If you want to see an idyllic, small Italian city, Perugia may be the place for you. It fits all the characteristics of those beautiful Italian towns from the movies. However, it hasn’t forever. It took visionaries with a green…
World-Leading Sustainable Community in Germany: Vauban District
The Vauban district is a green, planned community in the city of Freiburg in southern Germany. Construction of this community began in the mid-1990s and opened in 2000. By 2001, it had 2,000 inhabitants living in a greener, more sustainable…
Happiest City in U.S.? (No Cars on Main Street, No Fast Food, No Smoking, Bike Valet)
Oprah recently featured San Luis Obispo, “America’s Happiest Town” (if the video above doesn’t work for you, that’s the link to it). Jenny McCarthy actually does the leg work for this video story. Highlighted features of the city are that…
Dutch Improving Cycle Networks, Building Fast Cycle Lanes
The Dutch are already well-known for having the best bicycle facilities in the world (well, there is a bit of competition between the Netherlands and Denmark, but the two nations are clearly on top of the world when it comes…
Is the U.S. Now a Nation of Incrementalists?
The U.S. is known for being big, having big visions, having big plans and projects. But has that all changed in the past few decades? Karrie Jacobs of The Infrastructurist delves into this matter in great deal and concludes: “Apparently…
New Study Looks at Hidden Environmental Costs of Parking
The price of free parking keeps going up. One cost is painful urban congestion, which is made worse bydrastically under-priced street parking. Another is a relative cost to the environment, which occurs when the near-certain prospect of free (or cheap)…
Why Streetcars are Important (& Cool)
Almost 50 years ago, streetcars in Washington, D.C. stopped running and most of their tracks were removed. Now they’re back and ready for a revival, with parts of the first two lines slated to open next spring. In this post, we talk to Dan…
EcoLocalizer Link Drop
New Transit Projects for 2011 A comprehensive list of transit projects scheduled to start construction or open in 2011. “Streetcar lines dominate the nation’s new transit construction landscape, but this year only light and commuter rail lines will open for…
West Oakland Urban Agriculture Gets $4-Million Boost
A leading urban-farming and food-justice organization in Oakland, City Slicker Farms, recently got awarded $4 million from the State of California to buy land for urban farming and a new park. With this money, City Slicker is going to purchase…
Green Makeover of Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
The proposals are in after Monday’s final public meeting to decide the future of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway trench which severs the Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, and Columbia Street Waterfront neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Residents spoke up and prioritized their wishes for a…