Posted by Kaid Benfield in Living Sustainably
According to a Reuters story by Ilaina Jonas: "The vacancy rate at U.S. strip malls reached a 17-year high in the third quarter and mall vacancy was the highest in at least 10 years, reflecting the protracted pull-back by...continued→
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise , Living Sustainably
One of the casualties of the recession has been that some decent urban development, the kind that we want to buttress cities and support more environmentally benign living patterns, has been put on hold. So empty lots remain vacant...continued→
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Environmental Justice , Living Sustainably
Warning: this is a long one. Readers of a certain age will remember Joni's Mitchell's iconic anthem "Woodstock," celebrating the famous 1969 music festival (which, incidentally, she did not attend, but I digress). The song became a monster hit for...continued→
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Environmental Justice , Living Sustainably
I hope that, by the end of this week, Red Wings fans are celebrating, and that's nothing against Pittsburgh, a fine city with fine people, at least the ones I know. But Pittsburgh already has a professional...continued→
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Living Sustainably
Wow. And note that the steep decline in new housing construction started in early 2006, well before the recession set in almost two years later. Well, I guess we already knew that. What I didn't know before I...continued→
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Living Sustainably
Even before the recession began, the market for residential and commercial property in the US was changing away from a model of unmitigated suburban sprawl and toward one of more central locations, urbanity, and walkable neighborhoods. The foreclosure crisis, spike in gasoline...continued→
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Living Sustainably
A number of things came across my desk or computer screen in the last few days that all point to the benefits of strong central cities in dealing with the recession. First, a story by Alejandro Lazo in Saturday's Washington...continued→
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Living Sustainably , The Media and the Environment
I was introduced to Brian Ulrich's haunting photos of dead malls and big-box stores by a slide show in the current issue of Time. As Bryan Walsh's story "Recycling the Suburbs" (one of "10 ideas for changing the world...continued→
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Environmental Justice , Green Enterprise , Living Sustainably
Last night, President Obama spoke of turning difficulty into opportunity on a grand scale. But the grand scale comprises many smaller, local stories where we must also do our best to do the same. In particular, in...continued→
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise , Living Sustainably
One of the things that has concerned me about the recession, and in particular how hard the building industry has been hit, is that a lot of ready-to-go smart growth projects will have trouble securing financing, buyers, and tenants. A...continued→
