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 @ 02:48 PM PST [link]  

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 @ 05:35 PM PST [link]  

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 @ 01:01 PM PST [link]  

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 @ 02:45 PM PST [link]  

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 @ 01:33 PM PST [link]