News Roundup
High Gas Prices Have North Shore Commuters Considering Southern Living
“What Americans will really want in the coming years are walkable communities,” Fields said. “Where New Orleans has its real strength is that we fit that type of model.”
Source: New Orleans CityBusiness
Filed under: Energy | Healthy Communities | Transportation
Jul 23 2008
A New Fashion Catches on in Paris: Cheap Bicycle Rentals
A year after the introduction of the sturdy gray bicycles known as Velib’s, they are being used all over Paris. The bikes are cheap to rent because they are subsidized by advertising, and other major cities, including American ones, are exploring similar projects.
Source: The New York Times
Filed under: Energy | Environment | Sustainable Development | Transportation | Urban Design | Urban Ecology
Jul 15 2008
Path to Revitalization
“The time has come to see the potential for this corridor not only be used as a path for people to walk or bike to work and to better their health, but also to knit communities along the greenway together,” said Bart Everson, the FOLC’s board chair.
Source: The Times-Picayune
Filed under: Community Input | Healthy Communities | Rebuilding New Orleans | Sustainable Development | Transportation | Urban Design
Jul 14 2008
Katrina’s Most Vulnerable
Homeless-services agencies that work in New Orleans are rightly worried. In a city where rents have skyrocketed and housing is in short supply, they fear that developers who were required to set aside units for the most vulnerable citizens may shy away from tenants with histories of mental illness or homelessness.
Source: The New York Times
Filed under: Housing | Hurricane Katrina
Jul 8 2008
Are Downtowns in Danger of Going Downhill Again?
“Ambitious projects will be put on hold, but I don’t think they’ll throw away the blueprints,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “A lot of inner cities are going through a bit of a renaissance for broader demographic reasons that will remain in place for a while. Aging baby boomers are becoming empty nesters and they’re thinking of moving back to the urban core.”
Source: Business Week
Filed under: Community Economics | Housing | Urban Design
Jul 7 2008
Bicycle to Work, Save Gas, Live Longer
“New Orleans is a great place for biking,” says Lando, his enthusiasm undimmed by potholes and a paucity of dedicated bike lanes. “It’s flat, everything is so close together. I can get from the French Quarter to the Riverbend in 20 minutes. I can go from our house to Petco on Manhattan (Boulevard) and come back with 30 pounds of dog food in the same amount of time it takes me to go by car. And it’s a great way to see the neighborhood.”
Source: The Times-Picayune
Filed under: Healthy Communities | Transportation | Urban Design
Jul 1 2008
Rethinking the Country Life as Energy Costs Rise
Long before the recent spike in the price of energy, environmentalists decried suburban sprawl a waste of land, energy and tax dollars. Governments from Virginia to California have in recent decades lavished resources on building roads and schools for new subdivisions in the outer rings of development while skimping on maintaining facilities closer in. Many governments now focus on reviving their downtowns.
Source: The New York Times
Filed under: Energy | Environment | Housing | Sustainable Development | Transportation
Jun 28 2008
Future Leaders Sought for Challenging, Stimulating Program
First initiated some four decades ago, the Metropolitan Leadership Forum includes among its graduates leaders in every aspect of New Orleans life, including government, education, business, faith, and the nonprofit sector. This year’s class will join more than two thousand fellow alumni in serving as a tremendous resource to the community.
Filed under: Good Governance
Jun 24 2008
Walkable Suburbs: Compact Communities Still Rare in West NY
Welcome to the “walkable community”— a design movement transforming American suburban neighborhoods just as the cul-de-sac and strip mall once did. It could be the new green wave of the future for Western New York, changing forever the built environment as we know it in an era of obscene gas prices.
Source: The Buffalo News
Filed under: Urban Design
Jun 23 2008