Urban Planning

Placemakers

Stockton Williams on urban retrofits, Obama, and the sexiness of caulking guns 1
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago What do you call a consortium of global foundations and banks intent on using energy retrofits to create jobs for low-income people? You could call it dreamy -- or you could call it Living Cities. We talk with the group's green-economy expert.
Talk about a culture jam

The social life of traffic 1
Posted 2 months ago
Who's responsible for that traffic jam you're sitting in? Hint: You, dude. Find out why human psychology has more to do with stuck cars than road engineering or that eternal construction project up ahead.
Grow your farmer ...

USDA to unveil “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative 2
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago
As I prepare for five days of announcements next week, when USDA plans to unveil its new "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food" initiative, the buzz across my desk is about the potential for urban agriculture.
Will Skyscrape for Wind

Portland’s newest high-rise has wind turbines on the roof 1
Posted 2 months, 4 weeks ago
It's so brilliant we wish we'd thought of it: wind turbines on skyscraper roofs. Will a new building in Portland pave the way?
Placemakers

Tim Halbur on sprawl, propaganda, and Obama’s approach to urban issues 0
Posted 3 months ago
We kick off a new interview series by talking with the managing editor of Planetizen, who knows a thing or two about how cities grow.
A beautiful day in the neighborhood

Neighborhood stores: An overlooked strategy for fighting global warming 7
Posted 3 months ago
A revival of small, neighborhood retailers could be an important strategy for countering climate change, enticing people to run errands without driving their cars.
Legs Dimin'

Would you pay more for walkability? Should you? 7
Posted 3 months ago
Better for your bod. Better for the planet. Better for your gas and insurance bills. Is that why people are coughing up more cash for homes in walkable neighborhoods? A new study looks at the trend.
This Week in Placemaking

The greenest grocery store, biggest “living wall,” and more eco-innovations 5
Posted 4 months ago
From the country's greenest grocery store in Augusta, Maine, to a soaring transit station in Anaheim, Calif., we survey the landscape of green-building projects in the news.
Ambition and trouble collide

Vancouver’s Olympic village aims for green, runs into problems 4
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago
The athletes’ village is the centerpiece of efforts to green the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. Now being constructed on an 80-acre rehabbed brownfield near downtown, the village is intended to be a whole new kind of sustainable neighborhood. The development has impressive green features, but some serious problems too.
Green Acres

How smart is your city? 1
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago
Cities matter -- to our health, as well as to the health of the planet. How we build our cities can play a very important role in preserving and protecting the environment.
NYC's Newest Farm

Three-acre organic farm appears in the middle of New York Harbor 2
Posted 5 months ago
The sustainable garden with the most exclusive real estate in Washington is no doubt the one at the White House. The sustainable farm with the most exclusive view in New York City is the one that opened on Governors Island last week.
Radiant Cities: Driving It Home

One man’s plan to re-create suburbia, sans cars 1
Posted 5 months ago
If Sherman Lewis has his way, he and 950 other homeowners will soon be living in a car-free California paradise. But can he shift his vision into high gear, or will it stall out?
Desert Blooms

NYC sends veggie carts to underserved areas—and they’re a hit 6
Posted 5 months ago
New York City took a baby step recently towards a state role in distributing healthy food. It significantly expanded a program to bring fruit and vegetable "carts" to low-income neighborhoods that good food options -- so-called "food deserts." And if the early response is any indication, the program looks to be a rip-roaring success.
Ray (and Shaun and Lisa) of Hope

Feds get cozy for sustainable communities 3
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago
A new partnership will promote affordable housing, public transit, and walkable neighborhoods. Pinch us, we're dreaming.
Hot Data

Clean-tech and urban renewal in one fell swoop 3
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago
Could a green-data collaboration between MIT, EMC, Cisco, and UMass be the shot in the arm that Holyoke, Mass., needs? City leaders hope so. Like, really, really hope.
Point A to Point Whee!

The best U.S. transit systems you never knew existed 15
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago
Certain cities are public transit all-stars: New York, San Francisco, D.C. But what about the rest of the country? As cities rethink how their residents get around, we take a look at transit innovations gaining speed in unexpected places.
Radiant Cities: Mallternatives

A shopping mall becomes a city 4
Posted 7 months, 1 week ago
Americans are abandoning malls with a vengeance. Can developers convince them to come back -- and call it home?
Thank you, Van Jones, for being busy

Every job can be green, part one 1
Posted 7 months, 3 weeks ago
A green-collar jobs program can help create an environmentally and economically sustainable society that: drastically reduces its greenhouse gas emissions; encourages energy independence from oil; eliminates the worry of heating and cooling one's home; and increases food security, all while providing millions of high-quality, well-paying, long-term jobs, thus bringing millions of people into a stable middle class.
Trailer Thrash

Reinventing the trailer park 1
Posted 7 months, 4 weeks ago
Trailer parks get a bad rap. But done right, the trailer park actually holds great potential as an eco-development model.
New breed of houses makes use of carbage 0
Posted 8 months, 1 week ago