By making our neighborhoods, cities and metro regions stronger, more livable and more efficient, we can save money, protect the environment and improve our quality of life. For decades we have allowed our older communities to deteriorate while allowing newer ones to gobble up the landscape with suburban sprawl. The choices we make for our own habitat have enormous impacts on our well-being, economy and natural environment.
Posted May 13, 2013 by Kaid Benfield in Living Sustainably
For the past several years, the Boston Foundation has been collecting data on key indicators of the health of the city’s economic, social, and natural environment. The Boston Indicators Project surveys ten key categories relevant to quality of life:...continued→
Posted May 10, 2013 by Kaid Benfield in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
I don’t think filmmaker Alessandro Della Bella intended to make a video about transit in Zurich, but trains, trams, streetcars and the people who ride them are the clear stars in this hyper-fun time-lapse video. Frenetic Zurich is one...continued→
Posted May 8, 2013 by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise, Living Sustainably
Today’s article is another excerpt from my forthcoming book, People Habitat: 25 Ways to Think about Greener, Healthier Cities, which will be coming out later this year. I shared an excerpt from the introduction on March 27. In the...continued→
Posted May 6, 2013 by Amanda Eaken in Curbing Pollution, Solving Global Warming
Last week, I had the honor of accepting the Southern California Association of Governments' (SCAG) inaugural President's Sustainability Leadership Award, which was presented at their annual General Assembly conference in Palm Desert, CA. I am deeply humbled and honored to...continued→
Posted May 6, 2013 by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise, Living Sustainably
Today’s post is written by my frequent collaborator and contributor to this site, Lee Epstein Lee is an attorney and land use planner working for sustainability in the mid-Atlantic region. His last appearance here was on April 3 (“The...continued→
Posted May 3, 2013 by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably
I took a tour of Miami Beach this morning. No, not in person (though I wish), but via the wonders of Google Earth. And I didn’t see South Beach, the grand hotels, or the ocean, for that matter. So...continued→
Posted May 1, 2013 by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise, Living Sustainably
I hesitate to write yet another article about bringing “smart growth” – the combination of ideas born in the 1990s to counter suburban sprawl – into the 21st century. I’ve long argued that, at a minimum, it’s time to...continued→
Posted April 30, 2013 by Rob Perks in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
Lately, I've been on a bit of a tear writing about traffic congestion and its impact on commuting. For instance, titles of some of my recent blogs include: Less funding, more traffic Transportation Triple Threat: Bad Roads, Worse Traffic and...continued→
Posted April 29, 2013 by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise, Living Sustainably
It’s ridiculously easy to think about the benefits of historic preservation in immensely walkable Providence, Rhode Island. I’m not sure I’ve seen a better collection of downtown historic architecture this side of New Orleans. Elsewhere there are fine smaller...continued→
Posted April 26, 2013 by Kaid Benfield in Curbing Pollution, Green Enterprise, Living Sustainably
Most working port areas of most cities - including just about all in the US - are way outmoded and polluting, and in deperate need of transformation for people and the environment. In Rio de Janeiro, the city's working waterfront is being...continued→
