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Saturday, March 29th

New Pedestrian Forum
There is a new pedestrian forum on YahooGroups for people who walk for transportation, i.e. commuting to work, doing errands, etc. We will discuss tips and share ideas on how to make life easier and safer for pedestrians. Please join and tell your friends!
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/walkfortransport/

Michelle Giansante (mcgiansante@gmail.com), on 03.29.08 @ 04:16PST

Landmark's Go Dark for Earth Hour
Support for 2008’s Earth Hour (www.earthhour.org) continues to build as globally recognized landmarks and buildings, such as the Sears Tower and Golden Gate Bridge, as well as sports teams and corporations, including the Phoenix Suns, Hewlett Packard, Esurance and National Geographic Channel, join the climate change movement sweeping the world. On Saturday, March 29 at 8p.m. local time, millions of people around the world will turn off their lights to show how by working together we can
make a difference in the fight against climate change. Starting in Christchurch, New Zealand; Earth Hour will roll through 14 time zones, wrapping up in the Pacific Time zone representative San Francisco, CA. Traversing more than 25 cities in 10 countries, Earth Hour will be the largest voluntary power down in history.

To date, 25 cities around the globe have been designated by World Wildlife Fund as official Earth Hour
flagship cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco in the United States. As momentum builds, additional cities in the U.S. including Honolulu, HI; Denver, CO, Miami, FL, Charlotte, NC, Martha’s Vineyard, MA, and Homer Glen, IL are joining the movement by partnering with the local mayor’s office and staging their own Earth Hour events.

Some of the country’s tallest buildings including the John Hancock Building in Chicago and the Bank of
America Plaza in Atlanta as well as iconic landmarks like the Georgia Aquarium and Alcatraz have all
signed on to turn off their lights during Earth Hour. Sports teams from around the country including the
Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks will also turn off select non-essential
lighting on the exterior of their stadiums and arenas during the event. McDonald’s will turn off its golden
arches in over 480 locations in Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana.

Hewlett Packard, the official National Technology Partner of Earth Hour, has demonstrated their commitment to green initiatives through their on-going involvement with WWF. They have signed on as a sponsor of Earth Hour this year and will to turn off the lighting at their corporate headquarters outside of San Francisco.

National Geographic Channel, the national media partner for Earth Hour, will turn off non-essential lights at their headquarters in DC and will air nearly 100 TV spots advertising the movement. Esurance, a national partner as well, is adding Earth Hour to their long list of environmental initiatives they actively participate in each year.

Here is a sampling of the great things happening in each of our official flagship cities.
In Chicago:
• Sears Tower — Turning off non-essential exterior lighting
• John Hancock Center – Turning off all non-essential exterior lighting
• Navy Pier -- Turning off decorative lighting and Ferris Wheel lighting
• Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears — Turning off non-essential lighting
• Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs — Turning off the famous marquee
• McDonalds – Turning off the Golden Arches in all 485 Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana stores
• Marquees lights throughout the downtown theater district will go off--Chicago Theatre, Auditorium
Theatre, Cadillac Palace Theatre, Goodman Theatre, LaSalle Bank Theatre, Oriental Theatre
• United Center—will turn off the lights on its famous Michael Jordan statue for Earth Hour.

In San Francisco:
• Golden Gate Bridge – Turning off non-essential /decorative lighting on towers
• Bay Bridge – All lighting on the towers to be turned off
• City Hall – All outdoor lighting turned off
• Coit Tower – Turning off all non-essential lighting
• Ghirardelli Square – Turning off iconic sign that overlooks the San Francisco Bay
• Alcatraz – Turning off all non-essential lighting
• AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants – Playing the Earth Hour video at several home
games before the 29th and turning off all non-essential lighting the night of Earth Hour.
In Atlanta:
• Bank of America Plaza – Fifth tallest building in the country is turning off all non-essential lighting
• The Fabulous Fox Theatre---will darken its famous marquee in honor of Earth Hour
• The Weather Channel – Turning off all non-essential lighting on their building as well as promoting
Earth Hour on their program Forecast Earth and at www.weather.com/forecastearth.
• Georgia Aquarium – Largest aquarium in the world turning off all non-essential lighting
• Georgia Dome, home of the Atlanta Falcons – Turning off all non-essential lighting
• Westin Peachtree Plaza – Tallest hotel in Georgia turning off all non-essential lighting
• The Varsity---Atlanta’s world-famous drive-in restaurant will turn off its signage in support of Earth
Hour

MORE

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 03.29.08 @ 00:10PST

Friday, March 28th

Earth Day, 2008
What will you do for earth day? Consider completing the changeover of lightbulbs in your home to high-efficiency bulbs. You'll help the environment and save money in energy costs too. Here's our complete list of the top ten things you can do to live sustainably click here

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 03.28.08 @ 10:22PST

Thursday, March 27th

New Orleans Among Ten with Fastest Growth Rate; Dallas Leads in Numerical Growth
Dallas-Fort Worth had the largest numeric gain of any metro area between 2006 and 2007, increasing by 162,250, according to July 1, 2007, estimates of metro area population size and growth released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Atlanta (151,063), Phoenix (132,513) and Houston (120,544) rounded out the metro areas with a gain of at least 100,000.

The Midwest metro area with the greatest numeric change between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, was Chicago (seventh overall nationally), while the Northeast metro area with the greatest numeric change over the same period was New York (21st overall nationally).







Eight of the 10 fastest-growing metro areas between 2006 and 2007 were located in the South.

Four of these fast-growing Southern metro areas were not only among the top 10 in percent growth from 2006 to 2007 but also among the 20 largest numeric gainers during the same period. Raleigh, N.C., was the third fastest-growing metro area, 4.7 percent, as well as the 12th largest numeric gainer, at 47,052. Austin, Texas, was the fifth fastest-growing metro area, 4.3 percent, as well as the eighth largest numeric gainer, at 65,880. Charlotte, N.C.-S.C., was the seventh fastest-growing metro area, 4.2 percent, as well as the sixth-largest numeric gainer, at 66,724. (See Tables 1 [Excel] and 2 [Excel].)

The fourth metro area in the South, New Orleans, was the eighth-fastest growing metro area between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, as its population climbed 4 percent. It also was the 16th largest numeric gainer over the same period, with an increase of 39,885. The metro area previously had the highest rate of decline between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006.

In addition to New Orleans, other Gulf Coast metro areas where populations increased between 2006 and 2007 after having experienced 2005-2006 population declines included Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss. (1.8 percent population growth from 2006 to 2007); Pascagoula, Miss., (1.6 percent); Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas (0.5 percent); and Lake Charles, La. (0.4 percent).

The 50 fastest-growing metro areas were concentrated in two regions — 27 in the South and 20 in the West. One metro area, Fayetteville, Ark.-Mo., straddled both the South and Midwest regions. Sioux Falls, S.D., and Springfield, Mo., were the two metro areas among the 50 fastest-growing located completely in the Midwest. None of the 50 was in the Northeast. That region’s fastest-growing metro area was York, Pa., which ranked 107th.

New York was the most populous metro area on July 1, 2007, with 18.8 million people, followed by Los Angeles (12.9 million) and Chicago (9.5 million). Nine metro areas had 2007 populations of 5 million or more.

More than four-fifths of all U.S. metro areas (303 out of 363) had a larger population on July 1, 2007, than on July 1, 2006. The 50 fastest-growing metro areas grew by at least 2.3 percent during this period, which is more than double the nation’s total population gain of 1 percent. As of July 1, 2007, the 363 metro areas in the United States contained 251.9 million people — 83.5 percent of the nation’s population.

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 03.27.08 @ 09:37PST

Tuesday, March 25th

Neighborhoods Help Determine How Much People Exercize
The neighborhoods people live in can help inspire – or discourage – their residents to exercise and keep physically active, new research suggests.

Residents of neighborhoods with higher levels of poverty, lower education, and more female-headed families are less likely than others to exercise, according to the study.

It’s not simply that poorer people are less likely to exercise, researchers say. In fact, the study, which was done in Chicago, found that a person’s individual income wasn’t as important as the neighborhood he or she lived in for determining exercise levels.

FULL STORY

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 03.25.08 @ 18:30PST

Saturday, March 22nd

Interview with Robert Toll
The New York Observer has an insightful interview with Robert Toll, the founder of the Luxury home builder Toll Brothers, in its March 24, 2008 issue. Yea, he talks about the fallout from the mortgage crisis and about where you can still build in Manhattan, "There are tons of places to build in Manhattan. Everywhere you don’t see high-rises, there are places to build." Toll has long been one of my favorite corporate chiefs to read about-just the idea that he's willing to submit to such an interview says a lot. The most interesting part of the exchange between Toll and interviewer Alex Abelson goes like this...

You’re now finishing your first Manhattan condo, One Ten 3rd in the East Village. I like the way the building looks, but it’s in a neighborhood that used to be an area for musicians and artists, and now it’s a neighborhood with expensive condos like yours.

"Hey, Max, once upon a time the populace of the United States wore buckskin and deerskin, rode ponies and hunted with bows and arrows, and I’m sure they didn’t appreciate it when your kind came to the Untied States. What’s the point you’re making?

Are you equating developers with colonialists?

No, I’m equating you with displacing Indians. What’s your point?

The interview in its entirety is available here at the NY Observer's wed site."

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 03.22.08 @ 13:19PST

Are You LinkedIn?
Join our new group on LinkedIn! click here

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 03.22.08 @ 10:56PST

Thursday, March 20th

Fuel Costs Changing Airline Industry
It would seem to be a good time for investments in improved short-run rail lines. A mention in an article today said that high fuel costs have made most regional jets obsolete--more there are no plans to replace them.

More than half of the existing regional jets in service in the U.S. -- over 900 aircraft -- will be retired over the next five years, the report said.

"Contrary to other forecasts that predict 'thousands' of new (regional jets), the hard fact is that there are no such next-generation airliners on the drawing board. The (regional jet) era is over," the firm said in a statement.

Read the article

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 03.20.08 @ 07:13PST

Wednesday, March 19th

Flushing New York
Here are two videos of Flushing, New York. The first is a parade in 1969, the second some video shot at Woolworth's in 1997. Notice the complete demographic change in less than 30 years. Parade Video; Woolworth's Video

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 03.19.08 @ 15:57PST

Landmark Hotels: Hermitage Hotel, Nashville
Looking for a unique hotel experience? Let The New Colonist help. You can use our site to locate unique downtown hotels like Hermitage Hotel in downtown Nashville. In The Center Of Downtown's Business District And Adjacent To The Tennessee State Capitol, The Hermitage Hotel Is The Ideal Location For Anyone Traveling To Nashville. The Hotel Is Within Easy Walking Distance Of The Nashville Convention Center, Gaylord Entertainment Center, Country Music Hall Of Fame And All Of Nashville's Premiere Attractions And Night Life. Book A Room At The Hermitage; Search The New Colonist for other hotels; See our Nashville Photo File.

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 03.19.08 @ 07:33PST

Monday, March 17th

Los Angeles Transit Master Plan on View
From Metro:

With the release of its draft Long Range Transportation Plan for public review last week, Metro today launched a major campaign to focus public attention on how individuals can work with Metro to achieve a free-flowing traffic future for Los Angeles County.

Bus and rail advertising, web and newspaper ads and billboards that started debuting today are steering the public to a new interactive Metro.net web page where the public can learn more about current and proposed highway and public transit projects and options for funding them. The draft Long Range Transportation Plan is posted on the web site along with notices of seven public meetings that will be held through April to discuss the plan. Following public review, the Metro Board will consider plan adoption in June.

Metro’s Long Range Transportation Plan prioritizes dozens of new highway, street and public transit projects in virtually every corner of Los Angeles County. Freeway gap closures, construction of carpool lanes, interchange improvements and truck lanes, traffic signalization on major streets, bikeways and pedestrian improvements would complement new public transit projects including new busways, freeway express bus service, and new rail lines crisscrossing the county to handle the county’s projected 2.4 million population growth by the year 2030. The plan also looks at the cost of these projects combined with existing transit operations and projected funding....

Read more....

Richard Risemberg (rrisemberg@newcolonist.com), on 03.17.08 @ 11:42PST

Sunday, March 16th

Hangers & Hang-Ups
Today I pedaled over to a large local mall to meet my wife, who inexplicably wanted my opinion on a blazer she was buying at Macy's.

While waiting for her to come out of the dressing room, I was intrigued to see that, in the waiting area, Macy's had mounted monitors that were displaying a Fox News feed. I was then dismayed to see that the feed, presented as one of Fox News pseudo-fair-and-balanced panels, amounted to a half-hour attack ad on Barack Obama. All the panelists, black and white, repeatedly emphasized Obama's relationship with the controversial Reverend Wright, painting both men as anti-American radicals.

I heard from my wife that Fox News feeds show at all the Macy's stores she's been in lately.

The salesclerk I chatted with said that Fox's barrage of anti-liberal bloviating is pretty much relentless.

I'm wondering whether this particular sort of "analysis" shouldn't count against McCain's campaign budget. While the store is a private entity, its sales floor is a quasi-public area.

And of course you know we'd hear it from Limbaugh and his dittoheads (or whatever they call themselves now) if the same store monitors were transmitting progressive messages, or attacks on McCain. For that matter, I wonder whether the mall's owners would even allow it.

Does anyone else find this disquieting?

Richard Risemberg (rrisemberg@newcolonist.com), on 03.16.08 @ 17:05PST

Home Depot In New York
Someone told me once that the difference between a New York apartment and one in San Francisco is that the closet-sized pad in Frisco came with a window. This might present a need for residents of these cities to do things in a smaller way, but with less square feet to decorate, it also leaves more room for quality.

I hadn't realized big box retailer Home Depot had reached Manhattan, but turning a corner in Midtown, the orange sign caught my eye. I had to go in. Most of the store is two floors below level, and the store seems to have most of what the local store here on Camp Horne Road would have, with the addition of higher quality. Despite not having an immediate need for a sink, I found myself looking at marble and stainless steel models starting at around $2,000. A marble sink, not unlike one of the ones I had gotten as salvage from Victorian-era houses for $75, could be had for a couple of grand.

It's late for me to notice. According to Home Depot's web site, the first store Home Depot store opened in Manhattan in 2004, as did the second. The store offers things to Manhattanites like a locksmith service that isn't offered in places like suburban Pittsburgh. One store has a virtual apartment in the window with actors "living" behind the glass. I didn't see this, it was mentioned in a 2004 press release.

The Home Depot currently operates 16 stores with approximately 3,900 associates in the New York City boroughs. The Home Depot's two Manhattan locations are among a growing number of stores that the company has merchandised and formatted for urban environments. The company opened its first urban format store in the Lincoln Park section of Chicago in 2003 and recently opened a store in Park Royal, West Vancouver, British Columbia.

You can read some comments by Manhattan residents on the Home Depot stores here.

I wish they'd have put an urban Home Depot in Pittsburgh rather than clearing a couple blocks in East Liberty for parking lots. MORE NEW YORK PHOTOS

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 03.16.08 @ 13:57PST

Saturday, March 15th

Hillary's SUV pulls into Pittsburgh Gas Station
Watch Video

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 03.15.08 @ 17:55PST

Monday, March 10th

Futurama Follies
While we're on the subject of YouTube Videos, you might take a gander at part two of a duo of videos from the 1939 General Motors Futurama exhibit that looked forward to the future city of 1960. They promise highways free of congestion and the convenient seperation of home, office, shopping, etc. It says in this future world, rights of way have been routed to replace outmoted business districts and outdated slum areas. "A world which far from being finished is hardly yet begun." Now folks, thanks to the world of tomorrow, we have before us the task of beginning yet again.

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 03.10.08 @ 08:19PST

The Sin of Pollution
Still pondering the use of plastic bags? On the fence about trading in the SUV? Look no further than Rome for guidance. The Vatican lists pollution as one of several new sins to avoid. "Thou shall not pollute the Earth" is accomanied by others specific to modern times including "Thou shall beware genetic manipulation."

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 03.10.08 @ 06:08PST

Friday, March 7th

San Francisco's Market Street, 1905
Sweet little film clip shot from the front of a cable car making its way down Market towards the Ferry Building in 1905. Horsecarts, wagons, trams, cyclists, early cars, and lots and lots of pedestrians, all moving along at a human pace together, looking very relaxed as they share the street.



From YouTube, of course.

Richard Risemberg (rrisemberg@newcolonist.com), on 03.07.08 @ 20:03PST

Escaping the Snow and Finding Panera with the TomTom
When driving toward Cleveland this afternoon, hoping to hear the Cleveland Symphony, one of those blizzards we thought global warming had made extinct lead us to change our course and head home. While we made that decision, the Tom Tom lead us to the nearest Panera. Reading the New York Observer I had thrown in the car hoping to leave in time to beat the storm, and sipping a cup of Bold and Vibrant (one of my very favorite coffees) it occured to me that these little devices might come to change the where things are located.

The Panera wasn't right off 80 at Niles, Ohio, it was 1.5 miles down the road. Knowing Panera had Internet access, we skipped the Wendy's at the exit and continued to find Panera. Halfway through my cup I pondered the idea that once this technology has worked its way into use on the level of the cell phone, there won't be as much of a need for companies to buy the premium real estate at the on/off ramps. We'll all know what we're looking for and how to get there.

Will that further encourage sprawl? Allow more cluster development? Time will tell. There is a more immediate need for networks of mom-and-pop places to join a list that puts them on the TomTom and Garvin screens, however, as well as models of these devices developed for walking in urban areas. There may be such a thing I am unaware of.

Just a few thoughts for the day. I'm safe at home now and Cleveland is buried in a blanket of cold, wet, white snow. I suspect the symphony went on without us.

More on the Cleveland Storm

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 03.07.08 @ 16:41PST

Tuesday, March 4th

"The Next Slum?"
The Atlantic Monthly asks the question... Is the subprime crisis the tip of the iceberg?

Because the population is growing, families with children will still grow in absolute number—according to U.S. Census data, there will be about 4 million more households with children in 2025 than there were in 2000. But more than 10 million new single-family homes have already been built since 2000, most of them in the suburbs.

If gasoline and heating costs continue to rise, conventional suburban living may not be much of a bargain in the future. And as more Americans, particularly affluent Americans, move into urban communities, families may find that some of the suburbs’ other big advantages—better schools and safer communities—have eroded.

LINK TO THE ARTICLE

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 03.04.08 @ 19:47PST
Monday, March 3rd

McMansions, Well-Done
It looks like an environmental group may be responsible for some McMansions that have been torched outside Seattle. I'd like to note that a large fire is not very good for the environment either (or the fact that these will likely be rebuilt using twice as many materials).

Seattle Times story

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 03.03.08 @ 10:55PST

One Idea For the Scrap Heap
Pittsburgh has a thing about rivers and tunnels, but especially tunnels. It's hard to get us to cross a river, and crossing two is often completely out of the question. This may pose a conundrum for anyone looking to locate a business, but beyond that it is not much of a problem. The tunnel issue comes to a noticeable problem in traffic backups on the Parkway East, or near the Fort Pitt Tunnels. When drivers here see a tunnel, they hit the brakes.

Short of driver re-education, transportation officials have been scratching their heads about what to do about it. This weekend the scratching spread from officials to newspaper readers when it was suggested we build an elevated toll road over the parkway.

My sister, an avowed suburbanite who lives several municipalities outside the city limits, called me Saturday telling me I needed to write a letter to the editor criticizing this stupid idea. I had seen the article, but since it was just an off-the wall idea, not something being studied or debated, I pretty much ignored it. Today Post-Gazette columnist Brian O'Neil did the city the service when writing a column critical of the idea.

As my sister said, we need mass transportation, not elevated toll ways around the tunnel. Four dollar a gallon gas notwithstanding, she's right. And the fact that it registers with suburbanites that more highways are not the answer is a damn good sign.
Read Brian O'Neil's Column

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 03.03.08 @ 06:46PST

Engines of Happiness
Here's a long quote from a marvelous article in EnRoute magazine, titled, "The Happy City":

I swipe my card into a metallic kiosk, silently unlocking one of a dozen bicycles stationed alongside it. This vélo libre (free bike)--"Vélib" for short--will be my personal metro. I can drop it off at any of more than a thousand kiosks around the city core.

I toss my briefcase into the front basket, then commit what would once have been a suicidal act: I roll out into the Paris traffic. Taxis bounce past me along Rue de Rivoli like go-karts. Delivery trucks and motorbikes jostle frenetically. Bus engines suck at the warm air. I have steeled myself for the pathological aggression of Paris' drivers. But I soon realize that there are other cyclists in this stream, dozens of us, in fact. Our collective mass has a calming effect on the traffic. I feel intensely awake but not in danger. In this chaos, we are all looking to each other for clues. We make eye contact.

This is just one example of the alchemy occurring on Paris' streets, explains sociologist Bruno Marzloff when I meet him in the 8e arrondissement. "We are learning a new way of sharing the city," Marzloff tells me as we wander the back streets. Sockless in loafers, he moves through the throngs with studied precision. "Look at what happens on a crowded sidewalk; everyone must be aware or we smash into each other. We must choreograph our movements. The result is a kind of dance."

This choreography is now spilling over into Paris' traffic lanes, says Marzloff. With cars and bikes and buses mixed together, nobody can be sure what will be on the road ahead of them. Everyone is becoming more awake to the rhythm of asymmetrical flow. The clincher? Making the road seem more dangerous by injecting thousands of bikes into traffic may actually be making it safer. Bike accident statistics have flatlined, even as the number of cyclists has jumped in Paris by nearly 50 percent in the last six years.

Marzloff and I encounter four empty Vélib stations in half an hour. "We're just at the beginning," Marzloff tells me. "What will happen when we have 200,000 people using Vélib every day?"

Parisians are indeed moving differently, but this new dance is only one symptom of a more fundamental transformation. Changing the way we use city streets may make us happier.

It talks joyously about the experiences of the author and others in newly-pedestrianized urban centers from Paris to Bogotá, and how exchanging cars for buses, bikes, and feet leads not only to more efficient movement, but to happier lives.

Read it all at The Happy City, and pass it on!

Richard Risemberg (rrisemberg@newcolonist.com), on 03.03.08 @ 05:50PST

Saturday, March 1st

Cycling in Hanoi: Can the Past Become the Future?
Writer and urban analyst Debra Efroymson details the changes she's seen in Hanoi as it adopted more Western concepts of mobility, and what has been lost as a result. A sample:

Over the years, things changed. The government relaxed the rules on imports of motorbikes, and motorbikes flooded the city. Several months ago, Vietnam joined the WTO, and now cars are pouring in. The government, scrambling to make space for all the cars, is considering expanding car parking. It already banned cyclos (cycle rickshaws) from most streets years ago. People park their cars and motorbikes on the sidewalks. The corner bike pumpers and repairers are disappearing. A few fancy modern bicycles have appeared, and the government has painted cycle lanes on some streets that are usually blocked by parked cars or motorbikes or other obstructions. Some people still cycle, but it is increasingly dangerous and unpleasant in the new traffic mix, and with the fumes from all the motorized vehicles.

To read the entire article, go to our sister publication, Bicycle Fixation.

Richard Risemberg (rrisemberg@newcolonist.com), on 03.01.08 @ 08:52PST