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| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Go ask Alice
What's up with that gated 'community' in Montana? |
Tom Philpott |
25 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Alice Waters, long-time champion of food as a tool for building community, has done something quite un-Alice Water-like: sold her name to promote a high-dollar gated development "community" in Montana. Over on Ethicurean, there's a great post by the novelist Charlotte McQuinn Freeman, who lives in Livingston, Montana -- near the site of the quote-unquote "Ameya Preserve," the kind of high-end, "green" gated "community" that make ... |
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| Topics: Alice Waters, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Along the Mississippi: Baseball edition
In which I say a little prayer for the Sox |
Katharine Wroth |
24 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Oh, one more thing: today we went to the top of the Gateway Arch, and I got to peer into Busch Stadium, where my Red Sox beat the Cardinals in their still-gives-me-goosebumps 2004 World Series victory. And as I write this, they are handily beating the Colorado Rockies (13-1, bottom of the 8th) in the first game of this year's series. Go Sox! |
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| Topics: placemaking, Missouri, sports (all these topics) |
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Along the Mississippi: Tax thyself
Guess what happens when communities cough up cash? |
Katharine Wroth |
24 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Earlier today, we met with three folks from the Great Rivers Greenway District in St. Louis. Their organization owes its very existence to a voter-approved one-tenth of one cent sales tax that generates $10 million each year. As a result, they've been able to complete about 100 miles of trails and greenways in a 1,216-square-mile area over the last few years, and have plans to create a network of 500 miles more. Not all of their financing comes from the sales tax, bu ... |
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| Topics: Missouri, Mississippi River, Iowa, placemaking, education (all these topics) |
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Along the Mississippi: Same trip, different rivers
Reflections on a changing river |
Sarah van Schagen |
24 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Having spent three days on the Mighty Mississip, I am beginning to see just how mighty it is. In Dubuque, we experienced a river that seemed to meander at a manageable pace. We saw a riverfront plaza with steps leading right into the water, and walked down the steps to reach out our hands to touch the water. It was idyllic and calming. The river here in St. Louis is an entirely different beast, meeting up with several major tributaries -- the Illinois, the Missou ... |
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| Topics: Iowa, Mississippi River, placemaking, Missouri (all these topics) |
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Take 'Em for a Ride
NYT revs up special package on cars |
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24 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 4:04 PM on 24 Oct 2007 The New York Times published a gazillion-story special section on autos today, with many articles covering the green angle. Read up about General Motors' electric dreams, the difficulty facing Hummer marketers, waterless car washes, and more. source: The New York Times From the Archives You're Getting Warmer, Warmer ... Sprawling homes susceptible to flames in California. Dilution ... |
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| Topics: cars, green living, news, placemaking (all these topics) |
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You're Getting Warmer, Warmer ...
Sprawling homes susceptible to flames in California |
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24 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 3:27 PM on 24 Oct 2007 The impact of the still-raging California fires on humans and their homes is tragic and lamentable -- but far from unexpected, thanks to homeowners' tendency to sprawl out and nestle right up to the fire line. Some two-thirds of new building in southern California in the past decade was on tinder-dry, fire-susceptible land, says historian Mike Davis. "You might as well be ... |
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| Topics: California, climate, climate change impacts, news, placemaking, severe weather, sprawl (all these topics) |
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Even more of what 'bike friendly' looks like
Danish picturebook, Portland video show how to respect bicyclists |
Alan Durning |
24 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| What bicycle-respecting streets, intersections, and neighborhoods look like is largely a mystery to most people, even those who cycle regularly. I've offered descriptions twice before. Since then, two wonderful new tools have been completed. StreetFilms.org, the awesome, New York-based outfit that makes movies about cycling, has posted a 30-minute ode to Portland's bikability (linked above). It makes Bicycle Respect visible. (Other, shorter StreetFilms works on P ... |
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| Topics: Portland, Denmark, urban planning, bikes, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Along the Mississippi: Ponyshoe edition
$5 could be yours |
Katharine Wroth |
24 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| It's morning in St Louis, and we're getting ready to talk with some of the movers and shakers in the world of riverfront greenways. While preparing, we ate at a greasy spoon where Jimmy Kimmel was on the teevee talking about his daily cross-country flights for this week's double-hosting duty. Yikes.On a side note, this meal was my third in a row involving white food products slathered in butter -- I've gotta be careful about that. But my health loss is your gain: I w ... |
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| Topics: food, Mississippi River, Missouri, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Along the Mississippi: So long, Dubuque ...
... we're off to St. Louis |
Katharine Wroth |
23 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Despite the whirlwindiness of our visit to Dubuque, Sarah and I feel like we got a good picture of the work that's going on there. It helped to have a view from the country's shortest, steepest railroad: We'll write about all of this in more detail later in the fall. But for now, it's off to the glories of St. Louis ... bigger city, same river. Stay tuned. |
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| Topics: placemaking, Iowa, Mississippi River (all these topics) |
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Along the Mississippi: Driving Miss Doris
Exploring Dubuque by boat |
Sarah van Schagen |
23 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| What floats our boat? Um, we're not quite sure, but that didn't stop us from taking the helm like two river rats making our way downstream. Thanks to the (very Dubuque) hospitality of Trish McDonald and her "chick boat" Doris Day, we were fortunate enough to spend the day out on the Mississippi River.Trish took us on the grand tour as we sped down to the locks and dam, meandered through Ice Harbor, and puttered past ginormous barges waiting to fill up wit ... |
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| Topics: Iowa, Mississippi River, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Brit's Eye View: The future becomes us
Envisioning possible green futures helps create a greener future |
Peter Madden |
23 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Peter Madden, chief executive of Forum for the Future, writes a monthly column for Gristmill on sustainability in the U.K. and Europe. There has been much discussion lately of the need to turn the green agenda from a negative to a positive one. I think that an important part of this is developing some more positive visions of what living in a sustainable future might be like. My organization, Forum for the Future, has set itself this task. Partly because we think the ... |
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| Topics: business, consumerism, green living, green products, placemaking, shopping (all these topics) |
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Along the Mississippi: Quote of the day
Granted, it's early yet |
Katharine Wroth |
23 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Just met with Laura Carstens, planning services manager for Dubuque. The money quote: 'For years, we turned our back on the river. Now we're making it our front door.'Later today, Sarah and I will get out on the river for the first time. The tourist riverboat stopped running this weekend because the weather turned, but yesterday one of our sources called a friend with a boat. The friend agreed to pick us up this morning and take us for a ride. And that right there te ... |
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| Topics: Mississippi River, Iowa, placemaking, quotables (all these topics) |
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Along the Mississippi: We're not in Seattle anymore
... or Kansas, for that matter |
Katharine Wroth |
23 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Here's what the sign says on the back of the bathroom door in our hotel: Hotel Laws of IowaFixing, Limiting, and Determining the Liability of Keepers of Hotels, Inns, Eating-Houses, and Steamboat Owners to Inmates Thereof.Sorry, was that ... steamboat owners? Holy crap. |
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| Topics: green living, Iowa, Mississippi River, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Along the Mississippi: America's river
Exploring Dubuque's riverwalk, tourist-style |
Sarah van Schagen |
22 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| While Katharine spent the day getting free lunch and talking to city planners, I spent my day exploring what, exactly, all those city planners have spent all their time planning. Namely, the America's River project I mentioned earlier today. I toured the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium with Teri Goodmann, the director of national advancement for the museum and, as it happens, a fairly knowledgeable Mississippi River fish enthusiast. (Did you know ... |
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| Topics: Iowa, Mississippi River, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Along the Mississippi: SDAT thing you do
A meeting of the minds in the Masterpiece on the Mississippi |
Katharine Wroth |
22 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| There's no free lunch -- unless you happen to be a Grist reporter crashing a sustainability conference in Dubuque. I showed up, hungry, for a 12 p.m. presentation by City Manager Mike Van Milligen that was kicking off a three-day Sustainable Design Assessment Team visit. I was rewarded not only with more inspiring examples of this city's initiatives, but with a sandwich.Let me back up a little. Dubuque -- which, as Sarah said, is turning out to be a more progressive ... |
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| Topics: Iowa, Mississippi River, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Along the Mississippi: Buol market
A morning meeting with the mayor of Dubuque |
Sarah van Schagen |
22 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| I wish I could tell you I wrote this from atop a log raft while floating down the Mighty Mississippi, but sadly the wifi access out there ain't so mighty. Instead, I'm sitting at a table inside the Grand Harbor Resort and Conference Center complex, which is part of the $188 million riverfront development project here in Dubuque, Iowa, our first of three stops during our week traveling The Great River. The development project -- and the National Mississippi River ... |
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| Topics: Iowa, Mississippi River, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Along the Mississippi: Rollin' on the river
Grist pulls a Huck Finn |
Katharine Wroth |
22 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Grist is rollin' (rollin'!) on the river this week, and we're taking you with us. We're bound for the Mississippi -- the legendary waterway recently deemed an 'orphan' of the federal government. Just call us Sarah van Sawyer and Huckleberry Wroth.We've ventured here to find out how three cities are reinventing their once-industrial waterfronts, and how they're re-embracing the river. During the week's coverage, which is supported by the McKnight Foundation, we'll be ... |
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| Topics: green living, Mississippi River, placemaking (all these topics) |
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This urban life
Even the greenest suburbs can't touch low urban emission rates |
Ryan Avent |
21 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Last Sunday, the Washington Post published a piece by Joel Kotkin and Ali Modarres which sought to debunk the ideas that dense urban areas are greener than their suburban counterparts and that encouraging dense growth might play a significant role in reducing America's carbon output. The piece was wrong or misleading on practically every point, to the extent that any complete response would take up far more time and space than I have available. Some of the authors' most e ... |
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| Topics: climate, greenhouse-gas emissions, placemaking, sprawl, urban planning (all these topics) |
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Wheels of fortune
Bikeways pay for themselves |
Alan Durning |
19 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| A decade ago, we wrote that the bicycle is one of the world's seven everyday wonders because it's so simple, effective, affordable, and pollution-free. To that list, we might have added 'enriching.' Bicycling for transportation pumps money into local economies. Bikes are wheels of fortune. (Thanks to Flickr photographer hanbyholems for the picture to the right.) If your community spends money building bikeways, you and your neighbors will cycle more. Your cycling wil ... |
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| Topics: bikes, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Congested roads, free-flowing people
Commuters in Seattle avoid congested roads by driving less |
Clark Williams-Derry |
16 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Apparently, folks in Greater Seattle are responding to congestion by ... driving less! Which is, quite literally, no surprise at all. A comprehensive study of transportation patterns in cities across the globe found that high levels of congestion are linked with low overall energy consumption. When roads get congested, people adjust, and find alternatives to long, time-consuming commutes. And that's what seems to be happening in Seattle. Highway congestion ha ... |
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| Topics: placemaking, Seattle (all these topics) |
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Congestion
Is the cure worse than the disease? |
Clark Williams-Derry |
15 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| The ever-geekalicious Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute had a great take on traffic congestion a few weeks back on Planetizen. As Litman explains, most congestion studies (such as this annual study, which always gets a lot of press) consistently overestimate the costs of congestion. But even using these relatively high estimates, the costs of congestion are pretty modest, compared with the comprehensive costs of owning and operating ... |
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| Topics: cars, placemaking, public transportation (all these topics) |
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Suburban legend
Widening roads does not, in fact, reduce emissions |
Clark Williams-Derry |
13 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Why is it that stupid ideas get all the air time?For months, fellow climate geeks have been telling me that road-builders -- and the politicians who love them -- have started to make a startling claim: namely, that widening a congested highway will help curb global warming. By reducing stop-and-go traffic, the argument goes, cars will operate more efficiently and waste less fuel. So if you want to save the climate, you'd better widen that road! To me, t ... |
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| Topics: climate, greenhouse-gas emissions, placemaking, urban planning (all these topics) |
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Oh, Deer
L.A. considers freeway overpass for wildlife |
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10 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 10:32 AM on 10 Oct 2007 Los Angeles is considering adding another commuter lane -- for wildlife. But a proposal for a $455,000 animal path over the 405 Freeway is unpopular with residents who argue that transportation dollars should go to easing human-caused congestion, not making the commute more enjoyable for bobcats, coyotes, deer, and opossums. source: Los Angeles Times From the Archives Through Hell a ... |
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| Topics: Los Angeles, news, placemaking, urban planning, wildlife (all these topics) |
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Your Food Doesn't Come From the Store
A journey into the heart of industrial agriculture |
Tom Philpott |
09 Oct 2007 |
Grist Feature |
| Americans live in a post-agricultural age. Today, fewer than two of every 100 U.S. citizens owe their living primarily to the land. A century ago, two of every five did. Yet even though very few of us contribute to food production, we all still eat -- and food comes from somewhere. But where? In a sense, the answer is: Iowa, buckle of the farm belt, heart of the heartland ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, food, green living, Iowa, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Bikin'
Cities try to help bikers |
David Roberts |
09 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| USA Today says a few American cities are finally, at long last, taking steps to make life easier for bicyclists. This is heartening, I suppose, as far as it goes, but the measures under discussion -- mainly bike lanes and some bike-sharing programs -- are pretty wan. We've got a long, long way to go before biking is a mainstream alternative. |
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| Topics: bikes, placemaking (all these topics) |
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