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Issues: Living Sustainably

Thinking Outside the Box: Green Goods Movement

Posted January 4, 2012 by Deron Lovaas in Green Enterprise, Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil

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The holidays finally provided a chance to catch up on some reading, including a remarkable book from 2006 called The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, by Marc Levinson. I figured this...continued

Rust Belt cities: to avoid more shrinkage, protect & strengthen the core

Posted January 4, 2012 by Kaid Benfield in Living Sustainably

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  For some time, I have been on record as believing that the problem with former industrial cities that have lost population isn’t just the changing economy.  It’s also a failure to address suburban sprawl.  A close look at population...continued

Limbo or Reprieve For Los Angeles River Parklands? Developer Extends Taylor Yard Option Deadline By Six Months

Posted January 4, 2012 by Damon Nagami in Environmental Justice, Living Sustainably

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Last week I blogged about Taylor Yard, a former rail yard along the Los Angeles River, where developer Trammell Crow was facing an end-of-year deadline to exercise its option to purchase a key portion of the property.  As I...continued

2011 in Review: Bay-Delta Fisheries & Water Supplies

Posted January 3, 2012 by Doug Obegi in Living Sustainably

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2011 was a great year for all of us who care about California’s native fisheries and water supply.  Thankfully, 2011 was a wet year that ended several years of drought, resulting in record water exports from California’s Bay-Delta estuary (enough...continued

Smaller, more sustainable living in neighborhoods that fit in

Posted January 3, 2012 by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise, Living Sustainably

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  When talking about reducing the footprint of our living patterns on the landscape and the earth’s limited resources, I always stress that this does not necessarily mean high-rises or even multi-family living at all.  Those can be perfectly accessible...continued

The city of the future

Posted January 2, 2012 by Kaid Benfield in Living Sustainably

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  If you haven’t discovered TED yet, you’re in for a treat.  The acronym stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, and it is all about the sharing of ideas, first in conferences, and now especially on the internet, where you...continued

The new economy: work closer, live smaller, connect better

Posted December 30, 2011 by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise, Living Sustainably

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  The Urban Land Institute’s latest forward-looking report for the real estate industry has lots of hopeful news for the environment, if perhaps also some sobering news for the economy.  Titled What’s Next? Real Estate in the New Economy (print...continued

Essays on community sustainability: my favorite posts of the year

Posted December 29, 2011 by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise, Living Sustainably

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  In 2011, I posted some 250 entries on my NRDC blog, quite a few of which were also published by The Atlantic, The Atlantic Cities, the Sustainable Communities Collective, and others.  I am always grateful when they are. As...continued

Can we balance the old and new as a place evolves?

Posted December 28, 2011 by Kaid Benfield in Living Sustainably

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  We change with time, and so do our communities.  In some cases the evolution may seem lightning-fast, in others slow; in some cases change brings obvious improvement, but there is frequently something lost as well.  Like it or not,...continued

Bleak New Year For Los Angeles River Parklands Unless Developer Walks Away From Sale

Posted December 28, 2011 by Damon Nagami in Environmental Justice, Living Sustainably

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The clock is ticking down on 2011. In Los Angeles, this means time is running out for an industrial development firm to decide whether to exercise its option to purchase a key parcel of land along the Los Angeles...continued

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Switchboard is the staff blog of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the nation’s most effective environmental group. For more about our work, including in-depth policy documents, action alerts and ways you can contribute, visit NRDC.org.

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