education · Green Metropolis · New Urbanism · permaculture · sprawl · suburb · Tucson · urban · walkable

The Urban Solution vs. the Rural Solution: The Internal Conflict Within the Green Movement

When environmentalists talk about the sustainability/green movement, many times you hear two different solutions: Solution #1One side discusses the benefits of urban density. Everyone must live in dense walkable areas that stimulate community connectivity. We need to reduce automobile dependence by living close to most of our daily services and ideally, close to our jobs… Continue reading The Urban Solution vs. the Rural Solution: The Internal Conflict Within the Green Movement

automobile dependency · density · diverse · income · neighborhood · New Urbanism · sprawl · transportation · urban · zoning

What Kind of Neighborhoods Do Americans Want?

All day, I read blogs and studies citing the importance of progressive planning policy. These articles discuss all the benefits of creating developments that are walkable and “New Urbanist” in nature. I do not disagree with any of these statements or opinions. In fact, I agree with the vast majority of them. These are not… Continue reading What Kind of Neighborhoods Do Americans Want?

bikes · car dependency · cars · infastructure · infill · policy · roads · single use planning · solutions · sprawl · subsidies · tax · transportation · zoning

The Extreme Importance of Zoning Policy

The cities we have created today are relatively unsustainable. By unsustainable, I mean a place that can not easily survive for a long period of time. The primary reason behind this is zoning policy. There are two major issues with current zoning policy:1) Subsidizing Sprawl: We continue to pour money into developments that make our… Continue reading The Extreme Importance of Zoning Policy