October 2005

Chicago White Sox, Partying, and… Walkability?

October 27, 2005

Yes, I can find a way to correlate anything to walkability, even my favorite baseball team’s first World Championship in 88 years. Congratulations to the Chicago White Sox and to the City of Chicago, it has been a long and painful wait. As I sat back in my state of euphoria thinking about the win [...]

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Is Your Community Ready?

October 23, 2005

Peak oil awareness is gaining a critical mass nationwide, and not just amongst scientists. Monthly meet-up groups are arising nationwide, even in Midwestern communities as diverse as Louisville, Kentucky (see Louisville Courier-Journal article) to discuss what this means to them and what they can do to be prepared. Whether the true crisis will actually arise [...]

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Privatization Over True Regional Planning

October 20, 2005

Is planning at the regional level useless when it comes to land use planning? You could make strong arguments either for or against regional planning. An op-ed article on Planetizen by David Renkert argues that the future of regional planning lies in private property owners. He argues that they are in the best position to [...]

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Portland’s Innovative Residents Reclaim the Streets

October 18, 2005

This is one of the most interesting projects I have ever come across, and I cannot wait to visit Portland someday and see it. The idea is for citizens to reclaim the streets as public places and not just auto-zones. The project, called Intersection Repair, is best explained by their website: How do you create [...]

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Old Pennsylvania Turnpike Tunnels to Become Bike Trails

October 16, 2005

Today’s quick hit comes from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Old sections of the Pennsylvania Turnpike are planned to be transformed into bike trails. The proposed trail site is located in South-Central Pennsylvania, near Breezewood. Initial plans call for “improvements ranging from lighting the tunnel, to repaving one lane of travel, to creating trailheads, signage and bathrooms, [...]

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More Urban Living Lofts Planned for Revitalizing Detroit

October 14, 2005

Detroit may not be the ideal place to live in America. The metropolitan area faces a super-divide, with some of the richest suburbs and poorest inner-city neighborhoods in the country. But, downtown Detroit is slowly starting to turn the corner. I had the chance to walk around downtown about two years ago and was actually impressed by what I saw. They are really trying to revitalize the downtown. There are some gorgeous buildings, breath-taking views, and beautiful art pieces downtown. The connectivity is not bad either. The problem that I noticed: there were no people! I was walking around on a beautiful fall Saturday afternoon and there should have been tons of people. This made downtown feel a bit eerie. Hopefully this is going to change soon.

One reason this may change is because of Detroit’s commitment and encouragement of downtown living. The city has established Neighborhood Enterprise Zone designations that gives incentive for new developments, including sharply reduced property taxes for up to 12 years. Two loft projects currently underway downtown are benefiting from these designations, Grinnell Place Lofts and Research Lofts. Both of these projects are industrial to residential conversions which often make for great lofts. Grinnell Place is located very close to Tiger Stadium and Research Place is near the expanding Wayne State University. Apparently there are numerous urban living lofts in the vicinity of Comerica Park and they have been quite successful, although I did not get to that area on my last visit. (Source: Detroit Free Press via Planetizen ) >>Continue Reading This Article>>

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The Things You See in a Walkable Community

October 11, 2005

I ran across a ridiculously interesting site this morning via the Sac Top 25. Another blogger from Sacramento has reportedly quit his day job to become a beggar and see how much money he can really make in one day. He usually goes out begging dressed in different costumes, some of them are hilarious. I [...]

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Bush Administration Changes Tune on Energy and Oil Consumption

October 9, 2005

In 2001, Then-White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was asked if the Bush administration had plans to reduce energy consumption. “That’s a big no. The President believes that it’s an American way of life,” Mr. Fleischer said. Interesting how a couple of hurricanes and rising oil prices can rapidly make an administration change its mind.

The Gadsden Times reports that President Bush is encouraging individuals to cut back on auto trips. “We can all pitch in. People just need to recognize that the storms have caused disruption,” Mr. Bush stated. He also added that if Americans can avoid going “on a trip that’s not essential, that would be helpful.” Mr. Bush did not go as far as to state that we need to encourage more compact and walkable growth, however, the new Federal transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU has included some positive measures toward these initiatives (see:“AmericaBikes.org”:http://www.americabikes.org/ ). >>Continue Reading This Article>>

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Walkable and Compact Development Planned for Post-Katrina Rebuilding

October 7, 2005

If the South and New Orleans are to be rebuilt following Hurricane Katrina destruction, then let’s build it right. This is the gist of an article from the Chicago Tribune last week, reporting that the Congress for New Urbanism and Andres Duany will lead an effort of the top planners, architects, and engineers from around [...]

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Referrals

October 6, 2005
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