Riding the First Train of the Day
The first service on most urban lines runs nearly empty for the first twenty minutes. It is the cheapest hour of solitude available in a city.
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Rain Is Not a Reason to Stay In
Wet weather empties every outdoor space in a city within about ten minutes. If you have the right clothes, that is an opportunity rather than a problem.
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Museum Galleries on a Tuesday Morning
The permanent collection on a weekday morning is one of the few places you can sit still indoors, in public, for an hour, without anyone wondering why.
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Community Gardens You Can Just Walk Into
Most cities have dozens of small volunteer run gardens, and a surprising number of them are open to anyone. Working out which is the only difficulty.
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A University Campus Between Terms
For several weeks a year, a city campus is an unusually pleasant empty space that almost nobody thinks to use.
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The Week Between Christmas and New Year
Cities empty out for about five days a year in a way that does not happen at any other time, and most people spend it indoors.
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The City Before Sunrise Is a Different City
Between about half four and six, most cities are genuinely empty, and the emptiness has a texture that the same streets never have again during the day.
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How to Tell if Somewhere Will Be Quiet Before You Go
Most wasted trips are avoidable. These are the checks that actually predict whether a place will be empty when you arrive.
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The First Hour in a Library Reading Room
Public reading rooms are the most reliable free quiet in most cities, but only for about sixty minutes after opening. Here is what that hour is actually like.
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A Seaside Town in February
Half the shops are shut and the wind comes off the water sideways. It is the best time to go and almost nobody does.
