to realize, there are not a lot of boulders in Buffalo. And when there are boulders, such as this one pictured above, they are in parks or acting as holders for plaques - ie. not very interesting boulders. There are many moments when this correspondent longs to see a boulder haphazardly placed along a sidewalk. Alas, few such opportunities cross our paths these days. I do hope to keep posting breaking boulder news as it strikes, but we should all accept that the heady days of NYC Boulder Blog are behind us. I would like, however, to direct you to a new blog - Walter Explores the Built Environment - where an intrepid young pit bull details his thoughts and adventures wandering the streets of Buffalo and beyond. Walter's an urbanist, a lover not a fighter, and an all around good dog. You'll love him!

Poor little boulder. Someone defaced you with this sign, as if all you were good for was for some paltry way finding. Thanks to Boulder Blog correspondent Paul for catching this one.

Spotted near Windsor, VT, boy and #boulder in their natural setting. #whereboulderscomefrom

Saw these delightful paper mache boulders at Five Points Bakery today. The woman behind the counter didn't know who made them or where they came from, but she said they do an excellent job helping to prop doors open. What can't boulders do?

If you have a boulder crushing story, please share.

#buffalo memorial #boulder. Flowers and trinkets get updated every Sunday.