Tuesday, August 26th

How to Build a Village
Author Claude Lewenz has publish a book titled, "How to Build a Village," and while it is a bit expensive at over $75.00, it looks as though it may be a must-get for many new Colonist readers. A couple of excerpts:

Toward the end of World War II, American business and government leaders saw a second Great Depression looming if government spending ended and millions of soldiers returned home. They decided to turn the war-winning industries of oil, jeeps and tanks into the post-war civilian industries of oil, cars and bulldozers - to go from fighting a war to building the new American suburbs. To make the shift they legislated a radical change in how humans live spreading out human activities so the mundane chores of daily life required a car.

The economic plan worked and for over half a century the US economy boomed. "What's good for General Motors is good for America". Without understanding why, other countries adopted the American way - even countries that did not make cars or pump oil. While the plan was good for America's post-war economy, suburbs proved to be an immeasurably bad use of resources - both natural and in how people live.

[...]

Each part of a Village makes another part work. The keystone is its own local economy. With a local economy, the Village is micro-zoned - everything people need is within walking distance... homes, work, shops, cafés, schools and recreation. This removes need for cars, which lowers pollution and cost of living. No cars results in smaller roads, more human-scaled, lower-cost and better land-use. Elders need not move to retirement homes when they no longer drive. Children can play in the streets and plazas where working adults keep an eye on them. Small streets require fireproof buildings (no large fire trucks), thus the book proposes a design that is also rot-free and super-insulated. Plazas provide the perfect setting to Slow Food - enriching social interaction. Add the cultural enrichment of arts guildhalls and the Village becomes more interesting. Another social element include parallel market affordable housing, homes for service workers, teachers, youth, elders, artists - the glue that holds a community together.

Available from Alibris

Richard Risemberg, on 08.26.08 @ 14:48PST [link]

Tuesday, August 12th

Finding Penn Station
After reading the book, Conquering Gotham by Jill Jones, I’ve been on a hunt for pieces of Penn Station, several of which I have found around the city. I’ll let you in on that, but first a few tidbits from the book.

First, Alexander Cassatt, then President of the Pennsylvania Railroad (the second largest corporation at the time behind US Steel) and brother of painter Mary Cassatt, held the position that regulation of railroads was inevitable. He supported or at least wouldn’t oppose Teddy Roosevelt’s efforts to regulate. Incidentally the regulation was later seen as preventing the railroads from being competitive when unregulated airlines and automobiles came along.

From my own operation, my inclination that the building could have survived if it had a tower above it. New York is a vertical city after-all, and while the city was in awe of the “Baths of Caracalla,” yet it never completely fit in. In fact when it was built passengers complained because there was no subway service. The station also accounted for more commuter passengers than long-distance travelers. Eventually New Yorkers would come to love the station, and while they would eventually miss the station, at the time of its demolition it was dirty and deteriorating with broken glass panes. New Yorkers at the time also didn’t have a sense of “landmarks,” and although there was some outcry, without legislation to back it, the demolition couldn’t be stopped. It might be said today that more people lament the loss than ever loved it.

Finally on the pieces. The book mentions a portrait of Cassatt by John Singer Sargent and a bronze of him that stood in the waiting room. Both are in Strasburg at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The bronze of engineer and later President Sam Rea is outside 2 Penn Plaza (Penn Station) in New York. One of the eagles from atop the station is also there. Finally, the original clockthat was above the station entrance had a figure of “night” on the right and “day” on the left. The figure of “night” was retrieved from a New Jersey landfill and is on display at the Brooklyn Museum.

Eric Miller, on 08.12.08 @ 17:35PST [link]

NYC's "Summer Streets" a Success!
The first carfree street closure in New York, inspired by Bogotá's Ciclovia, was a resounding success, with the people asking for more! Take a look at the short video below for some typical reactions:

To see more great films about carfree living, urban cycling, and sustainable cities, visit Streetfilms.

Richard Risemberg, on 08.12.08 @ 13:01PST [link]

Saturday, August 9th

Car Free Summers in New York City
Saturday morning allowed me my first close-up look at the statue of Cornelius Vanderbilt, which stands directly under Mercury at Grand Central. On any other day you wouldn't have been able to see Cornelius, except as a glimpse from the window of an automobile. Thanks to Car Free Summers, on this Saturday morning and the next two, Park Avenue is closed to cars and pedestrians and bicycles are able to go up the ramp and around the terminal. More photos

Eric Miller, on 08.09.08 @ 14:45PST [link]

Thursday, August 7th

The Messy Room
Peak Oil has passed, and Global Warming is not a liberal conspiracy but a physical fact, and yet we're still compulsively swilling petrol, bloated drunks moaning and pissing ourselves in the trash-strewn bed-sitting room we've made of this once-lovely planet.

What does it take to make us make sense? Must we experience catastrophe before we can wish we had averted it? (And by "we" I mean primarily "us," as in "U.S.")

The Danes fret that "only" 36% percent of their population's travel miles take place on bicycles, bicycle use in Britan has more than doubled since 2000, and the Parisians have fallen madly in love with the "Vélib" borrow-bike network...and here in the US polls show the people supporting resumption of offshore drilling for crude oil even though it's well known that all the offshore oil we could possibly extract won't lower gas prices, or even support our current usage for more than a few weeks!

It's all-pervasive: people dear to me will drive four blocks to pick up a bottle of olive oil when it's a ten-minute walk if you dawdle. My neighbors can't be bothered to step an extra three feet to the blue recycling bin but throw paper, metal, glass, and (oil-based!) plastic into the standard bin, which goes straight to landfill.

Grow up, America! Mother Nature can't clean up after you any more.

There are some simple things you can do that aren't a great imposition, yet that have great effects, if enough of us (that means you and me) do them.

If recycling bins are offered in your community, as they are in nearly all US towns and cities now, just use them. It's not that hard. Clean paper, bottles, cans, and most plastics go in one; dirty trash and kitchen garbage in another. If you're really slow about it, it might take you an extra minute and a half per day, so no one's asking you to cut off your right arm. And it takes more energy to make something new, especially out of plastic, than it does to recycle used materials into something new. (Recycled paper uses 43% less energy than virgin, for example).

Skip the driving as often as possible. Even a chump can walk a mile in twenty minutes. You need the exercise anyway--you keep saying you're tired of being fat. Is it really more pleasurable to wedge yourself into a car, then wedge the car into traffic, then wedge it into a parking space, after circling the lot three or four times to find a spot closer to the door? What--are you nuts or something? We already know, from the National Household Travel Surveys, that 40% of the trips you take are under three miles, and a quarter of them are under one mile. Shake a leg, if you aren't feeble. Ride your bike if you want--uses even less energy than walking.

If you do have to drive (and you usually don't), don't drive so fast. What's the point of rushing down the street wasting gas just so you can wait longer at the next red light? You know, you really look stupid when you're doing that. I see you every day. You're not impressing me.

The there's food: buy local and seasonal. It's not that big a deal to pass on tomatoes in January--come on! Off-season fruit comes on ships, trucks, and trains and wastes a lot of oil. Not only wastes oil, but adds to greenhouse gases. Seasonal food has more nutrients than stuff picked unripe to ship 1500 miles, and tastes better too, so you'll enjoy it. It might require a bit of thinking when planning meals, but just remember that keeping an active mind helps stave off dementia when you're older, so you'll get to enjoy your life longer on two counts, physical and mental.

Just take this seriously. We can't afford to burn the oil we already have access to, let alone tar sands or coal, and keep a stable planet. It's time to put down the bottle, pick yourself up out of your own mess, and start living like a grown-up. Now.

Richard Risemberg, on 08.07.08 @ 13:33PST [link]

Sunday, July 27th

Bike Trail Bringing New Life To Old Towns
A bike trail is helping bring new life to forgotten towns in Southwestern Pennsylvania.


In 2007, Somerset County officials counted 31 new businesses started as a direct result of the Great Allegheny Passage. The Trail Town Program, an arm of the non-profit Progress Fund and supported by government and foundation money, helped start 11 new businesses last year alone. Halfway into 2008, Trail Town has aided eight more, and assisted with another two.


Read the article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Eric Miller, on 07.27.08 @ 16:13PST [link]

The Brooklyn Colonist
Check out the new Brooklyn design available in our marketplace!
Click here

Eric Miller, on 07.27.08 @ 15:34PST [link]

Sunday, July 20th

A New Twist on Dinner
At a local restaurant the other night, that I won't name, I hadn't been prepared to pay cash. The waiter informed me where the nearest ATM was, or, he said, "you can come back and pay it tomorrow." I couldn't believe it either, and that's the option I chose. On thinking about it, it's a pretty busy place and they probably save quite a bit by not paying credit card fees, and if one of every ten people who "will pay tomorrow," never do, they probably still come out ahead. The other nine might eat there again since they have to come back anyway. Sounds like it could be a better way to do things. At minimum, it gave me a pretty good impression of the place and since I do want to eat there again, I promptly went back to pay.

I would love to plug the place, but don't want to give anyone ideas about where to get a free meal. It'll be on our new Brooklyn page when I get around to building that. (The place shown is not the one I am writing about).

Eric Miller, on 07.20.08 @ 13:46PST [link]

Urban American Now Experiencing Black Flight
Chicago, New York, San Francisco are losing black residents, changing neighborhoods and remaking urban America. see the article in the Wall Street Journal.

Eric Miller, on 07.20.08 @ 12:42PST [link]

Batman in Chicago
The new Batman Movie, The Dark Knight depicts, pretty obviously, Chicago as Gotham. I have two questions. First, is this because of the mob element or the was it too sensitive to set a movie with so much terrorist acivity in New York? Second, has New York gotten so safe that the image as Gotham is no longer believable?

Eric Miller, on 07.20.08 @ 12:34PST [link]

Thursday, July 10th

New Orleans Fastest Growing
New Orleans, hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, was the fastest-growing large city in the nation between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007. This follows the city having the largest rate of population loss since 2000.

Houston, another city near the Gulf Coast, led the nation’s cities in numerical increase during the period. New Orleans had the fifth largest numerical growth.

U.S. Census Bureau estimates released today show New Orleans’ population rose by 13.8 percent to 239,124 during the one-year period, to lead all cities with populations of 100,000 or more in rate of increase. New Orleans was followed by Victorville, Calif., whose population climbed 9.5 percent to 107,221. Victorville, in Southern California’s San Bernardino County, saw its population pass the 100,000 mark for the first time in 2007.

Three Texas cities made the fastest-growing top 10: McKinney and Denton (near Dallas, ranking third and 10th, respectively) and Killeen (near Austin, ranking sixth). Rounding out the top 10 were North Las Vegas, Nev. (fourth); Cary, N.C. (near Raleigh, ranking fifth); Port St. Lucie, Fla. (on the Atlantic coast, seventh); Gilbert, Ariz. (near Phoenix, eighth); and Clarksville, Tenn. (on the Kentucky border, ninth).

Houston added 38,932 residents between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, to lead the nation in numerical population increase. Houston, which reached 2.2 million, was joined by three other Texas cities: San Antonio (third), Fort Worth (fourth) and Austin (eighth). North Carolina also contributed multiple cities to the list: Charlotte (ninth) and Raleigh (10th). Rounding out the top 10 were Phoenix (second), New Orleans (fifth), New York (sixth) and Atlanta (seventh).

New York continued to be the nation’s most populous city, with 8.3 million residents. This was more than twice the population of Los Angeles, which ranked second at 3.8 million. Chicago, with 2.8 million, was third, followed by Houston and Phoenix (1.6 million). (See Table 3. [Excel])

Other highlights:

2006-2007

New to the listing of the 25 most populous cities in 2007 is Nashville-Davidson, Tenn. (a city-county consolidation), 25th with a population of 590,807. In addition, Fort Worth moved up to 17th place; Charlotte to 19th; and Milwaukee to 22nd. Washington fell out of the top 25.

California and Texas each placed five cities on the listing of the 25 fastest-growing and on the list of the 25 biggest numerical gainers between 2006 and 2007.

Other cities making both lists of the 25 largest numerical gainers and the 25 fastest-growing from 2006 to 2007: New Orleans; Victorville; North Las Vegas; Port St. Lucie; Gilbert; Fort Worth; Raleigh; Atlanta; Henderson, Nev.; and Bakersfield, Calif.

Columbus, Ga., had the largest percentage decrease from 2006 to 2007. Its population decline is attributable to a decline in the population living in military barracks. Columbus was followed by Baton Rouge, La.; Hollywood, Fla.; Jackson, Miss.; and Coral Springs, Fla. Six of the 25 fastest-losing cities were in Florida.

Cleveland suffered the largest numerical decline in population from 2006 to 2007, followed by Columbus, Ga.; Baton Rouge; Philadelphia; and Baltimore.

2000-2007

McKinney, Texas, was the nation’s fastest-growing city between April 1, 2000, and July 1, 2007, as its population more than doubled to 115,620. North Las Vegas was second, as its population rose 83.6 percent to 212,114. Eight of the top 25 were in California: Victorville, Elk Grove, Irvine, Roseville, Rancho Cucamonga, Moreno Valley, Bakersfield and Fontana.

New York was the largest numerical gainer, adding 265,873 residents over the period. Houston, which added 233,876, was second. Five other Texas cities made the top 25: San Antonio, Fort Worth, Austin, McKinney and Dallas.

New Orleans experienced both the largest rate of loss and largest numerical decline during the period, as its population fell 50.7 percent (from 484,674 to 239,124). Cleveland had the second greatest rate of loss (8.3 percent, from 477,472 to 438,042), with Philadelphia ranking second in numerical decrease (from 1,517,550 to 1,449,634).

Eric Miller, on 07.10.08 @ 17:18PST [link]

So Who Owns the Road?
The Texas Department of Transportation just released an analysis of gas tax economics that ought to deflate the pompous arrogance of those drivers who typically really do believe they own the road. To quote:

...No road pays for itself in gas taxes and fees. For example, in Houston, the 15 miles of SH 99 from I-10 to US 290 will cost $1 billion to build and maintain over its lifetime, while only generating $162 million in gas taxes. That gives a tax gap ratio of .16, which means that the real gas tax rate people would need to pay on this segment of road to completely pay for it would be $2.22 per gallon. This is just one example, but there is not one road in Texas that pays for itself based on the tax system of today. Some roads pay for about half their true cost, but most roads we have analyzed pay for considerably less.

Read the full article at Texas DOT: Do Roads Pay for Themselves?

Other analyses over the years have shown that most roads cover about half or less of their costs from fuel and car taxes and fees in the US.

This means that those of us who use less road surface (such as cyclists, transit users, stay-at-homes) subsidize road hogs. (Mass transit uses roadways more efficiently than cars do, and of course rail transit doesn't use them at all.)

In other words, we really own the damn road!

Richard Risemberg, on 07.10.08 @ 17:03PST [link]

Monday, July 7th

Gas In The News
Forbes recently did a list of top citie sto cut your gas bill. You might have guessed Baltimore and San Francisco, but the list also includes Phoenix and Los Angeles. Number one is DC. New York isn't on the list. Meanwhile the New York Times ran a map showing where the greatest portion of your income is eaten up by gas prices. Wilcox County, Alabama takes that prize at 16 percent. Another rates areas in their affordability factoring housing and then housing and transportation. The suburbs may not be as affordable as you think! Link

Eric Miller, on 07.07.08 @ 17:28PST [link]

Monday, June 30th

Bloomberg's Address On Real Science and Political Science
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently gave an address to the World Science Festival on the unfortunate lag between "What We Know and What We Do," discussing the difference between real science and political science. It's a great read...

For years, politicians have hailed corn ethanol as the answer to climate change. It was all so simple. Instead of requiring fuel efficiency, or funding mass transit, we could have our cake, or in this case corn, and drive cars with it too, and, in the process, divert millions of tax dollars a year to farm states. The only problem was this policy wasn't based on science. For years, research has questioned the environmental benefits of corn ethanol, and now widespread production of corn ethanol has turned out to be an environmental and economic calamity. It not only imperils the world's climate by encouraging the widespread destruction of climate-crucial forests and wetlands, but also drives up the cost of one the world's most important cereal crops.

Link to the text

You may also want to watch Bloomberg's address on immigration to the University of Pennsylvania

Eric Miller, on 06.30.08 @ 14:02PST [link]

Sunday, June 29th

Can We Rebuild New York Somewhere Else?
I came across a January Q&A in the New York Observer from Yale economics professor Robert Shiller who made several comments on the high cost of real estate in the big apple and addressed the question of whether real estate prices can keep going up. I agree that they are not immune from going down, but I don't think New York, in any practical scenario, can be replaced. While I hear quite a few people in New York say the city has gotten boring or corporate and artists can't afford to live here anymore, I always heard that about San Francisco when I lived there. It may be just a case of "it's so crowded, no one goes there anymore."

Shiller said, "If it gets too expensive in New York, people will leave it, no matter what—they can’t afford to live there." Perhaps this is true, but the population of New York continues to grow and is expected to continue to grow for the foreseeable future. Schiller said "It would be a great thing for New York if prices came down, because more interesting people would move in." Also sounds good, but cheap isn't often the reason a city is a big draw. Sure, Haight-Ashbury in the 1960s was cheap and gave birth to a counterculture, but coastal cities in the U.S. haven't been cheap since.

"I just don’t think it’s reasonable to think it’s just going to keep getting more and more expensive." Again, I wonder how expensive it can get, yet New York is far less expensive than other cities like Tokyo and London. What's happening in the U.S. seems to be segregation by income along the coasts. If the well healed keep moving in, sure it can get more expensive for a while longer. What's lost on many is that there are relatively affordable parts of New York too, the train ride is just longer.

The next point Shiller makes, and the one that had me scratching my head the longest is "It’s too expensive in Manhattan, there’s no reason why we can’t have a brand-new one somewhere," Well, you can build smart, dense, livable communities elsewhere, but they will no more be Manhattan that New York, New York in Las Vegas. Manhattan isn't just buildings, its institutions--three or four hundred years of them. Further a new Manhattan couldn't have a fraction of the diversity of people and most importantly people of a variety of income levels, than old Manhattan. Lastly, and Shiller sites New Amsterdam, a new Manhattan would have to be accessible to the old Manhattan, so what can you do? Make a high-speed rail line to Scranton?

You'd be hard-pressed to find a Wall Street suit, let alone an artist ready to pack up and move.

Eric Miller, on 06.29.08 @ 06:51PST [link]

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