What more precisely is a main street worth compared to big box/strip mall development to a city’s revenue? Peter Katz, Director of Smart Growth/Urban Planning for Sarasota County, Florida with data compiled by Public Interest Projects provides a compelling look.
Many rural communities are facing challenges, including rapid growth at metropolitan edges, declining rural populations, and loss of working lands. This report focuses on smart growth strategies that can help guide growth in rural areas while protecting natural and working lands and preserving the rural character of existing communities.
Slowly, mass transit is taking hold in a city synonymous with the car. Now a light-rail line is finally coming to the affluent and traffic-choked Westside after years of local resistance, and at least some urban-style development is likely to follow.
A newly revised master plan for ecologically sensitive Virginia Key, to be considered by the Miami City Commission this week, scales development back while highlighting nature and low-key recreation.
Seattle Public Utilities will soon begin a federally-mandated, $500 million city-wide infrastructure improvement program designed to reduce storm and wastewater pollution. This will mean higher sewer and drainage bills for people, beginning next year, and for years afterwards.
As local politicians across the country get scorched by voter anger over recession-induced budget cuts — laying off teachers, closing schools and libraries and slashing services — perhaps they’ll be more receptive than usual to some powerful and surprising tax revenue numbers.
We asked Peter Harnik to answer some questions about his new book, Urban Green: Innovative Parks for Resurgent Cities, that covers how cities can plan for parks as well as how to create them in “all built-out” settings.
The post-World War II era has witnessed the nearly exclusive building of low density suburbia, here termed “drivable sub-urban” development, as the American metropolitan built environment. However, over the past 15 years, there has been a gradual shift in how Americans have created their built environment (defined as the real estate, which is generally privately owned, and the infrastructure that supports real estate, majority publicly owned), as demonstrated by the success of the many downtown revitalizations, new urbanism, and transit-oriented development.
If all continues to go well, San Francisco’s business and resident groups (ie the crowd) will be able to trade parking spaces for revenue and quality-of-life generating spaces instead. The City’s Pavement to Parks trial program is experimenting with repurposing underutilized street space into pedestrian-only parks and plazas. Their first project, the 17th Street Plaza has already become a favorite local destination.
Forest City VP Renata Simril gives a developer’s perspective on what it takes to make TOD a reality at ULI LA’s recent TOD conference.
The $250,000 project will move parking spots away from the curb so bicyclists and cars no longer have to mingle on the roadway. The lanes are expected to protect bicyclists and encourage more cycling in The City.
Cities are greatly in need of slimming down their roads, says architect Michael Bohn. A recent project in Long Beach, California shows how curb extensions and street furniture can have a huge impact on the economics of downtowns.
The problem isn’t the suburbs themselves. It’s not even the suburbanites that occupy those houses and drive everywhere. The problem is the government policies that historically let developers do nearly anything with cheap land. It has been a failure at the federal, state, regional, and local levels that we cannot mindlessly blame on suburbanites themselves.
What is Vision California?
California must plan for future growth – by 2050, the state’s population is expected to grow to nearly 60 million people and 24 million jobs. The path that we take to accommodate growth can lead us in many directions. Vision California provides the information we need to make informed decisions about how and where we want to grow.
At the USGBC Federal Summit in Washington, D.C., on May 18, 2010, U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) administrator Martha Johnson announced a bold new goal for the agency responsible for all the facilities of the federal government: net-zero environmental footprint.
Joint Design Fellowship will support sustainable reconstruction efforts in Haiti
Tallahassee’s achieved reductions by increasing the efficiency of electric generating plants and by switching the primary fuel from oil to natural gas.
City receives award for its 131-foot wind turbine
Philadelphia outlines a $1.6 Billion green infrastructure plan for rainwater overflow
IBM is helping cities and utilities become smarter by providing new technologies and tools
The streetlight is being re-imagined in bold ways, with devices that use less energy and enhance urban landscapes.
State-of-the-art Shoreline facility is first to be built to achieve LEED certification
Commercial waste haulers working in the City of Boston could lose their licenses if they don't start offering recycling services to their customers
The program—the largest of its kind in the country—will provide rebates to home and business owners who install PV on buildings
Legislation will provide Nevis Island with energy independence
Glasgow: New idea for harnessing solar energy
San Francisco Taking Action on Clean, Renewable Energy
