Posted by Kaid Benfield in Environmental Justice , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
Thanks to Daniel and his thoughtful blog Discovering Urbanism for highlighting an innovative program designed to help residents of urban “food deserts” - neighborhoods without nearby access to supermarkets - obtain fresh, healthy food more conveniently. The program also helps...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil
The degree to which our streets connect with each other has a major impact on how our communities feel and function, and a major effect also on their walkability. Generally speaking, the more connections (more frequent intersections, smaller block sizes)...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil
Washington Post columnist and architect Roger Lewis has published a terrific, concise summary of why we should do more to promote walking as a transportation mode and what a community needs to become more walkable. I hope that policy advocates...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
Peter Harnik knows more about city parks than anyone else I know. And he has now put much of what he knows into a handy new book, Urban Green: Innovative Parks for Resurgent Cities (Island Press, 2010). I was...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
For some time, I have been intrigued by Atlanta as a city that contains both some of America's worst-case, most godawful sprawl and some of its most encouraging examples of smart growth. On the sprawl side, the grasp of metro Atlanta grew from...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
Our streets (including sidewalks, street trees, fixtures and so forth) are our most important public spaces. Whether we experience them on foot, driving along, or simply through a window, streets form the places where we most often experience that...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
Kaid Benfield writes (almost) daily about community, development, and the environment. For more posts, see his blog's home page. ...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
Dick is a nice guy and one of the true leaders in the fields of public health, sustainability, and the built environment. He is being featured in a documentary, and here is a short trailer that shows you why. It...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
“Aside from reduced CO2, less traffic time and health advantages, the most important benefit of walk to school programs is teaching children self-reliance.” The quote comes from architect and urbanist Ann Daigle, who puts into practice all the things...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil
Amazingly, there are some well-meaning transportation advocates who would like the phrase “avid cyclist” banned from the lexicon. Their argument goes something like, “this phrase marginalizes all who bicycle and causes people in policy positions to discount cycling as...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil
As a member of the Complete Streets Coalition, NRDC believes that streets should be for everyone: walkers, cyclists, drivers, transit users, merchants, offices, even nature. Streets comprise the most important public spaces in our communities, and as such they should...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Environmental Justice , Green Enterprise , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
Earlier this month I had the honor of participating in a webcast on the subject of sustainable community development, hosted by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. One of the nation’s premier organizations in its field, LISC “mobilizes corporate, government and...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Environmental Justice , Green Enterprise , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
Distressed city neighborhoods, more than others, are deficient in environmental amenities, particularly those that are typically provided by nature. That is almost a tautology, but they especially need trees, pocket parks, rain gardens, vegetated swales, permeable pavements, roof gardens and...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Environmental Justice , Green Enterprise , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
Former Georgetown University and Miami Heat basketball star Alonzo Mourning has always acted with intensity and purpose, as anyone on the receiving end of one of the nearly 3000 shots he blocked during his playing career can attest. Now...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
Yes, believe your eyes: that’s an apartment building in Shanghai, virtually intact but on its side after, well, falling over. The building was one of eleven 13-story buildings being constructed in the Lotus Riverside complex in China’s largest city. ...
