tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11938444303620831482024-11-01T06:36:06.368-04:00Thoughts and resources on promoting truly sustainable communities in the 21st century.Craig Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10058656262105985605noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-64910071600984752702010-04-28T09:30:00.000-04:002010-04-28T09:30:49.067-04:00

"To put it simply, the suburbs have lost their sheen," writes Ania Wieckowski in the May edition of Harvard Business Review." Her article, Back to the City, suggests that "(some) companies are getting a jump on a major cultural and demographic shift away from suburban sprawl. The change is imminent, and businesses that don’t understand and plan for it may suffer in the long run.""The change is

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-80868267108320670912010-04-27T17:38:00.000-04:002010-04-27T17:38:29.018-04:00

Jamie Oliver, the star chef from Great Britain, declared war on processed foods in schools in his home country and achieved fantastic results. He then decided to fire a shot over the pond and see if his success was transferable to the most obese country in the world, the United States. His show, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution chronicles his 3 months in Huntington, West Virginia and the 3 months

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-53516456997171827972010-04-09T11:19:00.002-04:002010-04-09T11:22:20.208-04:00

Kaid Benfield, a fellow new urbanist and the Smart Growth Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council appropriately summarized in a recent blog post entitled "The Environmental Paradox of Smart Growth" what I have written about in this blog and have spoken about for years. There is no question that sustainable land use requires, among other things, neighborhood density.  Indeed

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-58973269691873541372010-03-11T09:17:00.000-05:002010-03-11T09:17:58.804-05:00

As real estate begins to emerge from its great sleep of the past two years, one can only hope that trends will changes and be more responsive to the actual changing demographics of this country. For too long we built for a mythical population of people who didn't exist or never came. Now is the time to be much more mindful of who we are actually building for. And guess what, it's not the white

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-13672609716964480422010-03-04T20:59:00.001-05:002010-03-05T13:27:48.364-05:00

Oh so true. Sustaining Sustainability: It Ain’t Always Easy MARY NEWSOM / FEB 28 2010 A little more than a dozen years ago, a collection of three adjacent suburban towns in the sprawling Sun Belt region of Charlotte did something extraordinary. After months of public workshops, lectures and community discussions, months of looking at slide shows to choose what kinds of streets, stores, houses

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-45296631999352189202010-02-24T11:02:00.002-05:002010-02-24T11:04:33.200-05:00

Can a church be moved and still retain its full sense of sacredness and civic prominence? This is the idea that is being explored by Mary Our Queen Catholic Church in Norcross, GA, a suburban Atlanta community. Rather than build a new facility in the pattern of the old ways, this parish is seeking to physically move a recently closed church in Buffalo, NY – St. Gerard’s Catholic Church - piece by

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-73138788120098914072010-01-18T12:16:00.006-05:002010-01-19T13:42:32.987-05:00

The New York Times recently reported on a study recently commissioned by the group, CEOs for Cities. Entitled "Walking the Walk: How Walkability Raises Home Values in US Cities" author Joe Cortright concludes that: "More than just a pleasant amenity, the walkability of cities translates directly into increases in home values. Homes located in more walkable neighborhoods—those with a mix of common

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-45336611178365101742010-01-18T11:31:00.011-05:002010-01-18T17:17:26.549-05:00

My company’s headquarters is located in downtown St. Louis. As an urban planner in the new south, my frequent trips to our mothership have granted me the opportunity to explore much of the urbanism, both good and bad, that this region has to offer. And let me say, St. Louis have some absolutely extraordinary urbanism. From historic walkable neighborhoods rich in architectural character to vibrant

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-26381705412608486482009-12-31T08:39:00.010-05:002009-12-31T11:17:50.139-05:00

This blog has often railed against suburbia in favor of more urban arrangements of our communities. And while there are a growing legion of those who support this position, there are still a number of individuals who, for many and varied reasons believe that the suburbs are superior and that cities are the antithesis of their dreams. What I have come to understand is that there is a broad

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-72701257420901356772009-12-16T22:04:00.004-05:002009-12-16T22:18:37.276-05:00

Edward Glaeser, a Harvard economics professor recently posted a blog on the NY times entitled "What Makes Cities Great". For those communities who rest too much on a single laurel, there are some lessons to be learned here. The text of the blog is below along with the original links.Was coal a curse to Pittsburgh? Did cars destroy Detroit? Does the dominance of a single industry destroy the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-63668908804715253062009-12-02T11:21:00.008-05:002009-12-02T11:39:22.601-05:00

Richard Florida recently published an entry on his Creative Class blog entitled The Geography of Obesity. It further underscores the real health crisis that we are facing as a nation. Climate change continues to get all the attention but its effects are negligible compared to deaths caused by obesity and automobile accidents in the United States. Both of these are impacted in large part by the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-40556179951200892922009-11-19T13:15:00.010-05:002009-11-19T14:04:31.261-05:00

The October 2009 edition of Urban Land magazine, the official publication of the Urban Land Institute included an article by John McIlwain entitled, "Dialogue Housing - After the Fall: What Will Be the New Market?" In it, McIlwain opines on the future of housing in our communities. Among the many interesting observations he notes that the trend towards more urban living is likely to continue and

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-58143525825046844432009-11-17T10:35:00.011-05:002009-11-17T17:57:17.402-05:00

The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently picked up on a story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that featured the orange giant, Home Depot, and their effort to make better use of their property. Home Depot, as many people know, is one of the nation's largest home improvement warehouse with stores approximately 130,000 square feet on lots that average 12-14 acres, most of which are

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-24449241217002218872009-11-10T14:09:00.004-05:002009-11-10T14:25:47.367-05:00

Every year, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute put out a compendium of their recommendations for real estate investment in the coming year. The following is a summary of the report that appears on the ULI web site. Not surprisingly, the highlights include low leverage (low debt), smaller projects in secure, employment-oriented markets. Also interesting is their recommendation of

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-4828073327390249142009-10-23T14:42:00.004-04:002009-10-26T09:27:55.884-04:00

Many of us have long questioned whether the exponential growth in the suburban single family lot is, in fact, socially sustainable. Beyond the environmental and economic challenges that many suburban areas pose, is there enough market in the future to ensure their long-term viability?Harrison Marshall, a colleague and bulk emailer (reformed) of planning news sent around a link about two years ago

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-21763547136396254532009-10-09T23:49:00.011-04:002009-10-12T09:58:50.087-04:00

It seems that we can't turn a corner without climate change being attributed to some problem or something that we are doing having an impact on climate change. Wait, wait. Before you click away and think that this is some skeptic panning the latest report, fear not. If anything this report is one of climate agnosticism. In some regards, I don't know if I care or not about climate change. The

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-17079976210058608092009-09-24T08:46:00.007-04:002009-09-24T09:52:13.607-04:00

The previous post referenced a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences entitled Driving and the Built Environment: The Effects of Compact Development on Motorized Travel, Energy Use, and CO2 Emissions -- Special Report 298. In that report, they heavily referenced a Report by Reid Ewing, Arthur C. Nelson, and Keith Bartholomew entitled "Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-89805658297203054692009-09-10T21:21:00.010-04:002009-09-11T17:02:12.558-04:00

The National Academy of Sciences released a report this month entitled Driving and the Built Environment: The Effects of Compact Development on Motorized Travel, Energy Use, and CO2 Emissions -- Special Report 298. A summary of the report can be downloaded from the Transportation Research Board.Interestingly, this article was reported by Technology Review, under the title Forget Curbing Suburban

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-51326273489728530802009-08-27T22:51:00.008-04:002009-09-11T08:55:44.461-04:00

Our local public radio station recently hosted a program that focused on the planning and design of the area's first "agriburbs." As the show notes highlight "much of Charlotte's recent housing projects are focused uptown and along the light rail line but an entirely different type of development called "Agriburbia" is sprouting up here and in other places in America. Agriburbia represents

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-90623664510386552132009-08-21T09:11:00.005-04:002009-08-24T13:16:07.973-04:00

The post below is written by Peter Zeiler who serves as the Transit Station Area Development Coordinator in the Neighborhood & Business Services for the City of Charlotte. He can be reached at pzeiler@CharlotteNC.gov.Back up in Detroit I spent a lot of time and energy focused around the Shrinking Cities project and discussing the issue with local and global policy makers.One of the key points

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-51685576425223199482009-08-09T22:54:00.003-04:002009-08-09T23:31:49.974-04:00

I've long been a lover of cities. Cities both small and large are on the front lines of our civilization. But I fear that too many cities have leveraged their futures on growth that will never emerge. Moreover, I continue to be amazed at the number of cities that are proceeding with a "business as usual" model into the new economy.Some have made cuts to basic expenses, others have eliminated

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-40304953293693944682009-07-19T20:49:00.006-04:002009-07-19T21:11:10.869-04:00

Something's afoot in Washington. DOT, HUD and EPA are drinking the same cool aid and the result may prove to be very good news for cities. Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood's testimony to Congress is spot on what I and other new urbanists have been saying for years - it's the land use, stupid! The big question is whether the politicians will follow suit. My fingers are crossed. Perhaps

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-48340064936130306712009-07-16T17:17:00.010-04:002009-07-17T15:16:04.413-04:00

In 2007, we proudly declared that the environmentalism movement had achieved its opus. They convinced a worldwide audience that the human activities of the past one hundred years had in fact contributed to a change in the global climate. Companies began falling all over themselves declaring that they were green. Sustainability had achieved buzzword status and now pervades most every discussion

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-45569382605038701322009-07-02T21:07:00.005-04:002009-07-02T22:02:08.528-04:00

Something interesting happened this week. The US Census Bureau released their latest municipal population estimates and it provided some very interesting trends and some very misleading data. New York City and Los Angeles both increased in population and remain or nation's largest cities. Recent immigration is fueling most of the growth in those urban areas as they continue to swell with minority

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1193844430362083148.post-37977905375251242082009-06-23T08:18:00.018-04:002009-07-06T17:30:55.961-04:00

The last twenty to thirty years have left many of our suburbs as vast sprawling single-use residential subdivisions surrounded by vast sprawling single-use commercial strips with little to seam the two together. This pattern has been well-documented and is now the location of foreclosures and dark storefronts. Why? There are of course many reasons for this, some of which are complex (

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2