Category Archives: sustainability

Albuquerque is a national leader in water conservation

As relatively new residents of New Mexico, we have been quite impressed by the water conservation efforts in the Albuquerque area. Even before arriving, we were planning on removing the remaining turf grass in the yard and replace it with … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, cities, civics, climate, climate change, deserts, ecosystems, environment, geography, government, history, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, natural history, nature, planning, rivers/watersheds, Statistics, sustainability, topography, urban planning, water, water conservation, weather, xeriscaping | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The buzz about America’s “bee-friendly” cities

Communities representing 37 states and the District of Columbia are listed beelow as designated “Bee City USA” members. Unfortunately, there are also 13 states without any city members including Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, agriculture, Animal rights, Animals, cities, civics, civility, climate, climate change, culture, ecosystems, education, environment, Food, government, health, insects, land use, landscape architecture, natural and organic foods, natural history, nature, planning, Science, seasons, spatial design, States, Statistics, sustainability, tourism, Travel, urban planning, water, water conservation, Wilderness, Wildlife, xeriscaping, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New Mexico’s protected wildlife areas along the Rio Grande

As one of the corridors making up the Central Flyway, the Rio Grande Valley through New Mexico is host to a vast array of migrant birds flying seasonally through the state to breeding grounds further north or wintering areas both … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Animals, archaeology, civics, climate, culture, deserts, ecosystems, environment, geography, Geology, history, lakes, land use, Maps, mountains, natural history, nature, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, recreation, rivers/watersheds, Science, Statistics, sustainability, topography, tourism, trails, Travel, urban planning, water, water conservation, water trails, Wilderness, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Living amid an “Ecology of Fear”

I recently read Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster by the late Mike Davis. It is an intriguing book that switches from whimsical to dark and foreboding at the turn of a page. In fact, the … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Africa, Animals, archaeology, art, Asia, book reviews, books, branding, business, Canada, Cars, cities, civics, Civil Rights, civility, climate, climate change, commerce, Communications, culture, demographics, density, diversity, economic development, economics, ecosystems, education, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, film, fun, futurism, geography, Geology, government, Guns, Handguns, health, highways, hiking, historic preservation, history, homelessness, Housing, human rights, humanity, immigration, inclusiveness, India, industry, infrastructure, injustice, land use, Latin America, literature, marketing, money, movies, music, natural history, nature, opinion, planning, politics, pollution, poverty, psychology, racism, reading, Religion, revitalization, schools, Science, Science fiction, Sexism, Small business, social equity, Social media, spatial design, Statistics, sustainability, technology, Television, theaters, topography, tourism, Trade, traffic, transportation, Travel, unemployment, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, weather, Wilderness, Wildlife, Women, writing, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Walkable placemaking with outdoor public stairways

Note: – For purposes of this blogpost, stairways, stairs, and stair-steps are used interchangeably. Post updated 2/16/23 _______ The first time it occurred to me that outdoor stairways could be an important walkability tool for cities was while visiting Edinburgh, … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Advocacy, Alternative transportation, archaeology, architecture, art, book reviews, books, branding, brewpubs, business, cities, civics, coffee shops/cafes, commerce, culture, demographics, diversity, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, Economy, engineering, entertainment, environment, fitness, fun, geography, government, health, Health care, hiking, historic preservation, history, Housing, humanity, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, literature, logistics, Maps, Mining, mountains, natural history, nature, new urbanism, pictures, placemaking, planning, product design, recreation, revitalization, shopping, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, Stairway networks, Statistics, sustainability, third places, topography, tourism, traffic, trails, transit, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, walking, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Three superb and fresh reads about Los Angeles

“These three books will certainly introduce readers to the width and breadth of mighty Los Angeles. If that entity, however you define it, resists a simple explanation, then so be it. For that may be one of the LA’s most endearing and enduring qualities.” Continue reading

Posted in art, book reviews, books, business, Cars, cities, culture, diversity, downtown, economics, entertainment, environment, fun, geography, government, Highway displacement, highways, hiking, historic preservation, history, homelessness, Housing, humanity, immigration, inclusiveness, industry, infrastructure, injustice, land use, literature, mountains, movies, Music, natural history, nature, new urbanism, placemaking, planning, pollution, racism, rail, recreation, Renewable Energy, revitalization, skylines, social equity, songs, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, sustainability, technology, Television, third places, topography, tourism, Trade, traffic, trails, transit, transportation, Travel, trucking, urban design, urban planning, walking, weather, Wildlife, writing, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Confessions of a recovering freeway nerd

Source: wired.com I’ll admit it. In my younger days, I was a certified freeway nerd. Growing up in Indianapolis, I was in awe of the Interstate Highway System. Lucky for me, Indy had plenty of them, including my teenage and … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Advocacy, Alternative transportation, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, bridges, Bus transportation, Cars, cities, civics, climate change, commerce, culture, density, distribution, downtown, economic development, electric vehicles, energy, engineering, environment, EVs and hybrids, fun, futurism, geography, health, Highway displacement, highways, historic preservation, history, humanity, infrastructure, land use, nature, new urbanism, Passenger rail, pictures, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, poverty, product design, racism, rail, Railroads, recreation, Renewable Energy, revitalization, scenic byways, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, sustainability, technology, topography, tourism, Trade, traffic, trails, transit, transportation, Travel, trucking, tunnels, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten planning lessons from LA’s South Bay beach cities

We had the pleasure of visiting the three South Bay beach cities of Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Hermosa Beach over the Christmas holiday weekend. Below are ten planning lessons learned from these charming and beautiful communities. Peace! Esplanade nearest … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Alternative energy, Alternative transportation, architecture, bicycling, Biking, branding, business, cities, civics, climate, climate change, commerce, culture, demographics, density, economic development, Economy, ecosystems, electric vehicles, entertainment, environment, fun, geography, health, hiking, historic preservation, history, Housing, humanity, industry, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, nature, pictures, placemaking, planning, pollution, recreation, Renewable Energy, revitalization, spatial design, Statistics, sustainability, third places, topography, tourism, trails, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, walking, water, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten planning lessons from the death of Mountain Lion P-22

Source: Steve Winter of National Geographic via bbc.com and reddit.com The tragic death this weekend of Mountain Lion P-22 in/near Los Angeles’ Griffith Park struck a somber chord within me, much like the euthanized death of a neighborhood-roaming black bear … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Animal rights, Animals, architecture, Cars, charities, cities, civility, climate, climate change, culture, ecosystems, engineering, environment, geography, Geology, government, health, Highway displacement, highways, hiking, history, humanity, infrastructure, land use, mountains, natural history, nature, opinion, Pets, pictures, placemaking, planning, recreation, rivers/watersheds, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, sustainability, topography, toponymy, tourism, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, water, water conservation, water trails, Wilderness, Wildlife, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Aerial tramways – a “last mile” transit solution for airports and stadiums

Aerial tramways (a.k.a. urban gondolas) may be an excellent solution for filling the missing “last mile” transit link to major sports venues and airports. Too often, rail transit systems do not directly connect to the airport terminal or to a … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Aerial tramways, airport planning, airports, cities, commerce, downtown, economic development, entertainment, fun, geography, infrastructure, land use, Maps, new urbanism, placemaking, planning, product design, revitalization, skylines, spatial design, sports, Statistics, sustainability, technology, tourism, traffic, transit, transportation, Travel, urban design, Urban Gondolas, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment