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Yes indeed, today in America we know that something is wrong, and we would like things to be better. Certainly the design disciplines have been energetic in engaging the converging crises of energy, housing, infrastructure, environment, climate change…
Archive for the ‘Smart Growth’ Category
Healthy, Equitable Transportation Policy: Recommendations and Research
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010POLICYLINK
In St. Louis, MO, major cuts in bus service this spring left workers, students, disabled people, and elderly residents stranded and feeling bereft. Stuart and Dianne Falk, who are both in wheelchairs, told CNN they no longer would be able to get to the gym or the downtown theater company where they volunteer. “To be saddled, to be imprisoned, that is what it is going to feeling like,” Stuart Falk said…
Guest on The Infra Blog: Andrés Duany, Architect, Author of “The Smart Growth Manual”
Thursday, January 28th, 2010Andrés Duany, F.A.I.A., is a founding principal at the architecture and planning firm, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company (DPZ). DPZ is widely recognized as a leader of the New Urbanism, which seeks to end suburban sprawl and urban disinvestment. Duany has authored several books, including “The Smart Growth Manual” (most recently) and “Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream.”
View this complete post...Excerpts from The Brian Lehrer Show, with Gov. Rendell and Steve Anderson
Thursday, January 14th, 2010Wednesday, Jan. 13th
Steve Anderson, Managing Director, InfrastructureUSA.org, & Governor Edward G. Rendell, Building America’s Future, discussed infrastructure with WNYC radio host Brian Lehrer. Excerpts are available below, and you can listen to the entire program under “Infrastructure Matters” on WNYC.org.
View this complete post...Making a Better Market Street in San Francisco
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009For decades, planners and transportation specialists have debated how San Francisco’s most important street could be re-visioned to make it work better for transit, pedestrians, cyclists, shoppers, and those living on or near it. Now, as the Better Market Street Project moves forward with trial traffic diversions, the Art in Storefronts project, music and programming in public spaces, greening along sidewalks, and pedestrian safety improvements, San Francisco’s political class is intent on revitalizing the street for the long haul…
View this complete post...Transportation Adaptation to Global Climate Change
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009BIPARTISAN POLICY CENTER
Rising sea levels, greater weather variability, and more extreme weather events like hurricanes, permafrost thawing, and melting Arctic sea ice are just some of the important changes that will impact transportation networks and infrastructure. Coastal areas are particularly vulnerable. A large portion of the nation’s transportation infrastructure is in coastal zones: nearly half of the U.S. population lives within fifty miles of the coast, and many roads, rail lines, and airports were built at or near water’s edge to take advantage of available right-of-way and land. Increasingly intense storm activity and surges, exacerbated by rising sea levels, are putting an ever-increasing range of this coastal infrastructure at risk…
Guest on The Infra Blog: Robert D. Yaro, President, Regional Plan Association
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009Robert D. Yaro is the President of Regional Plan Association, America’s oldest independent metropolitan policy, research and advocacy group. Mr. Yaro co-chairs the Empire State Alliance and the Friends of Moynihan Station, and is Vice President of the Forum of Urban Design. He serves on Mayor Bloomberg’s Sustainability Advisory Board, which helped prepare PlaNYC 2030, New York City’s new long-range sustainability plan. Since 2001 Mr. Yaro has been Professor of Practice in City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania. He also taught at Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts…
View this complete post...WPA 2.0 Design Competition – WINNERS Announced!
Monday, November 23rd, 2009“WPA 2.0: Working Public Architecture winners are: PORT, Andrew Moddrell and Christopher Marcinkoski, from Chicago and New York for their project, Carbon T.A.P. // Tunnel Algae Park. The jury of Elizabeth Diller, Cecil Balmond, Marilyn Taylor, Walter Hood, Stan Allen, and Thom Mayne was unanimous in its decision, citing two primary qualities: The floating, carbon-capturing bridge between Brooklyn and Manhattan would be an index for the otherwise invisible tunnel below, and the periodic rotation of the parkway across the river had the power to reshape the image of the city.”
View this complete post...Climate Change in the United States: The Prohibitive Costs of Inaction
Thursday, November 12th, 2009UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS
“Recognizing the urgency of global warming, policy makers are beginning to pursue solutions to help us avoid the worst effects of climate change, while transitioning the nation to a clean energy economy. However, the debate over comprehensive climate and energy policy often focuses on the costs of climate action, rather than on the serious economic and environmental consequences if we fail to act. One study shows that if global warming emissions continue to grow unabated—a high-emissions scenario—the annual economic impact of more severe hurricanes, residential real-estate losses to sea-level rise, and growing water and energy costs could reach 1.4 percent of GDP by 2025, and 1.9 percent by 2100 (Ackerman and Stanton 2008).”
A Systems Approach to Water Resources
Thursday, October 29th, 2009AMERICA 2050/ REGIONAL PLAN ASSOCIATION
“Climate change, underfunded infrastructure, outdated management approaches, and the pressures of urbanization are creating a looming crisis for America’s water…”
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