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Wednesday, February 28th
SOUTH BURLINGTON LAUNCHES PUBLIC ART INITIATIVE
SOUTH BURLINGTON – The City of South Burlington has launched its Art in City Center program with an invitation to eight Vermont artists to submit proposals for its initial public art project. Artists Russ Bennett, Christopher Curtis, Daniel Gottsegen, Joseph Motto, Kate Pond, Janet Van Fleet, Rebecca Schwarz, and Andrea Wasserman have been asked to propose solutions for exterior ‘gateway’ public areas surrounding the new Healthy Living Market on Dorset Street that will house a restaurant, and retail and office space on the site of a former automobile dealership.
South Burlington’s City Center district is located between Dorset Street and Hinesburg Road, from Williston Road to Kennedy Drive. The City Center district, which includes a 45-acre undeveloped parcel flanking Market Street, is slated to see over $15 million in transportation, infrastructure, environmental and public space investments in the next five years thanks in part to funds from the FHWA and Lake Champlain Basin Program, and strong support from Senators Jeffords and Leahy. The objective is to create a new downtown district with commercial, residential, municipal, recreational and cultural facilities and which celebrates natural resources and community through innovative context sensitive urban design solutions.
In 2005, the City hosted a Community Workshop that involved residents, artists, local business owners and design professionals in planning diverse features of its urban plan. Public art was seen as critical to any plan for creating public spaces that support movement, safety and the vitality of the community. In 2006, the City hired design and communications group JZA of South Burlington, Vermont as its consultant to help formulate a public art plan that will create and maintain a distinct sense of place for the district. JZA creative director John Zwick envisions this pilot project as “... a very exciting first of potentially scores of different site-specific public art projects in South Burlington over the next ten years; each designed to enhance the experience of culture and community by people who live, work and play in City Center.”
The site identified for this first public art installation by the Art in City Center program is a result of the ongoing dialog among artists, engineers and civic leaders in South Burlington and will ‘set the bar’ for future placemaking projects in the district. The artists invited to submit proposals for this project were chosen on the basis of their demonstrated ability to conceive and produce strong context-sensitive art concepts that engage the public. An art selection panel will review proposals and invite three artist Finalists to present preliminary concepts to residents in April 2007.
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 02.28.07 @ 03:33PST
Tuesday, February 20th
New research project to help guide communities to improve energy efficiency
Climate change impacts, increasing heating and cooling costs, and over-dependence on petroleum and other fossil fuels all mandate an urgent need for improved energy use and more alternative energy choices in the U.S. While more than 300 cities have taken action to address climate change, more communities need to take appropriate steps now to help reduce future energy burdens.
The American Planning Association (APA) and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) are embarking on a three-year research and education project promoting clean and efficient energy strategies for communities. The goal is to encourage improved energy efficiency and increased use of alternative energy technologies in communities, helping to address the serious challenges of climate change and to save taxpayer money and boost local economies.
The first year of the project will bring together some of the country's foremost experts in energy and planning to discuss how energy best practices can be integrated into planning decisions at the community level. These experts, in conjunction with APA and EESI's extensive network of resources and people, will contribute to an internet-based database of best practices. Presentations, symposia, and other outreach efforts will disseminate research findings throughout the project. Information will be developed into a best practices manual, and subsequent years will involve creating and delivering a training program and making policy recommendations to federal, state, and local officials.
The need for such a resource was evident from a 2005 member survey conducted by APA and EESI. Survey findings showed that while planners are overwhelmingly interested in energy issues, they have difficulty implementing energy solutions due to a lack of information, training, tools, and technical support.
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 02.20.07 @ 03:09PST
Wednesday, February 14th
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Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 02.14.07 @ 09:14PST
Tuesday, February 13th
Nashville English-Only Bill Vetoed
Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell vetoed a measure Monday that would have made English the official language of Nashville, saying it was unconstitutional, unnecessary and mean-spirited.
"This ordinance does not reflect who we are in Nashville," Purcell said.
The measure passed 23-14 last week by the Metro Council required all government documents to be in English, except when multilingual communications are required by federal rules or are needed "to protect or promote public health, safety or welfare."
Opponents and supporters of the ordinance agreed it was largely a symbolic slap at illegal immigration that had no significant effect.
Purcell said his legal staff had advised him the bill violated the U.S. and state constitutions and would be costly to defend.
"If this ordinance becomes law, Nashville will become a less safe, less friendly and less successful city," Purcell said. "And as mayor, I cannot allow that to happen."
His veto seems likely to stand. It would take 27 council votes to override it.
Councilman Eric Crafton, who sponsored the measure, said it would offer an incentive for immigrants to learn English. Opponents including the Chamber of Commerce worried it would hurt the image of Nashville, which bills itself as "Music City USA."
Phone calls to Crafton's home went unanswered Monday.
Several smaller communities have passed similar laws or resolutions, including Pahrump, Nev.; Taneytown, Md.; and the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch, Texas.
Nashville, a city of more than 600,000, is home to the nation's largest Kurdish community and has been a resettlement site for refugees from Africa and Southeast Asia. The Hispanic immigrant population also has boomed.
Researchers say Nashville's foreign-born population has grown 350 percent since 1990.
Source Business Portal 24
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 02.13.07 @ 06:26PST
Wednesday, February 7th
Who Lives in the Exurbs?
Who lives in the exurbs? Apparently no one according to researchers at Florida-based Metrostudy. In an article published by Reuters the authors noted the prices of homes in the far-flung suburbs have fallen the fastest. Not only does no one want to live there now, but it turns out few wanted to live there when the market was hot--and primarily fueled by speculators.
MORE
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 02.07.07 @ 07:48PST
Shrinking Cities, A Growing Idea
It’s a curious name, the Shrinking Cities Institute. Kent State University near Akron recently founded this initiative which is expected to address the problems of the minority number of big cities which continue to shrink rather than grow.
As you might have heard, Pittsburgh falls into this category.
A commentary by the Rand Institute’s Barry Balmat and Peter A. Morrison that appeared in the Post-Gazette in 2004 observed that Pittsburgh's population declined nearly 10 percent during the 1990s, in sharp contrast to the 13 percent nationwide population increase. Since 2000, the city's population loss has continued unabated.
That’s just the facts, not the commentary, however. The juice of the story is that it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
We’ll get to the why of that in a bit, but first a little on the thought about what to do with shrinking cities.
READ MORE
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 02.07.07 @ 07:47PST
Friday, February 2nd
House Freezes Amtrak, Boosts Highway Spending
The Fiscal 2007 continuing resolution passed by the House Wednesday contrasts sharply with today’s report on climate change.
On one hand, H.J. Res. 20 freezes Amtrak at fiscal 2006’s $1.294 billion. This is:
• $304 million or 19% below Amtrak’s “basic” request of $1.598 billion, and
• $579 million or 31% below Amtrak’s full request of $1.873 billion [see note at bottom].
Amtrak’s requests were developed by a board of directors composed exclusively of Republicans appointed by President Bush; one Democrat, R. Hunter Biden, joined the board later, on July 26.
The house also has, and the Senate likely will approve, a $3.532 billion or 9% increase in federal highway funding. On the bright side, there is also a $480 million increase in transit funding.
According to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Amtrak is 18% and 17% more energy efficient per passenger-mile than airlines and cars, respectively. (A passenger-mile is one passenger traveling one mile.)
On the other hand, the world’s top climate scientists report a 90% probability that human activities have caused most of the earth’s warming in the past 50 years. They foresee temperature increases this century that could put as many as four billion more people at risk of serious water shortages, and sea levels rising from 7 to 23 inches or more, covering land occupied by millions of people, especially in south and east Asia. One of the scientists, Paul Valdes, professor of physical geography at the University of Bristol, said “it is possible to reduce our emissions without endangering the economy or changing our way of life but we must start to act now” (today’s Financial Times).
NARP Executive Director Ross Capon said, “While we understand that the path of least resistance in quickly disposing of Fiscal 2007 issues is to ignore the Amtrak board’s request and comply with the ‘guarantees’ in SAFETEA-LU, that does not make this good policy.
“Even more appalling is the fact that criticism of the House’s Amtrak number as ‘excessive’ was the only transportation reference in the Bush Administration’s lengthy policy statement on the resolution. It will be interesting to see how the Administration handles these issues in Monday’s budget release, particularly in light of projections that the Highway Trust Fund could be $9 billion in the red during Fiscal 2009. Americans need transportation policy to give them more choices—not increasingly confine them to auto reliance—so the first, post-election transportation results are not encouraging.”
Meanwhile, in the U.K., airport departure taxes doubled yesterday. BBC said this was “because [Chancellor of the Exchequer] Gordon Brown says airlines should pay more for damaging the environment.” Brown, according to Reuters, “said the extra money will pay for public transport and environmental measures.”
[Amtrak’s higher, $1.873 billion request for this year, included four “strategic investment initiatives”--$100 million each for a U.S. DOT-administered state corridor development program and for Amtrak debt reduction; $50 million to help freight railroads address “chokepoints” that cause delays; and $25 million for Americans with Disabilities Act compliance.]
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 02.02.07 @ 11:05PST
